Friday, March 30, 2012

Do what you love first

In an emergency oxygen masks will be released from the panel just above your seat. Place it over your mouth and nose, adjust the band to secure it, and breathe normally. Always fit your own mask before helping children, or others requiring assistance.

Now I wonder how many flight attendants, or passengers for that matter, ever realised that there is an important life lesson being given at the beginning of every flight? The advice to fit your own mask before helping others, particularly your own children, does sound a bit selfish, but is in fact very sound advice and should be applied to our everyday life. When our own needs are being met we will find we have much more time and energy to give to others.

A very wise man by the name of Rod once said to me “Everyday make the first thing you do something you love doing”. Now it’s been awhile since I was give that advice but I have never taken it. Gardening is what I love doing but it is often one of the last things I do of a day. Then somedays I am too tired or it’s too dark and what I love doing loses out. As a result I end up feeling ripped off and cheated, and unsurprisingly not as generous as I could be.

Over the last couple of weeks I have had a rising feeling that the garden is falling behind, and I started to feel frustrated. So for the first time I decided to take the advice given by Rod, and many air attendant, and made gardening the very first thing I do each day. So this week I started by getting up and out into the garden at the crack of dawn.


I have thought about doing this before but came up with excuses like: “I am not a morning person.” An excuses that I have been carrying ever since I was a teenager. I think it is time I let that one go, don’t you? I also gave the excuse: “I don’t have enough time in the morning with helping get the children ready for school and me off to work.” Would you believe I didn’t even need to adjust my alarm clock? Because I was getting out of bed to do something I love doing, I actually got out of bed at the first alarm instead of snoozing it half a dozen times.


The result... bed#9 was raked removing all the ditches the chickens had dug, humus from the compose sites on either side were spread over the bed, horse poo along with a  light covering of straw was added, and an assortment of plants were plated out. Along with it being a very productive week, every morning has been a beautiful experience that lingered with me throughout the day. I never realised how magical the garden was at dawn. Unsurprisingly I have felt more happier and generous because of it.

Only hope I feel so inspired in the middle of winter ;-)

9 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean, I'm lucky in that I am usually home by 4pm so can fiddle about in the garden then but I try to get up early enough to go and hang out with chooks every morning. I feel like I've really missed out if I sleep in and don't have time to feed and talk to them.

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  2. Sounds like excellent advice and what better way to start ones day then with a little gardening first thing in the morning.:)

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  3. A lovely post, glad you are enjoying your early morning gardening, a couple of times when I have had trouble sleeping I have gotten up at about five during the summer when the sun was coming up and it was so peaceful and lovely in the warm sunshine.

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  4. I was given very similar advice once. I was told that I should do the things I love first, because if you do them after the stuff that has to be done then you will be too tired. I've followed that. The other thing this woman said to me was, everything gets done eventually, and it does.
    Having so much trouble leaving a comment, it won't let me use any of my wordpress blogs, so just wanted to let you know that it is me Leanne from Dirt and Flowers

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  5. It's a bit like your own daylight savings regime. LOL

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  6. Nice post mate. I am not a morning person, nor even much of an afternoon person, but I manage to get out of bed at 5:00-5:30 most weekends to get a bike ride in before the kids get up. It is harder in the winter though!

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    1. 5 o'clock on a weekend for a non-morning person... I am impressed!

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  7. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to do it on the weekend. So it was a wonderful surprise on Saturday and Sunday when I felt great in the morning and ready to go. I didn't even have to fight with that little voice often in my head saying "just 5 more minutes sleep, you know you what to." What was amazing was that not only did I get gardening done, the rest of the day flowed beautifully. I got more done and felt more relaxed doing it than most weekends.

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  8. Jason, I have the advantage of working from an office at home, but whilst I usually begin work around 7:30am I make sure I conclude around 4:00pm so that I can spend an hour or two in the backyard, plus it is an opportunity for "the girls" to free range for a while. Most of our planting is done late in the afternoon when it is a little cooler and it is also a good time to pick produce for the evening meal. But it does not matter whether you are a morning person or an afternoon person; a little time each day in the garden is good therapy.

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