Lesson 51. Take a bath.

Deepest apologies from the land of nod and other magical distractions for my tardiness and general lack of focus. Disciplined blogger is back and better than ever (slight exaggeration but the phrase needed it, I'm probably not better than ever.)

Yesterday I felt a little over my head. Stress and a silly state landed me with that awful homesick belly ache that spreads from my belly to my extremities. It triggered a little something near my tear duct that left me head buried in hands. Luckily, a love in my life who knows me best suggested I toddle on over to his residence and take a bath. Nothing grieved me more than the dark November discovery that my hostel did not have a bathtub. If there's two things I need in a house it's a fireplace and a bathtub. I don't think I even knew what a shower was until I was about 10. Bathing was and always has been a vice, an escape, a lull into blissful ignorance of what is outside the bathroom door.

So yesterday I took a bath, and oh was it glorious. I popped in a bubble bar from my workplace and watched the water create a delicious little diversion from day to day life. I dipped my toe in and followed with the rest, I felt like I could finally breathe. I closed my eyes and I didn't ponder. I threw away thoughts of stress and worry and I was just being. It was a beautiful thing just to be. We don't do that enough.

Don't let things drive you to the point where you don't know how to just be. Take a deep breath, close your eyes and just smile. Just relax for a moment. It will do wonders for your worn out weary wit. Take a bath.

Lesson 50. Get some sleep.

This post leans towards the simple yet crucial side of life. Get some sleep, seriously.

Lesson 49. Have peace.

The rain whips the window pane. I only watch. I am safe and sound as I am. The living room is warm and the outside world is only fiction. It's quiet here, and although I have mountains of incomplete work in front of me, I only sit.

I read somewhere that peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no trouble or hard work, it means to be in the midst of these and still feel calm in your heart. I've found this to ring true throughout all of life's crowded hallways and stressful spiral staircases. Peace is not about reaching a physical destination or a certain completion date, it's about your heart.

It's almost the mid-year slump. The end of the semester is approaching and seemingly so is the end of many a rope. Exams are making a mighty noise and study is cluttering the space- not to mention mad emotions running wild about the house. It is all too easy to let it consume you. To place your heart in the topsy turvy feelings field seems to be an automatic response.

Place your heart in a place of peace. Place it in what you know. That way regardless of circumstance your feet will stay firmly on the ground. Take heart in the knowledge that you are loved, you have a plan and a purpose, a hope and a future. You have much more than the noise and rain of the outside. You are in the midst of wild weather and you still feel calm in your heart. Have peace.

Lesson 48. Appreciate this phase before it's over.

Hi. This is now. This is where you are, this is who you're with and this is what you're doing.

This is hard. This is happy. This is your life. Do you wish you were elsewhere?

We're all guilty of it. When you were eight you stared down that menacing title page and you remembered the triumphant day you were awarded your pen license. When you were sixteen and your heart was trampled for the first time, you looked back to the title page days and sighed over their simplicity. Now you're out on your own and the glory days are replaying. Highschool without heartache, primary school without title pages. Hindsight is a marvelous, magical blind over our hazy eyes. We neglect the nasty details of the past and return to it with a fond touch. I'm not saying we should dwell on the difficult, I'm saying that maybe instead of always using memories as a vice we should appreciate this very moment. 

It's always easier to see the good once it's gone. How about we try seeing it right now? Live in such a way that when looking back you can smile with deep satisfaction because you know you loved it while you lived it. Appreciate this phase before it's over. 

Lesson 47. Watch an inspiring film.

Family film night was a bit misty-eyed this time round. Mostly on my Dad's behalf (he happens to be a fool for ill wildlife and the underdog rising to triumph) but not without worthy cause.

It erred a little towards the cliche side of things, but it also dug a little deeper in the direction of the heart. So the story went: Downtrodden solo Father trying to raise two children whilst nursing his broken heart. Makes major lifestyle change. Turns a load of lives around. Fall in love again. Made his mark on the world. Roll ending credits to some upbeat Jonsi.

I don't know what it is that makes something as fictional as film stir up something within us. Maybe it's simply a story of something better than what we know right now, maybe it's a spark of re-ignition that the world is ours to set alight. I don't know what inspires you. I do however know that when you are feeling like the man who's life soundtrack seems to be stuck on 'Yellow' by Coldplay, you need to watch something that makes you feel like rising to triumph. Watch an inspiring film.

Lesson 46. Occasionally bask in comfortable silence.

Current location: Cloud Nine/Home.

Oh sweet bliss I am back. How I have missed the smell of where the leaves meet the grass, how I have missed the sound of silence on the street. I'm currently cuddled up waiting for sleep's tireless pursuit to  finally come to an end. Oh sweet bliss I am back. 

As usual, the blog of the day is born out of reflection. I have shuffled through the moments in the madness and settled on a few to draw out today's lesson. I drove home with my sister today. We had our pals John and Ed accompanying us via mixed C.D. and many a discussion about the road and where it's leading- metaphorical and literal of course. However, there was many a moment of silence. Not awkward or stilted or strange or uncomfortable, just a sweet simple silence. I am blessed to have the kind of relationship with my sister where words are not necessary. It's rare for that to exist between two people, so when it comes your way cherish it. When silence becomes something you are willing to accept rather than break, look at the person beside you and note-to-self that you love them and they love you. It's when we can be around each other without having to be anything else that we can call one another true friends. Hold onto the moments that lack words because in shout-scream-sing world, silence is a sweet rarity.

Bed. Silence. Beautiful. I am not in need of noise, I am simply appreciating life and all it's beauty, how comfortable we have grown to exist in parallel with one another. Occasionally bask in comfortable silence. 

Lesson 45. Take a break between yesterdays triumph and tomorrow's trial.

I had a wonderful day today.

I brunched with a babe and I handed in my final English assignment. I then traipsed about town with classmates who are quickly becoming some of my best friends. We detoured to the seaside and discussed life, love and our whereabouts with the afore mentioned topics. The day came to a well-worthy close with the assistance of dancing shoes and sweet sweet tunes. I had a wonderful day today.

Take time to celebrate your triumphs, allow yourself a breather. Refreshed will soon take that place of your plain-jane middle name and you'll find yourself ready to tackle tomorrow's trials with greater gumption than ever before. Leave a little time to laugh. Take a break between yesterday's triumph and tomorrow's trial.