Giving and not expecting anything in return

Travel really opens my eyes and reminds me that the generosity of spirit is alive and well.  I am currently travelling through Europe and love that if I see someone in need of a hand that I can assist and not expect them to ever return the favour.  Luggage at airports is always a little bit of a risky mission, especially now with just about all the bags having wheels.  There is always a single mum travelling with kids that just doesn’t have enough hands, or a weary elderly couple that have trouble negotiating their luggage and the escalators and timing the jump off just right!  I am always keen to ask anyone in need if I can assist and I can see the fear and relief in their eyes all at the same time.  We need to be generous, with strangers and also people who are close to us.

I love the messages in this video and hope you too can take a little piece of generosity with you into your day.  Stop expecting people to return your generosity immediately and just give it and it will come back to you, maybe not in the way you expected, but it will I promise!

 

The Spirit of the ANZACs

Today as I stand on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey and take in all that is the 100 year ANZAC day anniversary, I will be thinking of all the people that have fought for Australia across all of the wars, battles and peace missions.  Australians are known for their determination, mateship and courage, lets all take the emotion of the day and be a little more braver, a little more kinder and a little more determined to reach our goals and make the most of the opportunities that are sitting right beside us!

 

 

The Last Post

What does ANZAC day, 25 April, mean to you?  It means so many things to so many people, some similar, some very different.  Personally it’s hard to put into words the sacrifice all those young people (on both sides of the war) made for the cause and their empires. The one aspect of all ANZAC days that brings me undone is the playing of the Last Post.

The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition that mark the phases of the day. While Reveille signals the start of a soldier’s day, the Last Post signals its end. During the evening, a duty officer moved around his unit’s position checking that the sentry posts were manned and sending the off-duty soldiers to their beds. The ‘first post’ was sounded when the duty officer started his rounds, while a final bugle call indicated the completion of these rounds, when the last post was reached.  (source http://www.army.gov.au/Our-history/Traditions/The-Last-Post).

Take a moment, play this video and reflect on the past and then think about how you can emulate this bravery and courage in your life.

Words I love that aren’t English

I am heading to Turkey next week and then onto a few Eastern Europe countries so I have been trying to learn the basic words that will hopefully not see me cause an international incident.  My big four words/phrase to know are

1.  Please

2. Thankyou

3.  I am lost/need directions

4.  Where is the toilet?

I figure these pretty much cover off on my daily requirements.  So in my ‘research’ I have got totally side tracked and fallen in love with some words that don’t have a ‘single word’ translation into English.  Here are some of favourites so far….

1.  Fernwah  (German) A longing for far off places, or farawaysickness, being homesick for a place you have never been. I am in a total state of this permanently at the moment!

2. Shemomedjamo (Georgian)  This word means, “I accidentally ate the whole thing.”  Yep, could of used this words a few times over Easter!

3. Gigil (Filipino)  The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is irresistibly cute.  Babies be alarmed!

4. Pelinti (Buli, Ghana)  Picture this…your friend bites into a piece of piping hot food (ie a pie), then opens their mouth and sort of wobbles their head around while making an “aaaarrrahh” noise.  This word means that.

5.  Pilkunnussija (Finnish) A person who believes it is their destiny to stamp out all spelling and punctuation mistakes at the cost of popularity, self-esteem and mental well-being.  (Blog editing job anyone??)

I could go on and on, but I want you to come back and read my blog again so wont bore you to tears right now.  Better get back to my terrible pronunciation of Turkish words.   Allahaısmarladık (goodbye in Turkish).

 

Learning to listen

Growing up in a household that always had the ABC radio going during the day, I didn’t really understand how much of a comfort listening to the radio was to me and my childhood memories.  When I left home there was something that I missed and I couldn’t work out what it was, until I returned home for a visit to be welcomed at the door by a deep male voice chatting away in the distance.  The ABC radio had influenced my life more than I will ever probably recognise.  Still to this day,one of my most favourite times of the day is 11am, as that is when I get to hear the familiar tones of Richard Fidler and have a slight sense of intrigue to see who he will be chatting with today.  Each and every conversation holds a message, whether is taking a moment to giggle, learning from a shared life moment or listening to the fascinating lives we all lead.   I would love to get the chance to sit down with Richard, would be a real treat.  Have a browse through this list of podcasts and pick onet listen to!  Or better yet, book in a date each weekday with your radio (11am for Queenslanders or suss out the RSS feed on web link) and Richard while you get on with your day, I highly recommend it!

Conversations with Richard Fidler

20 things we should say more often

I have been a fan of Kid President for a while now.  This dynamic young man has had and still has some big health challenges and yet he has reached out to the world to remind us to say Thank You, Please and that sometimes we just need to be quiet.

Staying focussed

When I had an 8 to 5 job I would sometimes, take work home so I could focus.  Boy has my world changed now, just 6 months into working from home and I have found it can be really distracting at times.  The little jobs that I use to stockpile for the weekend when I worked an 8 to 5 job are staring at me all day long!  Plus I have a natural burst of energy around9am to 12 noon and then again at  5pm so getting through the work day is really hard when I keep thinking about the paint touch up I need to do on the skirting boards or the hedge that needs to be trimmed.

For anyone that has done study or had to work from home, you get that it is hard to keep focussed.  So what have I done to keep on track?  I’ve broken up the day into me time and work time.  This way I can allocate out section of the day to different things and that helps me to alleviate any feelings like I am drowning in work or neglecting the house chores too!  I have needed to ‘block off’ time chunks to enable me dig in and just get stuff done.  I have been doing a lot of web based marketing work recently so it is really great that I can come and go from it with new bursts of energy.  I have also still left a lot of my chores to do after 5pm and on the weekends, this routine suits me and I feel that I can still have control over my work ethic and not be drifting off to domestic bliss whilst I procrastinate over which font I am going to use in a graphic.

Recently I was talking to a friend and we were looking at when we feel most productive and when we feel like flaking on the couch and turning our brains off.  Personally I fall in a heap around 1pm to 3.30pm.  This is my non-productive time of day.  So I know that I need to lock in to do enjoyable things during this time or nothing will get achieved.  Do you know when your down time is each day?  Are you a morning person or do you feel alive at 10pm at night and get your best thinking and working done at this  end of the day?  If your not sure where your productive times of the day are, have a think about your weekends (or a day that you can plan and not be hindered by work routines), where do you naturally feel most awake and able to ‘get things done’.  Once you know your peak and low energy time you will be able to better manage your time.  No one needs to be an Energiser Bunny and be at 100% all the time.  We need to embrace our 30% times and know that we can get through these times and manage how we use this time.