Category: Changes

Changes · freedom

On The Brink….

JoanneLeave a comment

My son starts at his new school tomorrow. And whilst saddened by the end of his summer school holidays, as he is every year, he is also excited.

Such is his anticipation and joy at starting his new school, he told me that he can’t describe how happy he is. The words escape him!

My son isn’t the only one trying to contain his anticipation of the events about to unfold.

The latter months of last year brought about many changes in my life also. With the groundwork begun and the foundation stones set in place, this next week is my time to continue on with my plans, which have been temporarily put on hold due to the Christmas and New Year break.

It isn’t all about making changes, though. It’s also about learning; and reading. It’s about new knowledge, knowledge which has always been there, but I just wasn’t ready to hear.

Reading, research, action, planning, working….

Listening with my heart, following my instincts, new beginnings….

Working towards finding answers; at times momentarily revisiting the past to make further progress into the future….

Travelling, making memories….

Taking stock, discarding that which is no longer required, simplifying my mind, my life….

Just as Pocahontas did, I will listen to and follow the wind.

The feelings of freedom are already there. The Universe has plans, and my heart is open to listening to the messages I receive as the days, months and the year unfolds.

Are you listening with your heart wide open to the plans The Universe has awaiting you?

When you are looking for change, and want the change, and feeling the change you are wanting, it will begin to happen.

Events will unfold before your eyes, showing you the correct path to follow to bring about the changes you are wanting.

Begin each day with your eyes wide open. You won’t miss a thing.

Australia · Changes

Typically January

Joanne3 Comments
New Uniforms

Well, who would have thought? It was exactly twenty years ago his month that I made my first January school dash!

Although back then, it was all about my five year old baby boy, my first child to start school.

He arrived at school on his first day, all bright eyed and ambitious, looking forward to this brand new adventure he was just beginning.

I was a cot case!!

As the year went by, momentum kicked in, I gained control over my apprehension and fears and I grew up somewhat.

Really, I had no choice. Who was I to worry myself stupid, when my children were going off to school filled with anticipation? I had to face the facts…

My babies loved having new adventures, thrived on learning new things, couldn’t wait to make new friends and appreciated their newly forming independence.

Was it really only seven years ago this month that the baby of my four children started school? In 2004 I had all four of my children attending school; the eldest in his final year, the youngest starting his first.

So, my baby arrived home yesterday from his surfing carnival, suntanned and tired, realising he is heading into the final days of his summer school holidays.

He’s starting a new school this year filled, yet again, with eager anticipation.

Enrolment into school ran smoothly. He’s beginning an Academic Excellence program this year, hence the change of schools.

With the enrolment completed by 11.30am and uniforms tried on and purchased by 12.30am, we were off to the shops for the final leg of our annual January dash.

Shoes and socks were purchased without incident at a local sports store. He’s a very happy chappie, knowing he will be wearing sports shoes every day, from this day forward, (well, Monday, actually!) as the school uniform requirement!

Lastly, we headed off to a nearby chain store to join another dozen or so mums, also accompanied by their overly suntanned children, in the rummage for stationary items.

By 1.15pm we were famished. What’s a January school dash without junk food? We found sausage rolls (I had a spinach roll!) and chocolate thick shakes to tide us over for the trip home. It’s been another hot, typically January day, yet another day when drinks are as necessary as breathing!

For the grand finale of this most typically January day, the weather has provided us with a thunderstorm, usual in these parts of the country after the heat of the day.

As the thunder fades away into the distance, our pretty bright green garden frogs will begin their croaking chorus to entertain me, as I patiently hand sew name labels onto my boy’s new school uniforms.

How typically January! 🙂

January Rain

advice · Changes

Accepting Changes…and Changing What We Can

Joanne2 Comments

“God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me”. ~ Author Unknown

The wheels of change spin around and around and I have discovered, through the wisdom of my age, an age which I have no control over, that it is a pointless task to try and fight change.

Change is here to stay, whether we like it, or not.

But why would we want to fight change?

Glad you asked! 😉

Change offers us a smorgasbord of new experiences, different perspectives, a fresh new approach, new friends, different seasons, growth and wisdom.

So why are we at times reluctant to accept change? What are we so afraid of?

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” ~Anatole France

It is oh so easy to become so complacent with our circumstances as they currently are that we resist any occurrence of even the slightest change. There are times when resistance can bring stagnation, further leading to boredom with our life’s circumstances.

Subtle changes are prone to creep up on us when we least expect them.

Have you ever felt excitement at watching an old movie, or television show, a favourite ten years ago, only to be disappointed by the rerun? (But I used to love watching it!)

Or sat down at the table to enjoy a plate of your favourite food, the one you always asked your mum to cook for you when you were a teenager, but the taste just isn’t the same? (If mum had cooked it her way, it would have tasted better!)

How about that old jumper, your favourite for the last two winters. You drag it out from the back of the cupboard, in anticipation of the soft woolly fabric against your skin. But it’s gone hard, and worse still, it doesn’t fit right. (Who shrunk my favourite jumper?)

We can make excuses all we like. Or alternately, accept that change is taking place!

“There is no reason why the same man should like the same books at eighteen and forty-eight”. ~  Ezra Pound

I’ll admit it; I can be accused myself of being as guilty as the next, when it comes to resisting change. It’s not easy to change. It’s not easy when you are  forced to reassess a situation. It’s easier to take a look at what used to be, and continue with the old ways of doing things.

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him”. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Here in Australia, during the middle of summer, schools shut down for a month of summer holidays. It is the ideal time to take a break from work if you are able to, and to also take a step back from your life and reassess where you are heading.

The break away from the usual brings clarity of mind.

Questions arise ~

Am I happy with the circumstances of my life?

Do I wish to continue heading in the same direction I have been for the last year?

Are there circumstances, situations or people who I wish to continue along with me, as I prepare my journey into this next year?

Is there anything that I feel has outstayed its welcome in my life and it’s time to part company with it?

Can I change all of the things I wish to change?

Must I accept that some things in my life are here to stay, for a while longer at least?

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it”. ~ Mary Engelbreit

They are your decisions to make. No other person can, or should, try to influence your decisions. It’s your life; your choices.

And just as surely, if people around you are also living through a process of change, you must accept the changes they have chosen for their lives.

The human mind is a powerful instrument. We should all endeavour to use this instrument to its best advantage.

“The birds are moulting.  If only man could moult also – his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions”. ~James Allen

As that metaphoric wheel of life continues to turn, we begin to realise that good can become bad just as easily as bad can become good. My aim for this year is to put in place the changes to bring about the good.

And if things aren’t turning out the way I had hoped for?

Why, I’ll make some more changes, of course! 😉

“After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully.  After five years, look at it with suspicion.  And after ten years, throw it away and start all over”. ~ Alfred Edward Perlman, New York Times, 3 July 1958

(Photo from Google Images)

basics · Changes · freedom · knowledge

Sense and Sensibility ~ Part 2

Joanne5 Comments

Life is the ultimate teacher.

You may or may not agree with my statement, that is your choice. We all choose our own truths, whatever is the right thing for each of us, as we carry on our existence, safely wrapped within the cocoon of our own realities.

My heart knows it to be true, my heart has chosen this particular truth for me, and my heart never leads me astray.

Sensibility reigns supreme within my life. Sensibility has my ultimate approval. And life has taught me the lessons with which I have reached my conclusion.

Over the last three years, during a crash course on reality, and life, and learning for myself the realities of my own life, I am often reminded of the time-proven adages, those little snippets of wisdom shared with us by the seniors of our society, words loosely thrown our way during times of need…

Gems such as ~

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Actions speak louder than words.

The simple things in life are often the best.

A penny saved is a penny earned….And…

A leopard never changes its spots.

What is right for one man’s life can be totally wrong in another’s. We must seek, find and stay true to our own truths, our own heart. We must heed the silent words seeped to us through our souls.

No man holds the right to change another, we are who we are. If we attempt to change another person to suit our own selfish needs, transforming them into something that they are not, or should another endeavour to attempt this task on us, there is only one ultimate possible outcome ~ a bucket load of lies. Make that a truck load. We are who we are…End of Story.

Pretty words, whispered lyrically into the dainty pink ear of an eager receiver won’t mean squat if the appropriate actions do not coincide with these words. You may as well wrap the empty words back up into the pretty little box from whence they came, tie the flimsy bow back around the box and toss them away as far as you can, preferably with their shallow creator. Who wants to live a lie? Listen to your heart…it hears the spoken words of truths and sees the actions performed in the name of honesty.

Do you remember the last time you were overwhelmed by such happiness that you felt your heart swell and your soul sing? Over the last three years, much to my amazement, I have re-discovered that wonderful feeling of light-headed, giddy happiness in some of the most unlikely places…

  • In the fragrance of a flower.
  • The sound of a buzzing bee.
  • In the blueness of the sky on a perfectly clear day.
  • And the shape and colours of a storm cloud.
  • A perfectly formed rainbow after a sudden storm.
  • My cats rumbling purring sounds.
  • Listening to the crystal clear harmonies of the voice of a famous singer.

This short list hardly does justice to the moments of happiness I have experienced during the past three years, but they all have one thing in common ~ not one of these magical moments has cost me a cent. They are free. They are the simple pleasures of life. And they mean the most to me.

I don’t need diamonds. I have no use for a fancy car. I can only wear one outfit of clothes at a time. And I only have one pair of feet on which to wear one pair of shoes each day. A minimalistic life saves money for sure. But oh, how much deeper the pleasure reaches, as it frees your soul and lightens your heart, when the need of the burden of multiple possessions no longer exists!

We are never too old to learn. I believe that yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks! (And yes, my heart told me that as well.)

The ultimate gift for me has been learning to listen to my heart and following my instincts (again), going back to writing (again) and becoming who I really am (yes…again).

Dropping the barriers and cutting the pretence can be, surprisingly, a real eye opener, for you may just find, hidden beneath all of those carefully laid layers of trying to be the person you think you should be, resides the person who you really are…

And the biggest surprise may come when you actually recognise an old childhood friend, the one who used to look back at you from the mirror each day. It may just be the child-who-you-once-were, from many years ago, when your heart reigned supreme and honesty was your middle name.

The packaging may have aged a tad, but take the time to peel back the layers of time, and take a peek inside. See for yourself if the leopard’s spots are, in fact, familiar to you.

“Just be yourself; everyone else is taken” ~ Oscar Wilde.

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)