A weekly tradition where we pop the cork on the week that was, celebrate what worked, reflect on what didn’t, and look forward to a sparkling new week of possibility. I hope you’ll join me and share your reflections in the comments.
What am I celebrating?
I like to keep moving — for example, I'd much rather weave through the back streets than sit still in a traffic jam. So, this week I am celebrating living in a country that is once again moving forward and taking action (whether I agree with all the actions and decisions is another conversation).
What am I acknowledging?
That it is a mistake to take driving advice from a 3 year old, and that a 6 year old can teach you how to face your fears…
On Monday my friend Kay and I were sharing child-transportation responsibilities. We met up at my place so she could take my daughter to vacation care along with her daughter. And I was taking her son to childcare along with my young fella.
We bundled our respective charges into our cars — she was parked in the driveway behind my car, which was in the garage.
I was programming the iPod at my son's request (Born in the USA) while Nicholas (Mr 3) told me that “the girls have already gone". Righto, I thought, all clear so let's back out… right into Kay's car.
Lesson #1: A 3 year old is too young to be taken seriously as a backseat driver.
During our #seachangeforaweek last week down at Woolgoolga, we visited a friend, Sara on her farm in Bellingen. The visit included a trip to the hen house to collect the eggs.
It's important to note at this point that I have a bird phobia, and I am especially freaked out by chickens. Snakes, spiders, big dogs, cockroaches barely make me flinch, but anything with feathers and a beak make my heart beat faster.
So when the big rooster jumped on Miss 6's backpack and scratched her, I was cowering outside while she (despite being a suburban kid through and through) shrugged it off with no drama.
Later that night at my sister's place, while I stayed home with the kids and my sister had a night out, I walked out of the kitchen and saw their pet bird OUT OF THE CAGE. My sister didn’t tell me that the bird could open the cage door. Like a shot I was across the room and the kids, alerted by my anguished cries, came running down the stairs.
My 8 year old niece offered to take care of the crisis and get the bird back into the cage. Talk about over promising and under delivering – despite her enthusiasm, I realised that getting the bird back into the cage was going to fall on me. My knees started to tremble, my thoughts began to race. I looked over at my daughter and thought if this kid can take on a rooster then I can get a bird back into the cage. And I did!
Lesson #2: A 6 year old can be a great teacher.
Here is a photo of my adversary – Pippy.
What was missing?
I usually like fill my plate of life. I am conscious of not overloading but like all of us I can be very generous with my serves and struggle to clear everything off my “plate”.
This week I let go of the need to finish everything. This included taking time off from my exercise routine to get over my cold – my remedy whenever I was supposed to exercise was to take to the couch to watch an old episode of Seachange.
What small change can I make for next week?
Cat and I were talking this week about how much is enough, the impact of being focused on what is missing and still left to achieve and our expectation for life to be extraordinary all the time (very unrealistic and only leading to disappointment). I was reflecting on our conversation before drifting off to sleep and wondered about the significance of navigating those ordinary moments in life.
This week I am going to be more accepting of the ordinary moments and understand that living through these moments with awareness and acceptance will make the extraordinary moments even more special.
Ready to pop the cork with me? I’d love to hear about your week in the comments…
Image by nImAdestiny
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