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This month marks two years since my blogging debut.  It has gone by very quickly and I have enjoyed posting and learning things of an online nature.  It has also been educational for me from a personal angle and this has certainly been the case over the last twelve months in particular.  As a result I have evolved and am ready for new pastures and new ways to explore life and all it offers.  Ready to delve further within and see what comes up or comes out; ready to see what I can let go of so as to be ready for what I can receive.  I am excited.

I would like to become more creative in what I do and to branch out into other areas and see what happens.  With the blog, I have decided to focus a bit more on two areas: mindfulness and productivity.  This carries on from what I have been blogging about over the last two years but sort of streamlines it a bit more.  The blog was always an ‘exploration of how to find a happy medium between the internal and external aspects of who we are as a whole human being’ and whilst it will still be that it will be less broad.

As I have been dabbling into both these areas for some time my awareness as well as their importance has grown and together that has brought me to the changes I would like to make.   I am really looking forward to broadening my own knowledge in both mindfulness and productivity as well as passing on things which I trust will be useful to you and help you on your own journey as I move along on my own.  To define the changes to the blog I will be altering the blogs name to Mindful Productivity [mindfulproductivity.net].  This will take place in the next few weeks or so as I have to work out how to do it all first   I would also like to change the theme a bit so I can use more photos etc.  So stay tuned and we can see how it all turns out together.

If you have any comments about the changes or things you would like to see on the blog please leave a comment as I would like to make it as good as possible.

Enjoy

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photo by bikehikedive via Flickr

other posts you may like:

Some of life’s rythyms

Are internal possessions cluttering your space for potential?

The external journey is so passe

Look for the oneness in others today

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Although we are already ten days into 2011, for a lot of us, today marks the first day that we move out of holiday mode and back into our usual routine.  Being on holidays and enjoying all the festivities and seasonal delights that come with the end of a year is good fun.  Yet for myself [and I would venture to say many others] I am ready to get back into doing things of a more productive nature, too much of anything can become same old same old.

Often, that is one of the points of festivities, especially long ones like Christmas.  We enjoy the late starts, late nights, too much food and general moseying around doing not much except catching up with others and doing nothing in particular.  As non focused and uneventful as that may sound it is in itself useful and necessary; we all need periods of downtime to recharge and to reach a point of feeling that we have relaxed and feasted enough.  We become fed up with and almost yearn to be back doing activities that nurture us and add meaning to our life; to wake up in the morning with the knowledge that we have stuff to do, to learn, to offer others.

We have partaken of all the stuff we thought we would like more of yet after a short time we realise that too much of it is not what we really want; it offers us no long term satisfaction.  It merely emphasises that that which is external to us is only a tool to enable us to nourish our inner self.  That external pleasures and material objects are fleeting and should be used as an aide to our inner journey; not as a life in themselves.

So I wish you all a wonderful 2011 filled with learning and enjoyment.  Take it easy yet at the same time march onward with purpose doing what you are called to do.

Live your gifts, that is why you have them.

Enjoy

photo by Sean McEntee via Flickr

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Some of my posts from last year 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

Live your  song

Quotes

I usually put a few quotes up on Twitter during the day but sometimes I come across excellent ones that are too long to change into 140 characters.  Here are some that resonate with me and maybe will with you too:

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, non apologetically to say ‘no’ to other things and the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside  ~Stephen Covey

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What you are, so is your world.  Everything in the universe is resolved into your own inward experience.  It matters little what is without, for it is all a reflection of your own state of consciousness.  It matters everything what you are within, for everything without will be mirrored and coloured accordingly ~  James Allen

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Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.  Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary ~ Steve Jobs

Photo credit: umjanedoan

Enjoy

A few of my other posts you might like to read:

You don’t have to save the world

Do you live a quantity or quality life?

Honouring your core values

What would it be like to live a life full of enjoyment and to feel that every day has been fulfilling and useful?  What would it be to wake up in the morning and know that on this day you will make a difference to others and the world by doing what you truly enjoy doing?  It all sounds wonderful…. and something which ‘in theory’ would be great.  However, in a world of deadlines, family responsiblities, daily chores and all the other stuff we feel compelled to do it just doesn’t seem possible.

But why doesn’t it?

Why can you not wake up and do that which makes you happy?  Be happy doing all the great as well as the mundane things which make up your existence in the world.  Why, no matter what you do can you not shift that niggling feeling that resides within you to do something more with your life?  Why is it so hard to fully believe that

a) you are here for a purpose – to accomplish something you really enjoy doing          and

b) that in fulfilling that purpose a full happy life where you are enthused all the moments of each of your days is awaiting you.

What prevents you from living your life that way?  What hinders you from incorporating even a little bit of that into your life today?

Enjoy

Photo credit: Robert Snache (cc)

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

As we place less and less emphasis on the external world for our happiness and fulfilment and move to find it within, we ironically become more united with others.  We move from being alone to recognising our togetherness with all people and the universe itself.

The physical aspect of who we are is transient, finite and temporal and as such all that it experiences is fleeting.  On the other hand the non physical of us is infinite and spans all times, all things, all everything.

The more we move away from having a reliance on the material side of our lives the more at one with ourselves we become; the more solid in the feeling of whom we truly are.  Off hand comments by others ruffle our feathers less as they are like the wings of a butterfly against the sturdiness that we have now become.  They flow like the proverbial water off a duck’s back.  They cannot penetrate us for we fully believe they carry no weight in deciding or shaping who we truly are.  The issue lies with the other person and their journey, not ours.  By not absorbing the negative comments [energy] that is pointed in our direction it looses its momentum and returns to where it came from.

We do not feel the need to take things ‘personally’ because there is no personally, there is only oneness.

Those comments which slip through, and some do because we are not perfect, usually contain elements of truth which we do not wish to admit to our self.  Yet because we are comfortable and confident with who we really are we recognise that there is learning for us in the comment or can laugh at the keen eye of the one who passed it.

Enjoy

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(creative commons) photo credit: Clearly Ambiguous

Some of my other posts you might like:

10 free ways to enhance your life

Things just come and go, that’s the way it is

Do you have a theme for 2010?

Sometimes, no matter what we do or want in life the universe seems to tell us to go in a different direction.  Often it is somewhere we have already decided to go or be or do but have put it off for different reasons or self limiting beliefs.

Frequently these signs are tiny little whispers which, unless we 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 seem to be occurring regularly.  Sometimes, it is like it is really important that we acknowledge a particular message and the universe will present us with it over and over again until we start paying attention.

It can feel like no matter what we try things keep moving us along a certain path, like a security guard at a concert when we try to deviate or duck off to the side to get a better look at what is going on back stage etc.

This type of guiding usually happens over a length of time so it feels gentle and without urgency.  However, sometimes it’s like the universe has given up waiting for the penny to drop for us and is contemplating picking up a lump of wood to knock us over the head and really get our attention because the optimum time for it all is fast approaching.

First we are sent a whisper, a gentle hint to help us work it out for ourselves.  If we don’t notice the whisper a problem arises that will offer us the learning instead.  If we still don’t get it then we are confronted with a crisis which will hopefully make us stand up and take notice that we are straying too far from our intended life path.  When all else fails a disaster occurs which will be impossible to ignore and must be dealt with so the learning can occur.

By living mindfully and being aware of what is going on around us, as well as how our own bodies are behaving, we 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

(image by Tom T)

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Other postings you might like to read:

Our choices make our life

Do you have a theme for 2010?

Nov Simplicity  tip #7

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There is a rhythm to nature as we all know.  What we sometimes fail to remember is that we are all part of that natural world and likewise our lives have a rhythm to them.  We must sleep, eat, take in fluids etc regularly so our basic functions can be realised daily.  Like all other things in nature we have more to do than just our own basic requirements; we must fulfil that which others rely on to complete their basic requirements.  If plants did not grow no one could eat them; if bees did not pollinate some flowers there would not be certain fruits.  Similarly if there was no one who felt compelled to write we would have no idea what else is going on in the world, if no one wanted to be a scientist nothing new would be discovered.

When each of us is listening to our ‘natural voice’ we are guided to fulfil our own personal path for being here.  Each one of us has a slightly different role to fulfil during our lifetime and it is important to everything that we fulfil it to the best of our abilities.  We are part of the eco system of the world and just like any other living creature/thing (no matter how microscopic) we must all do what we are meant to do in order for everything to operate smoothly.

We are ourselves, yet at the same time we are part of a vastness that stretches beyond what we can imagine.  Through this connection we become vast; we become more than our physical self.  We are important.  Without each of us in the world, the universe is not complete.

Enjoy

Beautiful photo courtesy of Mary B

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Other postings you might like:

You don’t have to save the world

Do you live a quantity or quality life?

Honouring your core values

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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

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Its nice to remember those during the year who you are grateful for or who have helped you through the year.  Send a Christmas card to someone and say why you are grateful to them for something they did during the year.

2 examples to give you the gist:

Dear Joe

I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and to let you know that I truly appreciated you looking after my plants whilst I was away during the summer.   I wish you and your family a joyous and loving filled time over the festive season

or

Christmas wishes to you Mary.  Thank you very much for helping me out whilst I was unwell this year.  You are a wonderful neighbour and I very much appreciated you calling in during that time and the soup you brought over.   Wishing you a peaceful and happy Christmas

They may only be words on a card but the sentiment they carry to the receiver is far more.  Acknowledging a good deed that someone has done for you during the year in your cards not only makes the other person feel good about themselves, it lets them know you did really appreciate their efforts and you have not forgotten their kindness to you.

Christmas is about giving and it is often the small things we say thank you for that can mean the most – Christmas cards are a great way to do that.

Enjoy

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Other postings you might like:

Simplicity can be simple

What is your true meaning of Christmas?

Are you swimming for/against life’s current?

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It is important to remember over the Christmas period to slow down often; take it easy and understand that others may also be under stress or pressure themselves and may say or do something that they would normally not – especially when a bit of alcohol is involved.

Whilst the Christmas holiday season is a wonderful time to relax and celebrate getting together with friends and family, it is only a short time during the year and even a shorter time during a lifetime.  Be and act consciously during this time and remember what and who is important to you.

Enjoy

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Other postings you might like:

Our choices make our life

Do you want a quality or quantity life

Are you living your true self 24 hours a day?

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