Bogus or Bonus?

Did you do any Easter hunts over the holidays?  I took my family to a "bunny hunt" around our local National Trust property.   There were gorgeous, new fluffy soft toy bunnies in spring shades of yellow, pink, blue and white, perched all around the normally rather serious house.  But as well as spotting these "bouncing bunnies" we had two other types to look out for - bogus and bonus.   The amusing "bogus" bunnies took the form of other animal toys (frog, cow, etc) wearing a pair of bunny ears.  The bonus bunnies however were the really interesting ones.  They weren't particularly colourful or fluffy.  In many cases they were pale, misshapen and with matted fur.  For these were the bunnies that belonged to the members of staff who work at the property, the bunnies that had names, and stories attached to them, that had offered cuddles and comfort over many years to their grateful owners.   These bunnies were - if you are a reader of The Velveteen Rabbit - "Real".

The idea of the bogus and bonus bunnies kept coming back to me over the Easter break.  It set me wondering what they represented in my own life.  I thought about what things I maybe gave time and attention, not realising they were actually "bogus", and not adding anything worthwhile to my life or those around me.  It was quite sobering to think that I needed to consider letting go of some of these things to leave room for the more genuine "bonus" elements of my life, even if they were not initially so attractive.  I was also surprised to discover that even when  I'd identified what my "bogus bunnies" were, it could still be quite hard to let go, that they had become so woven into the fabric of my life that it was quite hard to unpick them.  But out they have to come, I feel, if I am to see more clearly where I really need to be putting my focus.

Today of course has been dominated by the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.  One can only hope that as they build their married life together they will be able to ignore all the bogus incidents and  influences that inevitable surround such a famous couple, and instead be able to focus on the bonus of having a loving partner to share the rest of their life with.