The revenge of the clumsy claws of chaos

I'm not one to admit, but I wish I heeded my husband's warning at the outset. I wanted to prove him I'm right. Turned out, he was. Again.

By Nila Sweeney

After Christmas, Joe and I decided to go to Kiama, a 3-hour drive south of Sydney, for serious walking and possibly swimming. It was drizzling a bit and the beach was full of blue bottle jellyfish (those creatures with the nastiest sting), so we decided to just walk along the coast instead.

Even with rain and wind, Kiama was beautiful. I love the fact that you can walk 22 km along the coast and also enjoy the bush. Joe and I didn't walk the whole distance but we covered a fair bit and had a really great time.

Until we went to lunch. Somehow, during lunch, I've triggered my clumsy fingers. A soon as we've left the cafe, I've started dropping things. Starting with my new shiny HTC 4G phone. Ouch!

You know that sick feeling when you damage something precious? My phone's screen was shattered and it's only a couple of days old. In case you're wondering if I've been imbibing alcoholic beverages during lunch. Sadly no. If I did, I would have had an awesome excuse:-)

Broken after just 2 days

So being clear-headed and all, there's nowhere for me to go but to blame myself for being clumsy. Normally. But not this time.

I'm not exactly sure what induced it. It could have been the fact that we just had a lovely lunch and the scenery was simply breathtaking and peaceful. It could have been the fact that I still have another brand new phone to fall back to. It could have been the holiday spirit.

Whatever it was, it made me stop to realise that it's just a phone. It can be replaced or fixed. What cannot be replaced is the time I'd spend berating myself and getting depressed about the whole thing.

I've decided that rather than be overcome with remorse about the incident, we can look at getting it fixed if it's not too expensive, otherwise, I'd go back to using my other phone which was only a few months' old anyway.

Making that decision was so liberating and empowering for me. I wasn't pretending it didn't happen. What I did was to accept it was an accident and there's no point in getting angry about it.

Unfortunately, the saga of the clumsy claws of chaos didn't end there.

I also brought my iPad with me during the trip and I decided to use it after I dropped my phone. Joe warned that I should just leave it in the car. I insisted I'll take it with me. It will be fine, I assured him. I did alright, until we started the bush walk.

The scenery was achingly beautiful and I wanted to capture some of it myself so I took out my Ipad. What do you know, the moment I took it out of my bag, my Ipad slipped right out of my fingers and landed on the hard pavement. The corner of the screen was shattered. 
I've broken something. Again!

I don't know anyone who can top my record of breaking two gadgets within 3 hours!

Joe and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "You're not touching my phone," he said. I responded, "I would be too scared to touch anything at this point!"

The really wonderful thing was the fact that Joe and I both thought what happened was hilarious. We both saw the light side of it.  We continued on with the trail and had an amazing time communing with nature. The thought of two broken gadgets a distant memory.

The best part of this whole saga? Joe got me a proper camera to play around with - a shiny Canon SLR 650D. Now I don't have to worry about dropping anymore phones and Ipads.

Life lessons from my dogs

By Nila Sweeney

It's amazing what you learn from dogs. No matter what you did or didn't do in the past, they still love you... Even if they don't see you for months, they won't hold grudge...Even if you withhold your love (as we humans do) and keep them outside, they are as excited to see you when you step out of the house.

How I wish I could be just like my dogs - no judgement and free to express their love. How great would it be if every encounter I have with others comes from nothing but pure, unadulterated love!

But how can I do this if I'm too busy judging, manipulating, defending or resisting? No wonder, my interactions with others are often less than fulfilling.

Our minds truly rule our lives. We can make people flourish or perish in our thoughts alone. Whatever or however we think of others, they instantly become that.

The sad thing is, we do it to ourselves as well. We are using our mind, the most powerful weapon we have, to either obliterate us or propel us to unknown heights. No other species do that.

Perhaps living a dog's life every once in a while would help us see ourselves and others on a different light.