My Favourite Things

As I get older I become more and more comfortable with the idea that success isn’t limited to the amount of money we earn and things we own. I suppose I have always known it, but the fuzzy feeling of ‘contentment’ I get when I look at things I’ve collected over the years is linked to things of importance to me in my life, such as the beautiful patchwork quilt on my bed which I bought for twelve pounds at a car boot sale or the pine dresser in my kitchen filled with knick knacks picked up at charity shops over the years and which fill me with pleasure when- ever I handle them .
Maria in the Sound of Music expressed the sentiment perfectly in “My Favourite Things.” It’s the little things like Raindrops on Roses and whiskers on kittens which matter in life if we only take the time to notice them.
I came across a website called ‘Three Beautiful Things” the other day. In it Clare Grant aims to find three things to be grateful for each day. What a wonderful idea in a world where we are bombarded daily with negative news and promises of brighter future? Why, I wonder can’t we just be satisfied with ‘now’? We would all be happier if we weren’t constantly striving for a better car or that promotion or a bigger house.
When reading Enough: Breaking Free From The World Of More by John Naish recently I learned that in terms of money, tests have shown that a person who earns slightly above the average salary is just as happy as someone who is a millionaire. Being very rich doesn’t increase contentment.
Being able to spend time with my children is a far greater blessing. I haven’t always stayed at home, I chose to work part- time for the first few years of their young lives but as they grew the work life balance began to get out of kilter , I felt more and more torn between my roles as a professional career woman, a mother and home educator of my Autistic son.
I opted to step off the treadmill which was taking me further and further away from where I wanted to be and the result a year and a half on, is someone who has had time to take photos of the clouds and learn about their formations, to study the declaration of human rights and learn about some of the most important human rights activists who ever lived and to turn my hand to writing about things that matter to me such as protecting our wonderful planet. I have taken back control of my life and am grateful that it has enabled me to spend quality time with my wonderful family.