As I was getting into my brother’s car
this morning, I noticed that I left my perfume on the passenger seat last night
and thought to myself I need to remember taking it back home because it’s the
only one I have.
That train of thought about the perfume
bottle, which barely has a few puffs left in it by the way, led me to a thought
about abundance. When we collect things in abundance we lose appreciation for
their value. If I had more than one bottle of perfume, would I have made a
mental reminder to hold on to an almost empty bottle?
I can imagine the expression on your faces change at this point with compassion!
But let me tell you I was so grateful
that this thought was NOT associated with self-pity. On the contrary, I felt I
had a connection with my “Carolina Herrera” which was given to me on my
birthday back in 2008, almost 4 years ago! I’ve had it for four years and never
touched it because I had other options. But when I ran out of all I had, I went
back to the one I didn’t think was suitable for me, and I love it!
This applies to everything in life, when
we slow down and make do with what we have, we can smell better, taste better
and feel even more.
I’m not saying I’m a hero and I must admit I didn’t get to this stage by choice. I happen to have lost my job and with it the luxury to live a life of abundance.
As difficult as it has been and still is,
it’s also been a valuable lesson and at times a very enjoyable and a humbling experience.
Believe me I’m only saying this because
I’m in a good mood. But it’s true, when you’re in the mood I’m in right now,
your energy helps you shift your attention from the awful reality of not
affording to buy a new perfume…to the divine purpose that caused it.
Come to think of it, I was faced with
this new reality a month before I turned 40, the age when we’re supposed to
make a significant transformation in our lives. It was as if I was meant to put
the breaks on and start walking.
And it is true. In the absence of a
physical car, I walk more in a city known to be the least pedestrian friendly
in the whole world, but I learned to enjoy it.
I learned to be creative with my wardrobe and enjoy mixing and matching
clothes I never knew I had. I learned to spend less and enjoy what I have even
more!
It seems like the past few years have been humbling for many of us turning 40. On good days I feel it is a blessing that we got to learn whatever it is we are supposed to learn while we are still with an "abundance" of health and strength rather than learning them later in life when we might not be able to take it. On bad days I do allow myself to feel sorry for myself and be angry, even though anger is never good, it sometimes creeps up on me and gets the better of me. On bad days I feel I do not want to learn anything and question the wisdom of it all. The nagging question of "why did I have to learn it in such a difficult way" presses on for days sometimes. But eventually it passes as with everything and we are left with sentiments we remember vaguely. Am I thankful, yes I am, for without those years I would not have learned to appreciate my own "Herrera".
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, and I think we are so lucky to have been blessed with the consciousness to question and seek the answers. Some people go through years of suffering and are totally oblivious to the fact that they're supposed to learn something from their experiences and go on with their life feeling the pain every time with the the same severity.
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