So if you've been reading my posts, you know I've been down with a terrible case of tendonitis for the last few months. It got so bad for a while that I couldn't do my laundry, drive, or even cut my own food. I wasn't sleeping for more than 2-3 hours at a stretch because every time I would shift positions, the pain would wake me up. Even clicking the remote control or holding a book open was painful.
This process has done two things for me. First, it showed me what great friends I have. They have come through by doing my laundry, driving me to the accupuncturist, doing my dishes, and one person even drove me all the way to Providence and back so that I could do a speaking engagement I was scheduled for. I have found myself firmly in gratitude at the great people I have around me. The other thing this has done for me is to force me to do something I haven't done in several years - really slow down. Not just take a little down-time to recharge, but really just sit and be in stillness.
Stillness is the place where all spiritual practices begin and mine is no different it seems. I have spent a fair amount of time just feeling into what I want from my life and just being present in the moment. Thankfully, my feet have been fine, so I've been taking long walks (which have gotten more comfortable as Spring has begun to arrive). And as I've been walking, I've been inspired by the things I've seen and people I've listened to along the way.
And what I've discovered is this: I could die tomorrow and I would have no regrets. I've spent the last ten years of my life doing exactly what I wanted to do - even if it scared me - especially if it scared me, and I'm looking back now and finding that I have had a very rich life indeed. I've had experiences that many people haven't ever thought of. I've known a wide cross-section of people than I've ever known before in my life. And, as a result of meeting these people and having these experiences, I'm wiser than I've ever been (which means that I really understand how much I don't know). ;-)
I still have many things I want to do and people I want to meet. I have work left to do on this planet - don't you worry, I'm not done yet. But I have no fear of dying. I have no fear that I haven't yet become the person I want to be remembered as. I've accomplished that task. This is who I want to be. Oddly, for many years I thought that I was working towards being that person. But now I know that in that journey, I was already there. It's a peaceful feeling.
Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry. Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love. For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.
