Cresting The Hill

13 LIFE LESSONS FROM MY CAT

Monday 30 May 2016

13 life lessons I've observed from owning a cat - from the silly to the profound #cat #lifelessons

WHAT LESSONS CAN CATS TEACH US?

Cats are simple creatures who are very fond of napping, snuggling, eating and being involved in anything interesting that is happening in their near vicinity. Each cat who's been part of our family has had his or her own distinct personality with little idiosyncrasies that I look back on now and smile about.

#12 EMBRACE WISDOM

Friday 27 May 2016

True wisdom is not all about head knowledge, it needs to be balanced with heart and soul. #wisdom

WITH AGE COMES WISDOM

This last post in my "Embrace" series for May is all about wisdom. When I ask my husband what the benefits of getting older are, the answer he always comes up with is "wisdom" because it ties in so closely with life experiences gained from living long and well. I see him as being a wise man so I'll have to take his word on this one and I also know there is a lot to be said for knowledge, but wisdom encompasses so much more.

#11 EMBRACE LOSS

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Life is never perfect - we need to accept that there will be times of loss and grief, and we will get through them eventually. #loss

THE LOSSES WE FACE IN LIFE

I wasn't 100% sure how to tackle this one, but loss is such an integral part of life and one that we can't push into the background. We need to acknowledge the losses that come our way and honour them - they all contribute to who we are and to our life story and deserve to be embraced as part of our journey.

#10 EMBRACE FRIENDSHIP

Monday 23 May 2016

Friendships - true friends, loyal friends, funny friends, faithful friends - are all vital in our lives. #friendship

TRUE FRIENDSHIPS

Friends are one of life's greatest blessings - true friends enrich our life immeasurably by accepting us for who we are and choosing to share their lives with us. As I look back over 50+ years I am so grateful for the friends I have gathered along the way - both old and new, and those somewhere in between.

#9 EMBRACE CHAOS

Friday 20 May 2016

We don't have to be perfect - we can make mistakes and fail occasionally. Life is easier if we give ourself some grace. #letgo

MY CONFESSION

I am a Perfectionist - and lately I've come to realize this is not a positive trait - in fact I am a prime candidate for PA (Perfectionists Anonymous). The trouble with perfectionism is that I am always trying to control my world, never making mistakes, never being overwhelmed and never having anything go wrong - chaos is not an option. I'm slowly learning that it is time to embrace some chaos and stop trying to make everything perfect.

#8 EMBRACE REST

Wednesday 18 May 2016

With all the stress and busyness of life, we need to slow down and embrace some rest and refreshment. #wellness

WE NEED TO HIT THE "OFF" SWITCH

We live in a world that is constantly "on" - nothing ever seems to stop - even at night while we are asleep, the other half of the world is working, talking, blogging, facebooking, and generally speeding through life. We wake up and are already trying to catch up on all the things we might have missed out on while we were having the audacity to actually close our eyes for a few minutes!

#7 EMBRACE FAITH

Monday 16 May 2016

If you're feeling that your life needs to include more, perhaps embracing your spiritual side could make all the difference. #faith

FAITH IS SO IMPORTANT

I thought long and hard before I tackled this post because it can be a bit or a tender subject for many. It wasn't even on my original list of things to embrace, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to the realization that we all need to embrace having faith in something that makes us better human beings.

#6 EMBRACE PARENTING

Friday 13 May 2016

Parenting has several stages, make sure you're enjoying each of them before they're gone. Life moves fast and they grow up so quickly. #parenting

PARENTING STAGES

Mothers Day has been and gone, and it reminded me of the different stages of motherhood I've been through.....and how easy it is to wish time away when life gets a little bit hectic or out of our control. We can start looking back or looking forward to "better" times and miss the lovely moments that are happening right there and then.

#5 EMBRACE GIVING BACK - VOLUNTEER

Wednesday 11 May 2016

All of us have a little bit of time left over in our week. We can spend it on ourselves, or we can share some of it with others in need. #volunteering

USING WHAT YOU HAVE LEFT OVER

There comes a time in life when you come up for a breath of air and realize that you have all you need and a little bit left over. For some that means they need to keep working until the little bit left over becomes a bigger and bigger bit......for others of us it means that we can slow down a little and look at how we can give something back.

#4 EMBRACE NEW EXPERIENCES

Monday 9 May 2016

When something new comes along we can choose to ignore it and stay safe in our little world, or we can choose to take a risk and embrace the opportunity being offered. #changes #opportunities

DON'T WASTE YOUR ONE PRECIOUS LIFE

Life is short, and reaching the half way point has been a real eye-opener for me. I saw I had stopped growing and was pretty close to stagnating. Sitting still and assuming there is "nothing new under the sun" to quote Solomon - is the worst thing we can do with the lives we've been given.

#3 EMBRACE JOY!

Friday 6 May 2016

It's all about living life to the full and Embracing Joy - we often forget that what we choose to look for in life is what we find. Search for the happy and joyful and watch your life change. #joy #happiness

THE JOYS OF LIFE

Life is full of Joyful moments - they come upon us unannounced and can sometimes be quite fleeting. If we don't stop and appreciate them, we can miss them entirely. We take so many blessings for granted - our health, our family, our friends, sunshine, rain, laughter, and the list goes on. Sometimes we need to stop the busyness of life and take a moment to smell the roses.

#2 EMBRACE YOUR SEASON OF LIFE

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Embrace your season of life - enjoy the age and stage you are in - they will never return. #lifeseasons

LIFE'S SEASONS

Life has a seasonal flow to it - the Springtime of youth, the Summer of our 30s and 40s, the Autumn of midlife and the Winter of old age. Each Season has something special to offer and we would be foolish to try to rush through it thinking "if only...." Because the "if onlys......." stop us appreciating the many things that time of life has to offer us - times and experiences we will never have again. Stop and savour them while you can.

#1 EMBRACE WHO YOU ARE

Monday 2 May 2016

Learning to embrace who you are - accepting and celebrating authentic self. #authenticity

TIME TO EMBRACE WHO WE ARE

I'm so excited now it's May and I have a whole month to write about things that I'm learning to EMBRACE. I don't believe in focusing on things we need to push out of our lives, instead I think we need to open our arms and embrace all the good stuff and it will fill us up until there's less room for the not so good stuff.

12 FACETS OF LIFE WE CAN ALL EMBRACE

Sunday 1 May 2016

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED EMBRACING MORE IN LIFE?

My Word of the Year is EMBRACE and I thought it would be interesting to select 12 aspects of life that we need to take ownership of and embrace with open arms and open hearts. So often I hear people complaining about what they don't have - instead they need to focus on all the good there is in life - lets' start with 12 facets we can be grateful for.