When I heard about the Theme, I was immediately drawn to this quote from the Male Book, which is part of the description of the habit number 3 of a man with an over-dominant mother.

"...in order to excel you must do it like it has always been done, whether it is all that practical or not! As a result, he finds it hard to laugh from the belly. For this man, the folly of life is serious stuff! So what is there to laugh about?"

It is well known - and people like me who tend to take things too seriously generally acknowledge it - that in facing any "problem" it is more beneficial to be relaxed. Yet, the habit is hard to break! What I think is the real deal is not to be careless, but it is perfectly possible to be careful without becoming stiff and grim just to show concern! So, this is what I intend to focus on this month.

In all seriousness, lol, I wanted to also put a disclaimer as to what folly means, but while searching for the above quote I realised that I cannot do better than quote one more striking line from the same book:

"Yet, realise that this does not mean that life itself is folly. What constitutes the folly within life, is our preconceived ideas about what we haphazardly believe life should be!"

As you know, Lady Elizabeth is the most resilient Lady ever, so take heart from her sharing!

With all my love,
(BH)
Milen

~~~

My dear friends,

Happy Month! Happy March - from Bali!

This month we are working with "Controlled folly"

"Question:
How exactly does one control one's folly.

Answer:

We either make decisions from the MIND, or we make decisions from the HEART! When we decide from the MIND we THINK we KNOW, we THINK it is the best, we THINK we are CLEVER when we get the results we WANTED, and we THINK we are bad when we get the results we did NOT WANT! But in all of this we are simply the LITTLE SELF busy getting lost in its own delusions of grandeur.

If, on the other hand, we make decisions based upon our HEARTS we KNOW for a fact that we do NOT know, and therefore whatever the results, they are for ever in the realm of an EVOLUTIONARY process, a process that guides us from one step to the next! But in BOTH cases, all our actions, all our decisions, are nothing more than FOLLY, for our fates are going to unfold regardless! So, yes, the wise man, rather than breaking his HEAD trying to figure it all out, simply ACTS upon what FEELS right for him, without prejudice, without preconceptions of what the results SHOULD be, and then ACCEPTS with HUMILITY the consequences of his actions. Such ACCEPTANCE is then in the nature of CONTROLLING his folly, rather than trying to AVOID it!"

It is barely a month ago when it appeared that a visit to Bali for me to meet up with my family was not on the cards this year. But without getting hooked on any one outcome I went about sending messages to my body that all will be safe to undergo the journey, if that was on the cards of Captain Life for me.

On Friday 13^th my healer therapist M positively announced, with wonder what the body can do in 14 days, a yes!. My body had done a 180 degrees turn and M shared I now had a go to start making travel plans!.

I had not been able to cancel my Bali accommodation so that was taken care of. I had flown with Air Emirates last year and on my searches this looked the best option. However I now had a very busy two weeks ahead of me so called up a travel agent who has managed complicated travel plans for me and a few days later we settled on a travel plan that would have me flying to Singapore and not Dubai. With 8 days to go I accepted the new plan.

I arrived at the airport in Cape Town this past Saturday only to see an hour later that my flight was delayed. I went to a lounge to go and pay month end salaries etc, knowing I had plenty of time. After a while something made me check at the desk when I needed to go for boarding – 13 minutes! Oh my!

I check my Singapore Airlines app on my phone. I find a notification that the plane is now on time and I now need to change direction to go to gate B3.

Gate B3 is three flights down and suddenly time is short! B3 boarding has already started. My boarding pass is checked and suddenly the mood shifts.

"You are at the wrong gate! You should be up at Gate A4 and that flight is already boarding. You will need to hurry! Get the lift and run!"

Panic! My body is not yet geared for running, Yet 🙂.

It suddenly hits me. This is a 15 hour flight and not just a local hop. Missing this flight is a big deal. I start to "run", dragging my on board luggage as best I can. I get to the lift and there stands a lady with an empty wheel chair, waiting for the lift.

I hijack the wheel chair! RATFL!

I jump on board, bag and case et al and tell the lady we need to run! In the lift up I tell her my story. The lift opens and we take off. This is not a small lady.

Halfway to Gate A4 we get stopped by a boss lady who wants to know what her employee is doing carting a passenger for another airline! A lot of Xhosa arguments follow until a 3^rd person arrives.

I am now panicking that I will miss my flight after all.

Then..it turns out that the third person is from Singapore Airlines!!, that B3 IS the correct gate and that I need to turn around and make my way back downstairs to B3!! Clearly B3 hadn't yet got the memo!

Taking pity on me I get given a "free" ride back to B3, where I continue to sit until the original delayed time! No matter, I am just grateful the panic is over.

As I embark the news breaks out - war in the Middle East, hence all the last minute changes. Emirates flights at my airport being grounded!

My plane takes off in the opposite direction. With me heaving a huge sigh of relief and not just a little bit in awe of what has been unfolding behind the scenes the past 14 days which enabled me to follow my destiny.

Have fun with our theme this month, my friends!

With all my love, gratitude and humility at the wonder of Life,
(BH)S
Elizabeth