My dear ladies,
Another lockdown. Unlike everyone else around me, I am looking forward to it. I am one of those people who just can’t rest.
REST
In my family, the word is synonymous with laziness and lack of direction. It is simply alien, an unrecognised word and action. It only applies if you're on fire or you’ve lost your eyesight and even then you need to start working on that braille course immediately. I jest but not really.
I thought the first lockdown would be heaven; a vacation without the guilt. I will literally be jailed if I go to work. It was heaven for about 24 hours and then it became this yawning abyss of silence and lack of purpose. Waking up in the morning without a specific plan toward a larger purpose is physically painful for me.
My grandmother recently passed away I watched her battle with the inactivity of being in a wheelchair, having a house full of children and grandchildren, and not being able to be of use upset her. I saw my seventies and eighties and nineties (if God blesses me with the time that my grandparents had) as one big lockdown lasting 30 years! I wished she was alive for me to give her a big hug and some potatoes to peel.
WORK
What I do has always been my identity and the biggest blessing that has come from my entrepreneurial adventures with Be Well is the chance to identify myself with a purpose, a mission.
“Hello, my name is Christine Githiomi, I am the founder of Be Well, The Happiness Club. A wellness platform for the working African Woman.”
See…I have a title! I have a mission! So what if some Mondays take me a second to figure out what I need to be working on to further my mission. So what if I breathe a huge sigh of relief to find out my email storage is too small and I haven’t received any emails because I need to increase the size. I didn’t become useless over the weekend! It's just storage space! I am still useful yay!
CHOOSE
If my grandmother were here I would tell her that her work was done and her work was good. She had worked a marriage that lasted over sixty years and raised strong-willed hard-working people. I would tell her that rest was not the enemy, it is an opportunity to recharge, a gift from God after a job well done. I would tell her that the human body and spirit need you to CHOOSE to rest or your body and spirit would MAKE you rest.
During this second and hopefully final lockdown, I implore you my sisters; please choose to rest, choose to take a minute, and enjoy your loved ones while you have them. Choose to take stock of your journey so far. Choose to take the plunge into your next adventure. Choose to enjoy God’s little gifts like:
The sunrise from your bedroom window instead of your car window in traffic.
Chocolate
Enjoy lunch at home with your Cucu (grandma) if she is still around (make that a zoom lunch).
Remind yourself, every day if you have to: you are a human being, not a human doing!
Much Love,
Christine
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Christine Githiomi is the CoFounder of BeWell Organisation, which is an organisation that is community-focused and aimed at supporting and inspiring women to take stock,
process and re-calibrate their purpose!
You can learn more about her organisation via the link below:
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