Keith Lightfoot Blogosphere

People often stand with the fridge or pantry door open (think “teenagers”) vacantly staring at the multi coloured array of products, with no real clue what they want to eat, and no real appreciation for the choice laid out before them.

Yet despite this bounty of food and beverages just a few steps from our comfortable designer dining room suite, and despite all the expensive toys and trinkets we surround ourselves with, we somehow allow ourselves to focus on what we don’t have and complain, rather than be grateful for what we do have and rejoice.

Millions of people would shake their head in disbelief if they saw our homes, cars, motorbikes, boats, clothes, home theatre, dishwasher, cameras, washing machine, portable music players, video technology, laptops and holiday destinations.

They would also be overwhelmed by our democratic rights, our fortuitous circumstances to live, love and laugh in a culture so rich in opportunities and personal freedom.

How did we become so ungrateful?

The media has a lot to answer for in creating this feeling of personal dissatisfaction and although the message to the masses is working at present, I sense a long term danger in the current mental programming methodology.

One of the classic lines used by someone who has been successfully programmed by the media, upon discovering that you are reading autobiographies, studying success oriented books, listening to motivational audio and attending personal development conferences is “You are being brain washed with all that positive stuff and you have lost your grip on reality”.

Their argument is based on the observation that:

-you no longer watch the news on a daily basis

-you no longer read the newspaper every day

-you no longer listen to the radio all day

-you no longer wish to discuss the important things in life, such as how many people died in the overseas earthquake last week, or that the world economy is threatening to collapse any moment, or that the new flu virus may travel to this country and wipe out an entire population, or that the likelihood of an aircraft disaster has just increased by five percent since the latest series of horrific disasters.

Nobody is suggesting that these things are not important, but they do not have to be your only source of input, focus and discussion.

The same people who constantly moan about how bad life is, especially for all those people in the news, are the same people who find themselves bored, unhappy and ungrateful (think “There is nothing to do!”). One of the media prescribed cures is to engage in retail-therapy to make you feel a little better for a few hours.

Take that extra money that you don’t actually have and instead of replacing a perfectly good item in your home, use it to pay off an existing debt, invest in your family’s future, donate it to a worthwhile charity, find a way to help some of the people you moan about, or find a way to help yourself grow and become all that you were purposed to become.

“Excuse me” said the young bird,
“You are older than I, so can you tell me where to find the sky?”
“The sky”, said the older bird “Is the thing you are in now”.
“But this is just air?” exclaimed the young bird,
“What I am seeking is the sky!” and he flew away to search elsewhere for it.

Our house is old (think “well loved”) and needs some DIY when time and funds permit, but we love it, we feel it has a special kind of inner peace, we have made it our home and people that visit comment how “tranquil” it feels when they are here.

Sometimes late at night we stand on the decking and look into the silent sky. The stars are so much brighter without street lights, passing traffic or the city glow. I know it sounds romantic and foolish to speak like this, but we feel truly blessed in our little piece of tranquillity.

The last time I lived in Southland I was far too busy-being-busy to be looking at stars, or family, or thinking about finding a quiet spot to live (think “IT geek who looked like a young Bill Gates, working equally as hard, but without the money or lifestyle”).

Sadly I was like many young men, full of my own importance, overflowing with testosterone, pursuing a career like “a dog chasing an invisible rabbit” and instead of stopping and looking up into the night sky, I kept my head down and charged headlong into the darkness.

Becoming a celebrant has been a dream for many years. There are already many wonderful marriage celebrants in Gore and many Southland weddings are testimony to the care and professionalism of these dedicated people.

Our goal is to work alongside the established Gore marriage celebrants. It is time for me to give back to the community that cared for me during my wild youth.

A special thanks to those people who have believed in me and supported me.

GOD Bless
Keith Lightfoot