We are all a work in progress, are we not?

Today was to have been Dad’s funeral, except our former funeral director couldn’t have arranged even a boozy party at a brewery! Nevertheless, it brings home the sad and irreversible truth that Dad, as we knew him, has gone. He was. (No need to fight off a certain Monty Python sketch that seems inappropriate and irreverent. It comes unbidden.)

There has already been a change in dynamics. I am not who I was. I am in need of becoming adjusted to some new responsibilities and roles. Thus, I need to become skilled and decisive in new ways. I will be…

It strikes me that it must be much more ‘fun’ to be a middle-royal, or in opposition in Parliament. The opposition can have an opinion and be very vocal about it, but if they are not in power, they don’t get to make the big decisions. They have time to plan, to do Public Relations, and to play. When the day comes to rule the Country, the dynamics shift – and so does the scrutiny and the public’s perception.

By virtue of position, by birth, I’m now the senior male in our tribe and I hope it is drawing new resources out of me that have laid latent – not quite in opposition but certainly in waiting. This got me thinking about how often I ‘hold’ people in my perception as how they were in the past – giving no grace or attention to how much they’ve grown. It’s like the mixed message that we get when encountering an old school friend and they declare (meaning it as a compliment), “Oh, you haven’t changed a bit!” Well I hope you think, like I do, “Yes, I ****dy well have!”

For reflection today, I have three questions for all of us individually.

Firstly, “I was…”  What aspects of your past self would you want people to leave behind in their perception of you?”

Secondly, “I am…”  How have you changed from former ‘you’ to present ‘you’?

Thirdly, “I will be…”  What aspects would you like to see emerging in future ‘you’?

The chapter has changed. It’s December, Winter! Autumn you has gone, and with it the choice of clothes you put on. Winter you is here, with a new season’s wardrobe that you’ll need to put on. Spring is surprisingly near, with its own seasonal choices to plan for. Let’s use the same metaphor for the present you that you’ll put on after taking the old you off. And let’s get excited about future you, Spring season you, and get planning!

Lex

A Moodscope member