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What worry can and cannot do for you

What worry can and cannot do for you

by | Jun 15, 2020 | Motivation, Positive thinking, Self-help

What worry can and cannot do for you…

What worry cannot do:

Worry cannot add any value to you.

Worry cannot not add even 1 hour to your life.

Worry cannot lead you one step nearer to your goal.

Worry cannot change anything in your past.

Worry cannot change anything in your future.

 

So, what can worry do?

Mess up your today.

Sometimes when we’re driving a car, a dashboard warning alarm starts to flash, indicating we need to check out some part of the vehicle. The problem comes when we just focus on the indicator instead of taking the appropriate action.

If you find yourself tempted to worry, treat it as you would a dashboard warning alarm indicating you need to check out and focus on the small things you can influence, not the big things you can’t.

The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less

The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less

by | Mar 12, 2020 | Gratitude, Motivation, Self-help

Do you ever feel busy but not productive?

I found myself inspired by this recent interview with Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

In this short video, McKeown explains that if you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. I would even go so far to say that if you don’t prioritize your life, everyone else and everything else will.

At times we can find it hard to escape the state of busyness and overwhelm we seem to find ourselves in. This has a direct impact on our ability to find enough time for the precious things in life.

Watching this interview has reminded me that I need to force myself to step back from all of the overwhelm in order to try and identify the vital few areas that are truly important to me. Then I need to become more comfortable with saying no to everything else.

Do you ever feel busy but not productive?

If so, you can find the video I’m referring to by clicking on the image below.

Click on the image below to hear the message

I hope it inspires you to say ‘No’ to distractions and focus on that which is important.

 

Ruth

Lifelong Learning

Lifelong Learning

by | Feb 10, 2020 | Education, Self-help

In formal education we’re taught a lesson, then we’re given a test.

In life, we’re given a test then we’re taught a lesson.

Either way, be open to learning in the week ahead….

Do The Next Right Thing

Do The Next Right Thing

by | Jan 5, 2020 | Motivation, Positive thinking, Self-help

Having 4 girls it wasn’t going to be long before we saw Frozen 2, and yesterday we saw it.

Maybe you have too?

There are many quotes in the movie which offer some good moral pointers and I just want to share one of those with you today.

In seeking the truth, Anna could not see the future, at which point Pabbie, the wise troll counselled Anna:

“When one can see no future, all one can do is the next right thing”.

For many of us on life’s journey there are periods when the mist comes down and we can’t see the peak we were heading off to with such confidence. Remember, it’s OK not feel OK when the mist is down.

In the week ahead, if the future seems unclear, we simply need to do the next right thing, because our final destination may be out of sight, but we can all choose to place our our foot on the next right step.

For those of you who want to find out more about the hidden voices and women from Norway who inspired Frozen, then why not check out this short piece from Cantus, performing at the Holmelkollen Chapel, Oslo:

Click on the image below to watch

Don’t waste your pain

Don’t waste your pain

by | Oct 10, 2019 | Gratitude, Grief, Motivation, Positive thinking, Self-help

If someone were to ask you what pain is there in your life, how would you answer?

Not to them but to you?

And if you answered that question truthfully to you, do you see any value in that pain?

We had to consider that question in our recent loss.

We knew we had a choice to make. We could let the pain of grief rob us, or we could use our pain as a form of currency to add value to others.

As parents we were overjoyed to be expecting our 5th daughter, Butterfly, in June of this year, but then scans revealed our daughter had a number of complications which meant we wouldn’t have long with her.

Sadly in the hours before Ruth was to give birth, Butterfly’s heart stopped completely, and she died in the womb.

Privilege and Pain

Our pain at our loss was real, but Ruth counts it a privilege to have carried Butterfly for 38 weeks, and I counted it a privilege to have carried Butterfly in my own arms to her resting place.

All in all it was a privilege to carry Butterfly.

Following our loss a number of well-wishers donated some funds to us and we started The Butterfly Project as a legacy. Since then we’ve been working with Butterfly’s Auntie & Uncle who are serving some vulnerable individuals on the edge of the Kalahari desert, Botswana.

This weekend we’re flying out to Botswana to formally launch the Butterfly Project there by opening a playground we’ve designed and constructed from scratch which will act as a safe space for children to just enjoy being children, many of whom, also have a limited life expectancy.

 

Our Appeal To You

As part of this process that we’ve been through, we want to make an appeal to you, and it’s not for your money. We believe your money should be used by you to make a difference in your own circle of influence, wherever you’ve been placed.

Our appeal to you is to reflect on this;

If the pain in your life was money, how would you spend it?

Because the world looks at pain as loss, but we believe it’s an asset we can use to connect with a fellow human being and add value to them at their point of need.

Maybe you’ve been through chemo, or some kind of surgery, or whatever?

There’s someone in your circle right now who’s about to go through chemo or surgery, or whatever, and they just need a call from you to let them know you’ve been there, to let them know, YOU KNOW THEIR PAIN.

So, our appeal to you is, don’t let your pain be wasted, and don’t let it rob you.

If pain is going to be our co-pilot on life’s journey, then let’s press on and use it to make a difference in this hurting world.