Feeling Good

... and The Cheryl Cole Paradigm


“Sleep in peace when day is done, that’s what I mean.”

Nina Simone

“Bye! Take care!”

That’s what my Aunt says to me when I leave her house.  It would always annoy me.  To me, it implied that the world is dangerous and I should be careful, even frightened of it.  I used to admonish her, “You shouldn’t say take care”, I’d moan.  And she looked put out. 

Now I welcome it.  And thank her wholeheartedly.  In fact, to anyone who says it, I respond “Thank you!! You too!”, because, I think now that ‘Take Care’ has another meaning. 

Take care of your appearance.

Take care of your health. 

Take care of your possessions. 

Take care in your work. 

Take care of everything you do.

And it serves as a reminder to do the right thing.

There are three advantages to it, I believe.  One, your life will become richer as your invest your heart into what you are doing.  Two, the world around you will notice that you take care of things and it may well engender their trust.  Three, the things you do will increase in quality.

“In this business, you want to be known as the Master or the Caretaker.  I’m known as ‘The Master’”.  So says the bodywork specialist, at McLaren supercars, whose job it is to make sure that their cars' exterior is perfect.  Do you think he will ever be out of a job with that attitude?

A ‘caretaker’ is seen as a lowly job with a free brown coat.  Actually, being known as the person who takes care is the highest honour with which you could be bestowed.  If you look at successful people, they take care over everything. 

Looking good, feeling good

Someone who reminds me of this is Cheryl Cole.  Yes, she’s pretty attractive and all that.  But she is also a paradigm of perfection.  Never a hair out of place.  You never see her unprepared.  She takes care.  So, people find her attractive.  It’s a virtuous circle.

I took care over a little project recently.  It took me little effort really.  But my project stood out and impressed the person who saw it.  Because I had taken care over it.  That was all.

In the maths books I write, and in my tutoring, I take exceeding care to get every word and nuance correct so the student floats through a world of understanding, pleasure, entertainment and regular penny-drop sensations, which leaves them wanting to continue.

Another phrase is ‘be careful’.  We take it to mean…’watch out!’.  But, literally it says ‘be full of care’.  That is a perfect statement and an audacious goal.  If we did everything in this way, taking care of the result; our homes would be cleaner, tidier, more organised.  As would our lives.

If we take care over every job we do, we will become known as the Caretaker.

We would feel good, and sleep in peace when day is done.

Take care.