Author: inspiringmax

Left Behind

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Change is inevitable and with it something or someone is always left behind. It’s not a bad thing but part of the circle of life. Ironically, we often don’t know the impact someone or something has on our lives until we leave it behind.

Currently our world is full of change. (See Coffee Catch-Up #9 for details.) You see, I believe it’s the new experiences and reinvention because someone or something is left behind that are exciting. For example, at present while my husband and I are considering which pieces of furniture to leave behind, our daughter is planning what she would like left behind and how she and her friends will change the house to make it more practical for them—a WIN WIN for everyone. It’s a modern day example of the reading at our wedding or popular song from the 1960’s if you are musically inclined.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 King James Version (KJV)

3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/discover-challenges/the-things-we-leave-behind/

Unpredictable

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Life is unpredictable and that is what makes it great. If everything we did was the same everyday, yes it would be safe but also boring. One of the things I love about mental health nursing is that no day is ever the same. It’s the interactions with people that make the difference and change the course of the day.  I see being unpredictable as adding the following to my life:

Uniqueness

Never boring

Passion

Richness

Enjoyment

Daring

Individuality

Change

Trust

Adventure

Brilliance

Learning

Experience

Unpredictability makes life more exciting, like the difference between riding the rapids or a calm stream. A mixture of both allows us to use all of our skills.

 

Lower Tonangiro River

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/unpredictable/

Share Your World 2016 – Week 26

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What’s your most memorable (good or bad) airplane flight?

On our way home from Guangzhou in 2013 we were upgraded to Premium Economy. The staff didn’t tell us of our upgrade, so image our surprise when suddenly we had more room and extra features we weren’t expecting. Nowadays, when we are traveling somewhere we always look at the price difference and if it is at all possible to pay the difference however we haven’t yet been able to justify it.

How many bones, if any, have you broken?

Fortunately, I have only had 3 broken bones and as doctors are now describing my bones as super bones, I hope to not have a problem with broken bones due to osteoporosis in my later years. My first broken bone, a greenstick fracture of my right arm, happened when I was 15.  I thought I was so cool skateboarding down a hill when I hit a stone on the pathway. Oh well. at least the plaster cast helped my cool image.

My second broken bone, my right little toe, somehow occurred during the Newcastle earthquake. I didn’t find out what was causing my pain initially as when we went to the hospital they were evacuating it and we suddenly realised my pain wasn’t the priority.

My third and hopefully last broken bone occurred in my 40’s when I was helping set up a gymnastics competition. Several men were carrying a balance beam when they dropped it onto the middle of my left foot. You could hear me yell for miles I think. It hurt and definitely wasn’t cool.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Photo Credit: Google Images

 

If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? (guest can be dead, alive, famous or someone you just know)

Walt Disney: Founder of Disneyland and Disney World and creator of Mickey Mouse

Paul Ramsay: Founder of Ramsay Healthcare

Florence Nightingale: Founder of modern nursing

Make a Currently List: What are you reading, watching, listening to, eating, needing, wanting, and missing right now?

Reading — The Winner’s Bible — Dr Kerry Spackman

Watching — Ally McBeal

Needing — My tenants to find a suitable property for them to move to early so we can begin our move

Wanting — More boxes to pack our belongings into when we can finally move

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful to be able to  be able to focus on being a full-time writer and totally rearrange the order of my book. This task, while not yet completed does seem to have increased the flow between the chapters which was my goal.

In the coming week I am looking forward to going to Newcastle and seeing my family. It will be weird going back for the first time since I know I will be moving back in the next few months.

Share Your World – 2016 Week 26

Coffee Catch-Up #11

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I am this week to finally have enough energy back that I plan on returning to aqua aerobics this week. Although it hasn’t been all bad as it was very easy to justify not going out in the cold and wet when I wasn’t feeling up to par.

If we were having coffee I would tell you what an inspiring week I have had being a full-time writer. Prior to this I have written and edited most of my book in whatever spare time I have had. This week by being able to just spend all my time on my book, I have noticed my focus change. Now I think I am much more creative. Every day I come up with new ideas as to how to improve its flow. So, this week when I had to stop to complete other important tasks I didn’t want to. After having the weekend off to work on my blog and family life I am excited to see how much closer to completion this week takes me.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about our cats first experience with a kookaburra this morning. He regularly walks up and down our side fence keeping guard making sure we are safe from predators. Today however in the gum tree just off our boundary a kookaburra came and sat. Yes, the kookaburra was sitting in the old gum tree as the Australian classic song suggests, minding his own business. Out cat however wasn’t happy. He stood under the tree on the fence and looked like he was going to attempt to get him, although the reality was the distance was too great. We decided however in the interest of encouraging our new friend to visit for longer, we would distract the cat.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoy books. I always have and I always will. So much so that when we move I plan on making myself a library room where I can enjoy all of my books together in one place unlike scattered throughout the house like they are now. Yesterday, as part of this challenge I began sorting the first of many bookcases. As I put the books into boxes to move I have decided to divide them into 4 sections:

  • Children
  • Fiction
  • Non-fiction
  • Reference

Going through my books I enjoyed many memories as I remember the circumstances of each book either as a purchase or as a gift. Something tells me I am not going to be very good at throwing many of them out as I’m too much of a sentimentalist.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I am loving the readability score in WordPress. I challenge myself to make sure all of my posts stay in the green or good rating. Should they slip into an orange or red ranking I rewrite the sentence until the readability improves. This is definitely helping my writing style and minimizing my need to edit later.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what was happening in your world?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Look Up

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IMG_8748

During our trip to Canada my husband and I spent what felt like hours studying and taking photos of flags. Their history interested us greatly and it was so different to our Australian flags. Our biggest problem was getting the wind right to get one flag to fly perfectly. So image our surprise when we looked up and saw these four flags perfectly aligned in the Old Port, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/look-up/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Opposites

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In opposition to the modern trade of your usual busy Chinese shopping mall,  Beijing Road Pedestrian Mall, Guangzhou hides a well-kept secret, layers of China’s original trade route the Old Silk Road. Only discovered in 2002,  the remnants over 3 dynasties – Song, Ming and Yuan are encased in glass and I found them fascinating to study and ponder. I remember hearing about the Old Silk Road as a child but I don’t think I realised how much action these roads had seen since the seventh century or the Old Silk Road’s true impact in opening up the world as it was then. Now I understood why I loved reading Marco Polo when I was in primary school as it really was describing a history so different from anything Australia had ever known.

IMG_5802IMG_5811

IMG_5830IMG_5825

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/opposites/

Coffee Catch-Up #10

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how glad I am that it is now July because what a month June turned out to be. On top of everything I spoke about in my last coffee catch-up this month has continued to serve up curve balls to challenge us and make us stronger.

If we were having coffee I would tell you the reason I missed coffee last weekend was because I was in hospital after a major allergic reaction to antibiotics.  I am rarely sick so the fact that I got an infection from an unknown source that wouldn’t go away was frustrating. Then, after a week of not getting better to change antibiotics, get sicker and end up in hospital was an eye opener for me. Initially, I looked very beautiful with my swollen face however with time and treatment my face has returned to normal. Each day I feel better, however I am looking forward to getting all my energy back soon.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I taught myself to use Publisher this week. It has always been on my bucket list of things to do and I have looked at it many times before, but always gone back to Word – for me the simpler option. This time I persevered and once I got a handle on it I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much that I have decided to transfer my book to Publisher when I have finished this last edit to see how different it looks and increase my knowledge base of this tool. I may even use You tube and see what other secrets it can reveal. With a coy smile, I would also ask you if you have any Publisher experience or handy hints to share with me.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that despite everything I am loving the simpler, slower pace of life at the moment. Not having to rush anywhere, use what food we have and shop minimally is turning out for me to be very rewarding. Instead of buying a large amount of food on the weekend to make feeding the family quickly after a busy day commuting and working possible, we have made a daily plan together about what we eat based on what we have and suddenly we have so much more time. Because we aren’t rushing for some bizarre reason it takes us even less time to cook, we spend hardly any money on food and we are more creative with our ideas. Who knew?

If we were having coffee I would tell you how on the last day of June my husband discovered that the cat had a swollen left neck. We are so pleased June has ended as we don’t want any more surprises. Turns out the cat just wanted to be like me so he got himself an infection that needed antibiotics. No problem, a quick visit to Uncle Tom (his vet), a big needle and he was sorted.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how interesting it was for me to write my curriculum vitae this week. I have lost all previous copies so had to start from scratch and remember 30 years of history, experience and knowledge. It took me a day and a half but in the end I was very pleased with how it turned out. I am also grateful because I am moving back to my home town city and working on semi retirement, hopefully I won’t need to fill out another one, but hey never say never. None of us ever knows what the future holds. If I didn’t believe this before the June I’ve had, I certainly know it know.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was to be presented with my Toastmasters Triple Crown Award by the District Director at last weeks changeover meeting. It is a difficult award to achieve as you need to complete 3 educational awards. Last year I decided I was up for the challenge and I set it as my goal during my year as President of one of my club’s. I needed to keep focused and plan well but in the end everybody won and I have a super fancy pin to wear whenever I need an extra boast to be the best I can.Triple Crown Award

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world this last fortnight?

 

Coffee Catch-Up #9

Use Your Imagination

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Evil Cloud outside Lake Taupo

My husband and I love to mindfully look at clouds. We study them regularly and usually can agree on a title for the cloud formation. This photo taken outside Taupo, New Zealand was one we found very interesting however, we weren’t able to agree on a title. Personally, to me it was a Bunny Cloud and to my husband an Evil Cloud.

What do you see? Let me know in the comments as I am sure there are many other ideas hiding in this special group of clouds.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/clouds/

Hand It Over

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It was the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. These were the words that were going through my head as I was plucking up the courage to hand over my book’s complete and printed first draft. I remember telling myself, “it actually looks like a book.” I was so proud. If only I could keep my treasure to myself. However, the purpose of writing a book is to share knowledge, so I knew I had to hand it over to others – colleagues, patients, family and friends. Now was the time. It was never going to get any easier, but my thoughts and emotions were overwhelming.

What if they don’t like it?

What if people find it offensive and don’t like hearing the truth?

Was my writing good enough?

Why should people listen to what I had to say about eating disorder recovery?

Were my points clear?

What if it confused people?

These and many other questions could only be answered by you guessed it – seeking feedback. So in nervous anticipation, I made a plan and handed my baby over.

“Wow this is impressive” was the initial reaction after a quick flick through the 200 page document. My heart settled. I had done it. I had made the first steps in putting my work out there for others to scrutinize.  To my surprise it felt good. I knew that the making of a book is not in the writing but in the readers thoughts, opinions and acceptance. And so began my change process. I took all the feedback from my 50 or more readers I had handed a copy of my book. I began to enjoy hearing or reading what they had to say with everyone giving me different and valuable insights into how the world interpreted my writing.

Now, 3 years on from my first time, my book has it 3rd working title, which I think will be its last, but who knows. My next challenge is to finish wrapping it up and ensuring that every point I have made has a purpose before sending it to the editor for the first time, which will start the actual publishing process.

What do you need to do for the first time that although scary has the potential to change your life in some way? Remember, sometimes there is no easy way. You just have to hand it over and allow the process to begin.

My second working title

My second working title

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/discover-challenges/opening-line/

 

 

Perfectionism

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Perfection

 

The meaning behind the above quote is that in general perfection cannot be reached. When you aim for perfectionism in all areas of your life you stop setting realistic achievable goals. This is because you believe you can’t achieve them so  you don’t bother attempting to, which affects your contentment.

However, perfectionism can be healthy if it is isolated to only one achievable area. The difference is how you feel about yourself and why you are attempting perfection. In some sports, Olympians can achieve a perfect score. However, remember that to get one perfect score—on one skill or routine—they also have practised the skill thousands of times imperfectly. They may have also injured themselves attempting to complete the skill. Athletes accept this as part of the journey and get back on track to do their best. They know and accept that while they may achieve one perfect score—they won’t always be able to keep this up and on a different occasion, they may achieve a low score for the same skill or routine. It is what it is.

The following table considers some of the differences between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism.

HEALTHY PERFECTIONISM UNHEALTHY PERFECTIONISM
Achieve your personal best Increasing anxiety due to fear of not achieving goals and self-worth is only achieved through completing unachievable goals
Do a good job at your workplace Setting yourself up to fail then being afraid to try
Do the best you can in specific areas of your life e.g. Olympians with perfect scores or students who score high scores in some exams Fearing failure to such an extent that you avoid the task at hand
Setting high but realistic and achievable goals Setting unachievable goals

If you want to aim for perfectionism, make sure it is healthy and achievable for you. Aiming for perfectionism in all areas of your life creates so much anxiety that you never get started and as a result your self-worth and content of life plummets.

 https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/perfection/