“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.” — Charles Darwin
We are presently experiencing many changes in our lives and businesses. Many people are worried, stressed and very anxious and fearing the unknown in these changing times. The flipside change is forcing us to be innovative and creative. As we worry, we also have to realise that history repeating is itself with different formats and this too shall pass.

It is okay to worry but excessive worry can lead to negative thinking and can be detrimental to our mind body and soul. What seems to be uncomfortable can become the norm in the future because we are adaptable creatures. We live in a noisy world and we are bombarded all day with news and other distractions. Socially media posts, email, WhatsApp and text messages. Sometimes it could be difficult but necessary to decide which source should get our attention. When my mind is cluttered I am less productive and my body feels sluggish and I am sure I am not the only one.

Recently I had a chance to declutter my mind during my trip to my hometown Bartica. A few days after my dad’s funeral, my mind was racing and I had to pause for a moment and walk through the front door into the open air. A beautiful big flower plant greeted me and the wind was so refreshing. A thought crossed my mind as I looked at the flowers in the wind and inhaled.

Sometimes the wind blows but not strong and can cause so many flowers to fall and die.
Sometimes the wind can be strong but fewer flowers fall.
Sometimes because of the flowers that fell a new tree gets life.
I believe sometimes our lives can be very similar and that is why we live life like every day is our last because one day it certainly will be.

I went into my brother Chris’ Garden to pick cherries and lemongrass. I made lemongrass tea for mom and me and we sipped our tea and chatted for a while. For one week I went into that garden every morning after my prayers to pick either lemongrass, sweet sage, ‘teazum’ or lime left and relaxed while drinking my tea. I love his garden and it was like therapy for me.

He has blessed hands and everything he puts into the soil grows and produces. We visited the NARI nursery for stock to extend the garden because you can lose with agriculture. I enjoyed the river with my relatives and sharing stories about our most memorable times at the river as a child. We even played ‘Sal Out’ on the beach and it was more than 30 years since I did that. Precious time with family and even cooking some days and from reports it was delicious.

One night we sat in the yard until midnight talking about mostly the fun times growing up in the country and some of the people who are sadly no longer with us. I have not consumed such a large quantity of fruits daily in a while. Watching reruns of The Parkers with one of my favourite seniors in my hometown re-energised me and we chatted about local history after. I was honoured to receive a visit from Mr Scarder who has been a butcher in our town for four decades. He knew me from childhood and expressed how proud he is of my achievements.

Catching up with Colette Reed who was my primary school good friend was special. We passed by our old school and the memories came flooding back of the times I thought them to make doll clothing out of paper. I decided to stroll down First and Second Avenue and saw people I haven’t seen in years like the newspaper vendor I knew for close to 40 years and teacher Lesyln who was my primary school teacher. I met with Dr Sagala and his team at the Bartica Hospital to commend them on the fantastic job they are doing with the prevention of COVID-19. I did a radio interview with Cianna Persaud for the local programme.

I seldom looked at the news or anything that would have disturbed the peace I was experiencing. I saw many Lifetime movies and comedies for that week.
It was a week I will never forget and I would love to repeat soon, because it will be for my mind, body and soul. We sometimes take things for granted and that sometimes is the reason we maintain our sanity. I am still processing some of the changes I have to make in my personal and professional life and I do plan to embrace them even if it may cause discomfort because to grow we can’t be mediocre.

I was saying to someone a few days that mediocrity and success don’t occupy the same address.
I recommend that we take regular, short breaks to feed our minds bodies and soul as we celebrate this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.