We had a funny moment yesterday. Sitting together with a group of
friends, suddenly the girl next to me points out that there is a flock (or is
it herd?) of cows leisurely strolling in through the gate and coming into the
property. A random trail of thoughts passed through my mind including, “that’s
interesting... maybe the local cow-herder has an agreement that he can bring
the cows in to graze on the football field...” However, my thoughts were
quickly interrupted (and proven wrong) by a couple of the guys jumping out of
their chairs when they realized what was happening and running outside to shoo
the cows back out using palm branches. I was amazed at the speed of their
reaction (the guys, not the cows- they seemed in no hurry to leave, although
they did eventually make their way out the gate again). It was what you could call
and amusing interruption.
“Where can I find life?” has been a question I have asked myself a lot recently (but really for years). And really the deeper question is: “What is life, and what does it look like?” I guess the simple answer is whatever makes you feel alive on the inside; that brings a smile to your face; and that gives you energy and increases your capacity. There are so many side-effects of burn-out; or maybe they are rather causes of burn-out, which when combined become a huge mountain that can topple even the strongest of people. But once you have been depleted of your capacity to stand in the face of the challenges around you, one of the things that can help increase your energy and capacity is finding pockets of life. (And of course a lot of other things like rest, exercise, patience when the process is slow, setting boundaries etc. but that’s for another blogpost). The past months I’ve been watching and searching and paying attention. Searching for choices that will bring life, and paying att