We recently bought a house. It has a beautiful garden and the home has been lovingly maintained by its previous owners, and its owners before that, and the owners before that..Which got me thinking..There will be owners after us, and more after that, and maybe after that too..So is the house really ours? Do we own it? Or are we just caretakers?
I feel like I am a caretaker of the house. Making sure it is clean, tidy, neat, beautiful, livable, ensuring the plants are happy, and that the house feels like a home. All this until the next owner comes along.
And extending that thought, aren’t we caretakers of everything else as well? Caretakers of our clothes, our physical possessions, caretakers of our children, and caretakers of our bodies? Life is transient, we are here for a limited amount of time, although at this point it does seem infinite..And what do we really own? Our bodies? Our clothes? Our possessions? All of these will get disposed of when we pass. Our children? They will move on when they are ready.
I feel like I am a caretaker
- of the body – making sure it is healthy, clean, neat, rested.
- of the family – making sure they are living in a conducive environment where they are nourished
- of materialistic possessions – making sure they are clean and usable.
- of the Earth – keeping it beautiful for the next generation
And I feel the shift in my attitude when I think of myself as a caretaker. As an owner, there is a sense of privilege attached. A caretaker however has an attitude of service, and the humility that comes along with it. Being an owner, I feel like I have a heavy backpack full of possessions, however being a caretaker, I feel a sense of freedom, and lightness.
Knowing that the only thing permanent is change, let us be good caretakers….until the next one comes along.
