A karmic delivery from the universe
So… February and March has seen some financial blows. I am skint. This is a term I feel is subjective as many people have different meanings for skint. Some say they are skint when they have only 1000 quid in the bank. Others say they are skint when they have gone into their 500 quid overdraft by a fiver. A few say they are skint when they reach into the ten thousand dollar (for all the Americans out there) savings and pull some cash out for a flight to Moscow. It is different for me. I follow the definitions of the word skint found on sites such as Urban Dictionary.
I have nothing. I am broke, poor, out of money. Literally.
Why do I let myself get into financial situations like this? Honestly, I really do not have a scooby doo (that means ‘clue’ Adam). I am good with money when I have enough. I paid off over 4000quid in debts in around 10 months last year while travelling and working in Chiang Mai. I had my butterfly to rely on and friends if I got myself into a sticky situation, but this year, this is something I am trying to improve. Actually improving.
It is a few days before payday and i’m living generally on a pack of 10B cookies for breakfast and Noddle Soup for dinner. I am walking to work as I cannot relieve my bike from its thirst. I literally have nothing. Until now.
As I was walking down Huay Kaew Road in Chiang Mai eating my packet of 10B Creamos (cheap version of Oreos) I was delivered an unexpected gift. As I walk along the unsteady pavement kickin my toes every few metres on the broken tiles, my eyes randomly look to the right and there laying in the foot of the hedge is my saviour for the month. What do I see?
In amongst a carrier bag and a bottle of sprite there is one, spanky thousand Baht note with the King of Thailand smiling at me. Without a thought I bend down and pick it up. This kinda shit does not happen to me. What was going on? 
The universe provided.
Why did it provide? Again I have no idea, it just did. I’m a good guy. I can sometimes offend certain people, but it is always with absolute unintentionality. I smile, i’m generous with my time and I genuinely care about others. Bottom line is, I was skint and the universe heard my passive calling.
I needed. It delivered.
Respect the universe and keep your ears and eyes peeled. It does deliver when we least expect it.
Bee inspired (pun intended)
I liked this movie and surprisingly was inspired by this movie. However, only by the first 30 minutes or so and then it involved a weird infatuation an insect had on a human being. The movie I am talking about is Pixar’s Bee Movie.
The movie begins with Barry the bee graduating from bee school and it’s now time for him to get a job.
A job where?
A job in the hive. He can choose from hundreds of different options as long as it’s in the hive. His family want him to become a stirrer of honey because his grandfather was a stirrer,his father is a stirrer and they want Barry to also become a stirrer. The thought made Barry shudder with fear. As a result, he envied the pollinators and was determined to leave the hive. However, socially, this was not acceptable. Why couldn’t he go out and see the world with the pollinators.
There is no reason, apart from social norms and expectations. Which for me, are not a reason to be unhappy and not live your life the way you wish. With determination and some cheekiness, Barry persuades the pollinators to take him out to collect pollen. Meaning he will have an opportunity to leave the hive and experience something new.
Inspired yet? Wait for the next part.
The moment Barry leaves the dark orange of the hive, you can really sense the wonderment and freedom he feels when he sees the vast blueness of the sky and the deep green of the trees for the first time.
He literally is in awe.
Barry, the bee that was expected to follow social norms broke out from his box and saw the world, and all its wonders. For him, this involved seeing the trees, the flowers, the sunlight and the blueness of the sky. He saw life. As you will see with the trailer I have embedded, he makes mistakes. He makes a lot of mistakes, but he is free from norms and expectations.
Why do we have to follow social norms or expectations? The answer is that we don’t have to, however we have spent our lives being conditioned. Take parents for example: Most do an amazing job for the first few decades, but then struggle to let go let their children and let them live and make their own mistakes. Some parents expect a lot. Some parents want their child to gain a career, settle down, find a boyfriend/girlfriend.
blah blah blah…
We are born into the world and dependant on our parents. As with a bird, a whale and a tiger, there comes a time when we have to ‘fly the nest’. For some, this could involve breaking free from the norms and expectations parents put on them. For others, it simply means moving out and tackling the world by making their own decisions, along with making their own mistakes. In fact, my way of learning is by making mistakes. I have made many in the past. I am possibly may be making one now but unaware of it. I know for sure I plan to make more in the future. Some will be intentional by taking unknown risks, others will be a mistake only in reflection. Whatever they are, the secret is to know they are mistakes and learn from them.
Do not regret them.
As a teacher of both swimming and English, I have always taught not only how to do things correctly, but I also taught my students how to do things wrong. I feel there is some great wisdom in knowing when a mistake is a mistake.
It certainly makes you more aware of when things are going right.
For me, I am realising more and more I am blessed with parents that have never expected much of me as long as I was happy. Of course, if I was addicted to Heroin i’m fairly sure they would have something to say. But, all in all, happiness was encouraged. I guess I sometimes used to wish they encouraged academia more, but in the end it meant that at the age of 22, I chose to go to university for myself and not for any other reason or expectation.
This is something that I appreciate (a lot, a lot, a lot).Thank you to both my mum and my dad.
I guess what I am trying to say is life is confuzzling enough without people being torn between what they want and what their parents, or anyone else for that matter, think they should do. Like all things in nature, you need to break free from your nest and break free from social norms and expectations and start living your own life. If that is what you so desire.
Just like Barry.
P.S Check out the video below and ‘bee’ inspired.
inspiredbykrissi 