I’ve been thinking about inspiration. Where it comes from and how you get it. Sure it can come from our heroes, the ones who devote their lives to something for the betterment for everyone. But it can also come from smaller acts, those less grand. LIke a young adult pushing back against peer pressure to follow their heart, or a neighbour helping with a meal or a bill, or my 81 year old mum who recently decided to become more independent. Inspiration comes from action, not grand scale activities, but small things that make a difference to an individual, the community, or the environment. They come from upholding your personal code of honour to do what you think is right. One of my small actions is to retrieve discarded plastic from gutters to save it from eventually ending up in our oceans, then I walk past a mound of litter and feel helpless wondering if there’s any point. The task seems so big and I wonder if my small actions can really make a difference. But what’s my choice? Do nothing? Usually I take a deep breath and try not to let others’ carelessness get to me. I tell myself there must be more going on in their lives that I don’t understand, too much for them to comprehend how their actions are impacting others. However, other times at the beach when I’ve run to one end and begun my walk back with a plastic bag collecting rubbish, someone will smile, or say thank you, or even ask if they can add some rubbish to my bag. And on the best days, a stranger will see what I’m doing and join me. Honouring my personal code of ethics has allowed them to recognise the same value in themselves. Have I inspired them? Perhaps. But they have inspired me to keep picking up bottles and caps, keep taking brightly coloured plastic straws away from disappointed seagulls, and keep rescuing plastic from gutters in an effort to lessen the impact on Mother Earth and her children. Ironically inspiration also means to inhale - it’s literally a breath of fresh air, and having someone recognise my tiny effort is just that. The same way me watching someone else uphold their personal code to help others is inspiring. So, how about starting the year with a breath of fresh air, by recognising who inspires you and acknowledging how you inspire others?
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31/12/2016 0 Comments Creating your next yearIt's that time of year again, when we reflect on this year and start to mentally prepare for the next one.
Some people finish the year disappointed that they haven't achieved more, many also seem personally affected by global events and deaths of celebrities. Perhaps they're a reminder of our own mortality and how important it is to make the most of each day that we're given. So, how to make the most of next year? Start by knowing what you want, then engage your focus, imagination and intent to make it happen. Here's how: Reflect on your year that's past
Ponder what you want to achieve next year
Consider what needs to be done to make it happen
Most importantly, try to make it fun. Play with the steps, play with the triggers, motivators and rewards. If you miss a day don't beat yourself up, congratulate yourself on noticing and wanting to continue. Understand that self improvement is an iterative process. Like the turning of the earth, or its rotation around the sun, it's cyclical and we pass through stages. Remember, your life is your major work and every new day (not just every new year) you're given another opportunity to create a masterpiece. Embrace it! Happy 2017! 21/11/2016 0 Comments Staying grounded in the silly seasonHaving just come off a run of significant birthday parties and finishing with two of my own, I began to brace myself for the comedown unsure of whether I would float or crash. Catching up with so many family and friends and being the centre of attention for two consecutive weekends was lovely, but also put me a bit off balance.
I began to think of Michael Jackson, Prince, and countless other celebrities who shone so brightly yet ended up falling to drugs. I wondered if drugs had become their way of dealing with the come down that reality must have presented for them following each gig or tour. Sadly it seems that in riding those highs they lost their connection to the physical world and their ability to ground themselves. This is not uncommon, many situations cause us to become ungrounded. Preparing for major events like weddings, work projects, moving house, performing, exams, or even Christmas can require intense mental focus. As the events draw closer they play over in our minds which can easily make us feel off balance or disconnected. So how do we get grounded? By getting back into the physical. Exercise is a good way to pull you back into your body as your focus moves from mental to physical. Meditation can also work, by breathing in and out through your base chakra and imagining you are growing roots. Both of these techniques rely on you tuning into your physical senses, so why not tune in to as many as possible. Watching last week’s supermoon provided a perfect opportunity. Sinking my feet into the sand, feeling the wind whipping at my skin, listening to the laughter of the kids super excited to be on the beach after dark, and gazing at that glorious moon as it lit up the clouds and sky engaged almost all my senses, levelling me and connecting me with the elements and my physical being. While this magical moment helped me to appreciate my human nature (great term - think about it), full moons and beaches aren’t always available. Fortunately more accessible techniques are available and the next morning, savouring the smell, taste and texture of my first mango of the season, I could feel my connection with Mother Earth strengthening. Grounding is about using your body to remember your connection to the earth. Knowing that you are part of creation, that your natural state is being and living in harmony and balance with the planet. Whatever societal commitments or experiences we undertake, we need to remember that the hairdo and heels is not us, but the ability to walk the earth and be nourished by her bounty is. So as you head into the silly season here’s a few tips to help you stay grounded:
Grounding is a simple process of getting back to earth. I can’t think of a better place to be! 24/10/2016 2 Comments Mindful minutesWe’ve all had that feeling of heading back to work after a break. We want to go back feeling relaxed and refreshed, not tired and resentful. It’s challenging, especially if you’ve had a good time.
Today is that day for me and I know that in addition to catching up at work I have a couple of other deadlines to meet – this blog being one of them. So what’s my approach? Mindfulness. There’s abundant research on the benefits of mindfulness and meditation but most people still avoid the practice due to a misconception that it’s difficult, time consuming, and they don’t know how. So let’s take another look at what mindfulness is and how to bring it into an already busy schedule. Mindfulness is simply that. Being mindful about what you’re doing and thinking about, right now. One of the easiest ways to get started is by doing ‘spot’ meditations. Rather than trying to find a teacher, a class, or somewhere to practice, look for a few opportunities throughout the day to take five deep breaths. Yep, that’s it. Just five. Opportunities exist everywhere: before you clean your teeth, eat a sandwich or start the car; when waiting for a bus, train, lift or in a queue; or before you get ready to start your next task; simply stop, focus completely on your breath, and take five. Another super technique for becoming mindful is practicing gratitude. You don’t need to buy a journal, commit to writing every morning or night, or call and thank anyone for anything. When you’re getting anxious, annoyed or agitated about something, simply stop and spend a moment thinking of three things you can be grateful for. If it’s your first day back to work after a break then having a job to help pay for holidays and bills, being well enough to go to work, and having transport options to get there could be your first three. Try thinking of three new things, a couple of times a day, and you will realise how well off you are compared to many others in the world. Combining gratitude and spot meditations can bring calm in an instant. Admiring a tree, feeling the wind or rain on your face, or basking in the warmth of the sun, and taking five deep breaths is enough to bring about physiological changes that will help reset your stress response allowing you tackle your next task refreshed. A third trusty technique is is action. Not mindlessly rushing into ‘doing’, but taking action mindfully to get things done. If there’s one big thing you know needs doing first, then start that one immediately. Otherwise, make a list and work out what’s reasonable to achieve in the day, or even just before your first meeting. If the list is the only thing you have time for, you’ll still be better prepared for the rest of the day. And when you arrive on time and your colleagues are late, you can be grateful for getting yourself organised, then use those few spare minutes to take five deep focussed breathes. You can then move through your day calm and refreshed – which was probably what you hoped to achieve on your holiday. So that’s my three easy steps to mindfulness. I’ve now tackled my biggest task and my bus ride has about 10 minutes to go - perfect timing to pause for a few breaths before I start on my list. ------o0o------- If you’re interested in knowing more, a great meditation resource is Erich Harrison’s ‘The 5 Minute Meditator’. 23/9/2016 0 Comments Spring - Your time to bloomIt’s spring! Not the first of September spring as they like to say in Australia, but true spring marked by the Equinox. When day and night are equal before the darkness gives way to the lengthening days. In nature it’s a time of new life, of buds and flowers, and birds and animals nesting. With all this new life what should we be doing at this time of year? New life is new energy. It’s the time of year when we begin to pack away the things we used to survive the winter like heaters, blankets, and thick coats as we emerge from our hibernation, much like a bear waking from a long slumber. With this comes the instinct to freshen the energy. The warmer weather prompts us to throw open the windows and let the cleansing breeze blow through, and we often find ourselves spontaneously spring cleaning. With the lengthening days we also find we have more energy, and some of us naturally begin waking up earlier. Certainly our local bird population do and their song lets me know a new day full of opportunity awaits. It is at this time, especially with daylight savings imminent, that we need to be mindful of how we use this extra energy. The promise of long warm evenings makes for great socialising weather as everyone wants to get out and enjoy it. If not considered with care they can quickly accumulate ,and the last quarter of your year can slip away as your calendar fills with yet another occasion to over eat and drink. Now is the time to pause. To take stock and consciously decide how you want to finish the year. What you do in the next few months can leave you revitalised or depleted. It can set you up to make the next year a masterpiece, or leave you feeling frustrated and deflated at a lack of achievement. So as the days start to lengthen and the weather warms up, stop, get out in nature, sit or walk with the sun on your shoulders, and soak up some inspiration and information. Focus your senses on the guidance that all your relations have for you – songs of the birds, whispers of the trees, symbols in clouds, reflections on water, colours of the sunset, smell of the different times of day, or the soothing sounds of drizzle. Find a place in nature to relax, sit and expand your energy field to tune into the feeling of spring. Ponder or contemplate, don’t think or analyse, what are the best things for you to be doing now to take you through a nurturing, life giving, energy renewing spring into a prosperous and fulfilling summer and new year. Spring is in the air. Take the time to soak it up and focus your energy so you can burst forth towards your dreams and blossom into the summer. 21/8/2016 2 Comments Your life as a storyIn story we study what’s known as the the hero's journey. We set up a main character with a significant character flaw, then put them through a sequence of events that challenge their weakness. As the story progresses the challenges become greater, allowing the audience to sit back and watch our character become stronger and eventually overcome their weakness. Life is much the same. Before we take a skinsuit for our earthwalk we reflect on what we've learnt in previous lifetimes, then deliberately choose a path that will challenge us in the area in which we're trying to grow. While in spirit form we make deals with others who offer to come and help us with our lessons. These agreements are well understood at a higher level. For example, if we need to learn about self sufficiency and resilience, they might agree to manifest in our lives as someone who leaves us. However when this happens in our physical form, and our memories of the agreement are gone, we feel devastated, deserted, and the first time it happens we will often fall into a victim or ‘why me’ mindset. As with the character in our story, if we stay in this place nothing good comes of it. We simply wallow in self pity and fail to get the lesson. However, when we pick ourselves up and get back on track we find that all is not lost, and we are a little wiser and stronger as a result. Like a story our lives go on, and when we fail to get the lesson we are often faced with an even bigger challenge next time, which should make what we are trying to learn more obvious. But, as the main character in our story, we are often too deep in the minutiae to get the perspective to see what the pattern is telling us. What did I come here to learn? How can I grow from this situation? What specific thing can I do differently this time to change the outcome? These are the questions that help to lift us out of the detail whenever we find ourselves feeling disappointed, let down, or leaning towards a victim mindset. When we have the courage to reflect on life in this way, believing we create our own situations, then we find we also have the strength to try to handle things differently. This approach enables us to shift our focus to what type of person we want to have become by the end of our story, and what challenges we would like to have faced and overcome. We are well equipped to handle challenges, it's in our nature. We just need to choose them wisely. We must realise we are only answerable to ourselves and choose challenges for the result they will have on our personal and spiritual growth, not based on any other external factor. With this focus we can face them all knowing we have the strength to get through them and the resilience to try again if we don't. The only difference between us and our character hero is that we have a choice over how quickly we choose to grow. 23/7/2016 4 Comments The other stuff can waitSometimes it’s OK to stop. We all do it from time to time. We get sick, there’s a family or household emergency, freakish weather, and we drop everything to deal with the situation. Likewise, it’s OK to stop and let good things happen.
Recently we had friends visit from the other side of the planet. It was our second catch up in fourteen years, only our third since the early nineties. We didn’t get much notice of when they were coming, and of course timing was terrible, but we chose to drop everything (or as much as we possibly could) to spend time with them. This meant both of us taking time off work, him a week at the busiest time of the year and me two weeks only a month into a new job. We also had to let a few other things go - like being super organised. Turning a household of two into one of five for a few weeks could have been a shock to the system but this was an opportunity not to be missed and we were determined to enjoy every minute of it. Often we get so caught up in doing all the ‘should’ stuff that we end up missing out on good stuff - which is what life is supposed to be about. But how do we prioritise when there’s so much going on? One simple approach came recently when I heard someone ask ‘how will you feel about it in five years?’ That really resonated. We dropped everything to spend three fun filled weeks hanging out with some wonderful people that we will all still remember five years from now. If we hadn’t though, would we be happy in five years having been too timid to ask for the time off or too inflexible to share our home? Since our friends departed and we returned to work, I’ve watched other people having to drop everything for less appealing but no less urgent reasons. One for a funeral and several through illness - both the type of events we need to make time for. But do we? Think about it, how many times have you soldiered on or missed something important because you put work first, and what’s your memory of it now? That job when you dragged yourself in and no-one else bothered or appreciated it. I can recall being incredibly ill at work in order to deliver a project on time, and it’s difficult not to still hold resentment - not for the people who set the deadline and weren’t even there on the go live date, but for me being silly enough to put work before my health. None of it matters now, it could have easily waited a week. Anyhoo, it was in this mindset yesterday when it hit 26 degrees at three in the afternoon on a mid-winter’s day when I decided to seize another drop everything moment. Sure, we know it’s not supposed to be that hot at this time of year but what do you do when it is? I was at home with my to do list, there were still plenty of items on it, but Mother Earth turned on a bonza and I wasn’t missing it. Sitting at the computer ready to do a few hours work, I quickly came to my senses. Opening my browser I checked the weather, the water temperature, the tide, and the swell. Conditions were perfect, you’d think they had been made to order. So I jumped in my togs, grabbed a towel, and not long after was frolicking about in the ocean. Cut back to now, or five years from now, or when I’m 80 and it’s these snatches of metaphoric sunshine that I want to remember. That winter’s day where I snuck in a swim will shine much brighter than the fact that I put off cleaning my shower or writing a blog post. If you’re sticking it out, soldiering on, or waiting for your next holiday, why not give yourself a break. Find an opportunity to put off a ‘should’ and treat yourself to creating a memory worth keeping. Now is the moment of power - and happiness, all the other stuff can wait. Happy daze |
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