The lucky bag

I woke up this morning with an image of years gone by... its was a memory from childhood of one of my favourite things.... "The lucky bag"... now for those of you old enough to remember a lucky bag could be for girls or for boys.... I seem to recall they were priced at about 10 pence and were in my mind a very good purchase with my pocket money.

In each lucky bag there would be an array of surprises; sweets, plastic jewellery, hair combs or slides, colouring pencils and a colouring in picture.. at least.

Looking back now the contents weren't the main attraction... it was the anticipation and excitement of just what wonders would be lurking inside. It made me think... how often do we going chasing after something and missing the journey along the way.

As was with the lucky bag, whilst it was lovely to eat the sweets, play with the plastic toy and do the colouring in..... the real joy was the experience of  saving my pennies, walking to the shop, imagining and savouring what would be in my lucky bag... the whole journey of getting to the point of ripping open the lucky bag was just as magical as the contents themselves.

The thought of the lucky bag took me further along the journey of my childhood, and so many memories came flooding back.... such as.... FAB 208

Next in my childhood meanderings was My Guy ( a specially chosen edition  for my soul sister Lisa Gates)
This was really my step into my teenage years.... for those of you reading that are old enough to remember there were comic like strips about relationships in My Guy... and it was a gentle opening of the heart of all young teenage girls, all about the journey into the realms of boyfriends, kissing and true love...ahhhh!

I seem to recall that the magazine was considered by my dad to be a little too old for me at the time... in terms of its content, but looking back it was my way of accessing how it was to be a teenager ( I was probably about 8 or 9 at the time) Again it wasn't about rushing to be a teenager it was exploring and playing with the journey of growing up, it wasn't about being the teenager NOW, but fully experiencing the wonderment of the road to it and all of its juicy mystery.

The wonderful thing about this was that it was actually the journey towards boyfriends and first love that was so magical... the reality was the roller coaster of emotions the highs and the lows before first heart break! So again, it wasn't the destination as much as the journey.

Next came dreams of "Anything is possible" with my next weekly purchase of "Smash Hits"...

Armed with the lyrics to every top10 hit in the charts, along with a tape recorder to tape the top 20 on a Sunday tea time ( timing it so as not getting the DJ speaking over the intro to the record of course) I could make the perfect mix tape of my life, ( was that legal I wonder? ooops!)...and not only that I could imagine my stage, hairbrush in hand.... and belt out the words to Hair cut 100 to my hearts content.

Of course I was trying on life... seeing how it fit. I wasn't yet burdened by adult doubts, responsibilities or the feelings of imagined limits. No, quite the opposite ...in my bedroom I was queen of the pops... I was finding my voice, playing every role .... and oh what fun it was.

I guess what I'm saying is, that often as adults we get caught up in the striving, the rushing, the trying to get THERE, or get THAT and we forget to enjoy the journey along the way. We forget to play, to wonder, to imagine. We forget to savour every moment, every step to opening our "Lucky bag". 

So today I urge you to savour the moment. To enjoy playing, to lighten up... to sing along and get involved with the dance of life. And then at the end of the day reflect on just how very lucky we are to have had today's journey.

Until next time,
Make every moment count,
Lisa xxx