Life is the ultimate teacher.

You may or may not agree with my statement, that is your choice. We all choose our own truths, whatever is the right thing for each of us, as we carry on our existence, safely wrapped within the cocoon of our own realities.

My heart knows it to be true, my heart has chosen this particular truth for me, and my heart never leads me astray.

Sensibility reigns supreme within my life. Sensibility has my ultimate approval. And life has taught me the lessons with which I have reached my conclusion.

Over the last three years, during a crash course on reality, and life, and learning for myself the realities of my own life, I am often reminded of the time-proven adages, those little snippets of wisdom shared with us by the seniors of our society, words loosely thrown our way during times of need…

Gems such as ~

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Actions speak louder than words.

The simple things in life are often the best.

A penny saved is a penny earned….And…

A leopard never changes its spots.

What is right for one man’s life can be totally wrong in another’s. We must seek, find and stay true to our own truths, our own heart. We must heed the silent words seeped to us through our souls.

No man holds the right to change another, we are who we are. If we attempt to change another person to suit our own selfish needs, transforming them into something that they are not, or should another endeavour to attempt this task on us, there is only one ultimate possible outcome ~ a bucket load of lies. Make that a truck load. We are who we are…End of Story.

Pretty words, whispered lyrically into the dainty pink ear of an eager receiver won’t mean squat if the appropriate actions do not coincide with these words. You may as well wrap the empty words back up into the pretty little box from whence they came, tie the flimsy bow back around the box and toss them away as far as you can, preferably with their shallow creator. Who wants to live a lie? Listen to your heart…it hears the spoken words of truths and sees the actions performed in the name of honesty.

Do you remember the last time you were overwhelmed by such happiness that you felt your heart swell and your soul sing? Over the last three years, much to my amazement, I have re-discovered that wonderful feeling of light-headed, giddy happiness in some of the most unlikely places…

• In the fragrance of a flower.
• The sound of a buzzing bee.
• In the blueness of the sky on a perfectly clear day.
• And the shape and colours of a storm cloud.
• A perfectly formed rainbow after a sudden storm.
• My cats rumbling purring sounds.
• Listening to the crystal clear harmonies of the voice of a famous singer.

This short list hardly does justice to the moments of happiness I have experienced during the past three years, but they all have one thing in common ~ not one of these magical moments has cost me a cent. They are free. They are the simple pleasures of life. And they mean the most to me.

I don’t need diamonds. I have no use for a fancy car. I can only wear one outfit of clothes at a time. And I only have one pair of feet on which to wear one pair of shoes each day. A minimalistic life saves money for sure. But oh, how much deeper the pleasure reaches, as it frees your soul and lightens your heart, when the need of the burden of multiple possessions no longer exists!

We are never too old to learn. I believe that yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks! (And yes, my heart told me that as well.)

The ultimate gift for me has been learning to listen to my heart and following my instincts (again), going back to writing (again) and becoming who I really am (yes…again).

Dropping the barriers and cutting the pretence can be, surprisingly, a real eye opener, for you may just find, hidden beneath all of those carefully laid layers of trying to be the person you think you should be, resides the person who you really are…

And the biggest surprise may come when you actually recognise an old childhood friend, the one who used to look back at you from the mirror each day. It may just be the child-who-you-once-were, from many years ago, when your heart reigned supreme and honesty was your middle name.

The packaging may have aged a tad, but take the time to peel back the layers of time, and take a peek inside. See for yourself if the leopard’s spots are, in fact, familiar to you.

“Just be yourself; everyone else is taken” ~ Oscar Wilde.