Be the change

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

– Andy Warhol –

I went on a fantastic road trip today down to a beautiful part of NSW called Kangaroo Valley with a girlfriend to go and do a recce for the festival that we working on at the moment.

We had some amazing chats throughout the trip, all 4 hours of it (it should have been 2 and a half – don’t ask why it took so long, but it involved a sat nav that thought it’d be funny to play around with us and an important pit stop along the way for a bacon and egg roll).

Anyway, the central theme of our chats was about change, and why we as human beings sometimes resist change and what we can do to overcome it.

The main reasons that we came up with was fear, nervousness, anxiety and worry. And it’s funny how paralysing fear can be, especially when you are wanting to do something that you’d really like to do.

The other thing we were chatting about was the fact that we are all reflections of one another, and the fact that if you find something in someone else that annoys you, angers you, bugs you, bothers you, etc. in order to overcome that, all you need to do is resolve whatever that thing is in yourself and you will see it resolved in others.

For example, I have always been bothered by people who are control freaks. It has annoyed me for pretty much my entire life, until I realised recently that it was because, in part, I was a control freak myself! And when I started to let go, relax and go with the flow a little more, I started to see that all the people who had once annoyed me with their controlling ways, had started to chill out too.

Now I’m not saying I’m 100% perfect and that I don’t ever slip up every now and then, but the fact is that I’m conscious of this trait in me, and I do my very best not to try to control people or situations and trust that everything will always be OK and work out.

Which leads me nicely to the conclusion of todays post. If you’re trying to change people in you life to be better versions of themselves, mop up annoying traits or habits, have a good look in the mirror. And when you do this, ask what you can do yourself to be a better example? And then set about making those changes in you and in your own life, and see how things start to transform. Very simply, and as Gandi very eloquently put it:

 

Inspiration for this post

Gandi

Do what you love (Part 1)

‘If you fill your life with the things that you love, you will live in abundance’ 

– Kat Kinnie –

We had a really fantastic housewarming party this weekend. I was very humbled by how many people came to celebrate Darren and I moving in together. Our little flat was packed full of beautiful, lovely, happy people. One big love fest.

Amongst all of the drunken merriment, there was one thing in particular that stood out to me, and at the time (in a slightly boozy haze) I promised myself that I would write a blog post on it, so that’s what I’m doing. 🙂

There are two lists of things that I have written and stuck to my fridge to remind me of what I need to fill my life with. One is a ‘Do what you love’ list and another is a kind of ‘Design for an awesome life’ list. Today is all about ‘Do what you love’, and I’ll save the ‘Design for an awesome life’ list for another day, maybe even tomorrow.

Anyway, both lists, for some reason were getting a fair amount of attention, especially considering how many people were going in and out of the fridge throughout the night to get to their booze.

And when asked about said list, I told people who I wanted a constant reminder of the things that I love, so I remember to fill my life with them.

I think, too easily do we forget to do the things that we really love. Maybe because we feel guilty, perhaps because we feel that we don’t have enough time or money. Surely, it can’t be that easy or simple to do what you love in life? Well, the good news is, it is.

And my promise to myself to ensure that I do at least 5 things that I love a day. Whatever they are. Yesterday for example, I wrote my blog post (Love no. 1 – writing).

I made myself a delicious hangover cure bacon, egg and avo roll (Love no. 2 – cooking) and read some of an awesome book I’m reading at the moment ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ (Love no. 3 – Reading).

And then I went out for a drive (Love no. 4 – Driving) up to Bilgola Beach on the Northern Beaches (Love no. 5 – The beach) and took my camera (Love no. 6 – Photography).

So I actually smashed my target of 5 things that I love. And the day before was filled with many things that I loved too, including painting a great big black sheet of fabric with neon fabric paints for one wall of our apartment, so we could shine a black light on it (Love – Painting). See the photo at the top of this post for how it came out.

So, here’s my list of things that I love as a constant reminder of the things that I want to fill my life with that make me truly happy.

Why not write your own and stick it on your fridge.

Inspiration for this post

My ‘Do what you love’ list for the fridge

Read more on this subject

Do what you love (Part 2)

Fill your life with things you love

Want to know how to be happier in life? Easy, change something

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

– Aristotle –

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet today as it’s getting late and I’d like to sit down and watch a movie with my lovely boyfriend.

However, I would like to share a video with you that I think is particularly inspiring. Watch this especially if you are having Sunday ‘I don’t want to go to work tomorrow’ Blues.

It’s very easy to complain about all of the things that you aren’t happy about in your life, it’s a lot harder to decide to do something about them. 2 and a half years ago I was so miserable, depressed and unfulfilled I didn’t want to get out of bed. So I decided that things needed to change.

I broke up with my boyfriend on my 30th birthday, left the job that I hated and went travelling.

2 and a half years later I now live in a country where the sun nearly always shines, I run my own business that I love and have sponsored myself to stay in said country, and I live with the most beautiful, loving, caring and peaceful man I have ever met. Most importantly, I am in control of my own destiny.

I am living, breathing proof that you can tip the contents of your life upside down and set about replacing and rebuilding everything, exactly as you would like.

Too easy, as the Aussies would say. Happy Sunday everyone. x x x

Inspiration for this post

You Tube video – Your words and thoughts have physical power – Will Smith 

Life is for living

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

– Marcus Aurelius –

I’m on a roll with TED talks at the moment, and I saw a really fantastic one yesterday, so I wanted to share it with you today.

First and foremost it is short and sweet. Most TED talks last around 15 minutes, but this one is just over 5. It is by a guy called Ric Elias who had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009.

He tells the story of what went through his mind as the plane went down and explains quite simply, the 3 things that he learned in those seemingly doomed moments.

1. It all changes in an instant – he realised that he no longer wants to postpone anything in life.

2. I regret the time I wasted on things that didn’t matter with people who did matter – he has decided the eliminate negative energy from his life, has let go of his ego, no longer tries to be right and hasn’t had an argument with his wife in 2 years.

3. The only goal I have in life is to be a great Dad

So the question is, what would you change in your life, if you escaped from a plane crash? What would you do differently? How would you change the way you interact with others? What would you do that you’ve been putting off for ages? After all, we only get one life, so we might as well make the very best of it.

Inspiration for this post 

Ric Elias’ TED talk – 3 things I learned while my plane crashed