Busy week this last week – Halloween on Tuesday, change from October to November and the Bonfire Night on Sunday (and various fireworks all weekend really). I do love autumn nights and lovely, unexpectedly sunny days. Although towards the end of the week I felt really coldy and rubbish which was annoying and meant that I didn’t go out and look at as many fireworks as I might have done, although did see a big display on Sunday which was worth it. My three things for this week are:
- Embrace the gift of time!
Ah I do love the unexpected gift of time! After what looked like it was going to be a crazy, meeting filled week, I unexpectedly had some meetings cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday which was an unexpected gift! I do sometimes feel almost frozen when I get these times as I don’t know where to start with the “to do” list. This week I did a balance of ticking some things off and then also using the time to do some unexpected things like catch up with people or do some other small jobs I didn’t think I would have time to do.
2. The danger of assumptions
A few years ago I read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and liked it so much that we have the four agreements as a poster on our kitchen well. This one “Do not make assumptions” is on my kids often quote back to me (ha!) and one that I was minded about this week. Reflecting on a slightly difficult meeting, I was thinking all sorts of negative things about what had happened, when it occurred to me that I was making a whole load of assumptions that were not based on any evidence at all and that I should really just take a breath and relax! Perhaps I need to read The Four Agreements again!
3. Approach things with an open mind
There were a few things I was doing last week, which I have to be honest I was not looking forward to. I felt pressured by all the things I had to do and felt a bit of frustration about some of the things that I had agreed to do. However! I was pleasantly surprised about what I got out of some of the things I had committed to do to and the interactions I had with people. Once again, reminding me to approach things with an open mind. I urge people to do this when I ask them to engage in playful practice, so I think I need to apply this to my own practice more often!