Ahh 2012 …. don’t you all just love a new year?

Of course all moments are a new beginning but there is something essentially symbolic about starting a new number when we write the date.  Plus I love … let me rephrase … I LOVE starting a new diary with all the fresh pages and filling in all the reminders.  Small things delight me, what can I say…

After all the excesses of the last week or two I’m definitely ready to get back into living a more economical life again.  All those mulled wine, chocolate filled and yes I will have another slice days are over and to be perfectly honest I say good riddance  … I don’t know about you but I get a bit bored with it all after Christmas Day.  My thoughts turn to newness and activity around the 27^th Dec and I like to go into prep mode.  Unfortunately I still carry on eating all the bits whilst prepping so by the time the new year actually begins I am not only ready mentally to move on but my body is as well!

Each year I like to set an intention or two for the year; not a goal but more of an underpinning for all my choices.  This year my main one is to have greater awareness & understanding about the wider effects my decisions have [especially with what I choose to purchase] my second one is to be a whole lot more proactive when it comes to getting things done – basically to be a bit more gutsy/ballsy.  All up I’m excited about the year ahead … it’s going to be a great one! 

What are your intentions for 2012?

Some previous postings you might like to read:

•  Delight in all the turns of your life
• Simplicity Thursday – 5 things to do whilst boiling the kettle
• 20 ways to make life harder

In the meantime, I have been enjoying life too.  I’ve put some of my designs onto tshirts which are all made from organic cotton.  I’ve been catching up doing some bits and bobs and learning some more things that interest me and trying to get back into a regular yoga practice.

I’ll be getting back into a more regular writing pattern in the coming weeks and will be doing some more pieces and how tos around adding more awareness to our lives.  As well as letting you know about all the new things that will be happening at Mindful Productivity too

Here are a few pics of my new tshirts for your perusal

Did you ever get presented with a topic several times out of the blue by different people in a short space of time?  Multiple occurrences which seems so out of the ordinary that you figure there must be more to it.

Frequently these signs are tiny whispers which, unless you are paying attention and being mindful, are easy to miss.  They could be a gentle feeling within or a series of small external happenings which appear to be occurring regularly.  This type of guiding usually happens over a length of time and feels gentle – without urgency.  However, sometimes it’s like everything has given up waiting for your penny to drop and the possibility of drastic action is likely.

First a whisper comes, a hint to help you work it out for yourself.  If you don’t notice the whisper a problem arises that will offer the learning instead.  If still you don’t get it then you are confronted with a crisis which will make you stand up and take notice.  When all else fails a disaster occurs which will be impossible for you to ignore and must be dealt with so the learning can [optimistically] occur.

By living mindfully and being aware of what is going on around you, you can often pick up on these guides at the whisper or problem before it gets to the latter stages.

~ Be mindful.  Take time to listen to what is going on in your life; to what your life is saying to you.  It speaks to you all the time, guiding you in the direction you were born for.  Be at one with it.

Enjoy

The olive green Be at One poster is available in our online shop

Other posts you might like to have a look at:

Being productive & mindful – 20 one minute to dos

Use the power only you have

This post was inspired from a post I did last year.  It had a nice message so thought I would visit it again

No matter how slowly a duck or even an insect moves on a pond, ripples will still be made.  Movement other than that which is created by the mover will happen.  The water cannot help but to react to what ever is moving through it.

So it is with life.

No matter how quietly we may feel we move through life, what we do [and don't do] ripples far beyond the immediate spot we fill.  Tiny waves of energy emanate from our movements, meeting with energy that has originated from others to create new movement that neither may ever know about.

We may feel we live a non eventful life, that we achieve nothing spectacular, historic or dramatic during our day or our time here on earth.  Yet the energy which flows from us is powerful.  It continues to reverberate long after we are gone in a physical sense.

The life we lead and our attitude to our time is precious and powerful.  Use it wisely; send forth good energies – for they live on after we have finished with them.  They continue to create when we no longer can in a physical sense.

photo by Dawn via Flickr cc

idttmosvr

Some other postings:

Life is in the doing not the having

Delight in all the turns of your life

Simplicity Thursday – 5 things to do whilst boiling the kettle

In the silence are all the answers you seek

20 ways to make life harder

We are living in extraordinary times.

We have a chance to change things for a more unified future

where all things integrate homogeneously.

Where we each play a unique note in the universe’s tune

- a tune which is not complete if we do not add our own part

~

We are as much a part of the world as anything else

we are each equally important

- as is our contribution, our song

~

We know the song we each need to sing, we just have to admit it to our selves

pretty soon,

as more people begin to live their own song, their own vibration

a harmony will begin.

All our unique songs will band together in unison

like a dawn chorus.

Wonderful in variety yet beautiful in the way each compliments all others

~

Enjoy

Those who wish to sing always find a song ~ Swedish proverb

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photo by: minicooper93402

Other postings you might like to read:

Delight in all the turns of your life

Simplicity Thursday – 5 things to do whilst boiling the kettle

In the silence are all the answers you seek

Last Monday’s post was my most successful yet – comments and hits wise that is and possibly one of the most  successful in a helpful way too – unfortunately that doesn’t come up on the analytics .  I would like to thank everyone who released emotions which they no longer wished to carry the full weight of and trust that in some small way it has made you feel lighter and added to your inner growth.

I will take a guess here and surmise that for some of you a fear had to be overcome to place a comment  and I wanted you who did over come a fear to know that last Monday I had a fear too.  It wasn’t in writing the post as only I was seeing it, yet as I went to push the publish button I hesitated, I doubted myself and quavered.  My last  post was different from my usual Monday sort, a move away from my comfort zone.  I could feel the build up inside me, I was a bit scared and put it down to maybe it wasn’t a good time to do a post like this  – what if I offend someone, what if no one comments, what if this and what if that…

As I sat there thinking whether ‘to publish or not to publish’ I began to wonder if maybe the feeling was just plain old fear; fear of doing something differently, of expanding, of growing.  Which one was it?  Then I remembered a piece I read in a magazine about a woman who had come through an experience of cancer.  When asked what positive had come out of her experience she said she would no longer waste another day not feeling totally liberated to be whoever she wanted to be.  Then I thought of all those people who have done great things in their life and often when asked, they too, say that they had to over come personal fear.

I decided then it was just plain old fear so proceeded with finishing off the post.  All the while the feeling kept chipping away, but I pressed on reminding myself not to succumb to it for it was only trying to keep me living a ‘small life’.   By the time I had finished doing all the extra bits like picking the picture etc it was too late for fear to grip me fully.  I had walked through it and was already on the other side with enough inner oomph to push the publish button.

~~ When I feel fear rising within I usually picture it as a wall of sheer muslin type curtains [hence the above picture], don’t ask me why, it’s just how it appears to me.   Obscuring what I want to see, do and be yet at the same time powerless to hold me back if I choose to move forward.  The curtains offer the illusion of resistance but really there is none for it is all self imposed.  So I picture myself walking through them and feeling the fear/curtains gently waft over me as I pass through.  No harm can be done as the fear is weightless  in comparison to the motion of me moving forward – both physically and mentally.  The fear becomes insignificant.  Only not moving forward stops me from being all I can be as only not moving forward stops you from being all you can be.

Which of your fears will you walk through?

Enjoy

Photo by independentman

Other postings you might like to read:

Delight in all the turns of your life

Simplicity Thursday – 5 things to do whilst boiling the kettle

In the silence are all the answers you seek

We are all born with gifts.  We are meant to use and share them; that is why these feelings and skills come naturally to us.  For some the talent may be obvious – music, maths, art.  For others it is less so – a naturally caring attitude, being good with animals, a feeling to nurture children, a need to tell another’s story.

Although seen in many varying degrees; the gifts of each individual are important.  We all cannot climb Everest, invent penicillin or overturn large scale discrimination.  We each have a role to play in the world and a clue to that role is often found in what we find comes naturally to us in the form of talent and what we enjoy doing.  Each one of us by simply honouring the gifts, natural skills and loves which we are born with helps the world.

You do not need to save the world all by yourself to make your gifts count.

Live your gifts….that is why you have them

Enjoy

Other posts you might enjoy reading:

1. What will you learn from the snow
2. Simplicity tip #3
3. Why living the life of your dreams is not being selfish

..

How this is done is personal and you should do it in a way that makes it important to you; in a way that carries meaning.  Whether it is big or small is beside the point as it is the symbolism that it carries for you which is of importance.

So have a think over the next day or so and see what you would like to do.  If you are working or busy on the 31 December you still have time afterwards or even before to do something or you could imbue your whole day with the spirit you wish to mark.

A few ideas to get you thinking:

Make a list if you like of all the great things that happened to you during 2009 as well as all the things you achieved then congratulate yourself.

Cook a nice dinner for yourself and family or friends and chat about the year you have all had.

Do something that you wanted to do all year but never got around to as a send off to the year and to remind you in the coming year to get on with things.

Go for a drive somewhere and take in how wonderful nature can be and sit for a while and remember your year.

I am sure you will have some other fantastic suggestions of your own that are personal to you.  Whatever you decide to do, do it with your whole heart.

Enjoy

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Other postings:

Simplicity can be simple

Our choices make our life

Honouring your core values

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Do you have a lot of keepsakes from old loves, children’s painting and drawings, childhood toys etc?

Often if you ask your grown up children about the toys or clothes you so lovingly ‘kept for them when they are older’ they not only barely remember them; they don’t want them!

THE TASK

~Gather all the mementoes you no longer would like to keep physically

~Group a few items together at a time.  Depending what they are you might group them into years or occasions.

~Take a photo of each group – be as artistic or as simple as you like

~Repeat process until you have a record of everything you would like to remember.

….Then donate or get rid of the actual objects.

There may be one or two you truly do not want to part with – in that case put them somewhere you can appreciate them.

The memory is not the object it is the thought that goes with it.  A photo is as good a reminder as the real thing in most cases – especially when grouped together into occasions or time periods.

Ideas for photo groups:

1. Important religious ceremony keepsakes eg  baptism, rite of passage
2. Wedding keepsakes
3. Special birthday keepsakes  eg 21^st
4. Early dates you had with your partner (cards, ticket stubs, pressed flowers etc)
5. Children’s toys
6. Childhood drawings (these might need to be taken separately depending on there size)

Ideas for framing keepsakes:

Make a collection of a few photos; add ribbons from sport wins or the uniform badge from school and you have a thoughtful memento of the school years

Frames containing a mix of keepsakes also make a nice gift.

Enjoy

Where is the energy taking you?

When you listen to what your higher self has been trying to tell you for years you move closer to a life of joy, meaning and fulfilment.  You become more contented, you grow as an individual and have more of yourself to give to others; gifts are enhanced when they are shared.  Live yours; grow and share.

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other posts you may like:

Some of life’s rythyms

Are internal possessions cluttering your space for potential?