Tag: #perspective

31 Days of Gratitude – Day 27

6 more sleeps until the New Year and 2 more sleeps until my son comes home! I have lots to be excited about! My little desk also arrived today. This one will be dedicated to my writing. I am so gratefil that I will have a little writing spot which I am hoping will help me create, and firmly entrench, a daily writing habit. I am counting on Bloganuary to really kick start the habit again as well. I had so much fun with it this past Jan.

I also spent some time this morning listing all the things I did this year. I have made so many changes and pushed so many boundaries. I am very proud of myself and very grateful for the opportunities and the means to do it all. I had also promised myself that I would be intentional about certain things this year. One of which was to stop absorbing knowledge and spend more time putting what I do know into practice and sharing it where I can. I’ve done it but there is so much more to share so I will definitely keep this on my list for years to come.

Another item on that list was to learn to love myself a whole lot more and I am glad to say that I have definitely made progress on this one. These days my first reaction when I look in the mirror is to smile at myself rather than look for faults. I have changed the way I dress and I have discovered the impact and power of lipstick ! Phew! I have a whole blog post planned on the power of lipstick alone. Who knew!😜 All in all I must say that it feels good to like what I see in the mirror and I am grateful that I am able to make that switch and start appreciating and valuing myself more.🙏

Just me having a little fun at work

That’s it for today. I have finally started the Fire & Ice series of books by George RR Martin. I bought them in 2018 but only feel like I am ready to commit to them as of today. I am only 2 chapters in and I am enjoying his writing already. Ooh and my favorite part was officially opening the boxset and having the smell of a brand new book hit me. The highlight of my day 😁.

My reading material for the next few weeks

31 Days of Gratitude – Day 18

How is it possible that we are now more than halfway through December??? In South Africa we call it Dezemba although even that name doesn’t quite capture what a vibe the country is during this month. It is sun, fun, surf and braai time. Lots of businesses close from the 15th until after the first week in January. Like I said, the entire country is a whole vibe in Dezemba!😜 This is when we relax and enjoy the company of our friends and family.

Today was part chill day and part declutter day for me. I managed to part with some of the junk that I have been holding on to. If I hadn’t touched it in at least 6 months, I decided that it couldn’t possibly be adding value to my life anymore so we parted ways. It feels so good to get rid of the junk. As I write this I am eyeing a shelf in my wardrobe that ahs bothered me for a while now. While it feels good to get rid of the junk, it is also a reminder of how abundant my life is in so many ways. I am grateful for this abundance.

I also found a pay slip from 10 years ago. I am grateful for where I am now and all I have. I just need to manage my resourses better. I know that there is so much more I can do with what I have. That will be one of my top 3 goals for 2023. I will find ways to do more with what I currently have.

Lastly, I am so happy for Argentina and especially Messi! Congrats on winning the 2022 World Cup! What a match! If I still smoked, I would have probably chain smoked through the last half hour or so of that match…lol. Awesome game!

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Time And Tide Wait For No Man (or Woman)

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Ever since the pandemic, I have been acutely aware that we are not promised an eternity in this life. When I saw what was happening in China early in 2020, I started taking my son out over weekends to create new memories because I didn’t know if we would go into lockdown, or for how long if we did and if one of us got the virus and didn’t make it, at least the other had recent memories to hold on to. Once we could move around again, I vowed to dress up as often as I could and show up at every opportunity because, to me, it is a way of honouring every moment that I have. I have also made a few additional little changes because I am just grateful that I am still here and I want to make the most of the moments I have on this earth.

If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.

Maria Edgeworth

Over the past 3 weeks or so I have been bombarded with, what feels like, messages from the Universe to live in the moment and to possibly to find my values and live by them. I thought I was but clearly there is something that I am missing. It started when I kept seeing people recommend “When Breathe becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi.

I saw it recommended on my Twitter and Medium feeds so many times so I took it as a sign and got hold of a copy. What a great book! He had a beautiful writing style. In it, his oncologist often tells him to “find his values” when he asks for a prognosis. He ponders on what he would do if he had 3 months, a year or 10 years left. This notion of focusing on finding your values rather than focusing on the time you have left or letting that determine what you will focus on, has really played on my mind. The reality is that none of us know how much time we have left. Every single moment is a gift. How am I going to spend it? What will bring me the greatest joy and, for those around me, the greatest benefit?

When my son’s dad died almost 3 months ago. It was a huge shock. He was only 43 and had a heart attack. I stayed at my sister’s place the weekend of his funeral and there was an old fashioned clock next to my bed. I was so aware of the steady rhythm of that tick and that tock. Every second of my life passing by while I lay there. It was yet another scary reminder that time keeps moving on even if we don’t. I was acutely aware that I hadn’t accomplished all that I would like to.

Since completing the book over the weekend, I have had more than one person tell me that they had been reminded to live in the now and to live their best life now through a podcast or a sermon, etc. It’s clearly no coincidence and I just need to meditate on the direction I want to go and get moving. I started doing something towards one of my goals on Sunday. Let’s see how it pans out.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know how you are being intentional with your time these days. Bye for now!