Over the last few weeks this site has had some strange happenings going on and I am putting it down to my lack of attention to it. You can liken it to a car for example. If you don’t put petrol in it, it won’t go!! To my loyal readers, for this I apologise in not bringing you material that keeps you informed and growing within yourself. With the upgrade and migration to a new server, I encountered some technical issues which are now resolved so all is up and running and now and I am back to writing for you.

Good vs Bad

I would like to bring your attention to something that struck me the other day. I watched a movie (shock, horror) which made me think about the good and the bad that is in the world today. Without the bad, there would be no good. What I mean to say is that every action has a complimentary reaction so when we hear of natural disasters or terrorist acts, we think these are bad things, but without them, we would not see the acts of kindness of the human race either. Follow me for a moment here.

In 2001, we all remember the planes crashing into the twin towers on 9/11. It didn’t hit me until one week later because at the time, I was with my firstborn in a sleep centre learning how to get her to sleep without too much interference from me. She happened to wake about 2am and that particular night, her cot was in the conference room where the night duty nurse had the TV on. I was half awake and the chaos of that day was unfolding right in front of my eyes on the tube. It didn’t really sink in until I was back home and my fogginess had cleared.

The events of that tragic day had everybody (or so it seems, as that is what the MEDIA portrayed to us) against terrorists and focusing on what they could and would do about them. Much later came the stories of acts of human kindness and because of this, there was a major shift in consciousness around the globe. People were helping others because it seemed the right thing to do. Now I am not discounting the thousands of people who lost their lives due to those attacks, and may they rest in peace, I am simply saying that if something as big as 9/11 didn’t happen, we may not have come as far as we have with a shift in consciousness.

I still don’t fully understand why it happened and I guess I never will because I cannot be those terrorists that made it so. What I can do though is be grateful that the human race can come together in times like these and give a helping hand.

Acts of Kindness

Now I have just described an event of mammoth proportions but it doesn’t take such an event for human kindness to shine through. Maybe you helped an elderly person cross the street, or maybe you cuddled a child who was hurt in an accident. It could be that you telephoned your wife/husband just to say “I love you” or even to take your mum shopping, or letting your niece write a post on your blog, lol! Whatever the case, I know each of you has this capability and if you wouldn’t mind sharing some thoughts on this, I am looking to write an ebook to be released when I get back from the Kokoda trek in which I will include a section about Acts of Kindness where I can feature what you share here.

PS. My niece who wrote the post prior to this has now set up her own blog at Michalea Is Me and I look forward to seeing what she does with it.

To Our Success

Have you ever felt like you were the only person in the whole universe with a challenge? You may have noticed that I have been absent from Buzzing with Ange a bit lately. To tell you the truth, I lost my creativity and didn’t want to bring you half-baked articles just to keep updating. Instead, I have been meandering along another path away from my laptop and that is the one of further study for my NLP (Neuro-Linguistic-Programming) Master Practitioner along with training for the Kokoda Trek!

Aside from that, we, that is my family, have recently found out that my dad needs to have open heart surgery and as I type this, he has been hospitalised due to a series of recurring minor heart attacks and we are waiting to hear when he will be able to have the procedure done. Needless to say, it has put us all on standby wondering what the outcome will be.

Through all this, I have learned something about myself and that is that I am not the super emotionally strong person I thought I was. Does this mean that I have failed? No, not at all! In fact, what is has done is made me aware of the vulnerabilities that we as humans all have and that is that when someone close to us that we love faces a life threatening challenge, we start asking the questions why. After all, my dad is a very fit man and at the age of 78, he walks 60 kms per week!

The thing is to not ask why, but rather, how do we adapt to make this experience go as smoothly as possible while maintaining a positive outlook so as to keep my dad’s spirits up and help him as best we can through this challenge?


This Is How We Grow

While being empathic to his reality, I think the best thing I can do is spend time with him and ask questions so that I can learn as much as I can about him… I’m sure there are many things that I do not know about my dad and at the same time, tell him how I feel about him. Use the time to really bond and I think I am sounding like this is the end for him, and I’m sure it isn’t, but what an opportunity to get even closer than I was before! My point is that sometimes we leave things unsaid and then have regrets that we shoulda coulda woulda done this that and the other. I have heard it too many times before and I would rather not be left in that situation so speak now before it is too late.

This way of thinking can apply to anyone in our lives who we may be needing to discuss things with. What I mean is to not let emotions hold you back from speaking up about something or clearing the air if need be. I’m thinking in particular about forgiveness and emotional intelligence which goes a long way towards your personal development. Being consciously aware of our reactions to particular people or circumstances and coming to an agreement with ourselves or others, helps us keep things in perspective and not make up stories about it… after all, your reality will differ from the next person’s reality. We all have a different view of life and whatever your beliefs, it is the right one for you. Remember though that holding onto negative thoughts you have without either writing them down or talking about them with someone, will only make you the victim so please, if you have something to say then say it.

I know I am not the first person to be faced with this situation and I won’t be the last. So, I am not looking for sympathy here, rather, I would like to ask what are some of the things you may have tried in a similar situation which worked for you and your family to get you through a time like this?

It seems only fitting that my 100th post on Buzzing with Ange is to share with you my greatest personal challenge to date. Seeing as this blog is about personal development, it is important that I let you in on how my journey is progressing and some of the challenges that I take on. I am involved with a fitness group who have organised to trek the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea in June of this year.

For Australians, this is the setting of an extremely difficult time during World War II where we lost the most number of diggers - 6000, in the shortest space of time - 7 months. The Aussie soldiers held the Japanese back from taking Port Moresby by land, retreating many times and firing back to exhaust the Japanese soldiers into re-thinking their strategy which saw them file back to the Northern part of the Island.

The Kokada Trail is a single file footpath that stretches for 96 kilometres (about 60 miles) in a north/south direction, straight across the Owen Stanley ranges in Papua New Guinea. My good Aussie mate Allan and I will be combining our efforts to bring you some history of the Kokoda Trail, along with the training I am undertaking and most importantly, the mindset behind taking on such a feat.

This is not a decision I made lightly and for those that know me on a personal level would know that I am not the kind of girl to get my hands dirty, camping and hiking in the outback is not something I do on a regular basis as I am a creature of comforts and I really, really like hot showers, clean toilets, meals cooked in a clean kitchen and a comfy bed with a cozy doona/comforter to snuggle into. So, do you think I am going to have to have a paradigm shift in order to get through this challenge and change my mindset around creature comforts? I think it will open up new possibilities for me in the way I perceive things, and I will definitely be in need of a Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel on this trip.


Kokoda Memorial 1000 Steps

Saturday just gone was our first official training day as a group and I was whisked off to the Dandenong Ranges here in Melbourne to climb the 1000 steps which are part of the Kokoda memorial. I didn’t count them as I was too busy trying to catch my breath. I have plenty of work to do on my fitness level in preparation for this adventure so stick with me and I will give updates on my progress.

I will leave you with a sample of what I am to expect once we land in Port Moresby… tell me your thoughts and if someone here has already taken this challenge on, please share your experience. There are many expeditions organised on regular basis through various companies.

. This last week, I have been devoting my time to my family which has curbed my time online. It has made for a very special Christmas Day for us all. We celebrated both the night before Christmas and the day itself with family and we have managed to catch up with some friends as well.

Seeing how special it was, I wanted to share some of it with you.  I put together this holiday video message for you with a special offer as my gift to you my readers.  All you need to do is leave me your contact details with an address to send the book to at no expense to you.  I will cover the costs involved and I will leave this offer is open until the 31st January, 2008.

If you would like a digital version of the book while you are waiting for the hard copy to arrive, you can request it from here.Have a very special holiday season, stay safe, and may you be blessed.

Dedicated to Success

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