LIFE IS A DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECT!
"Life is a Do-It-Yourself Project!!"
I heard a song on Midlands 103 FM recently from The Supremes that my Dad used to play now and then when he was on the radio with his Jukebox Saturday programme and it was made famous by Doris Day called, "Enjoy Yourself It's Later than you Think!" and it got me thinking about how short life can be especially when we look at how we have lived our lives over the past few months of lockdown and the huge loss of many loved ones during that time and also how life can pass us by without us getting the chance to enjoy ourselves and suddenly realizing that we have missed out on so much, as the song goes, "You work and work for years and years, You're always on the go, Never take a minute off, To busy making' dough, Some day, you say, you'll have your fun, When you're a millionaire! - But Imagine all the fun you'll have In an old rockin' chair, Enjoy yourself it's later than you think, Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink, The years go by as quickly as a wink, Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself It's later than you think."
Everyone of us before the Coronavirus were busy in a mad fast paced world. In other words we were run off our feet and totally wrecked, physically and mentally and it's difficult to put others needs or wants before our own and it is difficult for us to enjoy ourselves because we are so caught up in rushing around. But, we should now after lockdown, as much as possible try to make our world a better place to care about others, especially the most weak and vulnerable in our societies. We should be aware of the difficulties some of our family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and others carry or have been through over the last few months. We should try to help bear as much as we can some of their difficulties and strife. We all have needs and difficulties, little ones and big ones and we experience them almost every day no matter how rich or poor we may be! We should try and do this but also enjoy ourselves in doing it. The following Serenity prayer helps me each day in my living, "God grant me the serenity, To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world. As it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right. If I surrender to His Will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life. And supremely happy with Him Forever and ever in the next."
Live a life worthwhile
Please everyone if you can with all your strength and power if you know of someone or if you come across someone that needs help and support please help that someone along the way of life's journey. That is what life is really all about because if you hurt someone along that journey then you will destroy your own journey but then again who am I or anyone to judge another. In saying that, do your best always. I hope and pray that you know that you get more by giving more, not hoarding or trying to hold onto what you do have. I hope and pray that you know that you have incredible talents and you can use them for a greater good if you believe in goodness and the genuine care of looking after one another. I hope and pray that you know the satisfaction of learning and caring and compassionately helping others to learn and genuinely care too. I hope and pray that you know that love is seeing the good in others and helping their light to shine. Your light shining can help others light to shine as well. Never blow out someone else's light but always try to make it shine brighter. Believe me some day it will all come to an end. That's why as the song goes it's important to enjoy ourselves when we can because it is already too late for some of us. There will be no more walks on the prom or on the beaches around west clare or sunrises or sunsets for that matter, no seconds, no minutes, no hours, no days, no weeks or no years. All the things that we have hoarded, whether hidden, treasured or held in a display cabinet or in a bank account, will pass to someone else or to a government account. Your wealth, fame, achievements, power and even your remembrance each year will whither down to, "did we ever exist at all". It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, loves, resentments, care's, frustrations, acceptances and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and bucket lists will expire. The winning of All-Ireland medals or any medals for that fact and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the city or county you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful, bright, talented, gifted or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So, give of yourself to someone today and enjoy yourself and I promise you that you will sleep better tonight for it.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is about what you learned as well as what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many felt good when they were around you and how you served them. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters and enjoy yourself while doing it before it is too late!!! As usual a story from my Nana Scully's prayer book may help...
Build Wisely
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career. When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.” The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently. But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely.
As a final thought, try to become a giver instead of a taker and I promise you that you will find comfort,contentment, and joy in your living. So, be a blessing and genuinely be a helper and a carer and a lover. Make every day count!!! Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you. Create your own life then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets. May one of your purposes in life be to help someone today and give it your all always and enjoy yourself before it's too late!!! Always remember that, "Success is not just reaching the top, But also helping others go up! Success is not being better than the rest, But helping others be at their best! Success is not about having fame or fortune, But helping others avoid misfortune! Success is not about showing that you are superior, But helping others know that they are not inferior! Success is not about showing off, But helping others enjoy stability! Success is not getting what you want at every single word, But helping others get what they cannot afford! Success is about making people smile, Helping others live a life that is worthwhile will help you to live a life of joy! Remember that ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach, the part that we come in contact with in our daily living. Any small, loving, caring, compassionate, merciful, prayerful and calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good and peace. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, then adding more and then continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale. One of the most calming, revitalising, refocusing and powerful actions you can do, to intervene in a stormy world or to make the storm within you and without, is to stand up and show your own soul. A Soul for example, is like a shining light on the deck of a ship at sea that shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul actually the light of your soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy, love, care, compassion toward others, all are acts of immense bravery, kindness, empathy and greatest necessity. Struggling souls like mine a lot of the time catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel despair, discouraged, lost, hurt, afraid, depressed and all at sea. I too have felt despair, discouraged, lost, hurt, afraid, depressed and all at sea, many times in my life, even recently and more constantly lately but I do not keep a chair for it; I try so hard not to entertain it. I try not to allow it to eat from my plate or drink from my cup. I pray that this cup is taken away from me if possible or if it is allowed. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you and if we are honest we all do at times. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for. This comes with much love and a prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth. So try as much as possible to be a genuine help to others and when you can, "enjoy yourself it's later than you think!"