I have been pondering a lot recently. On all sorts. Wrestling with things I can control, things I can’t and wondering if I could do things differently in the future maybe. Or if I should have done things differently in the past.
That all sounds rather dramatic and it isn’t really but I think we all go through periods like that, don’t we? Times when we reflect a bit. I know I do. My main struggle is that I worry I am trying to be too many things to too many people. Wearing too many hats but that is just life is at the moment because all those hats need to be worn and mine is the only head around.
Deep and I don’t mean to be. But it is probably why the above quote really struck a chord with me this morning.
Pottering home on the school run this morning, stuck in traffic, as usual I was doing a shopping list in my head. Making sure I remembered there is a bloke coming to look at cutting the hedge at 6.30pm. That I must phone the vet about the dog’s skin. And not forget to collect youngest’s prescription. Oh and her parcel from New Look. The list was fairly endless. And in the background to all this chatter in my brain was Chris Evans on Radio 2 interviewing Denzel Washington.
Chris was asking him how he has managed to maintain a 31 year marriage, raise four children and be a fairly grounded bloke whilst working in the craziness that is Hollywood. Denzel’s response was the quote above.
Be the best me I can be today.
Instantly the chatter in my head stopped and that quote just sat there.
How simple is that?
Yet it’s one of the most profound things I have heard in a long time. And was sort of a lightbulb. I just need to be me. And the rest will fall into place.
Imagine if the whole world adopted the same philosophy? Just being the best me to ourselves the world over?
How different the world would be.
Now. Does anybody have any idea where I left me?
Not sure what my ‘me’ is anymore. Have difficulty some days wondering what my purpose is in life but I eventually arrive at a conclusion! My role is to be available for certain medical treatments to be applied to me, to receive and practise exercise regimes and to struggle through my weekly German class which I voluntarily undergo to keep my mind ticking over. (Problem is the class consists of people with a wide range of abilities. We range from European championship to Cheshire Conference with me being about Division 2 North. The top dogs occasionally hog all the time! I can follow them and respond but if I initiate something it soon peters out)
Then there’s my driving! An automatic modified for disabled use. A knob on the steering wheel and a key pad for all functions – horn, lights etc. 128 miles on public roads so far and no problems apart from my passenger wife who regularly hits 50,000 feet without oxygen! We’re both exercising patience.
Hey Ho!
And to email me to keep me abreast of things I may have missed on Radio 4. Or of words that have become common parlance that really shouldn’t. Have I ranted at you recently about how the word gotten is creeping on to my radar more and more and how I really don’t like it AT ALL. And to show me how to do the Times crossword.
Key roles and to be kept up please
Much of our language comes from Anglo-Saxon/Middle German. “Gotten” is a past participle form of “got”. I blame our ancestors!
It is irritating but what about “proven” – mainly in shampoo adverts!
I heard Chris Evans’s interview with Denzel Washington on Friday morning & was amazed at how down-to-earth he was.
I wish I was one of those people who could go with the flow more, but my mind is never still & I have a conspiracy theory that the more organised I try to become… the more life flings extra challenges in my direction. Maybe striving to “Be the best me I can be today,” is the way to go.
Great post lovely x
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Instead of a New Years Resolution every year, I think about being “My Best Me”! Nothing wrong with the old one – just want to focus on all the great bits a bit more. Thanks for sharing xx