Last night I was on my last cell of energy, feeling half ill from the weeks of pushing myself, driven through the Christmas season, and now finding myself dressing for a formal party which I had previously looked forward to, but was now just dragging towards. My body, nor my heart was in it and every move felt exaggerated. The couch looked so much better to join – not a party!
Arriving and making my hellos through the crowd, I was doing
my best to be myself enjoying the festive crowd. A lovely dinner was served and
the conversation went well. At least I was getting to sit down, I thought,
which was a great consolation for a much tired me.
And then the most rewarding, uplifting and renewing
experience happened. My first love arrived at the party. I sat up straighter,
my heart beat a bit faster, my dull headache faded, a warm tingling feeling
raced from my toes to my cold fingertips. A genuine smile even spread across my
face and the tired lines disappeared as a younger version of myself appeared. I
felt the love. I had pushed back this feeling for so long. I realized
immediately I had not be attentive to my own needs.
A fabulously talented pianist sat down and filled the air
with piano music – my first love. My heart felt joy and I was also mentally playing
every note, remembering what my first love and passion was. I had been a
professional pianist for 20+ years and had thrived and survived on expressing
myself through music. How remiss on my part to neglect my first love.
As I filled my cup by the end of the evening, I walked away
with the knowledge that I had forgotten to feed my passion. My current work
self, who never gets the list finished, had not spent any time restoring the
life me. I had a new attitude on balancing my life and work.
Have your spent time with your first love lately? As you can
see from this story, it is not cheating on your present self. Set aside some
quality time to restore yourself, and may your days be merry and bright.
God bless.
