Don't let life take a hold of you

I met a lady today, a very cheerful, grounded woman in her 60s with well aged wisdom. She was homeless but her soul was rich, kind and strong. The age old saying; don't judge a book by it's cover.

She was from Argentina and had migrated to Australia in February 2023. Her English was broken but we could communicate. Heart to heart, soul to soul communications require few words. She was an accountant by trade, 42 years in the field back in Argentina.

"$200 one month," she said she earnt. She painted a picture in my mind through her expressions. Google images of her home country also helped paint that sentimental picture.

Wait, $200 a month?

The world is a small yet big place. Buenos Aires or Mendoza while had streets, diversity of people and nature was obviously unique in its own way. The way her eyes stared into me as she tried to describe life over there. The way she interacted was an embodiment of her home country; decades of conditioning within that 'nurture'. The verbal and more non verbal struggles she had experienced. Yet she still smiles, a radiant smile that shatters any guesses of insincerity. And her well-trialed gaze, that fixed into my soul: it was rather calming, like a still pond in near silence.

It takes me to conversations with others from different countries but with seemingly similar levels of day to day competition amongst fellow humankind.

"At the end of the day, you must protect yourself first," they would say... Keep a low profile...

Would life/Australia tender them as they age?

She reminded me of the delicacy of life. We are all connected. Connected through our experiences, connected by the fact we are all human who feel, think and act with 'flaws'. Simply put, we are all human.

"Feel, don't think," she echoed, taking me to my dad's age old sayings, "feel don't think," at the dojo.

Don't let life take a hold of you.

I felt uplifted, as my own life's struggles were put to perspective. We are blessed in this beautiful country. She had left Argentina, her home, to now call Australia her home, to support her daughter.

This woman in her 60s who left her known world behind for Australia to support her child. She puts on a smile on her face as she knows what matters in life. We are only mere human.

"No war. Just be happy," she would repeat. Her gaze was always fixed to my eye. It was rather calming, like a still pond.

"Are you happy?" she asked.

"Feel, don't think," she echoed, just like my father.

Life is so delicate, one tiny dot can change the world. Yes, we are all connected in countless ways. The fragility of life! I remind myself.

Don't let life get a hold of you. Let go more.