This is a (another!) strange week, and I find that I am feeling curiously frustrated as I am not able to get on with things as quickly as I would like to. I have been working late and mulling things over and talking through ideas with my family, but what I really need if a good run at things. I need to concentrate on one task at a time and schedule uninterrupted time to get down to business. An unexpected complaint from someone who works on her own at home, I know, and last night I had a real break-through moment. I realized that I myself am, in fact, the sole cause of my frustration. There is so much going on both with my family and here at ACN-NW that my natural tendency to respond enthusiastically to all external stimuli means that I allow my attention to be drawn away from the task at hand as each hour (or minute!) presents a new challenge. I am the Queen of Multi-Taskers, but even I need to find my inner Zen and take the time to experience fully the highs and lows that life throws at me.
Don’t panic—I’m not having a mid-life crisis and this is not the prelude to me announcing that I am planning to skateboard around the world or knit jumpers from seaweed that I’ve harvested from Morecambe Bay. I am simply noting that I, and possibly many others, can easily lose sight of ‘essentials’ in a world where surface details are constantly thrust at us. Tomorrow I will be in London attending the funeral of my much-loved father-in-law. A native Hungarian who worked for the World Service for most of his long career, he was a very colourful character. He welcomed me with open arms when I joined his family and he (and my mother-in-law) made a slightly frightened young woman who managed to end up thousands of miles from home feel like she had an anchor and roots in her adopted country. I definitely need to stop and take the time to mourn the loss of this special man.
HOWEVER, this is North West Caroline we are talking about. I am pathologically enthusiastic and optimistic (my lovely husband says that living with me is completely exhausting—but he is a bit eeyore-ish sometimes, I think!). I am deeply saddened at the loss of my father-in-law, but I have to look ahead as well. ACN-NW has made great strides over the last couple of weeks—Malta, two fabulous meetings with Bishops Brignall and Davies, exciting plans for the Hearts project for primary schools, the beginnings of plans for events and programmes for the North West Region, my new potential footballers initiative…Hurray! And, to top it all off, I would like to take this opportunity to announce to you all that ACN-NW has now received its first ever donation! A lovely doctor from Preston sent us a donation in reply to letter that I wrote to him about the possibility of an ACN lecture at the next meeting of his group. Unfortunately his group (along with most of its members!) is now defunct, but he wanted to help us himself. This warms my heart. I send out a lot of unsolicited letters and emails and, not surprisingly, most fall upon stony ground. This one didn’t though; for whatever reason this letter made someone think about helping and sharing with those who aren’t able to help themselves. That, I believe, is why we are all here; that doctor in Preston decided to CARE. He stopped and he took that extra step without getting immediately distracted by the details of the next thing that his life threw at him. I want to try to be more like him.
Big plans afoot from next Monday—a new, focussed, streamlined me. Just watch and learn…
Thanks for reading! Caroline
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