Possibility and Mastery

 

“Stop managing your time. Start managing your focus.” ~ Robin Sharma

I’m drinking deeply from Robin Sharma’s cup of wisdom this week and have been meditating on a post he put up sometime last month. It was titled ‘7 Lessons for Possibility and Creative Mastery. The tagline for the post was “Be a heavyweight on the planet, we need more of them.”

I’m not so sure about the heavyweight part . . . It’s been an exhausting 3 weeks and I feel like I need to hibernate – bear style. Just go out of circulation, don’t eat, don’t clean, don’t have to feed the cats twice a day, just sleep! Thank God they are not subscribers to my blog because I’d be in trouble right now. Granted, I’m no bear and there’s no hibernation in sight, let’s get on with Robin’s wisdom.

Tread lightly on the earth. May we each honor the gifts mother earth has given us. It has been raining for a while now. The plants are green, it is cooler, and dust gave way to mud. Once bubbling streams are now roaring rivers. Once gossipy villagers are now busy farmers. I am grateful for the rain and grateful for the opportunity to wear my sweaters and use my blankets, if only for a short season every year. FYI – the hills and mountains I’ve climbed are still as high as I left them and none of my footprints can be found there. Nature will still be here long after we’re gone.  

Avoid toxic people. They cost you your joy, productivity, and peace of mind. One of the blessings that came out of the isolation of 2020 was the winnowing out of loads of relationships that had probably been forced on us by circumstances. The distance that was forced on people created an opportunity to evaluate who was necessary for their life and who was not. If that chance passed you by, now is another chance to evaluate and take action. Peace of mind is as priceless as it is necessary.

Spend some time alone each day. I cannot trade my quiet hour at 4 am for anything. It is the time I reflect, pray, meditate, create, discover myself, and grow. “Alone time is when I distance myself from the voices of the world so I can hear my own.” – Oprah Winfrey It is important to hear you – sometimes that voice is crying out for an adjustment and when we don’t pay attention, something breaks.  

Make the time to develop an excellent family life. Love your loved ones. This past Easter I got to spend some hours with my family. It has recently been difficult to synchronize calendars and hours because of the church, work, and social commitments. Even though we speak on the phone and chat on WhatsApp daily, it is those few moments of being together, sharing a meal, and spending time together that will forever live in our memories.

Doing creative work that fills you with joy is a gorgeous route to happiness. Robin is right on this one. Crochet, soap making, jewelry making, sewing, baking – all my creative pursuits that engage multiple senses. Creative work can be both gratifying in the process as well as the final product and some creations live on, well beyond the life of their creator. If happiness was to run out in all places, it would still live in my bag of crochet hooks.

In hard times, grow. In glorious times, enjoy. Life is a series of seasons. Some seasons last longer than we are comfortable with. But the seasons always change. Drought cannot go on forever. It will not rain without ceasing. Wisdom is knowing how to act in any given season. Do not go planting at harvest time.

Keep the shortness and unpredictability of human life close to your daily perception. I cannot say this any clearer. The rate at which people are becoming dearly departed is enough to remind me that the hourglass is ticking and it has no alarm to warn you that your sand is running out. Number your days and make your minutes count. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone.

“Go fast. The future is never guaranteed and the right time may never come.” ~ James Clear

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