On Being

On Tuesday I explained how I try not to overschedule my time.  I used to be a maniac about my to-do list.  On Mondays I would look at the previous week's list and transfer anything not yet done to the current list and then I would add all the new things to do.  I loved the list!  I'd put it on the fridge and get great joy from crossing off items as they were accomplished.  Sometimes if I did something not on the list, I would add it to the list afterwards so that I could have the satisfaction of crossing it off!  I would show my husband the list..."Look at my list!"  I'm not sure if I was complaining about it or proud of it. 

Why did I do that?  Was it because I worked part-time and needed to prove I was still busy?  People would ask me, "How are you?"  I would answer "I'm really busy."  That isn't even an answer to that question!  My very wise husband once asked me, "What are you rushing through all of this for? What do you want to get to?"  I had to admit that all I really wanted was to try to get "all this done" so that I could finally rest.  The earlier I could fall into bed at night, the better.

This past February we lost a very dear friend of ours, Michael Leonard.  Mike was only 29 years old.  He had been born with the condition spina bifida and spent all of his life in a wheel chair and many months at a time in hospital.  His condition meant that he needed assistance to do what most of us take for granted. Physically he really couldn't do much.  But Mike had a personality, a smile and spirit about him that was magnetic.  He loved people, especially his church family.  Michael and my husband had regular Tuesday night get togethers.  Sometimes they'd meet where Mike lived, sometimes they'd arrange for the adaptive transport bus to bring him to our house to play a few hours of billards.  Often they'd meet in a hospital room with some take-out food.

My point is that Michael didn't need to do anything to be special and important.  He was about  being and not doing... being thoughtful, being supportive, being funny, being an encourager.  About two weeks before Michael passed away, he'd heard that our beloved dog Abby had died.  He was the first person to phone me and say how sorry he was to hear our sad news.  Maybe because of what he'd been through Michael was able to cut through the superficial and get to the heart of the matter and to the hearts of those who mattered to him, which was pretty much everyone he met.

You will of course understand why at Michael's memorial service it was standing room only.  There were line ups at the open microphone of people who wanted to share how Michael had impacted, encouraged, changed them.  His closest friend wrote a song about him and performed it.

Finally, it wasn't really hard to give up the "to-do" habit.  These days I'm trying to do a little less and be a little more.  Thank you for the inspiration Michael.

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have a wonderful day just being you,

Sandra