As we go through our ‘cycle of the Dishwashing life’ we read, hear and converse continually!

I was pondering today after a lovely conversation what are the conversations I recall, what words have resonated with me, and what words that I’ve heard do I recall?

The conversation at lunch time centred on being kind to ourselves and others being kind to us –

I recalled an article in a magazine about twenty years ago and it’s always stayed with me even after all these years – the essence of it was to ‘drink our Cup’ – it was reminding woman to take ‘the rest’ – ‘the moments’ to have that ‘cuppa’ when it’s hot!!

We are to take the 15 minutes, drink the Cup and relax – I still to this day drink cold coffee – many years of Nanny and Mummy duties – (I continually make the cuppa, forget about it and remember when it’s cold to drink it) – a simple cup of hot drink coupled with 15 mins of sitting down to enjoy it – nurtures the body and soul!

What do I recall? Always from a young age my mum saying to me – you are Tracey Brown not….’ with this statement she continually reinforced my uniqueness and I didn’t need to compare myself to others and that I needed to be aware of my ‘own value’ – as a child/teenager I often rebelled against this statement but as I grew older I really loved the essence of it and now repeat it to my Cups – (although I swore I’d never repeat ‘mummy mantras’ to my Cups).

What words have resonated with me??

‘This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.’ Dalai Lama XIV

It comes back to ‘kindness’ to ourselves so we can be kind to others – we need to fill and nurture our Cups – to do this we need to nurture ourselves –

As we conversed today in our staff room we discussed how it was the simple kind things that cost no money that nurture us as humans – kind words, kind actions, sleep and hand cream! This is written with the lovely Drumragh ladies around the lunch table in my mind and heart – thank you for your kindness xox