Category: Daily Prompt

Special Person Day

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Many countries celebrate Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. If you could dedicate a holiday to a more distant relative, who would it be — and why?

Why limit ourselves to one type of person. Let’s celebrate diversity and all the special people in our life—whoever and whatever they are. If I had the power I would add Special Person Day to the calendar. A day for everyone to thank and celebrate the special people in their lives. Every has someone who is important to them. No one gets to judge and I have added some options that may already have another day because if they are your special person they shouldn’t miss out because of a generic day. There are no rules — your person can be:

  • Aunt
  • Brother
  • Cat
  • Charity Worker
  • Child
  • Dog
  • Fake Relatives
  • Father
  • Friend
  • Faithful Companion
  • Grand parent
  • Health Care Professional
  • Mother
  • Neighbour
  • Nephew
  • Niece
  • Partner
  • Religious Leader
  • Sister
  • Support Person
  • Travel Companion
  • Uncle
  • Work Colleague

Let’s have fun with this idea. Leave other ideas in the comment section and let’s see how big this list can become.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/familial-feasts/

Obsolete Communication

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Of all the technologies that have gone extinct in your lifetime, which one do you miss the most?

For me, technologies have been a great addition to my life however I think they have been at a cost. It’s the art of communication that I miss. The planned time to communication what is going on in my life with family and friends in personal or by personal letter.

I love sitting down regularly talking one to one with others, getting to know them or keeping in touch on a personal level. The problem is everyone is so busy these days that this doesn’t happen regularly anymore.

I used to love the anticipation of waiting for an expected letter in the mail, the joy of reading about their lives and thinking about what to put in my letter in return mail. The motivating factor for me was remembering the quicker I wrote back, the quicker my next letter would come. Email doesn’t have the same excitement for me as although I still receive them, these emails get lost in my sea of daily emails and I fail to reply quickly.

Christmas cards are another nearing obsolete way to communicate I enjoy.  Last Christmas we were away so  my excitement of receiving regular mail that weren’t bills and hearing about family and friends lives didn’t happen. Neither did our Christmas letter telling them and reminding ourselves what happened in our world during the last 12 months. I find this a great memory jogger and as all the family is involved in its creation, we know it is an accurate record for our future.

While technologies continue to advance us in so many ways let’s make regular plans to make dates with the special people in our world—even a 5 minute “how was your day catch up” can make a difference and may open the doors to longer more personal conversations.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/going-obsolete/

Golden Hour

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6:00AM: the best hour of the day, or too close to your 3:00AM bedtime?

Greetings world

Open your eyes

Look before it is too late

Dream and make plans

Everything is possible

Notice the beauty

Hope

Oppurtunity

Understanding abound

Relax, take a breath and start again.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-golden-hour/

Listen

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Tell us about a conversation you couldn’t help but overhear and wish you hadn’t.

Working in mental health nursing from the age of 18, I learnt quickly how to focus on a room full of conversations. My active listening skills allow me to pick up on things I need to know, allowing me to intercept and redirect conversations if necessary. Despite the many and varied conversation I have listened to in  over 30 years I have never overheard something I wish I hadn’t.  I have however heard many conversations that my active listening skills have changed the outcome for.

My listening skills use more information than just the words the other person is speaking. I add

Look at other person

Include body language

Stop talking

Trust

Empathy

Notice the environment

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/hear-no-evil/

Help Me Please

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Is it easy for you to ask for help when you need it, or do you prefer to rely only on yourself? Why?

I am an independent, goal setting person who understands the power of being able to ask for help when I need it. This doesn’t mean I am weak. It means I am strong enough to say I need help and that I know how to get it. I understand the power of delegation—asking someone to do something for me. In most cases my asking for help may teach the other person a skill along the way. I find as a leader that my team recognise that importance of asking for help when they see me doing it naturally.

When I wanted to learn to blog I asked everyone I knew that blogged how to go about it. Piecing together all the information I  set up my blog. It took a lot of asking to finally get it running well however I am proud of my achievement. Something I would never have been able to do without help.

For me asking for help is about connecting with my needs. If I am too exhausted from a busy day at work and someone asks me whats for dinner I will say “whatever you get.” This triggers a chain of events from which dinner is sorted.

  1. The other person recognises that I am tired and not getting dinner.
  2. They decide if they have the energy and if so start preparing.
  3. We collectively decide how hungry we are and whether cheese on toast will fill the hole or if we want to order takeaway or go out to eat.

Either way for me the simple task of asking for help with dinner usually recharges me enough to pick up where I left off.

If I don’t understand something I ask rather than wasting time attempting to figure it out myself and getting nowhere. Let others help lessens your load, gets the job done quicker and brings you closer together. Asking for help also assists with setting boundaries with people as you decide who is the best person to help you with the task at hand rather than accepting someone not suitable because they offered.

Gift

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/i-am-a-rock/

Time Out

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We all have things we need to do to keep an even keel — blogging, exercising, reading, cooking. What’s yours?

My mental health is important to me, so when things become too much I take time out. Depending on the situation I may take 5 minutes or a whole day. Sometimes the situation will need me to take 5 minutes in the middle to recollect my thoughts and a day as soon as possible when it is  over. During this time I do whatever I feel like to top up my tank and prepare for the next wave.

My time out options – for short and long time periods can be found in the following acrostic poem.

Treat myself

Isolate—block out the world

Meditate

Exit the situation

Outdoors—connect with nature

Useful—be creative in some way

Talk—online or in person

012 - birthday girl getting wet feet

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/on-the-edge/

Eat, Drink And Be Merry

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…for tomorrow we die. The world is ending tomorrow! Tell us about your last dinner — the food, your dining companions, the setting, the conversation.

If the world was ending tomorrow I would choose to go camping  in the Australian bush with all my family. Not glamping—glamourous camping with all the modern conveniences. Camping à la natural. No electricity, no showers and dig your own toilets. I love getting out with nature, listening to the sounds of the bush and hopefully seeing  a koala or possum in the trees. We have never had a problem with snakes as with over 20 people we make too much noise.

Tom Possum

The food would be a bush BBQ that we begin preparing in the afternoon by collecting a massive amount of wood to keep us going all night—waiting for the world to end. Included on the menu is:

  • bacon
  • capsicum
  • corn
  • damper
  • green salad
  • mushrooms
  • potatoes
  • rissoles
  • rocket salad
  • sausages
  • steak

After dinner as we continued to chat and drink champagne and beer by the fire I would introduce S’mores to the family. I would get everyone to cook their marshmallows over the fire while I prepared their chocolate and biscuits. We don’t have graham crackers in Australia so I would use the best substitute I could find. Once the marshmallow is cooked I would join them all together and watch everyone’s enjoyment.300 - hot choc and smores

 

The spontaneity of sitting around a campfire is the best. Nothing is or can be planned yet the memories last forever.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/eat-drink-and-be-merry/

It Takes Two

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“And they lived happily ever after.” Think about this line for a few minutes. Are you living happily ever after? If not, what will it take for you to get there?

Unlike in the fairy tales where happily ever after just happens — in the real world, it needs to be worked on. There is no magic formula. Relationships take two people sharing, working and dreaming together to create a happily ever after. If one person is planning in one direction and the other in a totally different direction, unless there is a compromise or connection drawing both plans together — their happily ever after is at risk.

My husband and I are living in the happily ever after the best way we can. Nearing retirement we are getting excited about how closer to our dreamed happily ever after we can get when we no longer have to work.The following acrostic poem describes what we blend into our happily ever after plan as we adjust it.

Harmony

Attitude

Positivity

Purpose

Insight

Life

Yearning

Express emotions

Vitality

Enjoyment

Respect

Adaptability

Freedom

Tolerenace

Empathy

Responsibility

My earlier post on secrets of a happy marriage can be found at https://www.inspiringmax.com/loving-advice/

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/happily-ever-after/

Changing plans

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Tell us about a time you did a 180 — changed your views on something, reversed a decision, or acted in a way you ordinarily don’t.

My latest 180 degree change in a decision happened by accident earlier this year. I was complaining of always being tired and working late several days a week meant I got home very late as my commute is 1 1/2 hours if I am lucky. Out of frustration I decided to drive to work on my late day and see what happened. Suddenly I was home in half the time and I had still included a 15 minute walk to the car.

Much better.

I surprised my self also be driving to work in peak hour traffic and it taking only about a 45 minute drive. Now I have time to exercise or blog before coming to work and still sleep in until 6am.

Much easier to get my 8 hours beauty sleep in.

Driving most days of the week now has made me a more confident driver again. Although through trial and experimentation I consider what time I want to leave work on any day before deciding how I will get there. If I need to leave before 6pm I will catch the train as the journey will take 1 1/2 either way but on the train is more relaxing.

Being a solutions based person I am always flexible and look for things that may need changing. How I get to work is one change I am happy I have made. I have also chosen to support my staff by working longer hours earlier in the week and as an extra bonus I work all my hours in a 9 day fortnight. Win—win all around.

Do you need to change any plans to get a better outcome? A little review and system change is sometimes what is needed to have a big impact.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/180-degrees/

Dreams Not Nightmares

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Describe the last nightmare you remember having. What do you think it meant?

Fortunately I don’t have nightmares. I do however have dreams that disturb my sleep and wake me up. They always relate to an issue that I need to deal with, usually work related. When this happens I review the situation and work out what I need to do next. My dreams generally:

  • Allow me to move on or let go
  • Clarify a situation
  • Draw my attention to watch this space even if I choose not to do anything about it at the time
  • Direct my writing
  • Give me clues about how to manage something
  • Helps me deal with stress
  • Point out things that are on my mind
  • Predict how a situation with play out in life
  • Reveals a different level of insight into the situation

I love how my dreams support me. I process what they are telling me and deal with the issue, however I see fit when. Sometimes I can’t put my finger on the exact problem until it comes up in my dreams to give me the final bit of insight.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/nightmares