daughter · friends · gratitude · inspiration

An Ideas Kind of Man

action balls black and white illustration
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This morning I had a visitor. Two visitors, actually.

Time spent with my beautiful eldest daughter is always time well spent. She’s a ray of sunshine in my day, always has been, right from the very day she was born.

She brought with her today “The Man in Her Life”. This is the man who possesses magical powers, having swept my daughter completely off her feet over five years ago, and they have lived happily together ever since.

My daughter’s head has never been easily turned. But she knows what she wants. And she got what she wanted….and so did he!

My daughter’s man values his privacy, so for the sake of today’s exercise, I’ll call him, umm…Bill.

You know when Bill has entered the room, he’s like a whirlwind. And he disappears without ceremony. No long goodbyes for this man! By the time the dust has settled and the swirling leaves have fallen to the ground, he’s vanished.

The value of Bill is in the brief time he spends with you, in the room! The electric currents running through his brain simply bounce off the walls and, if your mind is receptive, it won’t be long before your own mind is buzzing, right along with his.

Bill has presence. He has charisma. And most importantly, he has good instincts.

Many a time I have asked his advice on matters that I have been too close to, to be able to handle objectively. Without so much as a bat of an eyelid, Bill utters a sentence, leaving you with a whole new perspective on the matter at hand.

If I could find a way to bottle his natural ability to find solutions to every matter mentioned to him, we’d be rich, and the world would be a better place to live in.

He’s rarely moody. Nor does he take anything too seriously. Yet he is one of the most compassionate people I know.

Our conversation this morning has left me, yet again, with a million ideas running through my brain. Don’t ask me how the conversation started. I never know what it is that prompts any conversation with Bill. They just happen.

Bill says one thing; I reply, my daughter interjects; before long we seem to all be talking together, hearing every words spoken by each of us!

Momentum kicks in; one idea leads to the next. He leaves you with plenty to contemplate!

I do believe that everyone needs a “Bill” in their life; make that several “Bills”!

He’s an ideas person. What he says makes a whole lotta sense. He gets you thinking.

It occurred to me today that there are many internet based “Bills”; people with ideas, who offer inspiration, who start the ball rolling on any subject matter you care to choose from.

Pick an idea out of a hat. Look it up on the internet. There’ll be someone there talking about your idea, offering suggestions, helping you gain momentum to keep that ball rolling along.

If they’re a blogger, you can begin to interact. They give you ideas. Hopefully, you reciprocate.

You don’t steel their ideas; all it may take is a simple sentence, which leads you to an idea, which progresses to another thought, then another.

Unknowingly, your friend on the other side of the world has brought new meaning to your day.

The same applies to feelings. With so many uplifting websites around, there are some days when I simply do not have enough time to get to them all!

I value my online friends, the “Bills” who inspire my days so often without even realising they have done so.

And I am grateful for my in the flesh Bill, the one who makes my daughters world a wonderful place, who she happily shares with her family. 🙂

challenges · friends

New Years Day, 2011!

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

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)

gardening · happiness · inspiration · nostalgia · spring

Daffodils

Daffodils ~ William Wordsworth

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”

(Photo credit : aspenlandscapedesigner.blogspot.com)

gratitude · happiness · inspiration · spiritual

Affirmations ~ “My Intentions for Feeling Good About Myself Today”

“Today I will direct my thoughts to dwell on the positive about me, and the good things I have done. I will withhold any self criticisms or negative self talk. I will not hold others opinions above my own.

Today I will refuse to participate in anything that takes away from my feeling good, or entertain thoughts of self doubt.

Today I will remember that as an ever loving, joyful soul, I am not my body, nor am I the things I have done, therefore I will not compare myself with others, or judge myself in any way.

Today I will not go against my inner voice of conscience nor put on a “woe-is-me” scene. I will cancel any unrealistic expectations of myself. I will willingly accept whatever is present.

Today I will do something good so that I have more good thoughts about myself tomorrow.

Today I will remember that I am enough, I am okay, alright just as I am, and I give myself permission to just be myself. I will make it okay to say “no”, even if it displeases others. I will forgive myself and forget what I have forgiven. I will always do the best I can in whatever circumstances I find myself in.

Today I will only see, think and hear good about myself. I will practise being patient, kind and gentle with myself. I will take every opportunity to laugh at myself, and refuse to take life too seriously. I will respect myself and treat myself with the V.I.P. status I am worthy of.

Today I choose to have positive and self supporting attitudes and to participate only in those expressions that add to my inner harmony and well being, and I especially prefer to be involved in those things that will have me feeling good and full of appreciation about myself at the end of this day….

And about all, it is my intention to be gentle and kindly towards myself…no matter what percentage of these goals I achieve.” ~ Author Unknown.