2009 – The Year of Carefree Living (Are You Having Fun Yet?)

So, how’s 2009 going for you so far? I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling positively joyous about the Credit crunch and the World Recession and the tough times ahead. Feel the fear and do it anyway…

Let me explain – last year, well, actually, the last 2 years, have been my toughest ones yet – determined to stay in our chosen foreign land (Spain) we took on 3 large media projects in a row which turned out to be non-payers, and since we were in the midst of building our home, this choked our cashflow, which meant we couldn’t pay the mortgage, which meant we couldn’t pay the builders, so we maxed out our credit cards and got loans from family and friends to try and fix it, then couldn’t make the payments, which meant we got seriously into bad debt and bad credit ratings, which meant no one else would help us and then we literally ran out of money (the car ran out of gas twice on school runs and our lovely neighbour donated groceries a few times when we couldn’t buy food and feed our kids), until finally, one of my oldest and trusted friends insisted I come and stay with her and find work in the UK so that at least I could send some money home so that we didn’t all just sit here waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I took my friend’s advice and I’ve spent the last 7 whole months working away from my family, being with my 3 and 5 year old sons about once every 4-6 weeks for the odd weekend, working long and hard trying to get back to a financially functioning state – a monthly income, a working bank account, and enough cash for at least food, transport and a roof over our heads, let alone start paying the debts back and trying to stop the bank foreclosing on our home. 

So you might think that since, in the meantime, the rest of the world seems to have caught up and is now going through a similarly challenging time focused on ever more dismal financials, that I’d be about to give up completely.

But quite the reverse has happened. I really do feel totally optimistic about what we’re about to go through, even though I know it may include losing our wonderful home. I’ve simply decided to let go of my desperate attempts to cling on, to salvage, to rescue or to save what we’ve got.

Being present in the moment...

One of my Lessons Learned in 2008 is to be present and enjoy the moment rather than worry or constantly be concerned about the future. So, I’m using every inspiration I can find, every day, in repeated doses, to fill my mind (and those of as many other people as possible) with good news and to enjoy this moment right now, right here, right where I am planted. 

Here’s yesterday’s example – I’ve downloaded some of Brian Johnson’s fabulous mp3s on his PhilosophersNotes site. Brian quotes from Spiritual Economics by Eric Butterworth; “the word ‘secure’ comes from two small Latin words – ‘se’ meaning ‘without’ and ‘cure’ meaning care – ‘being without care, freedom from anxiety… Victor Hugo articulates this very special sense in this lovely couplet:

Be like the bird

That pausing in her flight

While on boughs too slight,

Feels them give way

Beneath her, and yet sings,

Knowing she hath wings.”

Brian comments…“how would you feel if you were ‘without care’, KNOWING that, should you encounter a challenging situation, you have wings to fly.” 

Which all goes to show that timing is everything – little did Brian know that someone somewhere would be listening to those words on their way home from their second flamenco dancing lesson, (after 5 years of saying I’d love to learn but not doing anything about it yet), driving down the track with a big smile on their face and truly being without a care in the world – just for a moment – a truly ‘aha’ moment.

Fun with a capital 'F'

At last, I’m having fun now…

Wishing you all millions of your own carefree moments in 2009!

Thanks for sharing, Brian. Visit PhilosophersNotes.com and get your wisdom on!