THE CHOICES WE MAKE

 

Autumn is my favourite season and as I was driving this morning, the colours of the trees that pave the road never fail to evoke a sense of gratitude in me. Nothing can be more beautiful than leaves rustling in the wind and falling one by one till the ground is carpeted with hues of red, orange, brown and green.

I am thankful for the songs from Spotify, for the almost desolate roads with no traffic jams and for the free coffee I have just redeemed, having drunk 10 cups over time. Small things, but all the more precious.

There are so many things that I want to do and some weeks pass with doing nothing new and then there are weeks where everything comes together all at once. I find myself engaged in so many new activities this Autumn and the thing is, I completely enjoy all of them.

There are activities that I’m naturally inclined to and there are activities that I am not.

Let’s talk about outdoor sport and gyms.

Not exactly my cup of tea but there’s one thing that I treasure most and that is good health. I owe it to myself to take care of my body because life is a gift. I prefer to stay healthy than to give reason for the doctor to prescribe tablets for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and the list goes on. Many regular activities came to a halt during the lockdown so I decided to join a fitness programme once again.

Truth be told, crawling out of a warm bed on a cold and wet morning to head to the gym is torture. But finishing a session makes me feel good all over. Hard work but rewarding. The personal trainer is all encouragement as I’m not one who naturally gravitate towards mean machines and dumb bells.

It so happens that swimming classes have also commenced after a break and when notified I decided to take that up as well. No harm checking out  if I’m Olympic material.

Autumn is also the season where many colleges offer part time programmes for people who have learnt too much but still want to learn. So I signed up for 10 classes of make up techniques – day makeup, evening makeup, contouring, block eye shadow, socket line eyeshadow, 1940s black flick red lip, smokey eye, strip lash application and everything else necessary to paint the empty canvas of a face. Nothing like letting the professional make up artist teach me a thing or two. I enjoy every bit of it and it’s all coming to an end now so next week I’ll venture into learning  stained glass techniques, something up my street.

And so I am very thankful for the choices made.

To reset the brain– to see the positive and not the negative; to overcome fear and face challenges; to be disciplined and to have the opportunity to give and serve others in church, in the neighbourhood and at home.

I am thankful to be surrounded by a good husband, children and friends.

Most of all to know that when I reach home, there are logs burning in the stove and the room is warm.

 

 

 

A CHANGE IN THE SEASONS

I must admit that I'm falling for Fall. In fact every year I will wax lyrical over falling leaves, warm hues, pumpkins and gourds. Autumn is about Harvest.

When the season changes, so too will many other things - my taste buds change as I gravitate towards warm honey. My Autumn-Winter wardrobe makes its appearance and even my preference for scents drifts from flowery Anais Anais Cacharel towards the richer Jo Malone's Orange Blossom. And I prefer to stay indoors, next to the glowing fireplace rather than go out. I'm also letting my garden rest.

Love it or hate it but Autumn will gradually pave the way for Winter.

Can we in any way change the seasons? No. 
Can we in any way change our perspective towards the different seasons? Yes.

That brings me to a conversation I had the other day with two friends about people. We shared our experiences about nice mannerly people who leave you refreshed and happy and enjoying each other's company. And the other category which is the direct opposite, and I won't even go there.

What makes people nice or not nice?

Is it education - and I don't just mean spending those years in school ? Is it upbringing - has discipline and respect and mindfulness flown out of the window as parents  put their children so high up on the pedestal, that they can do no wrong? Is it the lack of exposure that has resulted in a very insular society, so entrenched in its own ways and culture, resulting in stereotypical concepts about race or gender?

'We are put here in this place to change them.' my friend said.

I beg to differ I said. We can't change seasons and neither can we change another person.  But we can live true  to the good values that we have been brought up with, and hopefully that will leave some impact on others around us.

I was at a Women's Conference in Dublin recently and I came away with a nugget. 'Live unbothered '

This means that we should not let what is upsetting attach itself to us for too long.

We can choose how we respond to those who are nosy, who don't keep promises, who say things they don't mean, who gossip, who back bite, who envy, who don't like us, who are shallow, who are uncouth .....and the list goes on.

To do this, we need to recognise the unpleasant event or behaviour and tell ourselves that  we will not let it spoil our mood or our day. Once we choose this response, we can then let the bad behaviour go and we have freed ourselves to live life to the fullest.

Everyone is on a journey.

Some take a longer time to arrive at being a better person or friend. And if we live to see that happen, we are genuinely happy for them.

Some may never change at all. And hard as it is, there is nothing we can do about it.

We cannot change that unpleasant behaviour. But we can choose not to let that unpleasant behaviour affect our own mood and feelings.

So it's time to make that warm honey and thank God for the lovely family and friends that surround me. And that is the greatest harvest.