| Welcome to 🍏Lunch n Learn with Lindsay🍏 Issue 217 For those asking for an update on Lottie and her University start, all is good! We spent a busy couple of days in Durham getting her settled in her room and then said our farewells. And yes, there were a few tears from us both but more importantly lots of excitement at what the next 3 years hold in terms of learning for her (including life skills – she was trying to work out where the laundry room was so she could do her laundry!). Lottie is not the best at communicating when she’s away from home but the sparse texts I have received have been happy including a photo of Marmite on the breakfast table (she is in catered accommodation). As a family we are in the “love it” corner when it comes to this yummy spread! And then a photo of a bathroom she had found in her block that included a bath (she hasn’t been too enamoured with the small shower on her floor so far!). Priorities everyone! Priorities… Talking of happy, this morning I responded to a friend’s Facebook post about seeing the “Inside Out 2” film. I asked her how she found it as it features on my “want-to-watch” list. Her response made me smile when she said that I reminded her of Joy. To counter this, a Facebook memory came up from 2015 which I’m sharing with you now. When I was ill in 2014 I was completely thrown by the lack of Joy I was feeling and it took a good 6 months to pull myself out of severe depression. I came out the other side stronger and wiser, as you’ll read in my post. Remember “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first” and asking for help when you need it is absolutely not a sign of weakness! Facebook Post from December 2016 I’m fortunate to be writing this from the comfort of my poolside sun lounger, glass of champagne in hand. The sun had started its dip behind the Caribbean terrace. I’m watching my daughter choreograph her own swirly dance in the pool whilst exclaiming at the mini silver whirlpools she’s creating around her with the remaining sun’s rays. ‘Look mummy – the water is sparkly in the sunlight!’. I match her enthusiasm with eyes and a smile wide with magic to encourage her dance. Indeed, the world is sparkly in the diminishing sun’s rays – vibrant green, blue and bougainvillea pink. My breathing has dipped a tempo and I’ve relaxed into the Antiguan pace of walking, moving and, truth be known, thinking. I’ve had sauntering time to spend ‘in my head’. In a small attic room painted white with low dark wooden beams strewn with small white fairy lights, I’ve sorted through the neat piles of folded silken-sari parcels. Memories, and thoughts are now ready to be stored in the waiting 2015 treasure chest. I’ve explored the attic of memories reached via a small 3 step wooden staircase at the corner of the room. Housed in dusty teachests, sturdy and nostalgic with lids that needed to be prised open with determined force, I have taken stock of memories from the chests labelled 2013 and 2014. I’ve held and relived the memories. I’ve caught my breath, focused my breathing and then I’ve carefully refolded the parcels to fit neatly again in the chests. 2015. A healing year. A restorative year when I’ve regained my balance, my equilibrium and learned that feeling well, getting out of bed in the morning with a sense of excited anticipation of what the day will hold is a ‘normality’, but one I will never again take for granted. I read something that resonated with me – ‘depressed is about deep rest’ and I’m now truly awake from that deep rest with strength and a new vision. I’ve learned that I need to put myself first before others, to ensure my own happiness and wellbeing before nurturing others, that the energy and enthusiasm I have can be shared with others as long as I retain a concentrated swirl for myself. I need to distance myself from those who drain me of energy and put up my ‘shield’ when the visible spikes of negative energy dart towards my heart from situations around me. It is huge learning for me that I am so connected, that I am an integral part of the energy and vibrations around me and there is still so much to be learned. I take the sparkly silver whirlpools around my daughter and capture them in a snapshot of whirling energy in the final layer of packaging in 2015s treasure chest. 2016s treasure chest is open and I’m ready to fill it to the brim. |
The Power of Serendipity : Why Happy Accidents Still Matter in the EA & PA Profession
Sometimes the most meaningful opportunities arrive disguised as ordinary moments.
