Creeping complacency

A friend was at Uluru a few days ago. Wow! i thought, and said so in a return email, it's a place I've always wanted to see and experience. To which he replied...."It's still there, it's just a rock"

I was flabbergasted, how can someone dismiss Uluru as "just a rock". But then I remembered the first time I saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I was in a bus on the way to the hotel where the conference was being held, we rounded the corner and there was the harbour. My stomach did a back flip and settled - Wow ! That's the harbour bridge - AND the opera house, how blessed am I? A little while later, I happened to be in Sydney again - again the Sydney harbour, bridge and opera house - but not the same stomach flip. It was still amazing, but the "flip" had gone. What had happened? Complacency over something so amazing as the Opera House!! Hardly in my case, but I was expecting to see the bridge and the opera house and sure enough they were there.

When you see the same things over and over again, it is easy to become complacent. We think it will always be there. We think the people will always be there to speak to us, to love us, to care for us. We forget that sometimes things happen and we may not get to see them again for a very long time (if at all).

So today I would like you to consider all those things and people you take for granted. I know I've asked you to say thanks to the people who've made a difference to your life for whatever reason in the past. Today I would like to offer a challenge to you.

If you keep a journal - write down only those things that have made a positive impact on your life. Try not to dwell on the negative, the bad, the moods that threaten to engulf you whenever you think about a certain something or someone. It might sound easy - but as a journal keeper, it can be easy to whinge and whine when you think no one is looking. Well consider these journals as a legacy to your children - what would you prefer them to read? Now I am not asking you to never write down the bad - just consider there needs to be balance in your writing.

Then I would like you to get out your address book and choose a person you have not spoken to in a while and either pick up the phone and give them a call, or do as I do and put pen to paper and write them a note. I keep a supply of cards in my office just for these kinds of occassions, and I write to them. If you've ever gotten a hand written card / postcard you will know how good it makes you feel, so return the favour and make someone else feel good.

It can be easy to let complacency creep up on you, but today I would like you to look at your world with brand new eyes. What haven't you noticed recently? Take a good look at the people around you, the place where you work, the clothes you are wearing, the look you have on your face, the new lines, the grey hairs, the spare tyre that's formed around your middle.....yes they do have a habit of creeping up on you when you're not paying attention, then do what you can to make those changes you want to see happen. You may be happy with what you see, but you know what - it doesn't hurt to look.

With love
Elle