You Have It So Good.

 

Making my 17 month old lunch I felt so incredibly grateful that I can feed my children. Always.

 It reminded me of something I heard the other day that touched me in so many ways and is bound to reach into your hearts and grab you as it did me. Especially mothers.

A friend of mine told me about a friend of his who recently traveled to Africa to help out in many of the aid programs they have there. In the first few days of her stay she saw the conditions that these people lived in daily, they were hungry, suffering from malnutrition and lived in what many of us would describe as unimaginable. However what stuck her most is what she witnessed one night.

A mother sat in her hut with her three children who were nearly all bones. The children were crying with hunger and begging their mother for food. The mother found a big pot, filled it with water and boiled it over a fire. She told the children that she has some meat and it will take a very long time to cook. Eventually the children fell to sleep crying and tired of waiting and awoke to find their mother and the empty pot. They went to their mother asking if the meat was ready and their mother simply said “I’m sorry but it cooked whilst you were asleep and have missed it, the meat is now gone”.

The lady who witnessed this said she was changed that day. I have to say I am too. My heart tore open as I felt that mothers pain and also felt that mothers love. That mother loved her children so very much that she couldn’t tell them they had no food, she didn’t want to starve them of the one thing they had, hope. How beautiful that mother was. She couldn’t feed her children food but she could still feed them hope, she couldn’t bring herself to tell her children that there was no food and she wasn’t sure if there ever would be….

Think about this the next time you complain that you’re hungry, or when your food is served cold and you wish it were more to your liking. Or how about when you go to your cupboard and say ‘there is nothing to eat’ when your cupboard is full of food it’s just food you don’t want to eat at this time. Think of that mother and her children who right at this very moment are boiling water full of hope.

Be grateful for your life. You have it so good.

Your Breasts Aren't You.

If there is one body part of mine that I would change it would be my breasts. They are much smaller than I would like. Today I again thought how this body part ‘fails’ me when I realised that they are perfect. They are mine and this is how I was made.

There are things in life I can change such as my attitude, house, belongings and what I wear each day but I cannot change how God made me. Yeah sure I could go ‘buy’ some but why? So I feel more lovable?  More feminine?  Happier ….

I may feel some of the above for a while but it won’t last. Because we all know that deep down its the love of yourself and who you are and not the love of your body that is vital, and It’s that person I am learning to love despite her casing.

I have friends who have had breasts enhancements and know that more and more women today are getting these procedures done and I’m beginning to ask why?

We are all perfect the way we are. We are not our breast size. If we all had ‘boob jobs’ where would the variety be? If we all had blonde hair … how boring! We were made different for a reason and we are all perfect in our own different way. Why be like someone else when your perfect at being you.

Bread Crust Can Bring Joy

What I loved today was noticing we had left over bread crusts. I was taking my boys out anyway and decided last minute to take the crusts with us so we could feed the ducks on the way. Simple things. Simple things like feeding ducks breadcrumbs can bring joy to not only the ducks (who were extremely grateful for the feed) but to my boys who felt delight in doing so.

Life really is simple. We only complicate it. Children do not need fancy toys, games or expensive trips away they only need you and us to show them that life is already exciting and that all they’ll ever need is here <3

Doctors Do More They Save Your Life ... They Dedicate Theirs.

Thinking about doctors I realised how grateful I was for them and particularly those that choose to be one. It’s a commitment of 10 years (and more for surgeons) to study and learn a job that in so vital in our society.

Every day surgeons perform life saving operations on thousands of people in this country and countries all around the world. Operations that take many, MANY hours and its not normally until you need one yourself that you realize their value.

So today (even though I don't need an operation) I am still grateful for all those who dedicate their lives to save others, because without them and the work they do, well, where would that leave us?

Which Half Are You?

I was thinking about the glass half full or empty question earlier today and remember being asked it when I was younger, whether I thought the glass was half empty or full. I always answered that it was half empty and was surprised when I was told that the better answer was to see it as half full rather than half empty. To me it was actually both and I didn’t see how me saying it was half empty was a bad thing. Now as I’m older I understand what this question is all about. How you view life.

 So today randomly, in my own random thoughts, as I noticed a glass half full and half empty on the bench I asked myself the same question again. Is it half empty or half full?

My answer was immediately …. “I see a glass that needs filling!” a mum thing perhaps, but then again I realised this pretty much sums up how I view life these days. 

I see a glass that although is half full still has room for more. We all have ‘empty’ bits, bits that need filling with all the wonderful things in life. Your glass may be half full and that is a great thing, to be positive and focus on the full parts of your life, but we all must remember that parts of us are empty too and it’s those parts that I try to fill each day.

You Cannot Plan Life...

 

This morning I had planned to do many things. I had a limited time of 2 hours to do so and had jam packed as much as I could into this time slot. So off I went to do my gazillion things when I missed my turn off on the parkway. Not the end of the world but I had to take an alternative route which then led me into the world’s worst traffic jam. And there I was. Me and my 16 months old and every other person who had ended up on this road.

I was there for over 30 mins and as each minute passed I could feel myself get more and more agitated. I had things that needed doing, I didn’t have time for this and it to top it off I was completely in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. As I felt myself getting more and more annoyed I looked to the backseat and saw my 16 month old just sitting there happily waiting patiently. He was the embodiment of patience.

It was in that moment that I realised I had choice. To let this situation get the better of me or to perhaps see that it was a lesson for me to practice patience, mindfulness and to somehow see the good in it all. So I looked for the good.

Out the window I saw the most amazing view of mountains on this road that I had never noticed before, I realised that being in this traffic jam had given me more time to listen to the mp3 recording I had playing in the car. But what most got me through was when I remembered what I truly believe and that is that everything happens for a divine reason. I knew there was a reason my plans had been shifted and I had to trust in that reason.

Today again taught me a very true lesson in life and one that I seem to be continually given and that is …. you cannot plan life so don’t even try! I so often try to ‘plan’ my days and by doing so I limit so many other opportunities. I tend to always want things ‘my way’ and freak out when they don’t go that way. So today I’m grateful for the 1 hour I spent just sitting and learning this lesson again.

Do You Judge Others...?

When someone walks into a room I don’t notice the clothes they are wearing, their nationality or race I see them. I see a person who is just like me, someone who wants to be loved and accepted.

We all judge, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t. However what I’m consciously trying to do  and have been for sometime is trying to no longer judge and its possible!

I very rarely notice a judgmental thought about another these days. Instead I only see beauty, the good in people and the positive. It wasn’t always like this. It was only when I started noticing judgmental thoughts or opinions of mine come up and deciding to no longer pay attention to them, that they slowly started to disappear. I cancel them out and replace with a new one. 

For example I remember a few months ago I was driving the boys to school when I noticed a young boy walking to school. In my head I heard ‘my god he is fat’. I was shocked, it was so mean and I immediately cancelled that one out and replaced it with  ‘but how great is it that he is walking to school, what great exercise and a healthy thing to do’.  

I’m grateful thoughts like the above are very few these days but it’s only because I no longer see others this way. I see them as people who are just like me each fighting their own battles and all wanting nothing but to be loved and accepted.

 I have found that since judging others less I also judge myself less. I am happier, others are happier around me and it’s an all over happy place. I remember thinking we can’t help but judge but lately I’ve learnt you can!