Reality check.

Reality check.

Hi there!
Thanks for popping in. Wednesday’s blog is from the heart, right? So here goes….

I was dashing past the large windows of Waitrose in Crowborough this evening, and I just happened to see a woman trying to feed a very disabled young man in the restaurant. He was agitated and she was struggling. Boom. In that split moment, my world was right-sized again. All the inane, self-serving politicking about Brexit deal or no deal faded away, all the day’s moaning on Facebook about which shopping TV presenter is where evaporated, all the petty, trivial stuff which goes on around me was gone. Completely. That one little glimpse into another woman’s world – her daily – I’ll repeat that – DAILY role in Life. That was all it took to bring me up sharp and give me a little reality check. And I have the audacity to sometimes complain that my life is hard.

It was back to the office this morning, to play catch up after the retreats and the birthday celebrations on HOCHANDA this weekend. Quick turnaround for Paul though; he’s already back at the studios getting ready for tomorrow’s 3 Pergamano hours!

I rattled through the next few TV proposals, putting together the product plan, sorting out production schedules and generally making sure we are all singing off the same hymn sheet – and we were, which is always a relief!

The thing about this kind of manufacturing business coupled with shopping TV is that it is absolutely unrelenting. No sooner have you blown the doors off and smashed all sales targets, than the next NEW shows are looming large! We usually work many weeks ahead of schedule – on larger projects, even months – and we work together like a well oiled machine nowadays. We really do.

However, sometimes, when you’ve just run around the block full pelt, it can be a little daunting when you’ve got to run around again straightaway!

That’s when a little God knock whilst running past Waitrose is just what’s needed. And in an instant, I am filled with gratitude, and happy to be ABLE to run round the block, happy to be ABLE to run a successful business. Grateful the kids are healthy, that my husband loves me, that my Mum and Dad are going strong.

Is that From the Heart? I think so.

Love & Hugs,

Barb xxx

40 thoughts on “Reality check.

  1. Life can always bring us all back into line & be thankfull for what we have. I have health problems but i always say there is always someone worse than me & if we walked a day in their shoes. I would know that my life is ok

  2. How very true , we get so wrapped up in daily trivia and trials that we forget how lucky we actually are to actually experience life .

  3. Oh my dear friend, your heart is one of the biggest I have ever come across. Yes, life as a Warrior Mum (as we mums of disabled children call ourselves!) is constantly tough but it’s having people like you in our lives that makes it all so much easier. The love of friends and family is our coat of armour. When told “I don’t know how you do it” I can honestly say “because we have people like Barbara Gray in our lives” Love you and your wonderful family so much xxx

  4. It’s not just your family that love you, all your friends in the Clarity world do as well. You only have to catch a tiny glimpse of some people’s lives to realise that no matter how bad you think your life is, there is always someone far worse off than yourself.

  5. Well said, Barbara. In my job, I get frequent reality checks which helps me get everything back in perspective. I’m looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the folks at Leyburn. Not long now. I don’t know where you get the energy from but you all do a fantastic job at Clarity. Much to my surprise, the dies I ordered the other day arrived today. Busy with work so can’t play just now but maybe on Monday when I get a day off, all being well! I am really grateful for the hard work you and your team do daily but do you know what, you are all human and you all need to take care of yourselves as well. I think I can speak for most of us when I say that if our post takes an extra two or three days to arrive so that you all get a decent sleep, it is not the end of the world. Yes, we’ll be waiting eagerly for our parcel to arrive but it is well worth the wait. Your health is more important than our post! Remember, one day at a time and remember to HALT as you mentioned in your blog. Hx

  6. It does us all good sometimes to face the reality of other peoples lives. As I have said to you I know my life is good, I am one of the lucky ones. All credit to the amazing people who cope day in day out, often never complaining, with difficult situations. xx

  7. Hello Barbara
    Yes, it is moments like that that put our lives into perspective. However hard we think our lives are, someone has it harder.
    Love
    Roz.xxx

  8. Good evening Barbara
    Well that truly was from the heart ❣
    I can relate to the lady in Waitrose I worked most of my adult life with severely disabled adults and the trials they face on a DAILY basis.
    So yes I try not to take my life for granted I am a lucky lady to be able to say I am healthy and loved.
    You have a wonderful evening with those you love
    Hugs 🤗Theresa

  9. To whoever is my guardian angel I say thank you every morning I wake up. Life throws us all curves at some time or another. My wake up call was cancer in my head, ignored by the doctor until it pushed my eye out of line, then all hell broke loose. Prognosis was not good at the time but here I am over 20 years later, still alive and creating mayhem (as well as craft). Seeing all those other poor people in the unit made me realise how very lucky I have been in my life.
    The Clarity family, though I have met few of them, keep me cheerful on that rare gloomy day.
    All set to record Paul tomorrow as Ray has an early dental appointment and I will miss some of the 8am programme, though I will be ordering before we go out.
    Hope you haven’t given up on your pottery journey, it was interesting seeing your creations.
    Have a good evening.
    🍒🍒🍒

  10. I seem to have missed all the nasty stuff on Facebook, probably because I have made a conscious effort to remove all the moaners from my Facebook. I have also missed most of the political disaster. There is nothing I can do about any of that, so I will concentrate my energies where they can do some good. You are so right, Barbara, we need reality checks like you had today every so often. xxx Maggie (Silvercrafter)

    1. You shouldn’t bury your head in the sand re what is happening in Westminster, it affects us ALL, and we ALL have a duty to know what is going on, and to vote responsibly, sign petitions etc. Especially us females, since women died to get us equality and the right to vote. And some of us will be in a very dire situation if there’s a no deal Brexit. We need everyone to vote responsibly for our welfare. The Government is genuinely stock piling body bags in preparation for a no deal Brexit…

      1. Not here for a fight BUT, if you knew Maggie, you would know she is a strong, lovely and very loyal person – who has had more than her own share of sadness. I love her dearly and would hate anyone to use her as a political punchbag. This is NOT a political arena so please go and bang your drum elsewhere. Which basically, if you stopped to think before your fingers went flying over the keyboard, is exactly what Barb was saying. A very hurtful comment in what I always thought is a happy place.

        1. You will probably never read this Di but I cannot l
          let your comment to Brenda be left on here without saying that if you really were to know Brenda as I do and Maggie and many of Barb’s followers on here you would know she would never hurt anyone and her comment was never directed at Maggie to let you understand my friend Brenda has autism so the words she was conveying were what was in her mind at that time. She was more than just hurt my your comment and probably still is to this day.
          So let me give you a reality check please think before you fly your keys on your keyboard how your words would impact someone like my friend.
          This has been heavy on my heart for a long time but I didnt want to upset Brenda and sorry Barb but this will be here for a long time and i need whoever reads this to understand.

  11. Yes, there is always someone worse of than ourselves. I frequently think of this, all those more unfortunate in the world than myself to help me through my struggles, help me find the inner strength. I think it’s inner strength and determination not to give up that makes you get up tomorrow and work through another day the best you can. Having good people in your life sure does help too. Being on your own is sooooo isolating and tough.

    You’re a special lady Barb, who gives/sacrifices so much of you, and your time, to so many. There’s nothing you need to feel bad about. Love you xxxx

    A wee joke, don’t know if it might cheer some folk up who, like me, are so scared of what’s going to happen to them post Brexit –
    the only person to enter Westminster with honest intentions was Guy Fawkes!!! (Don’t blame me, it’s a Billy Connolly joke!!!)

  12. A little trip into town can bring a reality check. We should all be thankful for what we have. If we look at others problems and compare then to ours, we would probably take ours back in a heart beat. x

  13. I got my reality check in February 2018 when hubby had a heart attack! It was a close call, too close if you ask me, but if something good came out of it, it was that it made me realise how lucky I am. Lucky he survived, lucky he loves me, lucky I have a beautiful, happy, healthy family and lucky we are still together after 37 years. It also made me take a long hard look at myself – so today I am a happy, contented, not so wealthy (thank you Clarity!) and 4 stone lighter person. The people in my life matter to me and those that don’t want to be a part of my life are no longer important. Life is precious and we should grab it by the ****s and enjoy it. I look at it this way – you run a successful business and because of that you keep a lot of people in a job!! The tv treadmill keeps on turning and your workers keep on turning up! You are my inspiration to be the best person I can be and if I am half the person you are then I ain’t doing bad at all. 😍😍😍😍

  14. From the heart indeed! Sometimes it is hard to imagine life in someone else’s shoes but if we don’t try to have empathy and understanding for others then we have truly lost our way.

  15. What you said is so true. We all lead such busy lives these days that we often miss what is going on around us.
    Looking forward to catching up with Paul’s shows tomorrow, those frames look interesting.

  16. It doesn’t matter where you go in life
    What you do….
    Or how much you have
    It’s all about who
    You have beside you ……….

  17. I think when we see the problems others have to face it makes our own rather insignificant. There are a lot of outside things going on which most of us are not able to influence and I’m sure when there is an opportunity to have our say we most of us will take the opportunity to do so. In the meantime crafting is a great way to take us away from cares and worries for a while, and I for one would be lost without it. You are a very caring person Barbara and we should all try to do what we can to help others less fortunate than ourselves. x

  18. This is so very true Barbara. I used to complain about the little things in life which got me down, complain that nothing exciting ever happened in my life etc. Then last Summer, I lost the most precious and wonderful person in my life – my dear Mum. We were so close and shared everything. My life will never be the same without her. She loved your programmes on Hochanda, but I’ve not done any crafting since I lost her. That was my reality check, and something I am still coming to terms with.

  19. Absolutely agree Barb, I’ve been giving myself a reality check after learning if the sad death of a dear friend at the weekend ( she was a Groovi Gal just like me )I will sure miss her, so to myself I say for 71 years old, your not doing bad for health, have a brilliant family, great grandchildren 7, grandchildren 11, retired, widowed after 44 years together, remarried very happily, sorry for the long post, counting many more blessings too but will stop now. Well done to all at Clarity,

  20. Your blog made me go cold but so true.We all need a reality check now and again .Life can seem so unfair sometimes and cruel.

  21. Does us all good once in a while to have a ‘reality check’ now and then. Definitely makes me realise just what matters in life and how lucky I actually am, lovely husband, healthy, happy (now adult) children and grandchildren. Okay we may not be the wealthiest in monetary terms but we are millionaires in other ways! xx

  22. I completely agree with you Barbara. There are so many people worse off than me and I am SO grateful for my life. Reality check for me this morning when I was swimming my lengths, was the grown up Down’s Syndrome man who was being helped into the pool by his parents. That’s a life time commitment. I thank God most days that I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters, a fantastic, generous husband and a great life filled with crafting and good friends. I try not to let the bad comments on social media affect me, but as always there are negative comments on every craft site. People hide behind their screens and spout forth hurtful drivel. Be nice and be thankful for your lot.

  23. Great blog today, sitting down after a very emotional day, realising it is time to get things in order for Mum. She is being bullied, manipulated by my sister, mum now has Stage 4 Cancer and at 91 her memory is not what it should be. No surprise there. Anyway all I want is to safe guard her, and being 250 miles away it’s difficult. But I take it all, try my best each and every day, and sit here appreciate what I have just a day at a time.

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