Food for Thought...

Food for Thought...

Sunday 8 October 2017

Living Simply


My reflection on my time living in (yet another!) small town.

God seems to have an agenda in my life that I have yet to quite understand. He seems set on making me a small-town kind of girl! The last nine months have been both frustratingly difficult and incredibly refreshing at the same time. I know in my previous blog, I touched on the process of learning to accept my circumstances - something that doesn't come naturally to me and how I am slowly developing the art of being content in the space in which I find myself. I have continued to journey with these concepts, with some success and failure along the way. 

One of the biggest differences that stands out from my year in Kroonstad (Free State, South Africa) is how simple my life has become. From an occupational therapy perspective, I have started to understand the concept of just "being" rather than "doing ". As a natural go-getter, I have found the endless time I have a bit of a challenge. What does one do with all this free time? The first 2 months really shook me as I was confronted with a severe sense of meaninglessness...a lack of purpose and fulfilment in my life. Without a full-time job, social circles or prospective outreach activities, I was left feeling quite clueless. I had to take a hard look at my life and think about how I could this opportunity (because getting a year off is an amazing opportunity if one decides to use it!) to better myself as a person and hopefully rub off on those around me. 

Slowly, I started to engage in a number of new activities. I began a few woodworking projects which were great growing experiences for me. I have learnt how to play the guitar (and need continuous practice), cook new dishes, build puzzles, repair clothes on my sewing machine and read copious amounts of life-giving books. I have been able to develop my paediatric OT skills through some charity OT sessions as well as challenge myself to run a few sessions a month at the local private psychiatric unit. I have engaged in so many activities that have helped me to broaden the scope of who I am and what I can do. Many of these simple activities have now become meaningful occupations in my life. Without the opportunity to have time off to search for purpose, it is highly likely I would've never learnt these skills.

I have another daily reminder to live simply through the life of a little boy. This child has a severe learning disability and obvious challenges in his daily life. With a complicated birth history, he spent the first few years of life surrounded by much support and prayer. He is now an adorable 7 year old who has no idea that he is different and enjoys the small pleasures of going to the local pre-school, learning to use scissors and playing in the sandpit. His joy is completely intoxicating at times as he runs around the classroom squeezing with delight from a new Bible story he just heard or the prospect of an upcoming cake sale.  He epitomizes living life simply and reminds me on daily basis what pure joy and love look like. As his classroom "facilitator", I thought that taking this half-day job would make me go crazy. After working in a hospital with so many different types of patients every day, how would I be able to cope with the same monotonous routine of just one special needs child? Instead of being the prescriptive OT who informs the caregivers of specific activities to do with a child, I became that caregiver, forced to do daily repetitive tasks for the sake of the child's learning. I prepared myself for a mundane, mindless-numbing year. But God had a plan and reached down into my purposeless life and gave me a love for this child which overwhelms at times. I look forward to each day and the potential things this little boy is going to learn. I have been amazed with how much he has progressed and marvel at how excited he becomes with new learning concepts. We are currently working on the number 5 and boy does it bring much laughter and clapping when he gets it right! I now consider being a part of this child's life a huge privilege and appreciate each day we have together. He has changed me for the better and I am so grateful for this opportunity.

This year has reminded me to live simply, to appreciate each day for what it has offer, to see how I can be Gods love and light to everyone I meet and to find peace and rest in the space of a day. I encourage you to live a bit more simply, no matter where you are and how busy life may get. Whether it's to learn a new skill, take up a hobby or choose to engage in the life of someone who will likely make you a better person, go and do it. Live simply.