Question marks

Today felt like a day of question marks...

Aren't most days like that? 

Like...

Maybe I should get up? 
I wonder what the weather is like? 
What should I wear today? 
Is the traffic going to be bad? 
Or
What should I have for breakfast? 
Is this avocado ripe? 
Or
What time is my next meeting? 
What meeting room is it in? 
Or
Should I have coffee now? 
Will it be bad to have a biscuit with my coffee? 
Or
Should I get lunch from Pick 'n Pay or Woolworths? 

Oh my word, it could carry on the whole day...the more I think about it, the more I feel like we are actually questioning almost every single thing that we do. So, this means that everything revolves around the decisions we make. 

Everything is strategic and every decision has a purpose or an end goal. Imagine if we didn't question...what would that be? Routine? 

I wonder if we tried to identify what question we asked ourselves the most...what it would be? 

Among other things

Among other things...meetings, a lost cat, a phone down the toilet (literally) and a few other things like more meetings, a cold...did I mention a phone down the toilet? 

Yup, it's all been happening. 

The good news is that:

1. the phone is fixed, thanks to the genius and help of my best friend. 

2. you can't have meetings late at night...hence I have time to write...

3. the cat will come home eventually when she is hungry enough...I really hope...

4. a cold will eventually go away if you take enough panado...

So now as I sit here on my bed, with the occasional mosquito buzzing past, eating my top deck chocolate indulgence (yes, I am still trying to fit into a bridesmaids dress in 8 days time)...I am taking the time to say hi there...hello...it's been a little while. 

Things to look forward to? 

So many things actually but amongst them (in no particular order):

1. A spray tan

2. A Brazilian blow wave

3. A hen's party

4. A girls dinner

5. A wedding

6. Getting my hair and makeup done by a professional for one day

7. Breathing through my nose again

8. December holidays

9. A manicure

10. A back and neck massage


Things I am grateful for...

1. Best friends

2. A sister

3. A job I love

4. The inventor of spray tans

5. Massage therapists

6. Fruit products that can be converted into hair straighteners..


And the list goes on...

Also, I am grateful for words...and I celebrate them and I am grateful that I am able to type away at a keyboard invented so that I can share my random thoughts with you...

Violent Femmes

I am listening to the Violent Femmes and having a long, memory-filled walk down memory lane. 

Memories like sitting and listening to a VF TAPE on a friend's boom box, in my std. 6 dorm room in boarding school...at MAXIMUM VOLUME and signing along like a bunch of rock star groupies...

And memories like finding brilliant hiding places for your weekly toilet roll, which was dispensed to each boarder, left at the foot of their beds...and if you weren't careful, quickly stolen and hidden by a room mate...yes, it is virtually impossible to get one roll of toilet paper to last a whole week...especially if you are female! 

Or how about being punished with kitchen duty i.e. washing of 150 knives, forks and spoons after dinner every night for a week...because you have had a 'slushy fight' with your beloved toilet paper. 

Note: a 'slushy fight' comprised of dunking wads of toilet paper into water and throwing them at warp speed over the cupboards (central to the dorm room) at the 'other side'...i.e. 5 a side maximum toilet paper damage war-fare...the best slushy was one which hit the wall on the opposite side, over the cupboard and exploded into thousands of tiny slushy pieces...

Hmmm, or watermelon fights on a hot Saturday morning...everyone getting a slice and then proceeding to pelt each with the sticky skins until they were shredded and then having a foot race to the swimming pool to jump fully clothed in, for a rinse...

Or taking midnight walks across 'the bridge'...the infamous walkway which ran over the top of the dining hall. The dining hall on the one side...and the 'museum' on the other side...creaking noises, flapping dining room curtains and that old wooden smell...yes, the school is over 150 years old so that makes sense...
What made this walk particularly 'brave' was the hostel ghost which was said to take it's evening night caps on one of the sofa's in the museum...eish! 

Or one of my favourite past times...to book a piano room for a lazy Sunday afternoon and go and sit for hours trying to work out famous tunes from movies...imagine a little square room with a poorly tuned old piano, the smell of piano wood and strings and the echo of the music as it tinkled through the little annex where the piano rooms resided...

And finally, sitting on the window sill of the dorm room, after lights out...with the full moon coming through the window and contemplating deep things like the meaning of life, the next tennis match, how hungry I am and how long until breakfast and more...

I love the Violent Femmes! 

How old would you be?

THANK YOU Pippa for sharing this quote with me today...thought provoking!

Tribe newsletter

Hmmm, so I filled in a form a while ago...and here I am on the Virgin Tribe newsletter this week! 

http://www.virgintribesa.com/about/meet-virgin-sa-staff/meet-cath-coupar-from-virgin-active/

Coffee affliction

I have it. I definitely have it (I blame my best friend). 

If I haven't had coffee by 10h00...the headache starts. 

And the ONLY thing that cures it...is coffee. 

Not only that, but I am a coffee snob. If I had to rank the coffee brands I know (or can remember right now)...it would go something like this...

1 = most favourite...7 = only if dying from coffee withdrawal...

1. Nespresso

2. Oways (tea/coffee shop by Cavendish)

3. Vida

4. Mellissa's

5. Wimpy

6. Pick n Pay

7. (and only if they were the last people on earth selling coffee) - Kauai 

Maybe it has something to do with the routine of making a cup of coffee. The fun of making coffee with someone else. The familiar smell...the taste...the way it goes so nicely with a little block of chocolate. 

I believe in myself

Look around you

So I had a moment, where I just stopped working and sat and looked around me in every direction and did a little exercise. I looked for signs, words, statements, phrases and anything else where a message of some kind is available for me to see and read. 

Things like:

One team one goal - on my mouse pad

Six thinking hats - a laminated poster on the wall close by

Start your summer on us - an A1 poster on a pillar in the distance

Have a break, have a kitkat - a chocolate given to me by a colleague

Learning to fly - on the six hats hanging off the wall close by

Understanding members' individual needs - a piece of paper stuck up by a desk

Up and up - a Waltons calendar perched on the desk

Maybe it's interesting to consider that so much of what we know, what we do and how we act, is determined by subliminal messaging which we are exposed to every day. Messages about how to eat, what to eat, what brand to choose, what thoughts to think. 

Can we sit back and say 100% that we are who we are because of ourselves, or because of some sort of conformity to some message which we read, without even thinking about it. 

I don't know...but I can say this...now that I am aware of it...I am going to think about it more...probably in the middle of the night while I am doing the duvet tango with my two cats, both vying for bed space. 

The flickering screen

It's one of those 'stare at the flicking cursor on the screen days'. You know, where you have things you think you want to say, but equally (and possibly because you have a cold like me), you can't really string them into one sentence. 

I guess sometimes it's OK to not have much to say. Maybe that's the time we reserve for thinking or questioning or planning? 

Sometimes I don't think I plan enough. And I don't mean like writing down my shopping list kind of planning. 

But more, planning a trip away. Or a weekend away. Or dinner with friends. Sometimes life gets in the way so much, that you forget to have a little dream, or a little goal, or a little plan for yourself. 

Maybe days where you don't have words is a day where your mental handbrake is applied (whether you like it or not) - and you need to think more than say, plan more than act. 

At the end of the day it's actually all just down to being yourself. 

Rut

Nuff said...

So if you feel like you are in a rut...read the above, find some wooden planks, get your tyres on them, put your foot on the accelerator and get out of there! 

I am starting to believe that the longer I stay in a rut, the more I start to believe that it is real. And it merges into my life until I have no idea what is actually real and what isn't anymore. 

It's time to start weeding the proverbial garden, pruning the trees, cutting back on the bad and investing in the good. Fill your garden with joy and happiness. 

It reminds me of proverb which was written on a beautiful bench which my grandfather built many years ago. It still stands in my parents garden today and on a brass plate the following message resonates: 

"The kiss of the sun for pardon. The song of the birds for mirth. You're nearer God's heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth." 

Celebrate words

LOVE my new blog title image - thanks Jeanne!

Be a little strange

"If people want black and white, they must go live in a laboratory." - Cath Viljoen

Such an appropriate quote, and one which I heard from my colleague, Cath. 

Life simply isn't always black and white. And this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Couldn't grey be the kind of place where people can deviate from being normal (a challenge Hannelie laid before me this morning)? Why be normal when you can be unique and be true to yourself? I.e. be who you want to be? 

Why be an almond, when you can be an air roasted, natural flavoured, no added oil almond and taste even better? 

The point is, we spend so much time trying to conform to what we think others expect us to be, that we have no real identity anymore. And when we try and understand who we are and what our needs are, it's like trying to untangle years and years of conformity. Instead of simply being able to say: " I am..."

So here is the challenge...don't be normal. Don't be anticipated. Don't be predictable. Don't be the usual usual. Be the different. Be the unique. Be the innovative. Be the meaningful. Be the special. Be the true you. 

I got this picture today from Corina, and it says very simply, the same thing. Amazing how everything today has all had the same message to me. 

The way you think about adulthood

YOU MUST WATCH THIS!

http://www.upworthy.com/the-earth-shatteringly-amazing-speech-that-ll-change-the-way-you-think-about-adulthood-4?g=2

Perception of time

What a day! What a week! It's been busy!

Isn't it amazing how life changes so much as we get older? 

I never worried about time when I was little...or if I did, it usually revolved around questions like...

"How much time left before I can swim after lunch?"

"How much longer before Pink Panther starts on TV (Sunday nights)?"

"How much time left before I have to come inside from playing in the garden?"

"How much time do I have to read my book?"

Now it's all about making phone calls en route to the loo, in the loo, coming back from the loo. 

Or about how many appointments I can squeeze into one day, one week, so that I can get them all done. 

Or I need a weekend away to catch up on all my mails and my reading because there is no time in the week! 

I think it makes me long so much more for the December holidays when I can literally just switch off long enough to remember exactly who I am, and what I like and what I need. 

And lie still for long enough to close my eyes and enjoy the moment. 

Or sit still long enough to finish a book. 

In saying that though - I am also going to focus more on being in the moment...and start worrying less about what comes next...easier said than done...but worth the try! 

My quote for today: 

My thought for today: 

Lots of love to you all

Me and the mount

Had a moment earlier, in the midst of some stressful work stuff...where I looked at my gmail inbox and (if you have gmail you will totally get this) - I saw an e-mail conversation between the Mount Nelson and myself. 

On the left hand side of the conversation is the listing of whom the conversation is between - i.e. in this case between the Mount Nelson and me. 

This is what gmail shows it as...

Tee hee! 

Anyway, so I guess my point is that even when things are a bit hairy...stressful...messy - some little thing can still make us smile. 

I shared this with my colleague, Cath and we had a good giggle. 

So today, look for the funny. Read the cartoon in the back of the newspaper. Watch a clip from your favourite sitcom. 

Think back to a funny movie that you watched and remember how you laughed until you nearly choked on your popcorn and ended up with tears streaming down your face! 

Oh, and how is this for a trip down memory lane? See attached a little video clip of a song I heard on the radio yesterday morning! Could never ever sing the real words...but my made up version always sounded good to me :) 

OK, enough craziness for one day...smile..and the world smiles with you. 

My quote for today: 

My thought for today:

Lots of love to you all

Hills are good for you

"Don't avoid the hills! In running, in cycling and in life. Strength is found when you tackle the seemingly impossible."

Today I feel completely and utterly surrounded by friendship. Friends are so important and I feel so blessed to know spectacular people whom I can call my friends. 

And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship. And he answered saying: 

Your friend is your needs answered. 

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. 

And he is your board and your fireside. 

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. 

- The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

Think about the true and meaningful friendships you have in your life and think of something special that you can do today, to thank your friend or friends, for being so special and such an integral part of your life. 

It could be a mail, asking them how they are doing and sharing some news with them. 

It could be a phone call, telling them that you love them. 

It could be a message to remind them of how much you cherish them.  

Don't hold back or take your time. As you feel something, share it. 

My quote for today: 

My thought for today: 

Lots of love to you all

Take a look around you

Sit still and look. Look around you. 

What do you see? 

I see people. Lots of people (thanks to my open plan office). But I see people in different stages and places of thought and conversation. Interacting with their own thoughts, and interacting with others. 

Collaborating with technology, collaborating with their own thoughts and collaborating with others. 

Ever had a "why am I here?" moment? 

Ask yourself this question right now...

What is your answer? 

Mine is " I am here because I am meant to be here". 

Because something has brought me here. It has lead me here. And here is where I can do something today. Be something today. Learn something today. Help someone today. Grow today. 

I think life is so fragile, that it would be a shame not to make the most of every moment. Every minute. Because every minute that I breathe, that I have life...I am given the opportunity to exist. And to leave my footprints on this earth, in a way that hopefully allows others to be inspired and helps them to not only feel better about themselves, but who equally are able to positively influence those around them. Kind of like paying it forward. 

Imagine if we took time every day to pay our strength and our learnings forward. Imagine if we took time every day to positively engage with and influence others. And to challenge them and share other perspectives with them. 

What an opportunity we have been given.

My quote for today: 

My thought for today: 

Lots of love to you all

Hug Monday

Good morning everyone

Today is officially 'Hug' Monday. So before you read ANY further, please get up and go and hug someone whom you think, really, really needs it. You never know, you might need it too! 

I want to dedicate this mail to a little white, fluffy friend of mine. A little kitten who came into this world and didn't know the magnitude of it's purpose. No-one did really. 

This little kitten was a gift to my mom, for her upcoming milestone birthday. He was a tiny little thing, but beautiful from the minute he was born. Sadly, he had to be put to sleep this weekend as it was discovered that he was very ill with cancer, and by Saturday night was struggling to breathe. It rings true that as quickly as we are born into the world, that quickly we can also leave it. 

But I know one thing, and that is that this kitten, lived it's life to the absolute fullest during it's time here on earth. It radiated energy and love and had it's own little ways of communicating with my mom and dad. But more than that, it also deeply reminded them both of the importance of many, many things. Like to take joy in the small things, to look at the world with wonder, to love unconditionally, to be at peace. 

It is a very heart sore time for us all, but this little angel kitten has now left the world, having done entirely what he was intended for, and what he was meant to do. He will be missed but he will also be celebrated for what he was.

So let's apply today, some of the lessons learnt from this special creature. 

Let us look at the world with wonder. 

Let us feel at peace. 

Let us love unconditionally. 

Let us take joy in the small things. 

You might need to find someone else to hug now, but please don't be sad for long. This is a positive message that I needed to share with you. 

My thought for today:

Lots of love to you all

Poo-za Thursday

Poo-za Thursday...

Yes, the heading says it all...today has 'poo' all over it...or so it seems. 

Having said that though - apart from some wobbles earlier today, I have taken a deep breath and realised something very simple and very true. 

In every moment of 'bad', there is always something 'good'. 

Like, in forgetting a detail, you are reminded to focus on the details. 

Like, in forgetting your iPod at home, you are reminded that running and chatting to your running friends, is much better than isolating yourself with music. 

Like, in having a busy day, you are reminded that it is better to be busy, than have nothing to do at all to keep you brain stimulated. 

Like, in having a bad day, you are lucky to have friends and colleagues who can spare a minute to give you a hug or just smile at you. Or whom you can call to word-vomit your woes upon. 

So, essentially - feeling bad, reminds you of what is good. 

And there is SO MUCH GOOD out there. 

I want to talk more about this again - especially something I heard briefly in conversation yesterday...i.e. "what is the worst-case scenario?"

Do we ever stop to consider the situation we are in, and how much worse it actually could be? Hmmm...it got me thinking! 

Lots of love to you all

A blast from the past

Good morning all

Some of you might remember that a long time ago, every morning, I would send out a ‘good morning’ mail…with some kind of daily thought, quote of the day and other bits and pieces.

Driving to work this morning I was reminded of a conversation I had recently. And the ‘good morning’ mail was mentioned. And I wondered, why did I stop sending it?

Maybe I thought people actually got irritated by receiving it each morning? Or maybe I thought I was just writing a whole bunch of nothing?

Or maybe, I just forgot who I was, and why it fulfilled me to write, and to share my thoughts with others around me.

All of you play a role in my life. You are my friends, best friends, family, new friends, running friends, mentors, heroes, colleagues, peers, coaches, sisters…

And I feel I owe it to all of you to be me again. And to be the real me. Not a shadow of myself, not a ‘fake it until you make it’ version of myself.

Just me.

So what does that mean?

Well, I want to start writing something every morning when I can. It might be long, it might be short, it might be random or it might be something from within. If you don’t want to get it, please let me know and I promise it won’t hurt my feelings. I respect you.

Lots of love to you all