I would like to start this blog post by
asking you to consider what a ‘Good Life’ in fact means to you?
I want you to think about this first and
foremost before you read this blog post, and throughout the post (should you
make it to the end without losing interest) so that I don’t annoy you too much
or come across as a giver of UNWANTED ADVICE….ick!
SOOOOOOOOO if you just made it here and are
already thinking twice about reading on… then perhaps don’t. Or be brave and
read on. Or don’t. You have a choice, in fact we all do. So always remember to
make your decisions wisely.
For me Life is pretty bloody GOOD at the
moment! Not just ‘Good enough’, I’m talking ‘GOOD-GOOD’. In fact I’m finding it near impossible not to
smile, feel happy, blessed and grateful.
Our gorgeous baby girl Thea arrived on March 20, my dream Art Studio
commenced construction the very next day and was completed two weeks later. I
had my Husband Matt at home with us for 32 whole days and the weather has been
incredible. So good!
Above: Framework for my studio. Bottom: Me and my little bundle just a few days new. |
Progress shots of my dream Art Studio in construction. |
I have a few gripes to make about being a
new Mum, but these genuinely all stem from outside of myself…ahem… ‘Negative
comments’ from others about kissing sleep, fun and all types of personal
indulgence good-bye and…well…. ahem…’UNWANTED ADVICE’ about child rearing in
general from all kinds of strangers. That’s the thing about UNWANTED advice!!!
Don’t get me started.
Another thing that really pings me off (yes
I said ping) and has for a really long time now, are the ‘Oh you are so lucky’
comments in reference to me seemingly having stumbled across all of this ‘good
fortune’ and ‘circumstance’ (PLEASE detect sarcasm).
Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not for
one second suggesting that I’m not lucky, because yes I am very lucky! Lucky to
have had this beautiful baby girl and even more ‘lucky’ to have found a partner
who I can depend on for endless support and who is actively and ably raising
this child with me each and everyday, in equal partnership, without having to work
distances away. Mind you, I would like to point out that he (being Matt) wasn’t
gifted to me! We chose each other and so far we have both stuck with that
decision.
I am also exceptionally lucky to have been
genetically gifted my artistic ability. Yes I’ve worked at improving my skills
and I have sought further knowledge and higher Education to keep my creativity
alive and thriving, but certainly and undeniably this creative ‘genetic gift’
runs in my family, so yeah that makes me lucky. What I would, however, like to
draw attention to is the fact that all of us are essentially lucky, in a number
of different ways and often we are far more lucky than one thousand million
other people that walk this Earth (if they in fact have able legs to do so).
One can argue ‘Experience’ plays a vital
part in the equation of a ‘Good Life’ and it certainly sets a number of us apart
from the pack. I would argue however, that experiences are not always sought
after and in fact some are very hard to get over. Some of us have great
experiences, some of us have disappointing experiences and too many of us have
tragically horrible experiences. In many ways the latter comes down to being in
the wrong place, at the wrong time often with the WRONG people (again these are
factors that are out of our control)…this is what we actually refer to as
UNLUCKY and UNFAIR! It is important though to remember that no good comes from
judging others for not having had the same experience as us. Good or Bad. So
leave envy, resentment and arrogance out of it.
A wise friend of mine shared this thought
provoking meme on Facebook just a few days ago and it really left a long lingering
thought in my head (long lingering enough I finally decided to write a new blog
post…yes long overdue I know).
If we are all told that the recipe to
achieving rewards, good results and essentially a ‘Good enough’ life comes down
to HARD WORK, then how do you possibly live with the guilt of knowing that
potentially more than half the World’s population, are plain and simply being
hugely gipped?!?! I for one thought of myself as a hard-worker until I saw this.
I thought, “Yep, I’ve worked hard and I deserve my paid holidays, my
comfortable and clean home, my nice, semi fashionable clothing”. But you know what, it’s safe to say (hand over
heart) that I’ve never NEVER worked as hard as these women do each and every
day to merely survive. NOPE not a single day of my life have I ‘worked’ this
hard, not even for some kind of financial incentive. So where is their LUCK?
Where is their reward of ‘down time’ and a ‘good enough’ life?
So back to this discussion of LUCK…. are
you feeling lucky yet?? Well I sure hope you do. Luck is out of our control, so
don’t go chasing it (well you can if you want, who am I to give unwanted advice.
Go on then keep buying your weekly lottery ticket. You’ve got to be in it to
win it right?!?).
What I really want to draw attention to; is
the importance of being aware of the opportunities we have available to us as
the lucky ones. They are seriously
everywhere and you can even create your own!! They are the things you can take a hold of and use to your advantage.
Opportunities are the key to making your own luck, feeling happy and being well on on your way to a ‘Great Life’. For many there are
limited opportunities available and for many more there are zilch. If anything,
make the most of the fact that you have access to a butt load more
opportunities than some of the World’s population. Having access to the Internet
alone to read this incredibly long-winded, and potentially uninteresting blog post
makes you lucky. Those without access are missing out on this particular opportunity
;)
So what are you going to do with your luck?
I hope there is a point coming across from
all of this, I really really hope so, because otherwise I have just wasted the
precious hours of time I have between feeding my baby and nursing her back to
sleep…NOOOO!!! This is a personal luxury I choose for myself…as a new Mum.
Actually writing this blog post. One of many I plan on taking in the days,
weeks, months and years ahead because I believe there are still great personal
opportunities to be had EVEN after having had a child. Again this is not luck,
this is CHOICE…and undeniably this is possible by asking for help when I want
to take some ‘Me time’ and preferably before I ever desperately need an out! I
will admit I am LUCKY here because combined, Matt and I have four sets of
parents, that all live within close proximity to answer our call for help…well
close enough and yet far enough away to not drop in unannounced, yes we may
have intentionally chosen to live on a Mountain for this very reason! They have
also been very forthcoming with offers of help and we are lucky to have them
all.
My sleeping beauty. |
While I do LOVE IKEA, I do not mean through possessions alone. |
You can design your own life BECAUSE if you are reading this then you have access to more
resources than those African women working their butts off to provide food and
water to their children. If they had a spare few dollars and time I highly
doubt they would be seeking out an Internet café to check on their Facebook
notifications…again count yourself lucky that you can do this often, in fact more
than once a day and it will come without irreparable consequence.
So here it is! The end of my blog
post…thank goodness!!!!
My equation to a ‘Good life’ looks like
this:
Be thankful for all that I have, all that I
can do and all that I am
+ SMILE
+ Share what I know and can do with others
+ Give back
+ Celebrate aging…it’s a privilege
+ Give my heart and my time to the right people
+ Remember that this LUCKY life is not a
race or a competition
+ Make the most of my down time…turn that
TV off!
+ Look after my body
+ Feed my mind
+ Seek knowledge
+ Spend wisely
+ Make plans and see them through
+ Keep my word
+ LOVE + ACCEPT + CHERISH
+ Basically I promise not to take a single
day of my LUCKY life for granted.