Glad to be alive

Two weeks since I blogged, so not doing too well on the intention for 2008 that says I will blog more regularly. I have let go of the need to blog every day because I feel I should - hurray but there's still some work to do on being more constant.

It's not that I forget, but I put it aside until later and later doesn't always come.

What kind of days are your glad to be alive days?

Here's a photo of the beautiful miniture daffodils in my window box, just the sight of them make me smile. In fact it's hard to be sad when faced with such happy flowers.

There seems to have been such little time without leaves and flowers this winter and I don't seem to have walked in the dark lots either. Now I'm looking forward to the bluebells as the carpets of them in Epping Forest as a sight worth seeing.

The birthday girl

It's my baby's 11th birthday today. Not a baby any longer, she is rapidly approach my 5ft 6inches and has already overtaken some of our female friends in the last couple of months.

I cannot believe so much time has passed since her birth and each year seems to bring more and more great opportunities for her. This year she is off on an outward bound trip again, is on a school's trip to Spain, singing at the Royal Albert Hall and just been nominated for a science competition. Then in September it's off to Secondary school, a new era.

As you can tell I am very proud of her. Yes, she has her moments, don't they all but she is great company, loves to chat and we have some great girlie times when her dad is away.

So Ellie, have a great birthday. I look forward to pizza tonight and your party on Saturday and here she is at breakfast this morning

Customer service on the slide

Ever feel you've been had? I did this weekend.

My husband and I have been contemplating whether or not to retain our cleaner whose work seems to have deteriorated since she started.

In those days, the place sparkled and we were all very happy but in the last couple of months, things have got slack and the ironing she would do if she had extra time, has been non existent. She spends time on the phone (her mobile) and there is dust where it should no longer be.

My first reaction was disappointment and I said so when I talked about things needing to improve . Yes, they did for one week and then slowly went back off the boil.

I cancelled her last week and decided to clean the house myself this weekend. I can tell you that this is not my favourite pastime but everyone, even Ellie pulled their weight. Only problem, things were so grubby that it took all weekend.

When she first came to me I would recommend her to others but now....

In a service industry, your service has to remain high as often there are many others that can take your place. I think we might do the cleaning ourselves now having made this weekends investment but it is a lesson to us all.

Today I have been reflecting and thinking about how good my service is? I hope it's still excellent. I try to make it so and constantly review it, asking clients for feedback. I have measures in place. Did my cleaner? Not in my view and now she is going to lose the work.

Could this happen to you?

It's only January.

Where has the hibernation period gone?

I was out walking about 8.00a.m. this morning which was wonderful as it was light, makes a change from my weekday 7.00 a.m. although even that is not as dark as it was...

Anyhow as I strode out, saying 'morning ' to the numerous dog walkers, I was struck at just how many leave there were on the bushes. I think most of them were hawthorn but there they all were bright green and spring like.

The daffodils in my garden are up quite high to and the winter jasmine, meant to bloom in Jan/Feb, has blossomed in Dec for the last couple of years. The earth is giving birth to all manner of things that used to still be fast asleep at this point in the year.

So has nature started to reflect our fast paced lives, where there is no longer time to recharge batteries?

Since I started coaching and set up my own business, I have learned to pay more attention to the rhythms of nature. Instead of detoxing in Jan, I have learnt that, like nature, this is the time of the year to seek out good wholesome, comforting foods like soups and stews and steaming cups of hot chocolate and to curl up with a good book or a film. To sleep more and recharge.

I am still doing it but what is nature doing now? Yes, it's lovely to know that spring is coming but let's just slow the pace a little again and enjoy the comforting time.

Beautiful dawn

Dawn seemed to come earlier this morning and evolved into a pale blue sky and wonderful gold and pink tinged clouds that just seemed to illuminate.

Keeping to folklore, it might not have been the best forecast for the day - "pink sky in the morning" and all of that but it was a joy to see and I do wish I'd had my camera. I think I shall have to add that to the necessary pile when I go out from now on.

The giant and the dark clouds

On my walk yesterday morning, the sky looked really dark and heavy, you know the way it gets when it is a sort of midnight blue colour. These dark and ominous clouds rolled around looking threatening and very angry and made me think of a giant or a god, like those I learned about as a child in Greek mythology. I had in my mind these images of a bellowing figure venting his anger and I felt chilled.

However as the clouds rolled around more and dawn broke they thinned out and soon disappeared, allowing the morning light to penetrate and soon there was no sign of the angry giant at all.

It had all happened relatively quickly, over 30-40 minutes and I found myself thinking of the process of changing our moods and not letting an incident affect our mood for the whole day. Sometimes one thing can change your mood dramatically and often at the start of the day, set up a chain of events that makes us want to crawl back under the duvet. How much better to recognise that things do not have to be like that and to choose to swap the black mood for a much lighter one.

I am not always successful at this, sometimes, I want to wallow but in most cases I'd love to put on the calm cloak, so I'm going to make an effort to try. Are you?

An inspiration!

I received two emails in the past few days which said "I'm inspired to get up Wednesday morning at 7am and go for a walk! I'll let you know how I get on!" and "Thank you for the emails I'm almost inspired to get up early tomorrow and go for a walk."

It's very nice to be an inspiration and for me it comes easily when I am writing and talking about something that I love. It's also what makes getting up early in the dark on a cold winter morning possible too.

What and who inspires you and why? What do you inspire others about?

Is being an inspiration something that you aspire to be? Let me know.

Pretty good so far.

Sunday tends to be view time for me and looking back to Jan 1st, I am pleased with how things are going.

Although one major focus this year is on me as a business women, my overall focus is one me and my self care. If that is not right, then I am not going to be in the right place to be that effective and successful business women or the great mum, best friend, loving partner etc.

Since New Year's Day I have been walking regularly, setting my goals and building in relaxation and family time.

This weekend, the family time has been on paining my daughter's den - the spare room which she has acquired so she can entertain friends, do her yoga, play guitar etc. Never have I seen her so enthusiastic about paining and what a great job she has done. I shall post a photo when it is finished.

We have also had some film time, meal time and I am now out for a walk to enjoy some of this great sunshine. Looking forward to an equally positive review next week.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!!!

I hope, that wherever you are in the world that you had a great New Year's Eve and were able to welcome in 2008 in health and happiness. I also hope that this New Year brings you more of that health and happiness as well as lots of other thing that you hope for. I hope it is one of your best year's ever.

Since the very end of November I have been working on my plans for 2008 and ensuring that it is my Best Year Yet. I have worked through Jinny Ditzler's great book and now am full of excitement, hope and expectation and after not having blogged since Dec 5th, I am putting that right straight away.

In fact it has been a day of getting started again. After not having gone for a planned walk since Boxing Day, I was out this morning with my friend and neighbour Jude. She is doing a sponsored walk along the Great Wall of China in March so we are picking up the pace and the distance so she is bang on target when she gets out there.

Today we walked for 2 hours and covered about 6.5 miles, not bad. I left her with the instructions to lie with her legs up against a wall for about 15 minutes to let the lactic acid drain away and then to have a hot bath. Hopefully then she'll not feel it too much tomorrow.

We're out again on Thursday evening and I am out there tomorrow morning, not at 7.00 I would think as it's the last luxurious morning without an alarm and I want to savour that!!

Enjoy the rest of your day and that great year to come.

The path ahead

About an hour into my walk in Scotland's borders last Friday and this was the path ahead!

The walk had already been a little frustrating and now this. Looking back on it this morning and I was reminded of the path ahead in our everyday lives.

Does your path ever look like this?

On first sight, the path in the picture looked almost impossible. Thistles, shoulder height plants, nettles and thorny bushes and of course the trees on either side.

So what do you do when faced with such obstacles on your life path?

Well sometimes we give up immediately. At first sight of this path, that could have been my reaction but then I looked more closely. This is what we need to do on our life path too. We need to get closer, to study the options, to weight them up and then to make a decision.

Was there a clear alternative route for me? No.

Was there another way through this blockage? In some places yes. There was an opportunity to take a slightly different route in places but only for short stretches so it helped.

Was there anything I could use to help me get through? I did not have a machete which would have made a great difference and there were no broken branches lying around. I had my legs and arms which I used and I had a walking partner so as a team we could move through.

What or who do you have to help you?

What are the dangers you may face? For Janet who was following on it was branches springing back, nettles and thorns.

How do you cope with them?

At the end of the day our path became completely blocked by a building site which had eradicated the path and perhaps this blockage was an indication of what was to come. However, even having had to turn back, we were able to learn from the experience and we would never have experienced the colours and great views had we not pushed on.

Wonderful autumn colours

The weather is superb at the moment and has been for weeks, plenty of sunshine and dry too. I wonder if this is why the trees seem to me to be even more beautiful this year with their vivid colours.

Of course the weather makes the walking more enjoyable and today I was back in Greenwich Park walking with a good friend who lives in the area. She has recently been made redundant so I was doing some coaching as we walked. She was challenging me by finding the highest and steepest hills to walk up so I have the feeling that my legs will be hurting a little tomorrow. And Jude, if you are reading this, I now know that Greenwich Park is even better than I thought for that Great Wall training!!



Just wanted to share with you the photos of France last week and that lovely late afternoon light and those colours.


Here is Ellie and me on our circular walk around the outskirts of the village and below, we are coming back down the lane into the village.

Isn't the light wonderful? It is the best time of the day to take photos and Alan loves to be out experimenting and trying lots of different shots.

Going by the colours back here, I bet the French ones are even more vibrant now.

Blow is the view you get from half way up the hill when you look back at the church which is 12th and 16th century and gives Oudan it's status as a UNESCO heritage village.

Wow moments!!

Have had two wonderful moments today and have had to stop on both occasions and appreciate them. Sadly on neither occasion did I have my camera.

The first was this morning when I was walking in the forest with Marina. We were deep in conversation when I looked up to see this beautiful tree clothed in its gold and rust leaves lit up by the sun and it really did look as if a light bulb had been switched on within the tree. It was magnificent and we both just soaked up the sight before moving on. That's one of the reasons I walk so much. You have time to stop and take on board what is around you.

This evening it was the sunset. I looked up from my desk to see the sky a deep pink with streaks of white and grey which just emphasised it's brilliance even more. If the sayings are to be believed, we are in for another good day tomorrow and I am meeting up with a client to walk in Greenwich Park. How lucky am I?

Just step away.

At the end of the day on Tuesday I felt as if I was in a washing machine being juggled and spun around. There were so many emails to be answered, pieces of work to be actioned, reading to do etc. etc. I really was not sure what to do first and the piles of paper on my desk were threatening to take over.

So on Wednesday, I stepped away from it all and sorted it out. I made lists, I cleared the piles of paper, I collected things together and put them into plastic files and at the end of the day I had a feeling of peace and calm.

Was it worth it? Yes.

I may have lost some time in that a few things did not get done but the clarity that is now there and the fact that I can see the surface of my desk and know where to find things means I am back being efficient again. Walking into my office this morning was blissful. and so conducive to working.

French Leave

We are chilling in France in our house at present and it's wonderful. It's also a much needed break as we have all been going flat out since the start of September, Ellie included. She has so many commitments to school clubs and other activities that Sunday is the only day with nothing happening. That has meant the discipline of homework being done dilligently every weekend or else trying to cram it into the week - not pleasant.

What a change here - the half term homework was carried out while walking along the fields and lanes around the village and the data collected was then written up this morning.

Yesterday was beautiful and reminded me yet again as to why this is my favourite time of the year in Burgundy. The colours are stunning at the moment as the leaves turn and in our local town of Clamecy, the autumnal fruits such as squashes and pumpkins have been used in the floral arrangements round the streets. The shop windows are all decorated for Halloween with cobwebs and witches and the supermarkets are full of Halloween sweet displays.

The sun is shining too, making the days warm and mellow although it gets very cold at night when the sun drops in the skies and is frosty when we awake. I do like it like this though and a wander to the recycling area yesterday morning turned into an hours walk as it was basically too good to miss.

Before I knew it I was striding off along the lanes and across the fields. All over the village were apple trees laden with fruit and the ditches too were full of the fruit that had got too heavy for the trees and had dropped to the ground. It was sad to think that all of this was just going to lie there so on my return to the house I headed down to our "wild garden" to pick apples from our own trees. These are now stewing and filling the kitchen with wonderful aromas.

It's colder today as the sun has not shown itself and we are staying in warmed by the blazing logs in the Godin. Some friends are joining us for dinner tonight and tomorrow - who knows? How good not to have to plan.

Have a look at http://www.frenchhideaways.com/ and see where we are.

Intuition

We were given intuition for a reason so pay attention to it. It's that 'inner voice', that 'gut feeling', that churning in your stomach and it's never wrong.

It's there to guide you and how often have you said after something - 'I knew I should have done that'.

Learn to trust it. I am pretty good at relying on my intuition now but today I paid the price for not listening. Something happened in July and I responded offering as much help as I could in the time available. I was able to help but there were other issues and I should have passed on it a few months later but I didn't and since then alarm bells have been ringing. Softly at first and then louder and even then I thought I knew better.

A few days ago, I took that action I should have taken months ago and immediately was at peace.

Listen to your intuition, practice and practice and always go with what it says.

I have learnt a harsh lesson but I know that this is often how I learn best. I won't be doing that again.

Chocolate

Do you like chocolate?

Did you know that it was Chocolate Week? Lasting from 15th - 21st October it is indeed a week of indulgent chocolate celebration throughout the UK. This is being celebrated through talks, tastings and demonstrations so have a look at http://www.chocolate-week.co.uk/ and see if there is anything near you that you can tap into.

I love chocolate but have been weaning myself off the milk chocolate variety as when I have some, I have been known to scoff the entire bar or even box if in the right mood. It's that wonderful sensation when it melts on your tongue and that velvet touch - mmmmm......

I am now into dark chocolate as I can have all the same sensations but I find a couple of squares satisfies my chocolate need. To make the enjoyment process as easy as possible I break up the chocolate bar into 2 square chunks, store it in a container and keep it in the fridge. Then when the nibbles come, I always have some to hand.

What are your chocolate tips? Any you'd like to share?

I love all the different types of dark chocolate you can get now especially Green and Blacks and all the chocolate shops etc that are setting up such as Hotel Chocolate where I spent many happy hours last Easter choosing a wonderful dark chocolate egg for my husband.

Alan manages to keep chocolate for ages so I would tempt him with a really good glass of deep red wine to we could enjoy the mix of it and good dark chocolate - together they are a great romantic treat.

Where have the weeks gone?

Does this happen to you too?

If you remember I'd decided not to beat myself up if I didn't blog every day. Well that was OK but it has now been nearly 2 weeks and every day I think, I've gotta blog today. I'll do it when I get this piece of work done but then that leads to something else and before you know.......

I bet a lot of you out there are agreeing with me.

I know I fill each day too full. Sometimes it all goes to plan and is great, but other days, it goes very astray and I have had a few of those recently. I am learning to ease off on the packing the day but I now have a back log and for my sanity I need to clear it.

So today and tomorrow are office based days and I am lazering through things and feeling better moment by moment. However, How do I ensure that I do not let this happen again. How do you do it? What is the learning here for me?

Will keep you posted but hey, it's good to have got this out on paper.

You can join in too...

I think it must be infectious this de-cluttering. So many people are now doing it and even more are asking for tips etc.

Yes, I am doing it but am no expert so I was very grateful to Rachel who came to my rescue with her Top Tips. No excuse at all now......

1. Set your intention... if you know clearly what you want your room or home to look like it's so much easier to let go of stuff that isn't going to fit your wonderful new look.

2. Draw up a timetable ... if you're contemplating doing the whole house work out a timetable, but do at least one room per week. If the task feels really daunting start with either the easiest or the room you currently hate the most. Getting either one of these sorted will give you a real energy boost and motivate you to get the rest of the house done.

3. No spare room... don't have a 'spare room' in the house, these automatically become dumping grounds, every room should have a purpose and be available for that purpose immediately, i.e. guests could arrive unannounced for the week and all you need to do is get the spare towels out!

4. Limit the boxes... have a limited number of boxes for storage and do not allow yourself to exceed the limit.

5. Six months or so... items you're not sure about letting go of yet but you're not using currently should go in a box with the date on. If you haven't opened the box in 6 months to a year (absolute maximum.) then get rid of it.

If you tend to keep things for emotional reasons or out of obligation, e.g. my auntie gave it to me10 years ago, then remember the gift was in her love and attention, not the actual item.

You can find out more about Rachel and what she does by visiting her website - http://www.spacerenovation.org.uk

Concise and simple, yet very powerful.

As a result of all the de-cluttering, I am now working may way through various piles of things. There is the 'to do' as soon as possible pile; the 'write up' pile, the 'sort through' pile and of course the 'reading' pile.

In this last pile I found an article about Rachel Elnaugh in which she stated three tips for business women and entrepreneurs. They were as follows:

1. Innovate
2. Be determined. Never say die, never give up, be relentless and try different ways
3. Have a strong brand, values and culture and really know what you stand for.

Simplicity in itself and with only three key points it makes this process much easier to remember. In those three tips you can sink or swim as every one is key to your business success.

Are you willing to follow them diligently and put in the work required to get your focus and clarity?
If so,congratulations.
If not, perhaps you should ask why you are in business

Visit Rachel’s website http://www.rachelelnaugh.com where you can take Rachel’s free profiling test to see what kind of an entrepreneur you are and can also access her Top Tips for Business Start Up Success.

The process continues with ever increasing positive results.

What a pleasure it was to walk into my office this morning. It seemed to have doubled in size or was that trebbled? Whatever, it has all happened as a result of my de-cluttering and taking it a stage further and moving things round.

For ages we have struggled with the lack of possibility to move furniture around. All seemed to be so essential. However, my creative husband spotted the opportunity of getting rid of a small area of work surface and that made it all happen. Bookcases that recently sat out into the floor are now all back against the wall and we even have room for an easy chair. In honour of that I bought the chair a bright red cushion!!

I love the space, I love the light it now seems to let in, or was that me cleaning all the windows? It feels fresh, vibrant and efficient.

Yes, there are still some piles of papers around to be sorted and a few files to go through. We don't really need all those books so Alan and I are going to work our way through those but it all seems so easy now and we really want to do it. That makes all the difference.

This morning I received an email from a colleague who is also going through a major de-clutter and she too is experiencing a growth in energy and clarity. She says "it feels like emerging from a chrysalis, very very slowly - but as we work through each cupboard, room, shed etc I feel the shift happening inside me, on so many levels. As I shift the clutter outside, so the stuff I have hung onto and has brought me down, down, down, is shifting inside."

Powerful stuff. If you feel inspired to join in, please do. I'd love to hear how you get on.