Andy

I met Andy today while waiting for the ultrasound technician to call my name. Andy is 70, maybe older, his face tanned from days in the sun landscaping other people’s lawns. Andy came in for to see if he could get an appointment – for an x-ray or ultrasound – I didn’t catch what he needed.

Andy is from New Foundland – but he’s worked in the Oakville area for over 40 years. He’s got a hernia, he says. Just two weeks after heart surgery. He’s had two heart attacks, he tells me and now a hernia. “It’s really painful, you know. It’s swelling. They were treating me for a blood clot, but now the say it’s a hernia,” he tells me, as a gentle smile crosses his face.

Andy had stories to tell. “I’ve been living in my car these past few days – $600 for two weeks at that motel in Burlington. How can they afford it – lots of them there don’t have work,” he adds. “I’m moving to Acton next week. I found a place for $800 a month, so I’m moving to Acton. It’s much cheaper.”

I tell him the obvious, that he’s got a lot going on and that I hope the doctors can make him feel better soon. He smiles his gentle smile again. The lines on his face are deep, the smell of cigarette smoke lingers on his clothes. I wonder about his life and why he’s still working so hard at when he should be kicking back and enjoying his grandchildren. I don’t ask the question.

“This guy I saw yesterday – he didn’t have work,” Andy goes on. So I bought him a coffee at Tim’s, and he’s going to come to rake some leaves with me,” he tells me. “It made me feel happy,” he says.

Andy is carrying a lot, yet he seems happy. Kind. Gentle. Like a person who always thought about the other person first. I wanted to keep talking to Andy, to keep listening to his story, but the technician called my name and I had to go in. By the time I got out, Andy was gone. I hope he got that appointment he needed, that his hernia gets treated, and that his move to Acton goes well for him. I did not get to tell him any of this.

But, I am grateful I crossed paths with Andy. I saw love and kindness this morning.

Happiness is…

Losing yourself in doodle art and playing with acrylics, even when you don’t know what you’re doing, to wipe away the stress of the week you’ve wrapped up.

Windblown sunflower

Spending Time With Nature

I’ve not been a regular blogger. In truth, I’m still looking to find my groove in this whole world of blogging. So, please excuse my tardiness.

But I wanted to talk about the 30×30 Nature Challenge. I chanced upon it on my drive into work one morning. They were discussing how spending just 30 minutes outside with nature can do a wealth of good for your overall well-being…that there was now a mountain of research that can prove the connection between nature and your well-being.

In truth, I think it’s kinda crazy that I needed a #lovenature challenge to give me a kick in the butt to get outdoors everyday.

When did getting outside become difficult?

I love being outdoors. I always have. There was a time when I took every opportunity to get outside and spend time in nature. Somehow, over the last little while (‘a little while’ that’s gone on far too long), I’ve allowed nature to slip past me. I’ve allowed work to consume my days and evenings and, in turn, stress and aches to take over.

So, I signed up for the 30×30 challenge – a day late on May 2. But I’ll take it through to Day 30 and beyond.

It’s Day 4 and already I can feel a difference. My body is aching a little less. My stress dial appears to have eased back a notch – and is most evident when I’m outside. It feels like there’s space for my mind to breath. I’ve slept a little better each night over the last four days and I’m getting more done. 🙂 How ironic!

My 30 minutes in the evenings have turned into 60 (or more) and yes, the warming weather is definitely helping.

Here’s my nature photo log so far.

Day 1: The Darling Buds of May

Day 2: Nature – The Best Seat in the House

Day 3: The Sound of Rushing Waters Calms the Mind

Day 4: Taking Time to Renew

It’s Day 5 and the sun’s shining bright today. Looks like a promising day!

If you’ve been stuck in stressful place (whatever its cause may be), join me on this 30×30 challenge and I promise you will start to feel better. Let me know how it goes.

I’ll be instagramming my nature logs for the rest of the month. See you there!

 

 

 

Life Lesson: Conceive. Believe. Achieve.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

– My dad to us kids-

O.K., so Napolean Hill was the guy who first said it. But, my dad was the guy who instilled it as a mantra in our lives.

Growing up, I didn’t believe this as easily as I do today. But the power of this statement, or rather, the power of the mind and how we choose to channel our thoughts can literally be life changing.

As a child – a teenager – it was easy for me to be depressed by my reality. When mom served up nothing but plain rice porridge for dinner, or when ballet lessons ended for good mid pirouette, I knew we had no money left that week, or month, and had to make do. But I’d rather not dwell on the tough parts of growing up, or the things we missed out on, because as a child to my parents, I have so much to be grateful for.

Every one of us (we are five) are successful and happy in our own right. And it was no small feat for Mom and Dad to ensure our success. They taught us to set goals, and they championed our dreams every step of the way. So, we each set goals (yes, with my parents in the background nudging, nurturing and guiding us along) and we pushed hard to achieve. And achieve we did.

When I look back on my life, I see distinct points along the way when I stopped and visualized my path and my future. Once I’d mapped it out in my mind, my body instinctively took over and propelled me towards it. I’ve failed, for sure, but when I did, I carved a new plan and moved on.

10 years ago, when Bruce and I got engaged, we began to write down our goals. We made it a ‘couples’ thing to do and we’ve done it every year since. It’s been good for us on many levels. It’s allowed us to focus, to work hard, to overcome obstacles and to bounce right back up when things don’t go to plan. Several times a year now, we pull out our ‘Goal Book’ and look back on what we’ve written. It allows us to recognize what we’ve achieved (everything from getting out of debt and owning a home to getting fit, learning new things and exploring the world). It makes us both feel good. We know that when we reach into the shelves of our lives, they are not empty.

As we celebrate Family Day here in Ontario, I  thank my Mom and Dad for their gifts to us – confidence, self-belief, gumption and love. And, thank you Dad for giving me my life’s mantra: Conceive. Believe. Achieve.

Happy Family Day!

On Canadian Soil in…France

It’s Memorial Day in the US today, so this post is somewhat timely. I was lucky enough to be in Europe on holiday this past week.  Our trip this time  included a visit to Vimy Ridge – the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Today, the landscape around the magnificent Vimy Memorial is peaceful and quiet. Solemn. Sheep graze the grounds just beyond the fence, oblivious to the horrors that took place there once upon a time.

Beyond the fence

But as the annals of history tell us, Vimy, just 10 clicks north of Arras in France, was the site of fierce fighting in World War 1. The grounds around the memorial are littered with hummocks and craters – markers of the horrific explosions set off all those years ago. Many, many lives were lost, but the capture of the narrow ridge by the Canadian forces in 1917 marked a significant moment in Canada’s history during the war.

Hummock-ed fields

We walked the trenches and the tunnels on a guided tour to stories about the courage, valour and ingenuity of the young men for fought a horrifying battle all those years ago. We also heard stories of humanity between the men who were enemies across the trenches.  These stories are echoed all along the Western Front.

We Remember.