The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 258

Good morning and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 38 of our new lock down. It is wet and windy morning here this morning and yet we are gifted with another day which we can enjoy with all around us, friends, families, loved ones, and we should never take it for granted. Today I am going to speak to you about neighbours and acts of neighbourliness by some wonderful neighbours over the years. Of course there will always be exceptions but we won’t pay any heed on those. 99% of all people are wonderful. Being a neighbour back in West Limerick where I came from held a special title, had a special feel to it and everyone held the word “neighbour” with a deep sense of honour. We all lived in the countryside with plenty of space. We were all living and working very independently yet if anyone was in need of any kind of help or assistance everyone responded but the cry for help was always made in silence but the community responded intuitavely. We lived by the motto “do onto others as he would be done by, give and take and study the greatest happiness of the greatest number.” This is how a good neighbour would live by. I then moved to Dublin and further places and lived away from my beautiful country life to follow work in flats as they were called then and I always felt a deep sense of captivity until I returned to the countryside about 5 years later, a much happier person. When people move from their place of happiness and mass migrate to cities and towns for work a new type of creature is born. What is called “the next door neighbour” is born an it takes us all time to adjust to this type of living but we all have a duty to respect and honour each other and behave in a responsible manner. So ask yourself today - are you that type of neighbour or what type of neighbour are you? We can all improve for sure. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to each other and wear your lovely smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick