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Lunching

lunch at Jackie's

One of the reason’s (actually the main reason) I love working for myself is freedom. Today I took advantage of this freedom to ignore my schedule and take my mum to lunch.

My mum is amazing but she’s recently become nervous of driving long distances so hasn’t been able to visit her friends. I say friends, but they’re really more like family as they’ve been there for every event for more than 40 years.

I feel so lucky to be able to drop everything and spend the whole day with my family. We laughed, talked and reminisced and ate lots of delicious food.

If I take anything away from today, it’s the power of positive thought.

It doesn’t matter if the doctor tells you you’ve only got six months to live – you have to keep planning for the future. Having something good to look forward to can make all the difference to your diagnosis.

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Halloween

halloween 2016

Remember we were struck by lightning?

We took this event as inspiration for our Halloween costume this year. It was a very hasty DIY project on Saturday afternoon before heading to a brilliant Halloween house party hosted by an American friend.

halloween-2016-2

halloween-2016-1

Halloween was never a thing in Australia but it’s starting to gain momentum. I love it and I hope it continues!

I went for a walk tonight and there was a great energy with kids, parents and pets all dressed up. I managed to resist taking lollies from a bowl outside my neighbour’s but I might dress up next year for trick or treating…

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Limitless

Byron Bay

I could have watched these waves all day long.

Looking down from the most easterly point of Australia you get a sense of space and the limitless of the ocean.

I’ve been moving my awareness to the limiting beliefs I hold that frame my life. Last week I felt a shift. There was a moment where I felt I could peek beyond what I thought was possible.

You can change your world by changing your thoughts.

I choose to believe that anything is possible.

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The last minute

I often leave things to the last minute.

I tried fighting this habit for years until a coach told me to change my perspective and to instead plan for the last minute.

If I know I’ll need to have something for Friday, then I need to allow time on Thursday to do it. Don’t book anything else on that Thursday and stop pretending I’m going to work on it earlier. This avoids procrastinating on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday about the task.

Less stress, less time wasting and more focused time to do what’s required.

one brave step (and I have this thing with floors)

It worked for my speech yesterday and I finally got the ending:

Realising your dreams starts with taking one brave step, no matter what shoes you’re wearing.

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Raise a toast

I’ve just joined Toastmasters. After making work my one and only interest for years, I’ve been testing new hobbies and trying new things.

Tonight is my first speech and I’m nervous.

They say people are more afraid of public speaking than dying but that’s not the case for me. I love speaking and am happy to talk off the cuff anytime. It’s the preparation that scares me.

My talk is in about 5 hours and I haven’t even started making notes. I keep telling myself it’s only 4 minutes but that time can be short or long. I love a tangent and struggle to tell a succinct story.

Maybe the hardest part will be to stick to 4 minutes!

A tip from Toastmasters is not to end with “Thank you”. Apparently the audience should thank me for the information shared. I should finish with my prepared ending and then a simple nod to Mr (or Madam) Toastmaster is sufficient.

Time to go and write that ending…

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What is this blog about?

I’ve been blogging for 6 years but it’s never been that personal. I’ve talked a lot but always in the context of a theme or topic.

This is a new space to explore my photography and share opinions that I will probably regret.