How hard is it to wait?

I’m curious. Why do we have to wait for things? I mean really, when you want it, feel it, see it, and work for it, you should get it now, right ?

Sometimes I really struggle with the whole, wait for it to happen, let nature take its course, go with the flow. What the heck is “the flow” anyway? Is it the thunderous torrents of water over the cliff edge, the moon driven tides that ebb and flow in the bay, or the muddy trickle of the creek in drought?  Or all of the above? Continue reading

Are you a gongoozler in your life?

Valerie Khoo and Alison Tait (from the podcast “So you want to be a Writer”) issued a word of the week challenge the other day. Use “gongoozler” in a blog post somewhere.

So how does gongoozler fit into a blog on living a conscious, joyful life? Tips on life, loss and my literary dreams. It fits very easily. Gongoozler means an idle spectator. And if you know me, or have read any of my blogs, you know that I consciously gave up being a gongoozler a few years ago. I decided enough is enough, time to learn to feel and heal, no more letting someone else drive, or working myself to death for someone else’s dream. I made a choice to change, to be a fully committed participant in my own life, and to follow my own dreams of writing. Continue reading

Getting better versus being good

As we madly set our goals for the year, could you consider choosing a getting better goal rather than a being good goal?

What I mean is, if you think about your goals in terms of getting better at something, rather than being good at it, then with every small change or action – whether we get it perfect, complete or not – we’re achieving our goal anyway – we’re getting better at it. Continue reading

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday this post was titled ” an ocean, a rowboat, and one paddle”. It was all about how if I’d know how traumatic it would be to publish a book, I might have changed my mind. You may never have got to read Breathing While Drowning: One Woman’s Quest for Wholeness.

It’s been almost a year since I finished the manuscript. The writing was an emotional roller coaster all on it’s own; reliving the 20-year-old journals I wrote to my daughter Jacqui Bree before and after her death at the age of four.

But if I thought that was tough…

Continue reading

Falling gracefully, or not…

You’re falling. The ground rushes to meet you. You know, with unfailing certainty, that falling is going to hurt. You have a nanosecond to react. What goes through your mind? Does anything?

There is nothing graceful about falling. The physicality of being splayed all over the footpath in a tangle of apologetic dogs is not graceful. Continue reading

What does success look like to you?

Every person paints a different picture of success.  It could be homes, cars, boats, clothes, jewellery, for others it would be a high profile, high paying career or body of work.  Some people would choose experiences, holidays or adventures to make your hair stand on end.  Others would choose family, contribution to their community, making their difference to one or many, recognised by the global community.

For me success is summed up in the word freedom. Continue reading

Are you on track and still feeling stuck?

Human beings need to know where we’re going, we like a clear direction and a sense of certainty that we’re going to get somewhere – eventually.  We’re mostly content when we feel we have some control over our present and our future and are heading in the right direction – towards wherever it is we want to go, or whoever it is we want to be.

Now for quite a while I’ve had a pretty good sense of my life’s direction, and who I want to be.  My most joyful work is nurturing the spark of magnificence in people and giving them the confidence to find a dream and go after it.  I love this work and I love running my own business (OK three businesses).  Most days I’m clear, I’m on track, I’m motivated and ploughing through the work right on plan (I’m a coach and a project manager, I love a plan). Continue reading

Do you have any evolutionary friendships?

A few years ago I came across the term ‘evolutionary friends’ in a course on feminine power by Claire Zammit and Katherine Woodward Thomas.

Over your life friendships will come and go and come and stay.

And then once in a while you’ll discover that you have an evolutionary friend.

Evolutionary friends are those amazing souls who’re prepared to see you through the personal transformation changes in your life.  These friends have boundless integrity and are prepared to go on the journey with you and to hold you and themselves accountable for following your dreams and becoming the person you’d like to be.  Evolutionary friends help you find and stand in your strength and power and cheer at your successes.  And they’re prepared to have the difficult conversations when you fail or slip into old behaviours. Continue reading

Our self-doubt is a traitor

My life belongs to me. What I think, feel, do and believe matters. But what happens when what you think and feel and do sends you into a nosedive rather than filling you with joy?

Most of the time I’m an optimist but I’ve been listening to Doubting Doris, Impatient Ivy and Procrastination Pattie way too often – together they’re the DIP. And when I listen to them I find myself doubting, impatient and procrastinating – a lot! Continue reading