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3 REASONS WHY I'LL NEVER BE A BLOGGING QUEEN

I'm no blogging queen - I don't have the drive, I'm not prolific, and I'm not a trend setter. But that's perfectly okay with me. Image: https://wallpaperaccess.com/beautiful-queen

BEING THE NEXT BEST THING IN BLOGGING

Every new blogger thinks they're going to be the next big thing that sets the blogging world on fire. We all leap in and start hammering away on our keyboards, sharing our thoughts, our ideas, our hearts, and our souls. But as time goes on I've seen so many bloggers come and go - the ones who burn out the quickest are the ones who came with the biggest aspirations. There are 4.4 MILLION blog posts published EVERY day, so I'm wondering if starting small and being content with being a small fish in a very big pond can sometimes be a better game plan than trying to set the world on fire and failing to live up to your own expectations?
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WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING A WRITING LIFE

Have you ever thought about writing a novel? It's not just having an idea, there's so much more. Here are 10 tips to keep you on track.

INTRO

Today I have the next guest in my series on Cultivating Wholehearted Living - thriving in the second half of life. Jo is an amazing blogger who also manages to be a successful romance novelist, a cordon bleu chef, takes fabulous photos, holds down a busy job, walks every morning before the crack of dawn, and on top of all of that....she is a great friend and always good for a laugh. 

Jo doesn't just blog, she BLOGS! Somehow or other she maintains not one, but THREE blog sites - a personal one, an author one, and a cooking one (links are at the end of this post if you'd like to check them out). I'm feeling a little bit exhausted just thinking about it all! Somewhere in the middle of all her writing and cooking, she's found time to be my guest today and so I'll hand it over to Jo from here.....
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3 UNEXPECTED DECISIONS THAT OPENED NEW HORIZONS

Sometimes the smallest decisions can lead to the biggest changes. Be brave and follow your heart.

UNEXPECTED DECISIONS AND NEW HORIZONS

Have you ever made an on the spot decision that resulted in big, unexpected changes? I was thinking about this the other day and a few came to mind. I thought I'd share them today because they were little stepping stones that opened new horizons for me. Small decisions at the time that were made for good reasons - but they also had far reaching and life changing results.

I wrote a couple of months ago about courage having consequences - there are always costs and pay-offs when we make decisions, but sometimes the pay-offs far outweigh the costs and today I'm sharing three decisions that paid off far more than I ever would have expected.
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WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING NEW DIRECTIONS

How lockdown brought about a change of career, a new book, and a new direction.

INTRO

Today on the blog I have a guest who many of you won't have met previously. Angelique from Hags with Attitude, contacted me after finding me through Pinterest (I do love to Pin!) She has recently had a new book published and has a really interesting story about lockdown igniting her creative side again and sending her on a new path to help other Midlife women with their wardrobes and with adjusting to this new phase of life.

So without further chatter from me, here is Angelique to tell you about her journey...
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FINDING MY QUIET PLACE WITH COLOURED PENCILS

Adult colouring in reduces anxiety and stress, and creates focus. It helps replace negative thoughts with pleasant ones.
from Johanna Basford's Secret Garden

BEFORE MY TIME

I have always loved colouring in, from my own childhood through to joining in with our children and colouring one page while they did the other. From there I had a break because it was a “kid thing” and nobody coloured in when they were adults.

One day in my 40’s I thought to myself that I’d ignore what was considered “normal” and I’d buy myself a colouring book and use it to zone out and enjoy the simple pleasure of adding colour to paper without having to think too hard. I found a Barbie colouring book that had lovely white pages that made the colours look prettier and I used to colour a page or two here and there when I had a little bit of time to myself.
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WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING A BOLD STREAK

I am on a crusade to grow bolder in my decisions, in how I present myself, how I think about myself and how I tackle challenges.


INTRO

Today I have the next guest in my series on Cultivating Wholehearted Living - thriving in the second half of life. My lovely blogging friend Deb from Tumbarumba (my husband always says "where?" when I say Deb from Tumbarumba - just so I get to say it again - it really rolls off the tongue). She writes a fabulous blog called Deb's World and always has something upbeat and engaging to share.

Deb decided to stick with the theme from my previous guests where she shares some thoughts on is how her Word of the Year (Bold) intersects with mine (Cultivate) - she's sharing about Cultivating a Bold Streak and embracing a new sense of confidence and courage. So here's what she has to say.....
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LIVING MY BEST LIFE EVERY DAY UPDATE #1

Choosing a life of positivity one day at a time. And looking for those moments of joy that each and every day contains.

LIVING LIFE WITH A SMILE EVERY DAY

So much has been happening on the blog over the last couple of months, and seeing I still want to keep it to one post a week, I decided to spin out my monthly update and make it a quarterly one - so today's post is what's been happening in my world for the first quarter of 2021 - it's the Summer edition (with a little bit of Autumn sneaking in at the end).

My focus this year is on moving towards 60 with a positive mindset and gratitude. Cultivating what makes my soul feel happy, and aiming to live my best life every day. Life will never be perfect, but it's full of perfect moments and a lot of little joys if we choose to look for them. These are the happy moments that have popped up over the last few months in my life.
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I'M LIVING MY BEST LIFE EVERY DAY

Life isn't perfect, but it's full of perfect moments every day. Let's look for those moments, and live the best life we can every day.

I'M LIVING MY BEST LIFE EVERY DAY

I used to feel envious when I saw other people living really happy and content lives. I'd wonder how they could have it all when I was so busy trying to keep all the balls in the air. I think a lot of my discontent came from the scarcity mindset I'd lived with all my life. I never felt like I was on top of things - there were always bills to be paid, work to be done, chores to finish, responsibilities to juggle. Life kept rolling along and I was so busy trying to keep up with it all that the days passed and I never really felt like I was living.

It took until I was 50 before I began to wake up to myself and see that all that diligence might have been tiring and at times made me feel a little resentful, but it had paid off and set us up for what we have today. I realized I could throttle back on all the "should do" and "would do" and "must do" and could start asking myself what living a good life would really look like, and the answer surprised me.
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WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING EMPATHY

Empathy is seeing the world as others see it, being non-judgmental, and understanding another person's feelings.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CULTIVATE EMPATHY?

Empathy is a tricky concept to get our heads around. For many years I thought sympathy and empathy were similar concepts. It wasn't until I read some of Brene Brown's work that I finally understood that sympathy is feeling BAD for someone, and empathy is feeling WITH someone. Sympathy leads to the oldest child coming out in me - I want to try to fix the person's pain or problem - or I've been known to try to identify by relating a similar story of my own - neither of these approaches have anything to do with empathy.

So what does empathy really look like when it's put into practice? Brene Brown (I'm a bit of a fan girl) has a fantastic little video that shows what empathy looks like in less than 3 minutes and I've included it here in case you haven't stumbled across it previously.
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WHERE I'M FROM - THE AUSSIE VERSION

Taking up the challenge to describe 1960's Australia and then the 2021 version, using the "Where I'm From" poem template.

WHERE I'M FROM - THE AUSSIE VERSION

I don't know about you, but I find that there are times in life when something resonates with you on a heart/soul level and because of that it sticks in your mind for the long haul. One of the little things that captured my interest a few years ago was a poem written in 1993 by George Ella Lyon entitled "Where I'm From". 

I think I liked the "feel" of how she wrote and the images it evoked for me - and it challenged me to want to write something similar for myself.
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