Hajja Salesjana

can manage and juggle every day. The more difficult we are to meet, the more stressed out and tied down to our desks we are seen to be, the more appointments we have to juggle, the more bulging with commitments our diaries seem to be, the more we moan how hard it is to just sit down and just be, the more we are led to gulp the lie and think that we are of exquisite value and highly sought after. Somehow we might even gullibly believe that we are even irreplaceable and indispensable! Alas, often we realise how naive we were in thinking so when it is too late, when our mental, physical and social health wanes and deteriorates sending us urgent signals that we must re-route our life course. It is only when our flimsy reality collides with the stark truth of life that we would have to admit to ourselves how much time we have wasted running after things which ultimately do not matter, giving importance to issues which really can wait... Let us be honest and admit that the world will not stop spinning in space if I pause for a while and enjoy some quality time with my loved ones, that the worldwide economy will not come crashing down if I decide to take some time off from work, that the News headlines of the world will not scream out EDITORIAL Fr. Sandro Camilleri sdb Shifting gears.... It is that time of year again when we somehow shift gears and take life at a slightly slower pace both due to the frequently stifling heat which often characterises our Maltese summer months, but also due to the long, bright summer days which allow us to enjoy more time with the ones we love and care for. Indeed time flies and it is of utmost importance to learn to appreciate the moment that we have as otherwise we risk either reminiscing the romantic past or pondering on the mysterious future which lies ahead of us. It is wise to come to the realisation that actually all we have is the gift of the present moment, the fleeting ‘now’, and it would be truly worthwhile that we all learn to cherish it more by spending it well because time is more precious than gold and as elusive as a rainbow in the night sky. There’s no stopping it from its relentless march onwards. So often nowadays we tend to get embroiled in the slithering, predominant social mentality of the ever present glorification of being busy or rather the ‘appearing to be busy’ syndrome so as to give ourselves a fake sense of deep seated importance and to foolishly pretend that by doing so, we’ll boost our self image and self esteem in the eyes of gobsmacked others as to how much we Photo by Antonio Visalli - Unsplash.com Photo by Simon Berger - Unsplash.com 3 Lulju-Settembru 2024 hajja