Tag: soul

gratitude · happiness · inspiration · spiritual

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

Joanne2 Comments

“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.

gratitude · Mum · spiritual

Mother’s Love Makes the World Go On.

Joanne5 Comments

Walking outside and into my garden this morning, I was greeted by the usual early morning sights and sounds; the sun shining brightly in the sky and birds chirping happily in the trees.

The distant sound of a chainsaw, possibly a neighbour pruning trees, preparing  their garden for the upcoming hot summer months.

Cutie Cat rubbed her dainty little body against my legs. Today, I imagine she is reminding me that it’s her birthday. She turns three today. As she rolls around on the grass, her eyes squinted against the bright sun light, I feel her blissful happiness and her enjoyment of the recent warmer weather.

The world goes on; the birds keep singing, the trees, grass and flowers keep on growing. The universe shows no regard for what happened, seventeen years ago today.

The sun shone in the sky on the morning of that day also, just as it is today. Memories of that day are embedded in my mind, to remain forever.

The weather had recently become warmer, as it does every year at the end of August. I thought the world might end that day, seventeen long years ago. But it didn’t. Life continued; the world kept on spinning.

And I continued to breathe.

I knew she was still breathing too, as I left her hospital room. A strong pulse moved in her neck. She was still with me, as I said goodbye, for the last time. Her fine, shining white hair curled gently around her face. Her strong, gentle, healing hands rested motionless on the bed. Her eyes remained closed. And the pulse in her neck kept beating.

Every particle of her hair, her hands and her face had to be savoured, to be held in my memory for as long as time.

Out in the hospital car park, I started up the car, the sounds of the radio instantly coming through the speakers. “All by myself, don’t wanna be, all by myself anymore”. It was Eric Carmen’s voice, singing one of her favourite songs. Funny, I hadn’t heard that song in years.

Upon arriving home, a sudden urgency hit me. The chores had to be done; the clothes washed, the beds made, the breakfast dishes washed. It all had to be finished, immediately.

And then I was told she had gone.

A nurse had watched me leave the room; she had watched me leave, before entering the room herself, only to find the pulse had stopped.

Instinct, which I had wanted to ignore, had already told me the news that I hadn’t wanted to hear in words. The song on the car radio…

Her physical body left the earth that day, seventeen years ago today. But I know in my heart that she never did leave. A golden thread keeps us close to each other at all times. We can never be separated, not even by “death”.

She remains with me every day, guiding me, protecting me, watching my children grow.

Because that’s what mother’s do.

And that’s why the world goes on.

basics · Changes · freedom · gratitude · happiness · inspiration

Taking a Holiday, All Year ‘Round

Joanne5 Comments

Being the creature of habit that I am, when the thought of taking a holiday pops into my brain, I have one point of destination in mind.

But no, today I will not be sharing stories of the place that I refer to as my home away from home. Nor will I be relating to you tales of the sun, the beaches, walks along the river, or any other physical aspect of enjoyment, although I could write multiple articles on the subject.

The holiday unit at the resort where we spend a week, sometimes two, more often than not during the steaming summer month of January, has all the basics we need; three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry, lounge and dining area.

The kitchen is kitted out with the basic pots and pans, cutlery, crockery, kettle and toaster. The laundry provides a washing machine, dryer, clothes airer, bucket, broom, mop iron and ironing board.

Basic bed linen, blankets and pillows are provided in the bedrooms, along with bath towels and bath mats in the bathrooms.

All we need to provide ourselves with is food, purchased from the supermarket just up the road from our holiday unit, in fact, its walking distance away.

Before leaving home, all we pack are our clothes, usually summer clothes at that, so we travel light in that regard, although by the time the kids have packed fishing rods, boogie boards, footballs, iPods, mobile phone, etc., we do actually end up with a loaded car.

For the sake of their outdoor enjoyment, however, I don’t mind their various water activity and sporting related bits and pieces. Holidays are for enjoyment, right?

And enjoy ourselves, we do!

Many times I have pondered the why’s and wherefore’s as to how it is that I seem to find more time when holidaying. Why do the days seem longer? There’s still twenty-four hours in every day wherever you are, so what gives?

After a meal, washing up the dishes is easier.

I hang my washing on the clothes line faster.

My ironing is finished in a jiffy (even in summer!)

The beds are made faster.

The floors are swept in next to no time (yes, we have to sweep the floors daily, after we have carted sand in on out feet, from the river or beach).

We end up with more time in every day. That doesn’t happen at home, so what have I been doing wrong at home?

Really, I simply cannot believe that it took me a number of years, multiple holidays and an overdose of brain-strain to realise what we were doing differently when we went away. The answer is so obvious….

When we go away on holidays, we are not bogged down with all of the material stuff we have at home. Our holiday unit is probably less than half the size of our home, and yet…

Some of the best days of our lives have been enjoyed whilst temporarily possessing only the bare necessities in life!

Once this realisation finally hit me, I wanted to re-create the holiday feeling all year through. Yes, even while I was at home.

And so began my task of discarding unwanted stuff around home, sorting through cupboards, purchasing only the essentials.

Minimising doesn’t happen overnight, but then again, the excess stuff around home didn’t accumulate overnight either. It took years, many years, of growing into our larger home. Our larger home came into being due to our growing family.

Funny how these things creep up on you, when you’re not looking, isn’t it?

When I’m holidaying, I enjoy the freedom and the lightweight feeling I carry with me every day. Life is easy, even if only for a week or two. Therefore, is it any wonder that taking a holiday is such a popular pastime?

We can, and should, treat ourselves all year round to this lightweight, heady freedom, when our souls can sour through the days with as much ease as a feather being carried along by the wind.

And so, with the memories of weightless, carefree days held close to my heart, I continue to discard the excess “bulk” from my life, thankful for the days spent in a holiday unit, where, unbeknownst to me, life’s lessons were being learned. 🙂

advice · freedom · spiritual

Flicking Off the Labels

Joanne8 Comments

There’s no doubt about it, labels are a necessity of life. Can you imagine your kitchen cupboards, packed to the rafters, with unlabelled jars and canisters of goodness-knows-what?

Imagine mistaking the salt for sugar; your morning cup of coffee would hardly taste appealing with a dose of two teaspoons of salt, not to mention a sprinkling of salt on your cereal!

Hypothetically, if labels were banned en masse, surely our other senses would kick in, particularly our sense of smell. And surely our eyes would train themselves into analysing the appearance of the contents of the jars, rather than merely reading the name written on the label.

Indeed, labels ensure we clean our teeth with a tube of toothpaste, rather than a tube of glue and there is never any danger of mistakenly topping the oil up in our car with a bottle of cordial!

Society as we know it would suffer a tremendous loss, without the use of fashion labels. Imagine, if you will, the dent in the economy without labels on the clothing of the fashion high-flyers. Isn’t it common knowledge that an impressive “name” label, when attached to an item of clothing, increases its value no end?

I have begun to suspect that the populous of the world’s nations have become so engrossed in the utilising of labels that we are under threat of a brand new, world- wide epidemic, namely ~ “Label Overkill”; a disease  which appears to be sweeping across the entire human race.

As it is with all contagious diseases, “Label Overkill” would have had quite simple origins, perhaps just the harmless placing of a label such as “daughter” or “son”. This, in turn, would have produced the likes of other labels; mother, father, husband, wife, auntie, uncle, grandmother, cousin, all extremely harmless in themselves. In fact, aren’t these the very labels we proudly flaunt to the multitudes?

But it doesn’t stop there. Labelling continues with boss, employee, neighbour, acquaintance, friend, foe, boyfriend, girlfriend…

Websites such as My Space and Facebook have a lot to answer for. Such sites are guilty of spreading this epidemic of label overkill. The information page on Facebook requests you choose from the following labels, to describe your situation; single, in a relationship, married, engaged, it’s complicated, widowed and (can you believe this?), in an open relationship. :/

Why isn’t “none of the above” included?  Or “does it matter?” And really, whose business is it anyway? Oh, that’s right, Facebook are doing their “bit” to encourage “label overkill”, further spreading this epidemic.

In the interests of containing this disease I would like to suggest the following three points, as an alternative to labelling people.

  • Upon first meeting a new person, expect the best from them. Whether the meeting is in person, over the telephone, by email, Facebook, Twitter or anywhere on the World Wide Web, assume they will be pleasant and friendly towards you, right from the get-go. What you are expecting is always what you get!
  • Do not, under any circumstances, begin the immediate and endless process of mentally labelling people. Take your observations beyond the necessity of labels; see who the person really is ~ minus any form of labelling.
  • Display yourself to the world as an approachable, open, friendly, easy-to-get-along-with kind of soul, minus the necessity of any self-inflicted labels.

When first meeting a new person and if your two souls make a connection, as time progresses you will gradually learn more about your new friend.

What I find to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of meeting new people in any other manner than the regular “face to face” way is that quite often the personal communication begins long before you even know what the person looks like, therefore the ability to place a mental label upon someone, especially regarding age, race, marital status or looks, is not available to them, or you.

You actually have the opportunity to get to know a person, before any labelling process begins…the first connection being with their soul!

When the inevitable labels begin to appear, what would you have your label say about you? Would you prefer a list of all of your physical attributes, along with who you are to everyone else in your life? Or would your “label” be more of a personal encompassing of “who you really are”, emitting the rays of light and caring from your soul?

I know which one I would prefer. 🙂

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. 🙂