I used to stress over crossing the boundaries, the divergence from the plan and direction, but during one photo assignment some years ago I watched these camels in a “traffic jam” or sorts. It changed my perspective overnight: there is absolutely no point stressing over what you cannot change or is out of your hands. These are the teaching moments in life when we learn to make the most of the situation! My lesson that day from Prof. Camel – Enjoy what is right under your nose.
Today is a day when there are huge worldwide topics to choose from – the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the situation in Beirut, the resurgence of COVID-19 cases and return to lockdown situation in some countries, the massive cycling accident in the Tour of Poland, and so on. Regardless of whether you look back on the historical significance of August 6, or contemplate the state of your community, city, country or world, and wallow in the murky waters of uncertainty of the future, it can be overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be.
I have bees aplenty visiting my flower-filled balcony, my amaryllis has presented me with five blooms this week (it normally just blooms in winter), my lavender and rosemary are thriving, and my cats decided that they dislike Afro-Cuban jazz. It is the little things that keep us grounded – breakfast in the sunshine with family, foraging for yarrow and Queen Anne’s lace, tomato sprouting in my garden, conversations with friends and family around the globe. This morning, for example, I had three consecutive phone calls, each in a different language, after which I couldn’t think straight in any language, but I was grateful to be able to speak them.
Again, back to Prof. Camel and his lesson – we get so caught up in directing the past or stressing over the future that we forget to live in the present. After all these years, Prof. Camel is still teaching – and it seems to me his message is more important today, during this pandemic and new social structure than ever before.
Enjoy the treasures within your reach. So by all means, bake, cook, eat, photograph, sketch, dance, sing, or simply stand on a paddle boat and savour the fact that you haven’t fallen in. But for goodness sake, don’t waste the moment or allow others to ruin it for you.
Been there, done that.
Never again.
FrogDiva Thoughts 