Lighten up
Reading is dangerous. Books should come with a health warning. All of you who've been good enough to drop by regularly will probably appreciate the irony of what happened. We were in the supermarket car park. The pilot was jetlagged (back to back Luxor), the six year old was tetchy - in the back of the car refusing to come out, reading a (heavy hardback) Harry Potter. The two year old reached out towards the car door - small fingers, heavy hinge ... I lunged after him just as the pilot grabbed the book in frustration and flung it full strength towards the hedge. Only it didn't make it to the hedge because my head was in the way. Yes - struggling novelist floored by a copy of probably the best selling book on earth. I am now sporting a fetching black eye that a prize fighter would be proud of, and the doc said I have concussion and should take it easy for a couple of weeks (did she not notice the two small children hanging off me during the consultation?) The birthday photos tomorrow should be (cue Max from Hart to Hart ...) 'Gorgeous'.
This proves what I have thought all along - someone up there has a sense of humour. I was watching the lovely Ewan McGregor biking round the world in 'The Long Way Round' last night. They were in East Russia, and he said this was the worst bit - which in retrospect will be the best. Isn't that the truth? Being nearly blinded by J K Rowling's finest has to be the low point (and yet I feel lucky - a fraction of a cm either way and it would have been an eye or a delicate temple ...) Funnily enough though being whacked round the head by a heavy book has woken me up. I had been mooching around, wondering what resolutions to make this year after last year's failures but now everything is suddenly clear. Book? House? Overseas move? Who knows. My resolution this year is simple: Lighten up.
I choose to be happy. I choose to take a new perspective. If I had been in the moment instead of thinking about 101 things as normal, maybe I would have seen the book coming. I've been reading a lot about Eudaimonia in the last week, and whichever stance you take (Artistotelian, hedonist or stoic), I think seeking happiness and success through doing the best with what you've got is it. I was reading an interview with Robert de Niro the other day and he said 'You can't take yourself too seriously, otherwise you'd go nuts.' Lighten up. We've got one life, and I'm going to raise my game and give it my best shot.
TODAY'S PROMPT: Think back over your life to one of the toughest times. Is it true that these are often the most memorable and valuable points in your life, the ones where you feel truly on your game and alive? Is this why people talk of the Blitz spirit? What lessons do you think this experience or challenge taught you? If tomorrow were a new year for you, what positive change would you take with you, and what would your resolutions be?
This proves what I have thought all along - someone up there has a sense of humour. I was watching the lovely Ewan McGregor biking round the world in 'The Long Way Round' last night. They were in East Russia, and he said this was the worst bit - which in retrospect will be the best. Isn't that the truth? Being nearly blinded by J K Rowling's finest has to be the low point (and yet I feel lucky - a fraction of a cm either way and it would have been an eye or a delicate temple ...) Funnily enough though being whacked round the head by a heavy book has woken me up. I had been mooching around, wondering what resolutions to make this year after last year's failures but now everything is suddenly clear. Book? House? Overseas move? Who knows. My resolution this year is simple: Lighten up.
I choose to be happy. I choose to take a new perspective. If I had been in the moment instead of thinking about 101 things as normal, maybe I would have seen the book coming. I've been reading a lot about Eudaimonia in the last week, and whichever stance you take (Artistotelian, hedonist or stoic), I think seeking happiness and success through doing the best with what you've got is it. I was reading an interview with Robert de Niro the other day and he said 'You can't take yourself too seriously, otherwise you'd go nuts.' Lighten up. We've got one life, and I'm going to raise my game and give it my best shot.
TODAY'S PROMPT: Think back over your life to one of the toughest times. Is it true that these are often the most memorable and valuable points in your life, the ones where you feel truly on your game and alive? Is this why people talk of the Blitz spirit? What lessons do you think this experience or challenge taught you? If tomorrow were a new year for you, what positive change would you take with you, and what would your resolutions be?
