During these challenges, I tend to get lost in the blogosphere, so this reality check is for me, but will hopefully serve as a reminder for others of you who are equally foggy-headed!
I've been writing Life Wisdom this month, such as it is, but not every part of life is wise. Yes, I meditate every day, do yoga, read my Bible, tell my husband I love him, and I believe that for my life these are wise things to do. But reality is also mundane. Or chaotic. Or overwhelming.
For me, this is reality:
As I write this, I am sitting at a small desk in our small apartment in Beijing, China. The window by my desk looks out from 11 stories up, over the main entrance to our building, where several bikes and motorbikes are parked. If I stand up and look down, I can see a few of the older residents sitting on benches. There is a street with some small shops and a hotel, many trees, and beyond the trees, other tall buildings. Through them, I can see how very smoggy it is today. It doesn't look smoggy if you just look below.
As I write this, Doctor Zhivago is playing on the TV. This is one of those movies that I know well enough that it's not distracting to me, but if I take a break from writing, I enjoy it. It's just so beautiful! This movie makes winter look pretty. I don't only watch old classics, though: yesterday was Guardians of the Galaxy. Do you write with any noise around you, or do you need silence?
Reality is: I struggle with depression. It comes out of nowhere and goes away after a while. Sometimes I can recognize it coming - if I don't want to sing along to my music, if I don't want to leave the house, these are road signs that I need to take care of my internal self.
Reality is: We are preparing to move again. We started looking at apartments during the winter, postponed it due to major holidays impacting our finances, and when we re-commenced looking, had completely different goals. We do not have an apartment lined up yet, but the whole house has to be packed, so that occupies much of my mind.
Reality often gets in the way of being calm, centered, and wise in all moments of life, don't you think? How are you staying grounded in the real world during this challenge?
(If you're visiting from A to Z, please include the name of your blog as it is on the Master List so I can return the favor!)
The joy of reaching Midlife is that you have more time. I work a lot less, I have no children at home, it's just my husband, me and our two cats. Lots of time for blogging - my reality check is remembering to walk away from laptop and participate in life - the AtoZ takes up so much of my time and I need to keep the balance right.
ReplyDeleteLeanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au
R for Remember Silence
Good point. For me, it's not even getting away from the laptop - I have other things to do that require me to be here at my desk, but it's hard to get out of blogging mode sometimes. Good point.
DeleteWith this upcoming move coming up (and how much I really really want to be at the new place rather than here) I am uber-aware of the reality around me. It's depressing.
ReplyDeleteI notice we've both stopped putting a positive spin on the minor annoyances of life. I'm trying to get it back. Why be miserable for the next month?
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