Month: September 2014

Treasure in a coffin.

lizaaitken

A coffin would usually measure about 84 inches in length and be 28 inches wide so with you inside it, however slender you are, there won’t be an awful lot of room for treasure.

The word coffin derives from the old French word cofin, meaning basket or cradle. It seams funny and a little strange to me that we arrive and leave in the same vehicles. I’m wondering if it because each time we travel we are being born in one place and saying goodbye to another.

Although any box used for the dead is a coffin, the word casket is also widely used. It’s interesting that a casket was originally a box for jewelry. I think perhaps we are the jewels in this case and our value is measured by our deeds on earth.

I think what I’m getting at here, you have to stay with me, as I write to formulate my thoughts. Anyway what I’m saying is that we can’t really take anything with us, it will not stay along for the ride. We won’t wake up in the hereafter with the wealth we have amassed on earth any more than a baby is born with a healthy bank account and pots of gold.

So why do we spend our lives building our individual empires, with dreams of wealth being some of the most prominent. Why do we pray for a lottery win over health and happiness and why do we find it so hard to let go of material possessions when there will come a day we have no other option.

I’m as guilty as the rest, I’m a magpie, and I like beautiful things around me. I like things to shine, I polish taps and shine sinks. I bought my car as the tan leather seats went with my handbags. I weigh more on the bathroom scales than I actually should, because of the silver jewelry I never take off. I’m working on this and I will continue working, as I know the treasures we have on earth are nothing more than fool’s gold.

If we could only see each other by looking at the beauty of each individual soul without the material possessions or lack of possessions. I think we would see a completely different picture. We would truly see each other for who we really are by what we give out and not be swayed by falseness. I wonder what colours I give out, I hope they say something good about me.

Lately I have being seeing the natural beauty in nature, the flowers and the colours, the sounds and the smells. This is new for me, I’m a town girl and always busy and on the go. I’m giving myself more time now, I have slowed down, I’m watching and waiting.

I am wealthy in friends and loved ones, I have beautiful people around me but I won’t be taking them with me, nor would they want to come. I know I will die with the people I love around me but that will be as far as they go. I travel alone and the only treasure I want with me is the love of those I hold dear. I know with all certainty that the only treasures I will count as I leave this place are the people I love.

I’m thinking about this today and I’m going to keep thinking about it because I don’t want to forget. The wealth I have now and any wealth I have in the future will be measured in any kindness and love I’m able to give out. The treasure I will take with me will be those memories and achievements. I think they will fit as they will be sewn into my spirit and travel with me.

What will you fit in your coffin with you when they carry you out of this lifetime?

When life goes wrong

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When you take a hit and life goes the wrong way, it is very easy to blame the universe. I mean you can’t possibly blame yourself can you, that would be daft, it is obviously down to someone or something you have absolutely no control over, it’s not your fault.

I’m not talking about every day occurrences, your numbers not coming in on the lottery, your holiday company closing down with your money or your laptop crashing. I’m talking about the big hits, like losing your home and having absolutely no idea what you will do next, how you will survive. A life-changing event any way that knocks you off you feet at a point in life you were simply not expecting it.

These things happen every minute of every day to millions of people and yet when they happen to us they are catastrophic. Why, because it happened to ‘me’ and it is not fair. What have I done to deserve this we ask, friends ask the same and show pity, although from a distance on occasion, as a run of bad luck can be catching.

When I look back on my life, I’m 50 by the way. None of the awful things that happened along the way are awful today. They all led me to where I am now and until this recent bit of bad luck, life was pretty okay. In fact, if some of those at the time awful things, hadn’t happened, life might be pretty awful.

When I think back to painful experiences, does it still hurt? Although I can remember how I felt at those times and appreciate the pain I experienced, it doesn’t hurt any more. I’m pretty much all healed, and I think for the majority of the time, better off for the experience.

We trundle along in life, not noticing what is going on a lot of the time until we get knocked off our feet. Bang, bloody big reality shock, life as we know it has crumbled into tiny pieces, so small they won’t fit back together. This is how the universe wakes us up, lets us know we were nodding off and getting boring. These alarm calls are set to stimulate us, alert us to every tiny detail of our existence.

Have you ever noticed at times like this how sharp everything looks, how sound echoes and feelings intensify? Enter your true friends and out and good riddance to those hangers on. Although we don’t know it at the time these are the best of days, these are the start of our next chapters and we only have to turn the page to get there.

I have had a bit of a hit recently but this time I have surprised myself. I’m excited by it, I’m eager and full of anticipation for where I’m going this time. The universe hasn’t let me down so far, as much as things might have seemed bleak at the times, the universe had a better view, the long view, and I put myself at its mercy.

Payment

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‘How would you like to be paid for any work you do in the future’, the philosophy professor asked his students as the lesson began. Money was the resounding answer from the class; money echoed from every corner of the room, it almost tinkled like small change, with the eagerness of the response. Laughter rang out along with comments of ‘lots of it’ and ‘mountains of the stuff’ from a few of the bolder and yet more honest students. ‘Why sir’, asked one of the young men at the back of the class, ‘isn’t that how everyone is paid for their work, are there any other options’

The professor looked at his class and smiled, he held this talk every year and it always started the same. A few moments passed as he scanned the room, these kids were a good bunch, the majority of them would grow up to be decent human beings. On a daily basis since the start of term, he had witnessed them helping each other, encouraging, sharing of themselves and leaving their mark. Yes, he thought to himself as he looked at them, they were a very good class indeed.

He stood, smiling slightly, at the front of the class, his students waiting for the answer that would start today’s lesson. ‘My hope is that I am thought of with kindness, valued for my work and respected for who I am’ he began ‘I love to teach and inspire people and the payback for me is to see my students achieve and to know I have had a part in that, this is what makes each and every day worthwhile’. He paused for a moment, the room was silent ‘There are many forms of payment’ he went on ‘but one thing has become abundantly clear to me, money is by far the least significant.’

Let us discuss…