And I know I have said this before, but it applies again, and therefore I am most definitely going to say it again.
These past couple of days have been spent on improving my blog, it's user-friendliness and it's appearance. I have added some functions as some of you will have probably noticed. Not that I am at all convinced that many people read this. But after posting this, I have decided that this is going to be like my private online diary in which I can say absolutely anything. And if anyone should stumble upon it by accident, then that would be a bonus.
But I am going to tirelessly write what I think, what I feel, what I experience and how these experiences have touched me.
As I am typing this I am so very tired that the very action of my writing this blog is mainly to stay awake.
It's so interesting to me sometimes, when I think back on all the times when, as a child, I used to imagine how marvelous it would be to have a fast-paced busy life, chasing dreams, reaching goals, climbing to the top, no matter what. And while I still want these things, and while I still have enough ambition in me to want to climb that ladder, I have now started to realize that, occasionally, it is important to take one step back instead of rushing forward.
Then I read a quote on Pinterest, that basically read: Don't be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
That kind of stuck with me. I started thinking exactly how much of my day is 'living' and how much of my day attempts to 'make a living'. The ratios were extremely disproportionate. I got tired just thinking of the amount of time I spend working.
And just when the home stretch seemed too far, just when I thought I couldn't possibly get through another week without collapsing, I did.
André P Brink once wrote in his novel 'A Dry White Season': "We have yet to understand the subtleties of God's infinite grace." After I realized what this week is bringing, I was reminded of this powerful quote. Every time something happens to me that is in no way significant in the grand scheme of my life, I am reminded that it is often in the subtleties that the true grace lies. The phone call from a dear friend after a particularly lonely day, a cup of coffee with someone who doesn't need to ask to know how you are feeling, all-green traffic lights on the way home from work, promotional prices on essentials, especially when you are broke.
These subtleties, these little moments of grace in our day-to-day struggles, are often overlooked, but are important, to keep the pillars of our lives from crashing like the proverbial Samson's temple.
I started thinking after a while, exactly how many of us have a 'step-back' plan, as mentioned two paragraphs up. I compiled a mental list of all the business people I met, all the really successful ones, and I started to imagine what they consider to be their daily dose 'living'. It didn't take me very long to realize that a smart businessman is one who knows when to rest as well. Even God rested after six days of work. I started thinking of all the CEO's I know, the business owners, successful artists, performers and I realized that the most accomplished of these people were those who found time for 'making a life' as well as 'making a living'.
I am too busy making a living.
Merely, because I have neither the means nor the motive to take some time for myself. Always rushing to and fro, always somewhere else to go.
And occasionally, when I am bored, when I have exhausted all opportunities that the television can bring, I will surf the internet and read up on some interesting stories filled with bizarre people doing incredible things. I suppose, in a way, the internet has become the adventure book to my young boy.
That was when I stumbled across this story. Enal, a six-year old Indonesian boy, is swimming with his pet shark, and not because he has to, but because he wants to. I am going to quote from Cracked.com, who also ran a story on this boy:
"This is Enal. He swims with sharks. If you need more information than that, perhaps you should take a step back from the computer and contemplate how spoiled modern-day media has made you - that a boy gleefully riding a shark like a little Thai Aquaman is somehow not "enough" for you. But okay, fine, details: This image was not taken out of context, and it was not a once in a lifetime thing. Enal begins every single day by slapping on a pair of goggles, slipping into the penned area beneath the Indonesian fishing community he's a part of, grabbing the nearest shark by the tail, and then steering it around like a murderous jet-ski. There is no further purpose for this action - it's not training for anything, it's not a show for tourists - the only benefits that daily shark-wrangling provides Enal are a quick and energizing way to wake up, and presumably an unflappable sense of invulnerability that borders on madness."
"No further purpose for this action."
Wow.
How many of us can say that we do things like this all the time? How many of us can say that somewhere at some stage in the day we take 5 minutes to 'swim with sharks'? How many of us can say we take 10 minutes a month, to wake-up and 'swim with sharks', even though it has no purpose?
I know I can't.
Well, I couldn't.
Until this happened:
This week marks the beginning of another exciting journey for me in the form of a drama trip that we will be taking to a little town, named Nieu-Bethesda in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. I had completely forgotten about this trip in between my never-ending lifestyle. And boy, was I relieved when I remembered.
This will be my second visit there and for those who have never experienced the Karoo, Nieu-Bethesda is the place to do it. It's peace and tranquility is really only outweighed by the hospitality of its handful of inhabitants. No ATM's, no cellphone coverage, no credit card machines, very few cars. This is cultural, rural Karoo at its very best. Below are some pictures to generate some curiosity. These are pictures I took last year when we took the same drama trip.
All of the above pictures were taken with my very ordinary FujiFilm camera, so yes, the colours really are that vibrant.
My official 'step-back' is going to be this trip to the Karoo. Every morning I will climb rocks, lie in hammocks, eat too much, drink too much, sleep too much without any 'further purposes for these actions'. Because sometimes taking one step back is more important than rushing 2 steps forward. And yes, financially it is a burden for me since I will need to pay for the trip and miss out on valuable work-time, but you know what? Screw it.
This week I'm swimming with friggin' sharks .
Well, metaphorically, at least.
How do you plan on taking a step back this week ? Start by doing one thing.
And perhaps we can remember how it feels like to be Enal. To feel so much joy and happiness at doing something we love doing, that we can't help but show it on our faces.
Perhaps then, we will discover, not only the youthful exuberance that 'doing nothing' brings, but also the resulting endless energy to 'do something'.
No comments:
Post a Comment