“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?

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Thrive Through Every Challenge

Daily writing prompt
What are your biggest challenges?

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.

Celebrating 2023: A Month of Gratitude – Day 5

Seasons, reasons and lifetimes. I’m sure we have all heard the saying that some people come into your life for a season, a reason or a lifetime. Of course we only know which it is in hindsight so the only thing that is within our control is to enjoy and appreciate them while they are in your life.

Today I want to take a moment to say thank you to the people who have remained in my life this year, the new friends that have entered into my life and to those who have or are moving on. Each one of you has either helped make me stronger, kept me sane, brought a little or a lot of sunshine in my life, sprinkled some fairy dust, or held my hand when it needed to be held. These are just a few of the ways that you have helped me through this year and I hope I have done the same for you.

I don’t think I have ever believed in God answering prayers almost immediately until the end of July this year. I was dealing with an issue that had left me feeling overwhelmed. I was sitting in the bath in tears because I was at my whits end. I said a prayer to ask for help through my tears. As soon as I hopped out the bath, a new friend that I had recently made messaged me and I mentioned how upset I was and why. They immediately recommended a book that would help. I smiled because God knows that books are my favourite tools for everything. I felt better immediately just knowing that a solution existed. This friend also called me a few days later to talk me through a few techniques I could also use to change the situation when it arose again and, ultimately, overcome it. I am so grateful for this person and for the impact they have had on my life in a very short space of time.. They are literally God sent.

Until tomorrow…

Image: Canva