So it has already come to pass, several decades and now yet
another season. Soon to be another year
and we have aged. It is so easy to live shallowly
in the demands of today. How I strive to
be more purposefully reflective. To find
a means to preserve the time that is forever seeping from my grasp. A cry that is hardly unique to me. As I look around and take stock of my life I
feel incredibly fortunate to fit well in my own shoes. It is a blessing like no other to love the
life that you are in and I just don’t want to take a moment of it for granted.
What follows has slowly seeped into status updates and notes
of sharing and caring for friends and family but blog style I can no longer
resist the self indulgent urge to share a summary of beloved personal mantras. Written goals and personal standards are
important tools and systems of value in Burtonia. We know from experience that once you put it
in writing you can make it real.
This list changes and grows with me but the time is never
wrong to mark the here and now. Of all
of the aspirations I have the strongest is to continue to learn, to find a way
think ‘big’. To embrace life as a greater
opportunity than what I can see; what of it lies dormant at my feet. I don’t claim to have it all figured out but
the world could only be a better place if we all shared our lists and cared enough
to at least listen to what each person’s experience could add to these
priceless collections.
If you know me you've heard at least one of these in some form or fashion. Every day of my life I try my very best to adhere to these five AB fundamentals:
1. The universe is unfathomably old and large
and I am very young and small.
Whatever you believe about how humanity came to rest atop the food chain
it is an undeniable fact that the chance of any individual human existence was
minuscule at best. Just think of how
many kids your parents didn’t have and same the math based on a population of
approximately 7 billion. If you can
stand next to a mountain or see photos from the Hubble telescope and still
think you have the most important situation happening in all of existence what
you are most in need of is perspective. Your time here will be nothing in comparison
to the timeline of the known universe.
2. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how
you react. You might not know it but
someone somewhere is going to follow your lead or be more than mildly affected
by how you interpret a situation.
Perception is reality. You can
not always control the things that happen around you but you can set the tone
of your reaction. If not initially, when the dust settles. You can always offer an open door or the next
steps. You can change the lasting
outcome by helping to manage the aftermath.
3. Everyone has a story. If every life is a book every person has a
chapter or two they would love to tear out and burn. This could be a tale of regret or paragraph
of terror. Pain can come by your own
hand or it could be that you are a victim of circumstance or the brutality of
others. What I have come to realize is
that every life story, even my own, contains dark pages. Pages, however old or new are meant to be
turned. It is not the adversity but the
coping that proves the truest content of our character. The most impressive, munificent, loving people
I know have overcome unthinkable misfortune and hardship that could easily but
the brakes on personal progress and their ability to trust, to engage and to love. Anyone
would understand if they stayed in a place of shadows and fear but they
declined the option of being defined by sadness and tragedy. These pages and chapters are
part of their story but they absolutely refuse to lend them the title of their entire manuscript.
4. No one is normal. That’s right.
All across the board. My
vocations have offered me the opportunity to meet an incredibly wide variety of
people and to get a real and focussed look at how they live and who they
are. One thing is for sure - everyone is
at least a little bit crazy and weird.
There is absolutely no standard to adhere to or bar to reach when it
comes to the loopy connections in your brain and no mind fires on perfect
cylinders. The best people I know are in
touch with their “crazy” and see ways to accept the “madness” ingrained in
others.
5. Enthusiasm
is contagious. If you have met my amazing
partner there is no need to ask me where I get my zest for life. Surround yourself with people who carry
energy and display attitudes that you want for yourself. Don’t expect them to make you happy but
notice how they achieve it and adopt some of their habits and mindsets. Let them inspire you. Their strengths can be new assumable values,
ties that bind, resources to lean on and learn from when you are not at your
best. My favourite people to spend time with know the powers of gratitude,
generosity, laughter and they can actually manufacture joy (perhaps the most
valuable of personal commodities).
This isn't the end. I know enough to be certain that I know very little. AB
