Life, love, laughter,
a smile, kisses, sunrises and sunsets, the air we breathe, the musical sounds
that birds make, the sound of the waves in the ocean and my favourite, bear
hugs J cost
absolutely nothing! The older I get and
the more people (much older) I talk to who have lived long enough to have
stories to tell the more I realise that the simpler you live your life the more
in tune you will be with things that matter and the more you will get out of
life.
A couple of
weeks ago a friend of mine asked me what is it that I want out of life and my
response was simple “I want to be happy”, funny how I didn’t have to think
about that; he laughed and said I must let him know once I know what I
want. To some this might seem like a
simple minded or even stupid response but I had just informed him of the
ultimate of what I want. We do the
things we do, study, work, open businesses, get married, have babies, go on
holiday, work out, go out partying, go shopping or whatever it is that you do
because we think that will give you happiness. For instance, you study because
you want to get a good job, you open your own business because you want to make
loads of money and think that the financial freedom you will have will make you
happy, get married because sharing your life with your partner will make you
happy, work out because you will get that natural high from the endorphins, go
shopping because of that jovial mood you are in when shopping etc. At the tip
of the hierarchy of all these things we do is the crown called ‘Happiness’. It’s
unfortunate that in the society we live in today we not only do these things
because it makes us happy but because it makes others happy and/or it makes us
seem happier in the eyes of others so basically we do things for others - live
our lives for others.
In pursuit of
happiness we have found ourselves so busy ‘living it up’ that we often miss
opportunities to enjoy the free gifts of life that will bring us closer to the
crown we are chasing after so much. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for the things
mentioned above but let us not be caught in the ‘Rat Race’ as Robert Kiyosaki
calls it, don’t get so busy that you don’t even have the time to enjoy what
you’ve worked or is working so hard for. Pause once in a while, close your
eyes, take a few deep breaths, open and look around you using the eyes of your
inner child, yes, you know what I’m talking about, that exactly! Even if it’s
just for a few minutes, that moment will make a huge difference to your day,
practice this often and see if you don’t feel a step closer to the crown. When
you are old and weary it’s not the Loubi’s, the Lambo and the fine Lamb that
make your soul smile but the moments you were stepping closer to the crown and
that doesn’t cost an arm and a Leg.
Let’s keep it
simple and enjoy being J
Love love!
Sindisiwe Uzuri