Some people work very hard in the world…. they’re the ones that are always busy, always on the go, always onto the next project or idea. They’re the sort of people who get things done. They make things happen.

You might be one of those people and you certainly know one. They’re the people you want to have on your committee because you can be sure they’ll get the stuff done before the next meeting. When I interviewed people for my sales teams in the past, it was one of the criteria I looked for in a candidate. Because I could depend on them – they wouldn’t let me down.

But something funny happens for these people when they get a little out of balance…they don’t want to let anyone else down and in doing so, they let themselves down.

By being too busy, too hurried, too efficient; they take on too much. They struggle to say No; even when they’re struggling. So they push themselves even more and give themselves a hard time for struggling.

And in the struggle, they hurt and they forget that one of the primary purposes of work is to be able to enjoy the harvest, the bounty of the work done; not just to move onto the next task at hand.

I went for a walk a few weeks ago nearby my home. In the hedgerow, I spotted plenty of what I call Autumn’s bounty. I was smiling as I took photos with my phone of the beautiful berries and fruit that were plentiful all along the route I walked. I took the time to admire each plant, to notice the colour of the berries, to taste the juiciness of the blackberries and to smell the apples on the tree in my front garden. Each of these reminded me how lucky and grateful I was for my life as it was on that day. The following day, I went for the same walk. The county council had been out with their machinery and all the hedges were chopped back and all the beautiful bounty was gone. The path was now clearer and easier to navigate and I understood why the council workers did it. And yet, there was a twinge of sadness as I viewed the now butchered hedgerow. And it reminded me that we need to notice the harvest when it is there because as surely as time passes, it will be gone later.

What is your harvest? What can you enjoy; today, tonight, this week? Before you move onto the next thing to be done… Slow down and savour it… Inhale it’s scent, taste it’s flavour, see it’s beauty, feel what it’s like. Enjoy your harvest.Xxx