Author: Joanne

challenges

The Achievement of a Goal

Joanne1 Comment

“Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit”. ~ Conrad Hilton

On the 16th of June, 2010, exactly one month ago today, I wrote an article entitled “Challenging Myself”, in which I announced to the Land of Blog my intention to set myself the task of writing a new blog post, every day, for the next month.

The inspiration to attempt this task came from NaBloPoMo.

I began the month feeling confident that there would never be a shortage of topic content and as my writing has gained momentum throughout the month, I can confirm that my assumption was correct.  In fact, some days I linger momentarily over a blank computer screen, not through lack of ideas, but rather in contemplation of which topic on my list I will write about!

A month ago, I declared that I wished to achieve more of the following ~ Discipline, Consistency and Confidence.

Discipline became easy, after the first couple of days. I am rather a creature of habit by nature and writing a blog post each day has become a regular routine for me each morning, along with eating breakfast, having a shower and making the bed.

Perhaps that is why the idea of discipline didn’t bother me a month ago, when I began this task, I knew that after a couple of days the word discipline would evolve into the new word of habit, which I find far less intimidating.

Consistency was achieved as my writing gained momentum. In fact my next plan of action is to set aside perhaps one day of each week, every week, to write as much as I can for the upcoming days, all on the same day.

Momentum is my reason for the intended marathon writing sessions. Once I’m in my writing mind-set, my only affliction is that my mind moves faster than I can write! One idea leads to the next, then the next, and so on. By writing one lengthy article on any given subject, I can later edit the article, breaking it down into smaller, easier to read posts, for daily submission to my website.

Confidence, I had identified a month ago, as being my Achilles heel. Little did I know back then how consistently supportive my fellow bloggers would be!  It has been with the greatest of delight that I have received so much positive feedback from you all! Thank you for all of the ongoing support each of you has given! 🙂

It becomes more and more apparent to me every day that I am not the only person on earth who needs the occasional confidence boost! I thoroughly enjoy reading the articles that other people have written and when the opportunity is offered to leave a comment I enjoy taking it. I remember how much I appreciate receiving comments myself, and it also becomes a wonderful socially interactive experience. 🙂

Reflecting on the past month, and now having achieved the goal I had set myself of writing and posting an article each day for a month, I can honestly say has turned out to be easier than I had initially expected! My enjoyment of writing, combined with the social interaction, made it an absolute pleasure to achieve, rather than a task.

I’ll see you all again ~ tomorrow! 😀

“You can do anything you wish to do, have anything you wish to have, be anything you wish to be”. ~ Robert Collier

freedom · gratitude · happiness · inspiration

Introducing… “Freedom Space”

Joanne2 Comments

“Today I embark upon a whole new journey. I’m unsure yet as to exactly where my journey will take me, although the destination isn’t important. Perhaps I won’t ever reach a final destination, and that’s okay. Enjoying the journey each step of the way is my aim”.

And so begins a brand new experience in my life, one in which I find myself not only contributing regularly to my own website, right here. Káren Wallace at www.thecalmspace.com has offered me the brilliant opportunity to become a regular contributor to her online magazine. 😀

Each month, Káren introduces a different theme at the Calm Space, this month’s theme being the wonderfully uplifting emotion of “happiness”. You may recall how the theme inspired me to write my own thoughts on happiness, which in turn led to further thoughts of gratitude, showing the contagious nature of the word!

Over the past three months I have contributed to the Calm Space as a guest writer, having my articles included for the topics of “Inspiration”, “Purpose” and “Wonder”. Káren has included links to all three of my guest articles in my latest post, “Happiness is a Road Called Freedom” .

The word “freedom” encompasses a multitude of emotions for me, including not only the physical freedom to choose to go where we please and do as we please, but more so the freedom we have to choose our own thoughts.

With a mind packed full of negative thoughts, we could travel along the journey of our lives feeling as if we are dragging a ball and chain on our ankle and living like a caged bird, metaphorically speaking, or we can choose the alternative…

Positive thoughts and positive choices will allow the caged bird to break out of these self imposed confines, soaring high above the earth, feeling lightweight and free!

Today, I am the soaring bird, experiencing one of the consequences of the choice I was free to make, in choosing to begin writing again. Káren Wallace unknowingly became the catalyst in my choice to “go public” with my blog here at Home Life Online, through her words of encouragement to me, earlier this year. For Káren’s continuing words of praise, along with the opportunity to become a regular contributor at the Calm Space, I will be eternally grateful. Thank you, Káren. 🙂

Follow the link to “Happiness is a Road Called Freedom” and share your own thoughts, either here or at the Calm Space (or both!) knowing that you are amongst friends. 🙂

basics · gratitude · inspiration

Back to Basics

Joanne6 Comments

What with all of the cold weather we have had of late, I decided that I was well overdue for a new jumper. Not just any jumper though, it had to be the soft, cosy variety, one that invites you to wrap yourself up in it, cuddle up on your favourite chair with a steaming hot cup of coffee or chocolate and a good book, whist enjoying this temporary dose of cooler days.

As it has become my habit over the past few years, my initial thought was simply to take myself off on a shopping trip to buy a ready-made jumper. On second thoughts, however, I came up with an even better plan, a plan which the “old me” would have come up with immediately. Like I said, I have developed a few “habits” over recent years, all of which I now recognise as “easy” fixers.

Back in the good old days, I made quite a few of my own, and my children’s clothes. Growing up in a family of crafty minded people, (and I mean that in the nicest way, as in, self-sufficient), it would have been impossible for me not to learn the finer arts of sewing, embroidery and cross-stitch, crochet and knitting.

From the tender age of ten or eleven, it was nothing for me to whip up a new jumper or two for myself each winter, not to mention a few jumpers, cardigans, trousers, beanies, gloves and scarves for my dolls along the way!

My babies always wore little hand knitted jumpers, jackets and booties, made out of the finer three and four ply baby wool and progressing to jumpers knitted in the thicker yarns as they grew older. My neighbour once noted that my daughter’s doll was better dressed than some babies she had seen!

As the years progressed, the quicker and easier way of acquiring new outfits has crept in, that being a quick trip to a crowded shopping centre. Not this time, though. I caught myself before rushing out of the door in pursuit of a mass produced number, taking the alternate route to the local craft store.

The familiar feeling of browsing through pattern books, wool colours and knitting needles was a delight in itself, and made all the more pleasurable when my eldest daughter met me at the store, to help me make my choice.

With pattern, wool and knew new knitting needles chosen, I left the store feeling a sense of achievement, and I hadn’t even knitted a stitch yet! Just the mere fact that I was making a return to the basics, rather than taking the easier and more expensive route, was extremely gratifying.

With my knitted jumper now in progress, each night I sit comfortably in my chair, my older “Queen Cat” cat curled up beside me, younger “Cutie Cat” asleep on the chair next to me and my dog snoring away contentedly at my feet.

Ah yes, that’s what life’s all about. There’s a lot to be said for enjoying the basics. 🙂

Australia · Changes · gratitude · Mount Warning · winter

A Beautiful Misty Morning

Joanne6 Comments

What a beautiful scene I awoke to this morning! Looking out of the windows at the back of my house, down into the valley, it looked as if an ocean had taken up residence!

Mount Warning looked over the valley, as majestic as ever, smiling on the new day, mist dancing around at her feet.

A sleepy old farm house at the bottom of the valley looked as though it may be swallowed up by a blanket of mist at any moment. You will have to run your mouse over this photo and click on it to enlarge, to see the old home.

In parts of the valley the mist was so dense, it looked for all the world as if we live beside the Pacific Ocean, although we are actually about ten minutes drive from the coast.

This beautiful mist effect happens regularly at this time of year. After weeks of cold weather, we enjoyed warmer temperatures yesterday, in the low twenties. When the earth cools again at night, the mist rolls in! Stunning…

A regular in our garden, a friendly kookaburra who enjoys dive bombing our pool, perched himself on our pool fence, watching the unfolding of a new day.

Although it is the middle of winter, our neighbours beautiful magnolia tree is already in full bloom. It looked particularly pretty today.

After such a beautiful start to the day, I still have one request for the Gods of the Weather ~ Please, may I have just a little more winter, before the summer arrives again? 🙂

advice · challenges · Changes

Too Far Out of Your Comfort Zone

Joanne3 Comments

“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

With all of the advocates around these days for “leaving your comfort zone, to get ahead in life”, I almost feel the need to issue a warning before I say another word…almost. Due to my own opinion, of “everyone has the freedom to choose to do whatever they wish with their lives”, it nullifies the need for any warning.

How long ago was it that all of this talk about “you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone” begin? It seems to me that I’ve been listening to the wise and wonderful lecturing us on their opinion for more years than I care to remember.

Believe me; I’ve tried getting out of my comfort zone, against my better judgement. I have buckled at the knees, due to a combination of peer pressure along with the miss-guided belief that another person, or persons, know better than I do regarding what is right for my life.

This poses a dilemma ~ do you stubbornly remain totally within the parameters of your comfort zone, at the expense of not making any progress in your life?

Here’s an example, based on my own experience ~ someone I met years ago, whom I believed possessed a huge dose of credibility, convinced me that it would be in my best interests to allow a complete stranger to babysit my children every Saturday, and sometimes both days of the weekend, whilst I pursued a career in marketing. This position also involved public speaking.

Whilst I succumbed to the pressure placed upon me to follow through with this “new and exciting” life, every weekend, as regular as clockwork, I would wake up on Saturday morning feeling “sick”. Recognising the Saturday morning “illness” as a good old fashioned dose of nerves, I persevered.

After a period of time, during which my children missed me, I felt guilty for leaving them with said stranger each weekend, and I broke out in a cold sweat and practically hyperventilated at the mere hint that I may be requested to stand on stage and address the multitudes, I quit.

That’s right…I quit. So much for leaving my comfort zone!

Which leads me to the questions, when is it the right time to step outside of your comfort zone, and how do you define how far out of your comfort zone is too far…?

When embarking upon a new venture or starting with anything new, there is bound to be a certain amount of anxiety present. How do you define the anxiety?

  • Is it butterflies in the tummy and a leaping heart? Does the mere thought of this venture make your soul sing? Is your intuition telling you to “go for it?”
  • Has the new venture you are about to embark upon been decided on through your own free will?
  • Or…Has someone coerced you into a decision, (when your intuition has its doubts), by bombarding you with a large array of so called “positive points”?
  • Does it feel as though you are about to walk through fire, and across a bed of broken glass, simultaneously?

The thrill seekers out there may be requesting the fire and broken glass at this point, however I would be surprised if any thrill seekers had any interest in reading this blog! (Thrill seekers please note ~ your Google search has led you astray!)

Wisdom gained thus far through the years has taught me a mighty strong lesson. If the anxiety brought about by an idea of trying something new is just way too high on the Richter scale, I change my plans, simple as that!

If the task is just too far outside of your comfort zone, chances are one-thousand-to-one that you won’t stick with it anyway; then you may be in danger of feeling like a failure! (But that’s another topic, for another day!)

Your intuition will never lead you astray, unless it is influenced by another person. Trust your intuition; it is an intimate friend of yours and as such, knows exactly what is best for you.

You can enjoy the very best of everything that life has to offer, by following the requests of your own intuition. Your soul will be relieved too.

So sit down in a comfortable chair, put your feet up, close your eyes, relax, take a few deep breaths and clear your mind. Tune in to the singing of your soul, as you relax comfortably, making your own personal choices, for your own personal advancement through life, in your very own comfort zone. 🙂