Category: challenges

challenges · friends

New Years Day, 2011!

Joanne3 Comments

What with my last post here being just a little over two months ago there seems to be so much to say today, and I will say it all, plus some! But all in due course.

My lack of attention to my beloved blog site has been due to lack of time, definitely not lack of interest! I have written at least a million posts in my mind over the last few weeks and now the time has come to get these mind-posts published!

To help give myself a bit of a kick-start for the New Year and to get the “blog-ball” rolling once again, I’ve made some commitments ~

The Daily Post

The people at WordPress have come up with some New Years ideas themselves, offering encouragement to bloggers through The Daily Post.

A community of bloggers, all with goals of committing to either posting a blog once a week or a blog once a day, will be helping each other along the way, through help and encouragement. Suggested optional themes are offered also.

With just a little trepidation, (but not too much!) I have decided to commit to posting a blog a day. I know how hard that can be at times, but what can I say, I love to blog!

If you are reading my blog, I hope you will encourage me with comments and good will throughout the year. Your friendship means a lot. 🙂

NaBloPoMo

Regular visitors to this site will know that I am no stranger to NaBloPoMo. I joined for the first time last year and have made some wonderful new blog-friends through the site.

The theme for January is “Friends”. How could I resist such a friendly theme as that? 😀

Again, I have taken up the challenge to publish a post each day throughout January, making the most thorough use possible of the January theme.

In keeping with the theme of “friends”, the photo at the top of this page was taken this morning, just outside my front door.

He’s a friendly little fellow to have as a house guest; makes no noise, doesn’t raid the pantry at midnight and never uses up all of the hot water!

Doesn’t his little home look stunning, with the rain drops hanging delicately onto each thread? (Click on the photo to enlarge it).

And Finally….

Happy New Year to one and all! I hope 2011 is the most magical year you can possibly imagine for yourself. 🙂

advice · challenges · Changes · freedom · gratitude · happiness · inspiration · vision

Sense and Sensibility ~ Part 1

Joanne4 Comments

After my husband and I first met, it didn’t take us too long to realise one striking difference between the way we each looked at life ~ which was…

His head ruled his heart,

while,

My heart ruled my head.

Over time, and convinced of the (false) belief that I would please those close to me, and most of all my husband, I made the effort to kiss my airy-fairy ways goodbye, lock away my gut-instincts, hunches and intuition and throw away the key.

“Reason” became my middle name. Everything simply had to be well thought through, the pro’s and con’s weighed up and carefully balanced, in fact, every action I took must have a reason for it, before being given the honour of materialising.

My newly found practicality, along with my down to earth attitude and conservative manner would bring beams of pride to all of those people who I held in high regard. Yes, it would…

Surely it would…It would, wouldn’t it?

Well, of course it did!

With my newly developed maturity and common sense, a certain standard was expected of me. And I aimed to please.

But every now and then, rarely actually, but just occasionally, I would make contact with kindred spirit, a dreamer of the highest standard, a gut-reactor who thought nothing of throwing caution to the wind. I would scramble around to find that discarded key, unlock my soul, and off I would go, reverting back to my flippant ways of times gone by.

It was during these so-called “moments of madness” that I would feel free and alive again, finding the strength again to move mountains and swim across the oceans. And all because my intuition told me so.

After much tut-tutting from those-who-knew-what-was-best-for-me, (and plenty of pouting on my part), I would make my return to the Land of Common Sense, unlocking the gates of wisdom with my reliable Key of Reason.

Did I manage to retain the stamp of approval, kindly bestowed on me by those who I held in high regard? Yes, I did. Everyone approved.

Everyone…except for me.

For many years I continued with this masquerade, pleasing the multitudes, whilst never pleasing myself. Saying yes, when I secretly held back the urge to say no.

Who knew I was living a lie, a life ruled by other people’s standards? No one. ‘Coz I always found a way to enjoy life, look on the positive side of every situation, skilfully navigating my way around the obstacles.

I didn’t just fool the people in my life; I was also fooling myself, by being something that I wasn’t.

Then something changed. That “something” changed absolutely everything. Hot on the tail of being “Ms Fix-It”, “The Whipping Post” and “Communal Door Mat”, I walked away, never to return. I turned my back on it all.

I came home, but not just home to my house, I came home to me.

My instincts had been screaming out to me, telling me that the place I went to every morning to work, where we (my husband and I) each operated our separate businesses from, was not the place where I should be spending my days.

While I had my own business and my husband an entirely different business, which we had worked at from the same premises for a number of years, the two businesses constantly overlapped. He made decisions and choices for my business and I always managed to get dragged, (screaming and kicking, I will add!) into his.

Packing up my bare essentials and moving my business home was a blessing to me. Throwing caution to the wind worked well for me. No amount of coercing changed my mind. With my heart back where it belonged, in its rightful place as The Guide to My Life, I have come of age.

Did I upset anyone by taking such a strong stance for my life? You betcha I did!

Was I ever swayed back into pleasing everyone but me? Never.

Did I care? Honestly ~ No.

Over the last three years my life has evolved into what I want it to be. New lessons have appeared in the most unexpected of places.

And all of these unexpected places have been cleverly disguised as The Simple Things in Life.

(Photo credit ~ alwayschallengeunhappiness.blogspot.com)

Australia · challenges · Changes · gratitude · happiness · Mount Warning · spring

Embracing Change

Joanne2 Comments

Sitting at the table on my veranda I notice the first early morning rays of sunlight touching the summit of Mount Warning.

Oh, but I look up again after writing just one paragraph and the light on the mountain has already changed, while the folds in the surrounding hills have been further emphasised by the changing morning light.

Inside the house all is still, but that too will change within the next half hour, as my family begins rushing from room to room, preparing themselves for the last work and school day of the week.

Yesterday I became aware of other changes, positive changes in our nearest town, fifteen minutes drive away from our village.

Many years ago our cars were serviced by one particular mechanic. He knew his job well, so we continued to patronise his business, unquestioningly.

And then he retired. Resisting the change, for reasons I’m sure we had at the time, although I have now forgotten, we located another mechanic nearby. Yes, our new mechanic knew his job, although I always felt he lacked that “something special” of our previous man.

About a week ago my car began to complain that it had been neglected way too long, and it was loud about voicing its displeasure at the recent lack of attention.

Making contact with the new, although now not so new owners, of our previous favourite mechanics shop, I translated the problems as best I could, as told to me by my ailing vehicle.

A surprisingly low quote was given, and my car was feeling much better within an hour or two. Apparently, my car had every right to complain ~ a six cylinder car running on only five is not a happy-chappie!

As I have already mentioned, my car needed some T.L.C. so yesterday the “new” mechanics gave it the complete once-over it had been pleading for.

Driving my blue baby back home again I fully expected at any moment it may break out in song, as it glided along the road, purring as contented as a well fed kitten.

Behind the wheel of my car I also mentally rejoiced at having discovered such wonderful mechanics, who have that “special something” which I had missed for years.

I also chided myself at the memory of resisting the change of ownership in this business. Change can be good, just ask my car! 😉

The weather here is changing as well…another change I resist every year. I so enjoy the cooler months, we have so little cooler weather in this area.

The time has come for me to be more accepting of the many changes taking place around me, rather than resisting them. The weather will show no concern as to preferences of the earth’s inhabitants. It will change as it sees fit.

Two weeks ago I couldn’t have sat in comfort at this hour of the morning on my veranda, enjoying the early morning changes of the mountain. It was too cold.

The mountain is changing constantly as I write…the wonderful mechanics in town changed my car into a purring, gliding kitten and now my house has changed into a hive of activity.

Embrace the changes, savour the magical moments and move with them.

Have a fantastic day, in whatever your day brings!  I know I will. 🙂

challenges · inspiration · vision

Visualising a New Challenge

Joanne2 Comments

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others”. ~ Jonathan Swift

The theme for the month of September on NaBloPoMo is “Vision”. Although I have taken the challenge before, and succeeded, in writing and posting a new blog post every day for a month, I have not achieved this task during a whole calendar month.

Today I read some of the posts from NaBloPoMo members who had completed the challenge of a new blog post each day for the month of August. It was interesting to note the reactions, ranging from “thank goodness that’s over” right through to the other end of the spectrum, “I achieved the goal, now I’m not sure if I will continue writing each day”.

The latter is closer to my reaction when I had completed the task during June/July. I had developed the habit of daily writing, and it felt quite odd to realise that there was no pressure to continue at this pace.

More recently, after not writing for about a week, (due to work commitments in my “off-line world” along with developing a cold and feeling a tad out of sorts), I felt like a fish out of water ~ I missed writing!

Now I feel inclined to take on the challenge yet again, to write a new post each day, for the month of September.

At first glance, “Vision” appears to be a rather interesting topic to write about. My mind has already developed many ideas, although I can’t promise to come up with a whole thirty posts relating to the topic! We’ll see…

All I can promise at this early stage is that I have the vision to complete the thirty day challenge, with discipline, consistency and confidence again being my key focus words, just as when I began the challenge for the first time in June.

In June, when writing about “Challenging Myself” with this task, I had intended getting into the “web stream” up to my ankles, which I ultimately achieved. The time has now come to plunge in up to my knees.

Okay, maybe plunge is too strong a word…perhaps “taking a larger step into the stream” is a better description.

Regardless of the terminology, I’m up to the challenge, one step at a time. And isn’t that what life’s all about? Moving ahead…one step at a time. How do you climb a mountain…one step at a time. How do you plant a forest? One tree at a time…

Do you have a daunting challenge ahead in your own life? Remember the routine ~”one step at a time”, take small steps towards your ultimate goal, consistently each day.

Before long, you will have climbed that mountain.

(photo credit http://www.tripadvisor.com/)


Australia · challenges · Changes · freedom · gratitude · happiness · inspiration

A Leap of Faith ~ Immigrating to a New Country

Joanne2 Comments
My sister Annette (centre) at Balgownie migrant hostel, N.S.W. Australia, 1951.

“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” ~ Napoleon Hill.

After World War II had finally ended in the mid 1940’s, England spent a number of years in recovery. Ration tickets to acquire certain food items were still being handed out, air raid shelters remained in residential back gardens and ex-soldiers struggled to find their place in society, during the post war years.

A virtual life line was extended to many of the walking wounded and their families, with promises of beginning a new and wonderful life in a land of sunshine.

Paying just ten pounds per adult and with children travelling for free, these English migrants were offered a ticket to board a ship, bound for Australia.

Those who accepted the offer became affectionately known as the “Ten Pound Poms”.

Even in this day and age, packing up your belongings and family, lock, stock and barrel, boarding an aeroplane and moving from one side of the world to the other would take a huge amount of courage.

Can you imagine the risks of making such a move some forty to sixty years ago, with little knowledge of what to expect, taking a voyage on a ship which would see you arriving at an unfamiliar destination around six to seven weeks after leaving England?

I’d call it nothing short of a leap of faith, and certainly not a move for the faint hearted.

And yet tens of thousands of so called “Ten Pound Poms” took up the offer, on nothing more than just a promise of a wonderful new life, which included work prospects, comfortable accommodation and a freer and more relaxed lifestyle in a warmer climate.

Upon arrival in Australia, many immigrants were to discover that the only guarantee they actually had was the warmer climate. Steady employment wasn’t as easy to acquire as they had been led to believe and the accommodation offered was in the form of a small hut, in what was known as a Migrant Hostel.

And yet most of the “Ten Pound Poms” rejoiced at the opportunity offered to them, a chance to start a brand new life in “The Lucky Country”.

Gone were the days of fear, struggle and uncertainty. In the eyes of these people, they had the world at their feet; anything was possible, opportunities abounded ~ they felt privileged and proud to call Australia “Home”.

In this day and age, I see the move these people made as a giant leap of faith; in those days, they saw it as a gilt-edged opportunity to begin a new life in a new country, away from the heartache they had experienced during the war years.

Numerous stories could be told of the families who risked everything, in search of a more prosperous life to share with those they loved, stories of the heartache and joy experienced during those early days of their new lives, in a new country, on the other side of the world.

One day I will tell my story. Am I a “Ten Pound Pom”? No, but my whole family were. My parents and three sisters made that giant leap of faith in 1951, many years before I was ever thought of.

There’s is a story of hope, inspiration, commitment, struggles, happiness, gratitude and simplicity, but most of all faith…faith in themselves and faith in the promises held in an unknown land. And when I share their story, it will be told with all of the pride and admiration I feel towards my courageous and unassuming family.

If you have the means to honour the actions of someone you know, who also took a leap of faith at some stage in their lives, why not share the story and give them the recognition they so well deserve? Why not write your own article of inspiration?

It will offer reassurance to anyone who reads your story that whatever they set their mind to doing, it can be achieved…because it can.

There’s no such word as “can’t”. 🙂

Photo credit : http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au