Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about how fragile life is.
I’ve heard of two people, both far too young, who passed away suddenly. Both had young children.
And things like that have a way of putting everything else into perspective.
The traffic.
The difficult customer.
The person who irritates you.
The email that gets your blood boiling.
The thing that didn’t go according to plan.
The stupid argument you’re still replaying in your head three hours later.
We give so much of our life away to things that, when you zoom out far enough, really don’t matter.
And I’m becoming increasingly conscious of that.
I don’t just want to live each day. I want to get better at actually being there for it.
I want to tame my anger quicker.
Let things go faster.
Not allow someone else’s bad mood to become mine.
Not carry something that happened at 9am with me until 9pm.
Because peace, I’m starting to realise, isn’t something you find when everything in your life finally goes right.
That day probably never comes.
Peace is learning to be okay while life is still being life.
While things break.
While people disappoint you.
While plans change.
While the kids are screaming.
While there are bills to pay and problems to solve.
And in between all of that, there are these tiny moments that are incredibly easy to miss.
The other day I watched my child playing in the garden, completely lost in a story they had invented in their head.
To me, it was just the garden.
To them, it was an entire world.
There was adventure. Danger. Characters. A mission.
Pure joy.
And for a moment I just watched.
No phone. No rushing to the next thing.
Just watched.
I think we need more of that.
Drink your coffee and actually taste it.
Sit in the sun for five minutes.
Laugh properly when something is funny.
Listen when your child tells you a ridiculously long story that makes absolutely no sense.
Enjoy dinner.
Notice the people sitting around the table.
Life is happening in those moments.
Not someday when you've made enough money, finished the project, solved all your problems or finally have nothing to worry about.
This is it.
And none of us really knows how much of it we have left.
So perhaps one of the greatest things we can learn is simply this:
Protect your peace.
Get angry less.
Forgive quicker.
Let the small stuff remain small.
And when something beautiful is happening, even something completely ordinary, notice it.
Because an ordinary Tuesday afternoon might not feel particularly important while you're living it.
But one day, you might give absolutely anything to have it back.
Thanks for taking a moment to slow down with me this week.
Simon 🤟
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