I would love to appreciate my life more. Ordinary, normal, every day life. Im haunted by the idea that in my twilight years I will wish I had appreciated my amazing health and mobility.
When I take the time to look at how we are walking about in these incredibly bodies on the surface of a planet it really isn’t ordinary or boring, its actually incredible how miraculous it is. And how much we have! But it doesnt take long for me to go back to getting used to it all and taking it for granted.
I was in the shower today wondering how much more I would appreciate each moment if I was told I was going to die, or told I was going to become paralysed at a certain date. I wondered how would that would change my perception of my normal everyday life?
Imagine you are given one month to live. Once you had processed and accepted that, what would every day be like?
Would making a cup of tea become a hugely enjoyable experience where you would revel in the joy of having boiling water at the click of a switch, the sounds of the water going into the cup, taste? Would I appreciate everything so much more? Would a walk through flowers in the park become an ecstatic experience? Sitting here alone here, would I start to enjoying even that more? Is this a pointless hypothetical exercise?!
My friend B was paralysed from the neck down last year. I visit him every few weeks and witness the excruciating predicament he is in, nearly constant pain and discomfort, cant do anything much for himself, needs help to even go to the loo or eat or drink. And the others in his institution, all with various high dependency conditions. I do have a good time with my friend and he does too, we laugh and chat and cry and share our life situations. His is so much harder though of course, and my problems seem measly in comparison.
So these people cant do all the things we take for granted, eating a meal, going to a restaurant, making love, walking across a room to make some tea, a walk on the beach, having a shower, get dressed themselves even.
I just wish I could appreciate so much more the joy of the ordinary.
How to do this? Take the time to notice everything, and breathe into each and every experience. I am experimenting with this.
Learning to Rest with it All 