Just for today

Paulo Coelho: “I know a lot of people who are going nowhere, very fast”.

Sometimes I want the world to just stop for a second, so I can get my footing, and exhale my breath. Life happens quickly. It changes by the day; your circumstances, but also what you know and understand. Often we don’t even notice how much we have changed before suddenly, ten years have passed.

It’s a frightening thought.

I was thinking back on my memories. Working through the random ones – pausing on those that made me happy – crying over those which made me sad. Flicking up and down through my life’s memories, testing myself to see how far I could go back. (I got to five years old, where I can recall getting a letter through the door accepting me into Primary School – hurrah!)

You see, I worry about who exactly I am right now. I believe that when I was a little person – we shall say, about eight – reflecting back, I well and truly felt I knew who I was. I liked making things, I liked Marmite pasta after school, I was bossy – I make my brother and sister play schools – I wore glasses, and I was the best reader in the class. It was simple.

When I thought to all the pictures of my past, my younger memories were my clearer ones.

As I grow older I feel I may have lost some of the ease of knowing what makes me, me. I am not just the little girl who collected flowers in my garden to make perfume – I am a whole lot more grown-up things too which I have collected along the way. As we grow older we become our reactions to the people who have left us, loved us, understood us, hurt us, tricked us and made us laugh.

A whole lot more complicated...

Appreciating our experiences, and loving how they have made us become, even though they may have hurt us deeply, is so important. It may be one of the harder things to do, but it stops us from exuding all those uncontrollable emotions like anger, jealousy and bitterness.

Perhaps think how lucky we are to have such opportunities to learn, grow and expand our minds upwards. I still love Marmite Pasta, but I love to listen now, and not just talk, I have learnt a deep empathy for people who have hurt.

It is through experiencing life; making mistakes and solving problems that we can make our spirit more beautiful and wise. The world doesn't need to stop for us to take stock of our lives, we just need to pause and give our spirit some respect for how we have got to where we are today.

The Reiki Principle:

Just for today I will give thanks for my many blessings.

Just for today I will not worry.

Just for today I will not be angry.

Just for today I will do my work honestly.

Just for today I will be kind to my neighbor and every living thing.