By Samantha Papesch

It’s been a while since I last blogged.  Almost a year, in fact.  But today, I was reminded by a friend that my words had positively impacted others previously, so I was inspired to share some musings of late.

The reasons for the blogging pause are as wide as it has been long, but simply put, I’ve been too busy for creative writing.  Working, studying, renovating, coaching, volunteering – all on top of the day-to-day management of my family.

But, last year life began to herniate under the pressure of it all, and as I began to question my choices, my body delivered the answer – by way of a back injury, on the day I was leaving for a holiday in Bali.

I still managed to go, ever hopeful that my back would settle down, but it was completely stuffed.  I spent five days in agony, made better only by the luck of having a best mate in tow who is also a qualified massage therapist.

It was a wake up call.  My foundations had literally given way and things needed to change.

Yoga has always been my physical, spiritual and psychological go-to when a reset of any kind is required, and since then I’ve been committed to my practice deeper than I ever have in the past 20 years. But, resetting my definition of ‘success’ has been equally as important.

It’s a subtle shift in focus, but it has made a world of difference.  These days, success is about achieving all the things I want to, without losing my shit at the people I love the most; without being unkind in the face of all the self-inflicted pressures.  It’s about saying no, cutting back, putting energy in the right places, and carving out space amongst it all to be ‘actively kind’.

“Doing it all” and being devoid of kindness is not success in my new world view.

And in this world, we need kindness, now more than ever.

Coincidentally as I write this, stuck to my computer screen since May 20, 2002, is a favourite quote of mine

“If you think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself” ~ Woodrow Wilson.

I’ve thought about this quote much over the years, and it always brings me back to what’s important, even when I’ve managed to lose sight of it right in front of me.

And it’s simply, that what I do for others, and how I treat them is how I want to be judged in this life, and not by the number of ticks on my to-do list.