Have you ever wanted to know more about the authors of blogs and some random facts about them? Well, just for fun, I thought I would take up the challenge from the gorgeous Diane over at Much of a Muchness. Diane has a great blog about Handmade Books and Design for all you crafty people out there and her books are displayed on each post. She uses the most stunning array of papers to cover her books and well worth taking the time to visit.

So here are seven random facts about me that I don’t think I have ever shared here before…

1. I come from a musical family… both my brothers have played in bands and my parents and sister all sing and play instruments too. When I was seven years old, I took up piano lessons and continued for about 12 years. Although I had all those lessons, I haven’t played for a very long time and it’s not high on the list of my priorities these days. If you follow the link to the band, there is a playlist from their last gig where I was asked to join the band on stage and play the tambourine along to the song Black Betty. Imagine!!

2. I have learned how to draw charts of stocks using candlestick bars and can read a chart and follow patterns. Interestingly enough, if you take 5 years of monthly charts of a very well established stock and lay them along side each other, you will see history repeating itself. These days I use software to look at my charts so although the drawing days have gone, the lesson came in very handy indeed.

3. You may have read that I am an adrenalin junkie and I am also addicted to chocolate and cashew nuts… can’t get enough and them and it has to be the right kind of chocolate like Cadbury’s or Lindt… yummy!

4. Unlike Diane, if you read her post, she stated that she cannot reverse park and is having lessons from her son. I on the other hand have it down pat as my driving instructor made sure I did before she would let me go and sit my driving test. Thanks Sabina (my instructor) who also taught 3 of my cousins, my mum and one of my brothers to drive.

5. My most favourite movie of all time is ET. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was about 14 years young and just could not stop crying at the end. I have always had a fascination with Aliens and believe that they are around, just watching us humans and sitting back laughing most of the time. What do you think?

6. Although I love technology, it takes me some time to nut out new software and learn how to use it. I do not like reading instructions and much prefer to go about clicking this and that until I find a way that suits my way of doing things. (Truth be told, most of the time, I can’t follow the instructions!) I do get it after a while. My iPod is great for transferring music and audiobooks or podcasts onto and I wouldn’t be without my mobile broadband to check on things if I am away from my laptop.

7. I volunteer a little of my time online for the worthy cause Invisible Youth Network. Invisible Youth is an organization endeavoring to make a difference by providing human, material and monetary resources for abused, homeless and at risk youth and related programs. Russell Hartshaw who was once homeless himself, is the Chairman and Founder of this organisation. My efforts at recruiting have been very random of late and if you are interested in helping in some way, please do… either by raising awareness of the cause or donating to it if you so desire.

Now there weren’t any rules for this so I am not going to specifically tag anyone, and if you feel like sharing some facts about yourself, link to this so it can be tracked back to the original meme and I look forward to reading up about you.

Have fun!

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In my last post I talked about being an adrenalin junkie which made me stop and think about what I was actually saying. Through attending many personal development seminars and training with NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), I have learned that whatever you say you are, you are. This is not something new to me, and there are times when I do use the wrong language. I should know better you would think… well, I am human after all

Since then, I have had a paradigm shift. I had a dream last night that I was bird hopping along the ground not being able to make out the tops of trees, but instead, all I could see was the grass stalks and some twigs and leaves. When I flew up into the sky I could then make everything out. I could see the trees in relation to the ground and the grass. I could even make out a valley and a body of water. Things seemed much clearer from up above. I noticed that the higher I flew, the more of the landscape I could see. Even the approaching clouds threatening a change in the weather.

Why am I telling you this. I am telling you this because from a distance, I could see the whole picture and not just what was down on the ground level. There are times when all you can see is what’s right in front of you. All the menial tasks that must be done on a daily basis. These tasks are just as important as the big ones. I have read that the art of successful living calls on the ability to pull back and see the big picture… take time out to re-focus.

There are some spiritual disciplines that favor retreats to be able to reconnect with your Higher Self or Spirit, whichever you would like to call it. This is also another form of nurturing your emotional intelligence. If you can take the time off and make it to such a retreat, fantastic! If you are limited with your time because maybe you work on your own or you have family commitments that you cannot pull away from at the drop of a hat, there are other ways of re-connecting and grounding yourself.

Here is a list that may give you some ideas:

1. Take one day off and make it a vision quest where you carry one question in your mind - What do I do next? Let it simmer while you walk, meditate, swim or just stare into space!
2. Take one hour to sit in amongst nature - be it a park, the beach, or even your backyard - and just shut everything out. Don’t think about a thing.
3. Go and have a full body massage and DO NOT talk through the process. I say this because when I worked in the beauty industry and clients would come in for a massage, there were ones who tended to talk throughout the whole hour. Not very relaxing and they missed the point of having the massage… although, some would come just to vent their troubles.
4. Run yourself a nice, deep bubble bath and burn essential oils with candles around the bathroom. The citrus oils are uplifting while peppermint and rosemary are invigorating.

Pulling back and regaining your focus is a must to be able to function at your highest potential. If while you are working and you seem to be procrastinating, notice this and ask yourself this question: What can I do in the next 20 minutes that will take me in the direction I want to go. It could be writing a letter, making a phone-call, paying a bill, joining a gym or even enlisting the help of a coach. It will different for each of you depending on what your goals are. Think of it as writing an outline of a novel and not the whole book.

These are some guidelines to consider.

• Think big.
• Think small.
• Learn to go back and forth easily between your points of focus.
• If you dream too much, you may get lost in unproductive tasks.
• If you are run off your feet with details and other’s demands, you are in danger of losing focus on the big picture.

My goal is to follow and stick to these guidelines so that I may become someone whose bigger dreams drive and inspire others. Let me know how I am doing from time to time.

Change Your Thoughts and You Can Change the World

I would like to leave you with this video that shows how your thoughts can change your focus and in turn, change the world as you see it. Enjoy!

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This last ten or so days, I have been reduced down to dial-up speed when I was shaped for over-using my bandwidth and I can tell you that I am really struggling having to wait for pages to download. I have learned that if you use a Firefox browser, there is an option in tools that allows you to choose whether or not to download images while you are browsing, and it has become very boring indeed! It’s not much fun browsing when you can’t see the whole page as it was meant to be seen.

Being in this situation has brought me to realize that I am an adrenalin junkie, not just with the internet, but in all aspects of my life. I thought I was a patient person and as it turns out, I have had time to reflect and take notice of my habits online and off line. Scary stuff! I am living in a permanent state of overload and I am wondering how many of you reading this may have the same thing going on as I do.

I seem to be always seeking time for myself and yet, there are times when I feel guilty about not spending enough time with the kids. They often watch me sit and work when I really should be giving more of my time to them while they are around. I constantly feel that it is my job to keep everyone around me happy, which has led me to write about it here. Another step in developing my emotional intelligence.


The Seduction of Overload

Being addicted to adrenalin, is like any addiction. It is all consuming, very thrilling and it feels so right. There is absolutely no need for other narcotics life has to offer when you’re running on pure self-generated adrenalin. I think that being overloaded is permission to say I am too busy to take on anything new. Although, I just cannot help myself. I like to say YES to everything. It makes me feel needed, wanted and in demand! It is like having a badge of honour to have a jam-packed calendar, to juggle work and children, to be exhausted which then leads to feelings of guilt of letting down my friends and family. Funny thing is though that they do not feel this guilt of being unproductive.

My addiction does lend to having highs and lows. Frantic cramming of appointments and activities have led me to forget where I had to be… even though they were written in my diary. Sometimes, I feel as though I have been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. I run on auto-pilot with feelings of intoxication and exhilaration, kind of like an emotional roller-coaster. Enough is enough I say. This cannot be sustained. Sooner or later something has to give. I am tired of breaking deadlines and dates. I am tired of letting my friends and family down. Time to make a change.

This is the first step to overload recovery. Recognition that I have an addiction and now declaring that I will do something about it. Nothing will change without this moment of personal clarity. I can’t go on like this. Time to interrupt the pattern, which my ISP has had a hand in with slowing my connection down.

A calmer, less adrenalin fueled life is way overdue. To surrender my dependence to adrenalin will not be easy… after all, it is the chemical of danger, and who doesn’t like a bit of danger in their lives? Baby steps are necessary to overcome this addiction in order for me to find balance in my life. Helping my personal development along, I find that reading the healthy living lounge has also been helpful in coming to realise my plight. Any other suggestions you might have are welcomed here.  It will be great to hear them.

Dedicated to Success - mine and yours

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