Harley is our pet rabbit, a cross-bred lion-mane beauty.
Harley had a tough start in life and had been mistreated. When we rescued him as a young buck he had some serious behavioural issues. He was not cuddly at all and spent a lot of time wanting to escape his hutch to run away. He bit and scratched if you tried to pick him up. He spent hours gnawing at the chicken wire of his enclosure. He sure was hard work in the beginning!
But we loved him just the same. And gradually, over time, he came to trust us and even responded to affection. He settled into a routine rampaging around the garden when we let him out of the greenhouse enclosure each day. After a few hours, he’d put himself back in his greenhouse where he was rewarded with some granola and his favourite, grapes! Life was better for Harley and he became much more contented.
Bear with me here, because I am going somewhere with this story…
Sadly, Harley didn’t come out yesterday. He’d been poorly for a couple of days. We had had Harley for over 7-years and he was getting on in age. Harley had galloped to the magic meadow in the sky! The family was very sad.
We talked about Harley laughing and reflecting on the many memories he created for us. One time he disappeared for three days and despite our best efforts to find him, we thought we had lost him to the foxes. Early one morning, I came downstairs and there he was sitting outside his hutch desperate to be let in to shelter from the Autumn rain and cold. We all shed a tear and cheered his return!
Some of the things that Harley did every day got me thinking. As a ‘morning lark’, it was usually my job to let Harley out. What I noticed is that it didn’t matter what day of the week it was, Harley would be at the door waiting to launch himself into the garden on a mission. Moreover, it didn’t matter to him that it was Monday – he didn’t mope about miserable and glum. Instead his story each day was one of action, excitement, adventure, and fun. He would leap out into the garden, chase cats, eat grass, dandelions, and flowers, dig holes in the garden and get into all sorts of mischief!
He was ‘living’, not just ‘being alive’ and there’s a world of difference. It’s about energy, passion, motivation, effort, colour, excitement and getting the pulse racing a bit.
No wonder Harley had to return to the greenhouse to rest after a couple of hours creating mayhem in the garden!
What can Harley teach us?
Well, I know many people who suffer from Smonday – the moment when Sunday stops feeling like a Sunday and the anxiety of Monday kicks in. (Was this you yesterday?)
Monday then has a lot to live up to in order to make up for ruining the weekend.
I think Monday gets a bad rap and we need to give it a break.
Did you know that on average, we have 4000 weeks of life to enjoy?
That sounds a lot. But, chances are, you’ve already wasted loads of them being yourself averagely. Please don’t waste anymore!
You can panic and fret over the number of weeks you have frittered away, acting out being ordinary.
Or you can look at what you’ve got left and take action, be inspired and go beyond what you thought you were ever capable of achieving.
We have as many Mondays as we do every other day of the week. And you can have fun on Monday’s just like you can on Saturday but you need to get the idea out of your head that Monday is a day of doom and gloom because it spoilt your weekend!
So, treat each Monday (and every day of the week) as a new opportunity to start afresh. To act with purpose and passion in order to move closer to being the best version of yourself.
It’s a choice – you can complain or you can be grateful each day. You can make excuses or you can show up determined to do your best. You can scowl and focus on problems or you can do everything you can to make it right and turn possibilities into opportunities.
Congrats, you’re alive. But the question I want you to think about is, are you really living? Is your story like Harleys? And if it isn’t, only you can change it!
Like it says below. Harley didn’t run around being upset because it’s Monday. There were cats to chase, grass to eat, holes to be dug. Harley didn’t care one jot that it was Monday. He was too busy reminding everyone that he was a RABBIT!
So what will you decide today? I say, Go be a bit more like Harley! Monday ain’t got nothing on you! Go on, go make that dent in the Universe!
Lalal salama, Harley…sleep well and thank you for the memories and the lesson in life!
To your success…
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I’m passionate about inspiring people to tap into their unique talents and strengths – to be the best they can be – to fulfill the potential they always knew they had. It’s not about ‘fixing’ you. Rather, it’s about helping you access the best part of yourself so you’re able to make the changes, release the dragons and powerfully step into your brilliance.
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