De ja Vu!

Apparently life is here to teach us lessons. The question is do we ever learn from these lessons? Are we getting it?

So often, I think to myself, after another occurence of procrastinating and then deciding the obvious way to go would be organised, why was I not organised in the first place? Why did I not do it this way in the beginning? I mean, duh, it was so much easier this way!!

Over the past few weeks I have been very busy, amidst the throes of trying to shake off a devlish virus, with concerts, work, freelance stuff, reading a terrific book (Stieg Larsson book 2 is soo much better than book 1), movies, TV shows, seeing friends...thank goodness excercise has not been in the mix. At first I was floundering, panicking at how I was going to get everything done, but as the weeks have gone by, I've started having some fun and all purely thanks to the fact that I decided to get my little ducks in a row.

And just the other night, as I was working on my little row of ducks, it dawned on me: I've had this experience before. De ja Vu! But why did I not learn from my previous experience? Why had I forgotten this simple life lesson.

Is this the purpose of life? To experience and re-experience these lessons until we finally acknowledge "I got the Message!". What makes one lesson more important than the other? How quickly we change our behaviour or do we have these experiences because, as much as they may seem a lot like a previous occurence, there is something new to learn?

All I know is that I wish I'd pick up on this Ducks in a Row lesson, it would make my life so much easier!!!

The Man

A few weeks ago, South Africans and many people across the globe were in a panic over the health of our former president, Nelson Mandela. It was reported that he had passed away, he was merely in hospital for a regular check-up and in the end it was confirmed he had suffered a collapsed lung.

I had to wonder why people were so panicked at the thought of the passing of Nelson Mandela. He is a wonderful example of humility, forgiveness and love, but we are not invincible, he is 93 and we cannot all live forever. We all die, our physical form perishes, but we can find comfort in the knowledge that our spirit will live on. Nelson Mandela will live on for eternity, some of us will live on in the hearts and minds of family and friends.

Someone might be remembered for bringing about World Peace, finding a cure for Cancer or finally making that chocolate that is truly FAT FREE!!! In the meantime, us mere mortals must not forget that we play a role in the human spirit and how our generation will be remembered. We can make a difference.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so
that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others." 

                                                       Written by Marianne Williamson