Using opportunities

A new year has begun and although there are still many restrictions on our lives, there are also plenty of opportunities for us. We are being given time to reflect on our lives, how we live them, what we eat, what we buy and so on.

There can be good things coming out of this pandemic if we look for them and take them on board. The pandemic has shown us what is really important and who the most important people are in our country. Do these important people get paid a fair wage for what they do? Do they get the protective clothing and other items they might need? Are we looking after our old ones who have so much to share about their lives and how they coped? I could go on but I will leave it there for you to think about.

We all have a vision of our future and they vary a lot but we can find the things that we all want and work towards those. We are moving towards a very different world which has been foretold by others over the centuries and we need to make sure we are ready for this new world. We cannot go back to how it was before. Change moves us forward but it can take some time. It is unlikely to happen overnight but we still need to be prepared. But think about your vision of our future. Does it change at all? Or does it stay the same whatever else changes in the world? Follow the right path for you and stay strong with your feet firmly on the ground so you are ready for what is coming.

On an end note I recently bought a book called the Corona Transmissions. It is a diverse collection of opinions and research and also contains poetry. I am not writing any more about it apart from the fact that I am half way through and have found it informative and also inspiring. You may not agree with some of it but it is worth the read as it covers nutrition, homeopathy and herbalism too.

Minor accidents

Accidents are of course unplanned but can have catastrophic issues. Luckily for me my accident was a minor one but the injuries are still causing me pain. I always believed that things happened for a reason even if the reason was unknown. Mine was carelessness but maybe there was another reason. I have found in the past that when I am trying to do something or rushing around then something happens to slow me down or stop me. But I cannot think whay this would happen now.

However the ‘damage’ to my hands and knees as well as other bruised bits has stopped me from doing things I love like writing, sewing, crafting and cooking. So I have had plenty of time to think and reflect on my life at the current point in time. I know that the pandemic has stopped me from rushing around and I am much slower now so doing too much is no longer an option. I was trying to do too much in the garden when I feel up the steps though even though I delegate most of the garden work to someone else.

I have had accidents in my life before but nothing serious but I do know what it feels like when a part of your body doesn’t work right for a period time. I remember having my foot in plaster for 6 weeks and that curtailed a lot of activity. But when a hand is not working right then it opens up a new type of scenario. You don’t realise how much you use your hands until one doesn’t work right. In my case it was both hands but one was worse than the other. So everything thing you do as normal each day, washing, cooking, even cleaning my teeth took on a new dimension. Getting out and about came to a halt as I could not use my crutch to help me walk. But things are improving and I have spent time thinking and planning and watching the Tour de France on the TV.

But I have still not decided whether there was anything else behind this accident apart from my own carelessness. I knew when I moved here that the garden steps could be a problem but for two and half years I have been OK until now. I suppose it is easy to get complacent about things and take less care when doing something. There is a lot of complacency around at the moment with the pandemic and I wonder where that will take us. We have to learn from mistakes and minor accidents too.

Realising what is important

Having time away from the chaos of everyday life as it was a few weeks ago brings a lot of time for reflection and inner work. By now many of us will have started to think about what is really important in our lives. The first thing to do is to look at what you already have. If you have children or a partner then you have them around you and they are important to you. But do you show them how important they are to you? Do you help them, care for them, make sure they are safe, feed them and nourish them on all levels? Is there a true connection between you all?

Our lives are slowing down and we are able to take the time to do things in a leisurely way not frantically trying to get things done because of lack of time. Be mindful when you do things. For example I have been putting small seedlings into larger trays or pots and doing this makes me feel so good with my hands in the earth and I will those seedlings to grow strong and sturdy to withstand whatever the weather brings.

My connection to the natural world in my garden is growing stronger each day and I am even starting to talk to the birds who come to visit. I have robins, wrens, starlings, blackbirds and lots of sparrows as well as other occasional visitors. I have noticed the butterflies this week, three different types too. Last night I noticed a large cloud in the sky which had the shape of a bird. It was like the dove of peace and I felt it was important.

It is a time now to think about what we need and what we want. I saw some comments yesterday on social media about some item for sale and these comments were ‘must have’ or ‘want’. Please think about what you are saying and feeling. Reflect on what you really need in your life and it might not be what you think it is. This time is precious for your soul so make the most of it and look anew at how you live your life and what is most important to you.

Pause for thought

In today’s manic world it is easy to get into a state of fear or panic. Situations in which we may find ourselves can become overwhelming especially when its one of those days or weeks when everything, both good and bad, seems to happen at once. It is far too easy to look at things in the wrong way and to do a bit here and a bit there supposedly to make it all better.

But does that work? Sometimes it is much better to sit down and breathe deeply then think about what is to be done or not done as the case may be. Taking a pause to think about it all allows you respite from what has happened or is happening and allows you to put it all into perspective. There are some things you cannot change so only change those that you can.

At the moment there is a lot of fear in the world, fear of war, of nasty flu viruses, fires and earthquakes. So what can you do? If you live in areas where any of these things are happening then you can take precautions to make sure you are safe. But think about what is best to do first.

If it is lesser things that have made you go into fear or panic, then again, taking pause for thought will help you to deal with them. I often find that what I think could be coming my way or has already come, is not really as serious as I thought it was when it happened. We can look too deeply though so be careful of this as well. One thing which I have found very important is to trust my intuition, the gut feeling that tells me what is right or wrong. I have found this very useful when I get into worrying about something that might happen or is happening now. I think on the I listen to my intuitive answers and then deal with whatever it is on that basis.questions such as, is it good for me, will it help me, should I ignore it, and so on. I also take time to reflect on this to see if there is anything else I can do. How do you deal with fear, worry and panic?

Wishes for 2020

Wishes is probably not the right word to use however this is what this blog is about. First of all I wish you all a Happy New Year whatever and however you celebrate. A week ago, one of my friends asked us all to give her one word to describe what we wished for her during this coming year. This brought up lots of suggestions and I am taking some of these words to use in this blog. First of all I wish you all peace during the year. This is peace with yourself and peace with others as well as peace around you wherever you live.

I’d like to wish you love as well. Love for yourself and your family as well as for those around you. Love is a powerful vibration and can change lives. So what else do I wish for you? Gratitude; gratitude for what you have. I give gratitude each night for three things that are not the obvious ones like a roof over my head, food and clothes. There are many other things we can be grateful for. Caring and compassion for others is something else I wish for you. In our current world, compassion and caring are extremely important when there are so many who need help of some kind.

I wish good health for you and happiness. With good health comes another wish, sustainable eating and living. This is another very important thing in view of the changes in our climate, living sustainably, not wasting anything that can be used in some way and not buying what we don’t need. Repairing items that can be repaired is good as well. It is better than throwing them away.

I wish also that you gain a deeper connection with yourself, with others and with the natural world around us and also with the spiritual world. Take time to stand and stare, to contemplate and to reflect, to look at the bigger picture around the current circumstances, to forgive and to share. But above all I wish you happiness. Be happy with yourself and then you will be happy with others.

There is a website called http://www.actionforhappiness.org who produce a monthly happiness guide. I am using the one for this month as my photo today. Can you do the things it asks of you?

Taking time out

It is important in the world of today to take time out so that you do not wear yourself out and get too exhausted to do anything. Over this last nine months or so I have been busy trying to help others to see that we need to do something about our planet, like less pollution and thinking about what we wear and what we eat and how we live. On top of this I have had all the usual things to do, housework, washing, gardening and shopping, so now I am beginning to feel that state of exhaustion.

I have arthritis and other muscle problems, something which I think is called polyarthralgia, and this flares every so often whatever medication, including natural remedies, that you take. So it is time for me to step back, to take time out from doing things I don’t have to do and get some rest. Ideally the rest will include sitting outside in nature reflecting on my world.

I see so many people running around doing this and doing that and never taking time to just sit or stand and reflect. Staying busy all the time is not good for us. Our bodies need time to repair as do our mental and emotional bodies. There are challenges ahead for most of us and we need to have the energy to deal with them so resting now as much as possible will be good for me and for everyone else. We will need plenty of energy to deal with what is coming. So this is a short blog post as my time out starts today!

Uncertainty

There is a lot of uncertainty in our world today but what can we be really certain about. Thinking about this I found very little that I was absolutely certain about. For example, the sun rises and sets each day is  something we are sure about. There are many things we feel certain about but are not necessarily so, like knowing I will still be here in the morning. Anything can happen to any of us at any time so nothing is certain.

So how do we deal with uncertainty in our lives? Much depends on what we are uncertain about.Where going to events or making new friends is concerned I have a way of dealing with any uncertainty. If asked out somewhere and I say that I’ll think about it, that generally means a no answer. If it is something I really would like to attend then my response would be immediate. That’s about trusting my instinct.

The best way to deal with uncertainty is to live in the now, in the present. Yesterday is history and we can do very little about what happened then. So today is what is important. I do the things I can and enjoy them, mainly, I try not to put off things that I can do today but have to pace myself so I don’t wear myself out. This means that I know that some things may never get done if anything happened to me. But that is life.

There is a lot going on in the world, some of which we don’t really want to think about because the effects of these events is not certain as we do not know exactly what is going on. There is nothing we can do about this until these events happen so there is no point worrying about them. Living in the present and enjoying each day as it comes along is vital. Uncertainty is so much a part of our lives but it does make us think more about ourselves and how we live.

You can of course make plans to deal with what might happen and if that makes you feel better, then do it. I try to plan ahead for some things and make lists of things I need to do to make sure of certain events in the future. When you get older and you realise that your life on earth may end in the next few years then you do make plans so that when you go, it will be easier for others. But even then there is an uncertainty about the timing so living for each day is still important. I read somewhere that you should live each day as if it was your last. A good way to live then!

Reflecting

I picked up my journal on Christmas Day and realised I had written nothing in it for six months. This was quite a shock as I generally write in my journal at regular intervals. So I spent the day updating my journal. Those six months had been traumatic and chaotic and there was much to write about. It took several hours to write it all down and at the end I felt a sense of release. It had been a very therapeutic experience.

Since then I have tried to write each day. Journalling is good for the soul as you can write down all your thoughts and feelings which of course must help when having to deal with trauma. I am planning to write more during the coming year and not have to write about several months in one go. I found that I kept remembering things I wanted to write about so kept going back to the journal for several hours, each time thinking I had finished.

For 2018 I have also got one of those journals where you write in your aims and what you want to do and achieve in the coming year. There is a lot of space for this so I hope to use it at least once a week. This year I did manage to write a few sentences in my diary every day which for me is quite an achievement. Next year I intend to do much better.

Do you journal or write in a diary? I love to go back and read them and see what I did all those years ago. They tell my life story of course. I hope that the new year of 2018 brings you all love and peace and also much joy in your life. Blessings to you all.

Finding the way forward

It has been another busy week with offers of things to do but the best things were the walks in the local countryside. I love being out in nature and love to see the wildlife as I go. Today was a wonderful stroll and a look at different small paths that led away from the main path. Even found a tree to hug as well.

But some of the offers of things to do this week I will have to think about. Writing my latest book has reawakened the ‘spirit’ of search if you like to call it that. I want to look at some of the topics I studied in the past and see how much they have changed. I feel the need to do more ‘spiritual’ work than I have been doing. It is as if I have been taking a break and doing lots of other work like family history and local history. Maybe the time is now right to work more on other things like healing, astrology and so on. I need to get back into a different routine but also enjoy the daily walks which really do fill me with so much pleasure. It is good to have company too especially if my companions think the same way as I do. That is a bonus!

This week is going to be chaotic as my bathroom is going to be turned into a wet room. Tomorrow is the start of the work so I will be going out on a trip to one of my favourite places, Trentham. Hopefully the trip there will help me to make more decisions about my way forward.

How do you make decisions? Do you act intuitively like I generally do? Or do you think long and hard about things first?

Memories

It has been an interesting week with some stress at the end but a lot of memories have surfaced. While writing my new book I have been looking through old diaries and journals and keep finding things even though the book is finished apart from a few additions. The additions are because of what I keep remembering!

Just talking to others who have known me for some time brings other things I had forgotten to my mind again. Launde Abbey was one such time I had forgotten and yet I spent many days there walking in the woods and grounds and exploring all kinds of inner work. The old journals jogged my memory about books I had read that I felt had influenced me in some way. This has led to me buying some of these books again so I can look back at how they did influence me if that makes sense. One of the books was the Celestine Prophecy. I know this is fiction but even now I can see lots of food for thought in those books. I remember going through the Experiential Guide to these books and I now have another copy. The work still resonates and I hope it will bring back more memories for me to write about.

It is strange how one memory jogs another one and so on but that is what has been happening. I found another journal for 2001 with not a lot in it but what was there was interesting and brought back other memories. How can I write about all of these? I don’t think I can or the book will never be completely finished Talking to a friend last night she did say there could always be book 2, a follow up to this book. That is something I will have to think about. Do I remember enough to make another book as well as this one?

If you read this blog and you have met me either in the physical plane or elsewhere and have memories you would like to share then please do so and contact me. I am finding that writing this book is a deep emotional experience at times but I will get it finished soon.