Ahh the serenity

Our little family has taken what feels like a refreshing dive into the 1970s: we've just purchased an on-site caravan. And I couldn't be more excited. It might not seem very exotic, it's certainly not a bure in Fiji, nor a converted church in Tuscany. But exotic schmotic; to me, this little alumnium box by the beach, only a couple of hours' drive away, is exactly what our family needs. It'll be there waiting for us, ready for us to get sand in between our toes whenever we need it.

The thing that got me going on this caravan idea is "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying' by Bronnie Ware. Regrets like "I wish I hadn't worked so hard" and "I wish I'd spent more time with my family" have been ringing loud in my ear.

Like many people with jobs and kids, we work a lot (both paid work and unpaid home work). When we're not doing, we think about what needs to be done. We look at our iphones when we're hanging on the lounge with the kids, we check emails while cooking dinner, then we distractedly get cross at our misbehaving kids who are just desperate for some attention. I reckon that whilst surviving life we've forgetten to actually live. We've forgotten what we're doing it all for.

Right now, right here, today, our kids still like hanging out with us. They clamber for us to play with them. So we're putting the brakes on. Life's too short, it's time to enjoy the now. It's time to lap it up - play totem tennis, beach cricket and board games, make sand castles and cook sausages in the fresh air. And it's time to do it as often as we can.

Better get some aeroguard. Can you hear the serenity?

Now I just need to slow my mind down. My next post will be titled 'inertia and the holiday planner'. xx