95% of success is….
Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne longer than I have been alive. I grew up in a family with a strong leaning towards Republicanism due to the influence of my great great Auntie Eileen who remained true to her Irish background. But over the years I have seen an appreciation of the Queen grow within the family. Objectively speaking, Queen Elizabeth is not a remarkably gifted person. She is not an intellectual, nor of artistic leanings. Indeed, her personal interest is in horse flesh and she probably would have been a brilliant trainer. But, in her life as Queen, she is a superb example of the saying, 95% of success is turning up.
For over 70 years she has turned up, frocked up, smiling and attentive, wherever and in whatever circumstances duty has led her. In scenes from ‘The Crown’, she often looks pained, but if you look at the newsreels of the time, you can see her wholeheartedly entering into each and every situation. Even when shot at during the Trooping of the Guard (the shots were blanks but she didn’t know that), she kept on going. Her genius lies in being present to each situation.
While our lives are so different to the Queen’s in many respects, what we have in common is the need to turn up and be attentive. In parenting, teaching, working, even playing, the primary thing we need to do is to be there and enter into the situation – to give it our best shot. When we look at the parables of Jesus’, like last Sunday’s, we see that this is what God wants of us. To be and to grow where we are. If you want a sense of success in your life, be there, be attentive and then smile, if at all possible.
Loving God, you desire me to grow in my life and the best way for me to do that is to be attentive in the various situations I am in. Give me the wisdom of your Spirit to truly accept and enjoy the life you desire for me. I ask this in Jesus’ name, confident that you will hear me.
Sr Kym Harris osb
