I can’t see clearly now

eye_glasses.jpgJust a few years back I didn’t need them at all. Now I can hardly get by without them.

I made a break in my routine today. For about the fifth time this year I drove to work rather than cycling. I needed to bring some things to work and take some home so it made sense.

Unfortunately that meant that I didn’t follow my regular routine and so I forgot my reading glasses.

If I hold my head in the right position and squint every now and then I can read most things – if they’re in large print and across the other side of the room.

I guess I should hunt down my old reading glasses and leave them in here just in case this ever happens again.

I’ve only needed glasses for about three years and this is the first time I’ve forgotten to bring them to work so I’m doing OK so far.

Years ago when I was working for the Education Department I’d regularly have to try to break into cars to retrieve keys. Teachers would be visiting the resource centre where I worked for in-service courses. They were out of their routine and that would mean that they’d sometimes do things out of the ordinary, such as locking their keys in their car.

Have you ever stopped to think about how much a regular routine helps your day? Do you find yourself doing strange things when you’re out of routine?

I may have to make a new year’s resolution to never forget my glasses again.



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I wonder

In all the busyness of this time of year have you managed to set time aside to draft out a few New Year’s resolutions?

Maybe you’ll get some time over the next couple of days. I’m hoping to get something together before Thursday.

While many people don’t believe in such things I reckon that any time we can sit down and take stock of our lives and make plans for the time ahead is time well spent.

Of course there are all the usual resolutions that people make about losing weight, getting fitter, quitting smoking, reducing debt and all the rest but I wonder what 2009 would look like if we made resolutions and goals about improving relationships with those close to us and then asked those people, or others, for help in staying accountable to those goals.

I wonder how things would be if we made resolutions about helping those we may not even know but who need a hand up.

How would 2009 shape up if we determined that family was more important than the demands of work and then structured our schedules accordingly?

What would it be like if we decided that 2009 was the year that we would look beyond the physical and material things of this world to discover deeper spiritual meaning?

I wonder.



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I was that guy

coffee_cup.jpgI’ve seen him plenty of times before.

He’s usually there when I’m having coffee with my cycling mates on Saturday mornings. I’ve seen him as I’ve hurriedly walked past cafés on my way somewhere else. He’s been there when I’ve been enjoying a quiet cuppa with Pauline. He’s there in shopping centres, airports and cafés everywhere.

Sometimes he’s tall and middle aged. Other times he’s a little shorter and fairly young. He’s bald or with a full head of hair. He’s dozens of different people but I always want to be him.

Yesterday I was that guy.

I was the guy sitting on my own in the café, sipping a long black while reading a good book. There’s something very therapeutic about sitting in a busy café, letting the world buzz around nearby as you bury yourself in the pages.

I had to be at Mia Café in Inglewood yesterday for a Christmas afternoon tea. The rest of the family had to be across the other side of town so Pauline dropped me off an hour and a half early. That gave me the opportunity to partake in the magnificent pastime that I see so often yet so rarely enjoy.

Maybe I need to make that one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2009. “Spend more time alone in cafés.” In 2009 I intend to be that guy a lot more often.



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