Tag: Life

 “Time is the most valuable thing that a man can spend.” — Diogenes

What is the greatest gift someone could give you?

This a great question. I have been reading through many of the answers and am so fascinated that most writers have not mentioned material gifts. Instead, they have spoken about emotive gifts like time, love, respect and appreciation. Material gifts are always welcome for me, especially as a single woman. I most often have to spoil myself as there are not too many people thinking of spoiling me. That is not the greatest gift that someone could give me, though. Much like the gift I appreciate the most is time, but not just time, time for me when I need you to be available.

Image: Canva

I know it sounds a little odd, but it is borne out of my recent experience. I had made a new friend online, and we got on very well, or so I thought. The strangest thing was that I could never reach them when I wanted to chat. I could message them, and they would message me back as and when it suited them. Sometimes, it would be almost a day later. In the end, it got so bad that the only way to have a conversation with them was to wait until they messaged me and catch them mid-type. It was so weird, so as you can imagine, the friendship didn’t last. I never realised how important that was to me before. My long-time friends will always either respond immediately or as soon as they possibly can, so I have never had to think about it.  Our relationships are reciprocal. This was such a weird situation that I am still trying to wrap my head around it. The person did have control issues but this was control on another level.

The other special gift you can give me is to be yourself and accept me as I am. I get uncomfortable when someone tries to change me by judging me. There is a difference between trying to change someone into what you want them to be and trying to help someone grow. I am very open to the latter. The former is a no for me.

That’s it from me for today. Let me know what the greatest gift you would like to receive is.

“Life is more fun if you play games.” – Roald Dahl

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

Hello Hello! Hmmm…good question Bloganuary. I do play in my daily life. All work and no play makes Michelle a dull girl after all. Play takes several forms for me and which I choose depends on my frame of mind at the time.

  • Online Scrabble – I have been playing this for about 14 years. I love that it has a chat feature. I have made a good few friends over the years. Most are based in the UK. This is my go to game when I need a distraction. It’s not mindless and I am learning new words and strategies all the times.
  • Vegging in front of the TV – This is new for me. I am not a TV person, but I do have a few favourite programmes like Law & Order, Bosch, Reacher and Friends (my son and I can watch that show over and over again). My new favourites are the documentaries on Netflix. I really enjoyed the one on Arnold Schwarzenegger (phew, that took a few attempts to get the spelling right😅). I found it very inspiring. His story reminds us that anything is possible if you choose it to be and set your mind to it.
  • Reading – Books are my forever companions. A fully loaded Kindle and a solar-powered power bank would be a must if you were to leave me on a desert island. :).
  • Coffee with friends – I have very few friends, and they are worth more than their weight in gold. They help me see life from different perspectives and they soothe my soul.
  • Shopping - I looove shopping although I don’t shop as often as I used to and won’t be this since my word for the year is “less”. I enjoy the thrill of acquiring items of beauty for my home that will make me look good or even a new book. I can spend hours in a bookshop just browsing. I very seldom leave empty-handed, too. I must buy at least one book.
  • Spending time with my son – This always soothes my soul. He spends most of his time playing games these days, so I don’t get to spend as much time with him as I used to. As a result, I treasure the moments that I do get.

How do you define play? How do you play?

Image: Canva

Thrive Through Every Challenge

Daily writing prompt
What are your biggest challenges?
View all responses

Happy New Year Everyone! I am so excited that Bloganuary is back. This is the 3rd year that I will be participating.
I look forward to the prompts and making new friends.

So, what are my biggest challenges? I would say my top 3 are as follows (in no particular order):

1. Too much stuff

I just wrote about this yesterday, actually. My word for the year is “Less”. You can read more about why having too much stuff physically, digitally, and mentally is a challenge here.  The good news is that I made a little dent today with my wardrobe. Whoop whoop!

2. Creating systems

I tend to be a bit helter-skelter with most things. Last year, I set myself a goal of becoming more disciplined. While I have definitely improved, I have still not found a system to help me work, write, and run my home smoothly.  That is my dream, and I will succeed. I just need to put more effort into it.

3. Overcoming procrastination

I have written about this many times but have yet to find a solution. I have tried implementing the 2-minute rule, the 5-minute rule and every other rule I have read about, but I guess I have not been very disciplined about it. 

If I overcome these three challenges, I figure that 80% of my other challenges would disappear. So we persevere so that we may continue to rise.

Image: Canva

I look forward to reading about your challenges. All the best in overcoming them in 2024! 

Thanks for popping by. Be Blessed.