Last weekend I went down to Joburg to see a dear friend who was over in South Africa visiting her family. Whilst there I went with her family to schul or synagogue. The rabbi gave a brief talk on mountains and how it is not ideal to be at the top of the mountain as you have no further challenges to face and you are no longer stimulated. At the same time it is not a good place to be to be intimidated at the base of a mountain and be overwhelmed. Rather it is best to be at the start of the mountain path full of inspiration and motivation to overcome it. I guess this is true for life. I do struggle with my mountains which can become overbearing.
I saw my therapist on getting back to Harare and she has challenged me to take time each day to think of beautiful things and the good things that have happened. A friend lent me a book which I am taking a while to get through called "Sleeping with Bread". The title is based on the true story of children who were orphaned in the Second World War in London who were left destitute and couldn't sleep at night worried about what would become of them the next day and if they would eat. To quell this fear they were given a loaf of bread to sleep with to reassure them that they ate today and would eat again tomorrow. The book goes on to explain a mindset and prayer life where you look back at the day each night and think of one thing you are grateful for from the day and one thing you wish you could change. This helps you see what is important and appreciate what is good and challenging you in life.
So my challenge is to think more positively and develop my appreciation of the good rather than the bad. I guess the 100 days of happiness challenge on Facebook is a bit like that. I need to take stock more of what I am thankful for.
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