Tag: happiness

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 · father · gardening · Mum · nostalgia · pies

Recollections of Comfort and Security

Joanne2 Comments

“Ah! There’s nothing like staying home for real comfort” ~Jane Austen.

Once in a while, memories of my first childhood home re-emerge, usually brought about by a mention of the area I once live in, and every time it happens I am left with a feeling of melancholy.

The reminder this time was due to my stumbling upon a blog, discontinued in 2006, written by a lady living in Woodford in the Blue Mountains. In her blog she had spoken of her love for anything vintage ~ clothing, jewellery, books, recipes…actually, this woman and I have a lot in common.

My own early childhood home in the Blue Mountains was in the little township of Valley Heights. Today, the population of Valley Heights is estimated at 1,336, so you can imagine how tiny the town would have been back when I was a child!

Way back in the early days, in 1813, when Australia was still learning to walk, three explorers, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, managed to find their way through the rugged, mountainous bushland of the Blue Mountains, opening New South Wales out to the western plains area.

Although the progression of time has brought about many changes, both to my old home and the area, my memory still holds images of the three bedroom house, mostly built by my father; the home where the true meaning of the words comfort and security originated in my existence, and still live today.

Recollections of red velvet curtains, a wood grain wall, a kerosene heater and grey carpet in the lounge room. Linoleum floors throughout the rest of the house, including my bedroom, with scatter rugs here and there.

My bedroom was painted pink, with my second hand furniture repainted in light blue. A low, built in cupboard ran along one wall, purpose built by my brother-in-law to hold my doll collection. At one count, I had collected around forty-something dolls.

The house was humble, to say the least, but in my mind I lived in a beautiful mansion, surrounded by lush gardens; a tall weeping willow tree down the back, not far from the swing my father had built for me and where I would spend hours of my time.

Out the back, we grew hydrangeas and fuchsias, which to this day still remain two of my favourite flowers, and we had mint growing and a passionfruit vine. Our garden backed onto a gully full of various species of gum trees and bottlebrush, but my favourite find in the bush was always the uniquely shaped branches of a plant we called “mountain devils”. I could walk with ease alone down the gully, to a point where there sat a huge bush rock. The rock was my limit, without my father’s help.

In the front garden my sister had planted poppies, roses, gardenias, violets and daphnes, along with as many other flowering plants as she could lay her hands on. She was married the day before my seventh birthday, but still spent time in the garden when she can home to visit us.

Nothing gave me more delight than walking to the end of our street with an empty bowl, returning home to my mother with the bowl full of wild growing blackberries, which she would turn into a pie. Wild flowers grew everywhere in the area as well, in the empty lots of land and along the sides of the roads.

Those were the days when we bought our milk, bread and vegetables from the back of one of the many vans, which travelled around the streets selling their produce. We lived on a gravel road and walked everywhere we needed to go. If the walk was too long, we took a bus.

Life was oh so simple back then. And the air was fresh and cool, not surprisingly, with an altitude of 375 meters (1,230 feet) above sea level. Winters were cold and summer days were rarely unbearably hot. It doesn’t snow at Valley Heights, although we would regularly visit the snow, when it made its appearance during the winter months, by travelling just a few kilometres further into the mountains.

When melancholy sets in, it is brought about not by the memories of a time long gone, but rather from knowing that my family prefers to live in a warmer climate, beside the sea.

I wonder if the blogger from Woodford still lives in the Blue Mountains, enjoying her vintage finds in the many antique stores and craft shops there? As far as I know, the cottage industry is still alive and well in the mountains and I feel certain that the antique stores and art galleries have multiplied, since my last visit there.

The melancholy will pass, I promise, and I will bounce back tomorrow, my usual chirpy self. 🙂

What about you ~ do you have a special location, held near and dear to you in your heart of hearts?

advice · gratitude · inspiration · music

Be Gentle with Yourself

Joanne7 Comments

The music of the 1970’s was unlike the music of any other preceding decade. And whilst it was a time when heavy metal bands blared out their raucous sounds, men grew their hair longer than women, wore more makeup than women, and everyone was wearing platform shoes, (much to the disgust of the older generations), some surprisingly sensitive songs beamed across the radio airwaves as well.

As an alternative to the Glam Rock, we enjoyed the soothing sounds of David Gates and Bread, Lobo, Carly Simon, James Taylor, The Bee Gees, Olivia Newton John, Chicago, The Hollies, Tele Savalas…Tele who?

What? You don’t recall the top rating television series Kojak, a detective show centred on a bald headed guy, Theo Kojak, played by Tele Savalas?

Don’t worry, I’ve been left out of the loop too, I have never watched an episode of Kojak; all I remember is the beautiful hit “song”, “Desiderata”.

Unless you heard Tele Savalas’s version of “Desiderata” during the 70’s, you will probably have no idea whatsoever what I am talking about here!

Tele Savalas was an actor, not a singer, however he did own a deep toned, smooth-as-silk speaking voice, and he talked his way all the way through a hit song, “Desiderata”.

As a teenager, I worked in a newsagency and bookstore. Wall posters were very “in” at the time and the newsagency carried a huge range, including one containing all of the verses of “Desiderata”. My interest was piqued.

There appears to be some debate as to the origins of Desiderata. The most popular belief seems to be that it was copyrighted in 1927, by Max Ehrmann, although further debate exists as to whether or not this copyright is still valid.

Regardless, it is a beautiful piece of writing, offering inspiration in all aspects of life, the words still as valid today as they were when Desiderata was apparently penned in the early 1900’s.

I would like to share “Desiderata” here with you today. Even if you have read through the words before, read them again now; an overdose of inspiration never hurt anyone. 🙂

Let me know how you feel about “Desiderata”, whether it is your first, or one-hundred-and-first reading. I especially love the words, “Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself”.

And always remember to be gentle with yourself. 🙂

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Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

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