How I loved this Madonna song from the 80s.
Synchronicity recently forced me to realise that a girl only needs ‘one pair’ of sunglasses and that maybe it’s time to shake off too much of the ‘material’ in life.
When I lost my sunglasses recently, I became quite the ‘material girl’ and felt ‘upset’ about losing a material possession.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Let’s make this really clear, I felt annoyed with myself for being upset over losing a pair of sunglasses, even though I was very fond of them. Yes, I know, it’s hardly a newsworthy event and truth be told, it irritated me that I let something as trivial as a material possession affect my mood. If I was reading this blog, my first thought would be, how ridiculous for someone who writes about mindfulness to be upset over losing a material possession. I’m the first to agree it suggests that I have a long road ahead of me on my journey to what really matters in life. As Rumi wrote:
“if you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”
Rumi’s words remind us that we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. I tell myself this over and over again when something like this happens. Despite this, a daily meditation practice and a library of self help digested, something unexpected still manages to knock me off kilter.
#Reframe – refuse to have a pity party
In the film Bridesmaids there is a wonderful scene where Kirsten Wig’s character is feeling sorry for herself and her unlikely saviour comes along and tells her not to have a pity party. It’s a great pick me up. I used it on myself, which in turn led me to reframe the experience and ponder if there was a deeper meaning to losing my sunglasses.
If you look carefully you’ll see signs in everything
The late Wayne Dyer’s ‘The Shift’ is a wonderful book and movie of the move away from the material of the external world to the beauty of going within and taking off the rose tinted glasses to find what really matters in life.
Removing the shade to look within
The obvious message of ‘sunglasses gate’ would seem to be that the loss of any possession is to pay attention and not be distracted by other goings on, to look after things that you treasure. On a deeper dig, perhaps it’s a message that I need to take off my sunglasses to show the real me. Or, that I ought to stop hiding in the shadows, stop putting up barriers. My hobby is writing and perhaps it is time to stop hiding from the sun and step into the light.
From Marie Kondo to The Minimalists
I have recently read Marie Kondo’s “The life-changing magic of tidying up” and recently discovered the Minimalists. They both inspired me to do a wardrobe empty and get rid of about 40 items of clothes and shoes – and now a pair of sunglasses (ahem). I have much further to go. Baby steps….
Rest assured that I haven’t yet managed to throw off the chains of the material and am still lusting after my sunglasses, the thing is that if I only have one pair I bet I will look after them better and appreciate them more.
In case any of you have affiliations with St Anthony or archangel Chamuel, both who I understand are skilled at finding lost causes or property, please put a good word in for me, photo attached at the top of blog.
As with all people and things in life, they aren’t with you forever, treasure the moments you have together.
Calming Crohns 