LEAVING THE CHAOS BEHIND
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
LIFE AS THE GOOD DAUGHTER
I grew up in Australia in the 1970's. While lots of girls my age were out experimenting and having a good time, I was being the good daughter who did what she was told and made sure I never overstepped the line. I grew up in a chaotic family with a narcissistic father, a complicit mother and rules that changed regularly - all in my father's favour! It made life very difficult for us all.
going with the flow versus micro-managing
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
YOU'RE TRYING TOO HARD
One of my biggest faults is my need to micro-manage every detail of my life. This includes what I'm doing at any given time and also the people who are around me. It kicks in big time when I'm facing a new situation or something a bit scary - its seems to be my go-to method for dealing with stress.
WALKING THE LINE WHEN DEALING WITH AGEING PARENTS
Monday, 26 October 2015
WHEN YOUR PARENTS CAN'T SEE THAT THEY'RE "OLD"
We've just spent some time with my in-laws trying to find them a possible house to move to now that they are getting old and frail. The only fly in the ointment is that they still see themselves as sprightly sixty year olds - which is as far from reality as you can get.CIRCUSES, MONKEYS, AND A LIFE MOTTO
Friday, 23 October 2015
DO YOU HAVE A LIFE MOTTO?
My answer to the life motto question is yes and this is it:
Not my circus......not my monkeys" which is apparently a Polish saying that basically means "not my problem.
NEVER APOLOGIZE......
Thursday, 22 October 2015
I'M SORRY....
I have spent way too many years saying "I'm sorry" for way too many things! At times it feels like I've used it as a punctuation mark or a way to excuse having an opinion on something that might be different or less acceptable.
Part of this is the baggage that comes from being a woman who grew up in a conservative, male dominated home. Part of it comes from being a people pleaser. Part of it comes from lack of confidence in myself. Part of it is feeling that my opinion doesn't really count in the grand scheme of things.
LIVING AND LOVING THE AFTERNOON OF LIFE
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
LIVING LIFE WELL
Getting older is something that happens to all of us. Many in today's world are doing all they can to fight the process and stay young. It all comes down to appearance for them and trying to keep the ageing process at bay. Perhaps a better way to approach life would be to get on with living it so well that you don't notice you're getting older.
how do you define abundance?
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
WHAT DOES ABUNDANCE MEAN TO YOU?
I was thinking about what a rich and meaningful word "abundance" was......and then I got to thinking how the meaning of "abundance" changes depending on your world view and what you consider to be important in life.
we interrupt this blog with a very important notice!
Monday, 19 October 2015
I'M GOING TO BE A NAN - FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Yes! I'm going to be a Nan - it's officially up on facebook so I can do a shout out to Nana-dom! What more can I say other than I'm stoked that our son and his lovely wife are having our first grandbaby - due April 24th next year.BECOMING A NOT TOO CRAZY CAT LADY
Friday, 16 October 2015
FROM DOGS TO CATS
I spent the first half of my life thinking I was a "dog person". I grew up in a 1970's home with the prerequisite dog and a budgie (all Australian kids have a dog and a budgie at some stage) and it was the same with all my friends - I didn't know a single person with a cat.
CHOOSING TO SAY "NO" TO SELF PITY
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
NO SELF PITY
My husband has this D.H. Lawrence quote as the screen saver on his computer:
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself
It's a reminder to him that self pity is a human condition and one that we need to combat wherever possible. Nobody likes a light sucker and nobody wants to be around someone who is always feeling sorry for themselves.
3 NITTY GRITTY LIFE LESSONS
Tuesday, 13 October 2015
LIFE LESSONS
How many truisms are contained in the words above? Somewhere along the way we were told life would be easy and smooth sailing on a balmy day. Somebody forgot to mention the nitty gritty details that make up part of our lives.....the bits that build character and stop us becoming too smug. Three of those things I've listed here.....
FOUR MONTHS DOWN THE TRACK IN MY NEW JOB
Monday, 12 October 2015
A LITTLE LIFE AND JOB UPDATE
People often talk or write about new jobs and new adventures and the excitement that goes with them - or (in my case) the low grade terror of launching into the unknown. You don't always get an update of how the journey has progressed and whether it lived up to the initial hopes and expectations.ARE YOU PARENTING SUCCESSFULLY?
Friday, 9 October 2015
HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE'RE PARENTING WELL?
We all see that social media highlight reel of the perfect family every time we look at Instagram or Facebook - and ours never seems to measure up. Does that mean we aren't doing well at this whole parenting gig? Not at all - I think there's so much more to successful parenting than a pretty picture or two. Ultimately it comes back to each individual family unit as to how you measure whether you feel like you're doing a good job.FOR THE LOVE OF JIGSAW PUZZLES
Thursday, 8 October 2015
ADULT COLOURING AND OTHER PASTIMES
The latest craze for adult stress relief is colouring-in. It seems like every woman and her dog has jumped onto the colouring bandwagon. The young guy at the supermarket checkout even told me he'd just bought an adult colouring-in book from his local bookstore while he was away on holidays. Then he started waxing lyrical about the specific brand of colouring pens he needed to buy to be able to do the tricky bits with!
HAVE YOU EVER "GHOSTED" SOMEONE?
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
WHAT'S "GHOSTING"?
'Ghosting' is a term being thrown around on the interwebbities a lot lately. Apparently it's the new way to leave a relationship without suffering the pain and embarrassment of actually having the "it's not you, it's me" conversation or writing the "Dear John" letter.
FEELING LIKE I'M SEVENTEEN AGAIN
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
TO RE-UNION OR NOT TO RE-UNION?
I'm not a big fan of high school reunions. I went to a large high school in the city and I've never been back for a reunion. I still keep in touch with a few of my friends from those days via Facebook but as for the rest, well I haven't missed them in the last 35 years so I doubt I'll be in a hurry to see any of them again! But there is one type of reunion that I never miss and they are the ones organized for the youth group I attended as a teenager.
SPEAKING POSITIVITY INTO YOUR MARRIAGE
Monday, 5 October 2015
ARE YOU INVESTING IN YOUR MARRIAGE?
When you've been married for a long time you come to realize how important it is to invest in the person who you have made a lifelong vow to. It's so easy to take each other for granted and to not show appreciation. It's also easy to make "funny" comments about the other person that can be hurtful or unhelpful.BEING CONTENT WITH LESS THAN YOU EXPECTED
Friday, 2 October 2015
A QUOTE THAT HIT HOME
A quote that spoke to me this week was this one from Marguerite Gardiner about contentment in the small things:Happiness consists not in having much, but being content with little.
Contentment is such an overlooked emotion in today's "give me give me" world of discontent. It seems everyone is looking for the next big promotion, the next big holiday, the next big romance or the next big crisis to keep things exciting. People constantly complain about the cost of living and how much they need to earn to live a life that they think is satisfactory. Contentment gets lost in the process.
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