Are you busy?: take a few moments to reflect

Today is expected to be a busy day at the shops as everyone gets those last items they need for Christmas. Or perhaps for some it is their first item!

In our affluent society of Christmas celebrations, present giving and receiving, Christmas trees and decorations – whether you are a Christian, Atheist, Druid, Muslim or any other faith, do you take time to reflect and express thanks for all in your life?

December is a good month to say ‘thank you’ to your loved ones for being in your life and for all they do with and for you. read more

Women: the secrets of surviving Christmas

The approach to Christmas can be a challenging time. Women are often the main organiser of school costumes for nativities, other social events, presents, and the food preparation for the day. Of course, this is on top of normal daily activities. It is not a wonder many women are tense over the pre-Christmas period.

Do you recognise the scenario?

Lovely as Christmas can be, it takes a lot of work to make it a success. Often all of those preparations are not recognised. Others may say

How hard can it be, its only one day! read more

How do you choose the best New Year resolutions?

We have entered the last month of the year!

Traditionally you might give yourself some New Year resolutions on what you are going to do differently in the up coming year. Equally traditionally most people don’t keep to their resolutions beyond the end of January.

How can I choose resolutions which I am more likely to live up to?

You are guided not to rush your decision. They aren’t to be chosen quickly on New Year’s Eve as you welcome the New Year in. Quick decisions often lead to inappropriate or unattainable resolutions.

December is a good month to review your life over the last year. Things to consider might be:

  • What has gone well this year and why?
  • What could I have done better?
  • What does my heart desire?

These are not questions you can answer truthfully in two seconds. Give yourself some time to reflect, in a situation where you have time and space to yourself.

My life is so busy, I don’t have time for endless reflection!

Everybody can make time if they really want to. As a busy single mum of two children and a responsible job, my best time for reflection was when I tackled a huge pile of ironing. My mind was busy with ironing so the clothes and I didn’t get burnt. But another part of me was connecting with my guide on how I could improve my life in the coming year.

The guidance was to:

  • Choose things and people who make you happy.
  • Choose one thing which aids your personal development.

Life is a gift and these two significant choices honour this.

How can I make my resolutions worthwhile and enhance my life?

The quality of your life and how you feel about it often comes down to your behaviour and how the relationships in your life are working.

A challenging relationship does not mean it is a bad one. A challenging person can be your greatest teacher. They can be offering you an opportunity to learn something.

Look at your relationships and consciously choose those which in the Next Year you want to put more time and energy into them. If you learn a life lesson, a challenging relationship usually improves. Some under nourished relationships just grow beautifully when you give them more energy.

Personal growth aids you finding and following your life purpose. read more

War: How do we find peace?

I am writing this article to you on Armistice Day when at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the peace treaty was signed ending World War I.

How do we achieve peace in the Ukraine and Gaza?

In improving the way humanity chooses to live, I have always felt it will be a bottom-up evolution with the masses deciding what is the right way to live, forcing our national leaders to change the way they behave.

However, there is nothing stronger than the anger of one nation on another nation. We are seeing this in Gaza/Israel and Russia/Ukraine. In these circumstances I feel it will take a special sort of leader(s) to achieve peace.

To achieve lasting peace, it will be necessary for the waring nations to find the Middle Path between opposite views that both sides can live with.

The Middle Path is very hard to determine. In a war scenario there is a very fine line between courage and cruelty.

Heart breaking stories have been reported on families broken and killed in their homes by the Hamas raid into Israel. Yet the bombing on Gaza is equally affecting families.

My belief it takes a good and strong, heart led leader(s) to determine the place between courage and cruelty. Is the action of a nation at war justice or revenge? This pivotal middle point needs to be determined whether it is in a war situation or everyday life or business life.

A good leader must be sensitive to the boundary between justice and revenge in all the decisions they are making.

To be able to do this effectively, the leader needs to be incorruptible, not upset by slander nor desire riches or power from their actions. He/she needs to be able to sense and know what is the right action and to be the healer of human hearts. I believe;

A strong leader is connected to their intuition and can hear their guidance from Spirit. read more

Why is my life and those in it so difficult?

Life is a journey we all make whether it is consciously or unconsciously. While you may feel your life is out of control or more difficult than other people’s life, you have more control and influence over your life than perhaps you realise.

See your life as a train carriage and you are the conductor who decides who comes into your carriage. Of course, when you are young, you need people to take care of you. But as you grow, you gain strength as the conductor of your life.

The choices you make today will reflect the life you enjoy or perhaps endure tomorrow.

You choose the life you experience including the people in it. But you might say;

I was unexpectedly widowed. What control did I have over that life event?

You would be right to say you had no control over that event, but you do have control over how you respond to it. I purposefully say ‘respond’ as it is a much more considered action that ‘react’. If you loved your partner, you will feel sad and bereft. But you get to choose whether you stay that way for the rest of your life or you take steps to re-build your life.

I speak from experience as I was unexpectedly widowed in my 40s. For some time I was very sad and cried a lot. When people asked me my age, I even got that wrong and said I was a year older than I actually was. I think I felt old or perhaps I was just in shock.

It was my Mum who finally said;

It’s time for you to take control of your life. Agreed it is sad your husband passed, but do you want you children to grow up in an atmosphere of sadness and feeling alone? You need to own your life, know who you are and rebuild your life.

I remember feeling rather cross with my Mum, who was a widow herself. But on reflection, I knew she was right. I wanted laughter in my house and my children to feel it was a safe and happy place to be. I set out to work on myself and my life. Two years later I found new love and re-married. A whole new and refreshing chapter of my life opened up.

Widowhood is not the only challenging life event. There are many more such as loosing a child, divorce, redundancy, a business failing. In all of these types of events, it is about –

Owning your life and the challenges you find in it. Love yourself and re-build again. Find the courage within to make a course correction if you need to. read more

What is the true cost of war on children, families, loved ones?

As a mother of an adult son, it concerned me when I read that the UK are sending British troops to the Ukraine. Of course, we need to support the Ukraine but I’m glad our troops are training Ukrainian solders rather than being in active combat.

I am very nervous about an escalation in the conflict resulting in more countries becoming involved and our young going to fight in foreign countries.

Is that selfish and wrong of me?

It breaks my heart when I read about Ukrainian solders returning to their families with life affecting injuries or worst still not at all.

Yet as a mother, selfishly I pray my son is not caught up in a wider European war.

We think of the soldiers – but how often do we think of the families trying to live the best life they can in the middle of a battle ground. There are many threats, fears and deaths but yet the families have to find a way to live. Not everybody is able or willing to evacuate to another place and country. Perhaps for the very young or the old in the family, it is too hard or impossible to move out of the way of war.

Suddenly war has dramatically bubbled up unexpectedly between Israel and the Palestinians.

Once again, a conflict is having tragic impacts on children, family and loved ones. Heart breaking stories have been reported on families broken and killed in their homes by the Hamas raid. Yet the bombing on Gaza is equally affecting families.

I find it hard to see what resolution will be found in the Middle East as we sit paused waiting for the next step Israel will take to avenge the attack on their civilians.

Can peace be found in such complex scenarios?

A friend from the Middle East feels the situation between Israel and Gaza is a political manoeuvre and Gaza will be absorbed into Israel. She feels everyday people, who die or are hurt emotionally or physically in the process, are not considered. Coldly they are considered to be acceptable collateral damage. Much wealth will be made for some in re-building Gaza.

I was shocked by her views but it did open my eyes to perhaps wider motivations and forces.

There are some unusual aggressive, disruptive forces in the world at the moment, not just in the hot spots of the Ukraine and the Middle East.

We can feel those forces here in London too.

My belief is that transformation to a better way of living globally will come from the bottom up to the world leaders, forcing them to change their views and ways of behaving.

My belief is we should not allow ourselves to feel helpless in the face of these forces.

You too can help the world situation.

Try the following simple actions to bring good energy into the world which will help to balance the disruptive energy we are currently experiencing.

  • Send love to the hotspots in the world for resolution to be achieved by finding a middle path that all can accept. It will help to bring more tolerance and compassion into the world.
  • Consciously be your best self with all whom you touch around you. This can even include a stranger you give a smile to as you pass one another in the street.
  • Put energy protection around yourself and be safe as you shine your light.
  • read more