Your Best Life

Sandy Dingwall February 28, 2013

I am feeling inundated at the moment. It usually happens when my mind in suffering from information overload. Now this is not necessarily a negative thing, I love information, love to keep myself informed, love borrowing books from the library, and I love feedback. However, when it comes on mass, covering many different topics, I need to take a step back and filter.

So you may ask, what has been coming my way as of late? It’s been loads of good stuff; information and inspiration to make me think about the best things in my life; the best things in my kids’ lives and the best things of life in general. Just a few things to think about ;)!

You see, the world didn’t end at the conclusion of 2012, but it has brought with it a new awareness. A looking into ‘our own backyard’ sort of wake up call. I have a 2013 Astrological Calender and Moon Planting guide on my wall… along with moon cycles, times for planting certain fruit & vegetables to maximise their success and void moon times, the author provides a commentary on the year ahead.

This is what he has written to sum up how we might view the year ahead “a minimum of energy should be expended in bewailing the dysfunction that you see in the wider world, so that a maximum of energy can be directed toward developing your own program, your passion, your way of contributing what you can, within the sphere that is your world and watching happiness grow from that!”

And I guess that is how I have already found myself operating so far this year… I have been taking time; slow, quality time with my kids, myself and hubby dearest. You know the sort of time I mean, mindful time. Bike rides, reading, sitting side by side, conscious food decisions, empowering discussions and most importantly, listening, with both ears.

If you stop, and listen to what’s going on around you in the news, what’s on topic, what’s happening in your networks you may find that this change of awareness is occurring in your own world right now too.

We have ‘the best of life’ in all of us in the present moment. We have the choices; be it regarding food, money, work arrangements, education, down time… I could go on and on. The way we reconcile our current status quo depends on these choices, and looking at our little microcosm first and foremost. There exists no right or wrong, no ‘having to do it this way or that’ (especially if that’s simply because it’s always been done that way!) and there’s no need to compare yourself to others.

Remember, that little ripple you make in your own space creates a very powerful force, impacting on a wider context. More and more often, due to the globalisation that technology has provided, we are presented with content far reaching from our own neighbourhood. Yes, we are more connected, and, yes, we are more aware of issues, news, decisions and politics from around the world but dare I say that this at the expense of our own community.

What can you do right now? Take a step outside your door, look around you, what haven’t you noticed before? Have you been a tourist in your own town or city? Have you seen the opportunities to support local businesses, rather than the big supermarkets or department stores? Have you held your son or daughter’s hand and looked at your community through their eyes? Jump on your bike, if you have one, and ride; see what you can find. A new café, new restaurant, little boutique with some gorgeous new clothes or home wares. Reconnect.

We cannot stop the roundabout we find ourselves on, but we can make it slow down, we can ride it like a carousel, slowly, adding music as it goes around. We have the best of life, sometimes we just have to open our eyes to see it.