Time to Stop Being So Serious..

This morning whilst eating breakfast I did the usual thing I do. I ran over the list of errands and things that need doing today. This soon ended as my attention was  drawn to my young boys playing loudly and being boisterous.

They were laughing, happy and enjoying themselves. For a moment I felt a pang of jealously that I am no longer that free, that I have become old with my list of commands and things to do and this had me thinking ...

I thought for a moment that perhaps I too could be that carefree and not have to attend to my list of things that needed doing, but realistically the dishes need cleaning and our clothes need washing. But perhaps my children and our children are here to remind us that life is about play to. That is isn't all to do lists, jobs and things not fun.

Children play when they play and work then they work. I'm not sure I can say the same about myself. I work when I work but when I play, I'm thinking about the work I should be otherwise doing. I also feel guilty for playing. Crazy. But I'm sure I'm not alone.

So much can be learnt from children. We are not here to teach them, but the opposite. They are here to teach us, to teach us how to enjoy life.
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What do we teach them?

The opposite. We (well I know I do) I tell them what not to do and how to do it. I tell them to be quiet, to stop playing silly games and to not pull apart the couch to make a fort. I must vow to stop this.

What's wrong with being creative and playing loudly? Why should I tell them to stifle their joy to a level more appropriate to my ears!

 On a deeper level this is teaching my children not to express their joy and that you should only feel so much joy before you must stop it.  Not something I want to teach them.

I know why I am this way too. Because its the way I was shown, the way I was taught. This is how adults behave and I'm an adult so therefore I too must behave this way. Slowly I am changing this. I am the mum who joins her kids on the play equipment, who gets her face painted also and who jumps on the trampoline in the rain.

Its time to stop being so serious because I'll warn you now ... you may actually have fun, smile and worse ... enjoy yourself!!

You Are Gifted

I often hear people say and I'm sure you too have heard someone say "You have a gift" or "that person is so gifted" .

When I was younger I remember always wanting to be gifted. To be special at something. Some people I knew where amazing singers or dancers, others really creative or artistic. However I felt as though I had missed out. That I simply just wasn't gifted.

I was thinking about this today. About my gift and I realised that each and everyone of us is gifted and has something uniquely special to offer the world.   As no two people are alike (not even twins as they too have their differences), well as no two people are alike no two people have the same gift to offer.

You have something so incredible inside of you that is waiting to be discovered or waiting to be shared. I know this to be true because when you discover what is uniquely you, it makes you come alive.

How Do You Find Your Gift?

That's the tricky part. You see. Its not waiting to be found, its waiting to be grown. Its already there like a seed planted in the ground waiting to be nourished and grown.

There are clues to what your gift is and deep within you, you already know what that is. It is that thing you do that fills you with so much joy. It excites you, it is what gets you up in the morning, it is what you would do forever and never get bored of. It is what you were born to do.

It may not be something as big as an author of the next top selling novel or an international opera singer, it could be something like cooking homemade meals made from your heart, writing poetry for children, caring for abandoned animals or playing the tambourine. Whatever it is, it is there and it is yours.

Search within yourself and notice because once you do I can promise you that signs and indications will be shown to you of what it is you are to do in this lifetime.

Good Luck!

Make Your World Happy

My world is a happy world. Let me tell you why.

I was telling a friend recently that my life has changed dramatically since I have changed my thoughts about things. I have realised what immense power we all have to create the world we live in. 

Not the world of others but OUR world and what we see and experience.

Don't ever underestimate the power you hold within you. You are the one who controls your destiny and your life. I am not saying you need to be positive 100% of the time, that isn't possible. But I am saying that your words and what you tell yourself are powerful beyond anything you can imagine.

So be kind to yourself. Support yourself, love yourself and mostly tell yourself things that you would only want to hear. 

Make your world a happy world.

Getting Older Is Scary.

Today I was thinking about getting older and aging. I don't really want to. I know its inevitable and that its going to happen but I'm afraid. So I thought about this. What am I scared about?

The grey hairs ....?

No. They can be dyed.

My health declining ...?

No, not really as I can do something about that now to avoid it doing so.

So what am I afraid of?

I'm afraid of missing out. Missing out on everything that I could, should and can be doing now, at this age. Not accomplishing all I want to.

When I'm older I want to have lived, lived each age to its full glory and not wasted a moment. This year I'm 33. My 33rd year of life and I plan to live it.  I choose not to spend it worrying about turning 34, 54 or 104 because ...

You are only ever the age you are now. There is only ever now. You cannot plan and make things happen in the future the same way you cannot make events or things happens in the past. 

Born to Bloom

Have you ever thought deeply about a flower and the magic behind it?

Today I did.

Looking at a half opened bud I wandered in awe how its magnificence comes to be. One day its a closed bud, shut tight. The next day and the days that follows it open to its full beauty and potential.

What causes it to open? How does the flower know when to bloom and open itself to life?

The answer is, it doesn't, yet it does.

I personally believe that the power, intelligence and life force that flows through the flower causing it to open is the very same life flow that runs through us all. We are all as magnificent and wanderous as the flower. All we need to do is let life run through us so we can open to our own full potential, our glory, our own miracle filled life!

A lesson I too must remind myself at times. I admit, I am guilty of trying to stop the flow of life. I do this in many ways, one way is by refusing to accept the situation as it is. For example I will run, avoid or convince myself altogether that what is happening shouldn't. That  my way is the only way. Wrong. There is another way. Lifes way, and some may say Gods way.

Sometimes we just need to step aside to our own lives and let something bigger than us, more powerful than us take over. That is true surrender and when you surrender you are trusting in that very same power that made you come into existence. You were once a embryo, then a baby,  a child, and now an adult and all this magically happened without you doing a thing.

Life doesn't have to be hard. We only make it that way.

 Life is simple if you allow it to be. The flower blooms whether someone is looking or not, whether its a good day or bad. The flower doesn't care if the others in the bunch have already bloomed or if its not as brightly coloured as the bud next to it. It just blooms. It blooms because that is what it was born to do.

You too were born to bloom.  Trust that you will because there is no other choice.

That Voice In Your Head.

That voice inside my head that tells me I’m a bad mother, that I’m not good enough, that I should be doing more or be something I’m not. I don’t like it. I don’t want it.  However it’s there. It’s always there, telling me what to do. 

That voice isn't only in me, its in you to. I’m going to ignore mine, Its time to claim back my power.

I choose not to feel bad today. I choose to feel good. More accurately I choose not to be TOLD to feel bad today, especially by myself. 

We are funny creatures. Our own worst critic, our own worst enemy…

If We Could All Live Like The Birds ....

 

This morning I passed a tree full of birds and as I noticed yet another bird join the tree it had me thinking ....

I love how birds all live together happily and share the SAME tree. This tree was full of cockatoos, magpies, lorikeets, pigeons and possibly a robin or two. Not one bird claimed it as their tree and only for their particular species of bird. They are all shared it together in harmony and that is how I believe we all shall live on this earth. 

This earth isn't mine, it isn't yours ... its ours!

Doing Nothing Is Ok.

Work when there is work to do. Rest when you are tired. One thing done in peace will most likely be better than ten things done in panic .... I am not a hero if I deny rest; I am only tired. - Susan McHenry.

I read this today and how true is it for me. Especially this line

"I am not a hero if I deny rest, only tired".

I'm sure I'm not alone in this either. Trying to get as much as possible done in a day just because I feel I have to or because I want to be seen as someone who 'accomplishes'. A day spent doing nothing makes you no less a person, no less important than if you were to spend your day doing many things. Because ...

Its not the things you do that make you, you. But who you already are!

The Door To Your Happiness.

Today being the international day of happiness has had me thinking about happiness...

Happiness. Its a strange encounter. It comes, it goes, its there, then its not.

Where does it come from and where does it go?

Happiness comes from us, inside us. It is a feeling that wells up from within and spreads throughout our body leaving us feeling fantastic. When it disappears it goes nowhere, it can't. It isn't an object but a feeling. So today I have learnt that happiness starts and ends with me always.

Although things and people seem to make me happy, do they really? Or is it that they simply open the door to where my happiness resides?

I must find the key to that door. In fact I believe it is all of our missions to find that key so we can open the door to our happiness daily.

I Get Angry

I often get asked "Do you get angry?". Yes I get angry. I am human and I am also a mother, so getting angry happens. The only thing I have found is that now (compared to the old me) I am aware of it. I feel my anger and let it wash over me and know that I am not my anger.

It is so easy when angry to lash out but I don't. Its when I feel myself getting super mad that I realise that this is when I now have the choice. I can be angry, yell, scream, hit etc or I can choose not to be and react from a better place. 9 times of 10 I choose that better place.

The 1 time out of 10 that I don't? Well that's when you see me kicking Xboxs, banging walls and throwing potatoes at heads.. It happens to us all.

 And those examples I used were real examples. The potato incident? Ask my beloved other half - Luke. I missed thank god. I was 38 weeks heavily pregnant and mighty peeved at him, however that is no excuse. The truth is that I didn't know then what I know now ... how to control my anger!

Don't let anger control you. You are not your anger.

Billy Ray Harris

Billy Ray Harris

I heard a story yesterday that I wanted to share as it really warmed my heart and gave me faith in us and in humanity.   

You may have heard it but there was a homeless man in America who recently returned an engagement ring to its rightful owner after it was accidentally dropped in his begging cup. This lady Sarah had been out in her local city when she saw Billy on the streets begging. She gave him some loose change and kept walking. It wasn’t until later that day she noticed her very expensive and very valuable diamond ring was missing. 

She searched for it for days with no success then remembered Billy on the streets who she had given change to. She realised then that it must have fallen into his cup. So she went back to find Billy, most likely presuming he would no longer be there or if he was that he would deny that such ring existed. 

So it was to her utter surprise that when she approached him and mentioned that she may have left him something a little more valuable than just a few dollars change, that Billy looked at her and handed her the ring. 

Billy said that he didn’t notice the ring at first but when he did, due to its size, knew it was expensive and that the owner would some day return.

What a beautiful man but what I love most abou tthis sotry and what makes it even more beautiful and amazing is that a campaign has since started for Billy by Sarah.  So many people have come forward to help Billy by giving him little bits here and there. To date almost $172,000 has been raised for Billy.

More details can be found here

http://www.giveforward.com/billyray

 

This story gives me so much faith in the human race and how the world works. I honestly do believe that what you give is ultimately what you get back.

Billy Ray you are one beautiful man whom so many of us can learn from. Bless your heart.