Didn't we do well :)

A friend pointed me towards a blog that suggested we think about how we want to be on Easter Sunday, and do something for Lent that enables us to get there. I’d like to be more generous and so that’s why I chose the Lenten practice that is enjoyably encouraging me to do that J  And now I’m thinking this principle has mileage. I guess I already use it to a certain extent. So I think to myself, when the kids leave home, what do I want them to look back on in their time here with me. When I’m on my deathbed, what do I want to be glad of that my life contained. It’s a great way of checking I am doing what I want to do with my life. So no, I don’t want to have earned a fortune, I do want to have made a difference. I do want to have grabbed every opportunity to love every person as fully as I’m able to, to have not “wasted” my time in anger or bitterness or fear.

Cliched as it is, this is the one and only life I’m going to get. There are times when it feels like it’s not the life I wanted. And for pretty much everyone I can think of that is the case too – struggles around health, relationships, loss – all of these can leave us feeling powerless victims of circumstances.

I’m loving my Buddhist book and think it is going to sit well with where I am at – that there may be circumstances I can’t control, but I can be in touch with how I feel, I can choose to see the positive, the opportunities, the self discovery in those challenges, I can learn and grow and love myself and others all the better for it. To celebrate all that has brought me to now. To practice loving kindness. And one day I think I will look back and delight at just how well we all did J