As I said in the first baby step post, this month, I want to highlight 31 ways to baby step your way into a more mindful and healthful life. Some of the tips will be advice already stated or implied in previous posts, while some will be brand new. This post provides the sixteenth and an explanation. The idea is to start at the beginning and accumulate as many mindful and healthful habits as you'd like to sustain by the conclusion of the month. It's similar to that icebreaker where you're in a circle of people and you need to repeat all of the members' names in order... it's a challenge, but you'll feel great at making progress and it'll help you see how far you've come from the 1st to the 31st!
a picture of me from our wedding celebration
June 29, 2013 Richmond, VA
Baby Step # 16:
Wear the Pearls
This summer, I attended a workshop week in Washington, DC. (Remember when I brought my high maintenance lifestyle bag?) There, I met about a dozen young Classics scholars and made a few new friends. One day, over lunch, one young lady complimented me on the beautiful pearls my Great Aunt Florence had given me. I wore them with a relatively casual outfit, but, like everything Aunt Florence picked out, they looked great with anything.
The compliment was genuine, but to it she added: "I'm always too afraid to wear my pearls." I've also felt like this before. With something so valuable, it seems almost reckless to actually put that type of necklace/ jewelry/ watch/ accessory/ expensive thing into daily or even non-formal use.
So, like any good (former) teacher, I took the opportunity for a "teachable moment," after all, these students were all about ten years younger than I... I explained that I had felt similarly, but I had also reflected and decided that it would be better to wear them, look fabulous, feel incredible, and risk losing them than allow them to sit, neglected, in my jewelry box for years on end. After a few minutes, other people joined in our conversation, and the original complimenter decided that she would put the philosophy into use upon arriving home.
Just like we discussed in one of my favorite posts, What We Use Least, sometimes we place too much value on the things in our lives--to the point where we almost estimate that they are more valuable than we deserve. They aren't. True, you could lose/ break/ mangle your most prized possession one busy afternoon, but if the alternative is allowing it to lie around your home, untouched, you might as well get some use out of it. Be grateful you've been blessed with such a conundrum. And remember, it's just stuff, after all.
Now that you realize that you're worth the risk, what "pearls" could you put into use, starting today?Labels: Go Ahead--Try It!, Life, Mindful Baby Steps
