Share Your World – 2015 Week 9

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How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I think I would be a similar age to the one I am now. I am happy to be 52 and starting to count down the years to retirement or working part-time or casual instead of full-time. My life is more stable the older I get—I only need to plan what I want to do with my husband and not around the many children’s activities I had to arrange in my forties.

Are you left or right-handed? 

I am right-handed. I have never really had the need to teach myself to do anything with my left hand although I do admire people who can use both.

If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?

I think the name I would choose would depend on what was going on in my life when I had to make the decision. Names are so important and they have to fit the person. My favourite names vary greatly. I don’t write my blog under my real name and choosing a name for it took me about a week—I am happy with it as it works for me.

Where do you hide junk when people come over?

Most of the time people come to our house we know they are coming so we tidy up. I use this as a great opportunity to sort out the papers I was always meaning to get to. If anyone drops by unannounced I am comfortable tidying up around them. My theory is that they have come to visit me—warts and all—not judge the state of my house. I use the closest closed-door to hide the junk and with a new kitten there is plenty of choice as most doors are closed.

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 that it was the cleaners week to come as I love coming home from work after they has been as the house smells and looks beautiful. To me as I rarely see the cleaners it is like the fairies come in and fix it up.

During the coming week I am looking forward to starting to work with my new exercise physiologists. I have never had a formal exercise program before and am looking forward to the challenge. I am using the move your body to move your mind premise. It should be fun.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/03/02/share-your-world-2015-week-9/

Circle of Five

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A writer once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” If this is true, which five people would you like to spend your time with?

I think motivational speaker Jim Rohn is correct with this quote. Actually, I believe it so much that I have used it in my book on eating disorder recover. For this reason I maintain my distance from people, places and things that are destructive or will sabotage my goals and plans.

This year my focus is mostly on finishing my book and handing it over to Balboa Press to complete the self-publishing process. It has been a long journey for me about believing in and backing myself. Starting this blog was part of this plan, as my voice had never been heard online before. Each day I become more comfortable with marketing my brand.

To support this part of my life, the five people I will spend time with are:

  1. Louise Hay – founder of Hay House and author of “You Can Heal Your Life”
  2. Jack Canfield  – author of “The Success Principles and Chicken Soup for the Soul series”
  3. Janet Evanowich – my favourite fiction novelist
  4. Dale Carnegie – author of “How To Win Friends and Influence People”
  5. My husband – my supporter, friend and first editor

Who do you need to spend your time with to meet your goals. Although I may never be able to meet these people in real life and I can always reacquaint myself with them by reading their books and stories again—taking note of the points that are speaking to me.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/circle-of-five/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reward

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What does reward mean to you?

Last year on my birthday I was rewarded with a walk along Hyam’s Beach. Situated on the pristine Jervis Bay Marine Park, New South Wales. Hyam’s beach is recorded in the Guiness Book of Records for having the whitest sand in the world.  The water is spectacular—crystal clear—with a blue-turquoise coloring.  The beach boarders on Booderee National Park, which gives it a natural feel. I loved the stream.

It was an amazing winters afternoon—complete with a pod of dolphins and friendly rainbow lorikeets that we watched for an hour—a truly beautiful part of the world. The only thing missing was a my celebratory glass of champagne.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/reward/

Share Your World – 2015 Week 8

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Your favorite blog post that you have written? (add link)
My favourite blog post is Howling At The Moon. I am reminded of it every full moon—which is this week as I reaffirm my months goals. It is also one of my most popular posts last year. Last month I used it as the basis for my Toastmaster International Speech competition speech at club level and came third. I was pleased. 

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $500? Why?

I love to go on a road trip with my husband and get away for a few days. Take the camera and explore areas close to home that we haven’t visited in years or on the odd occasion we find somewhere neither of us have been before. This month I am flying to Lismore, NSW to meet him and explore the area. It is close to the Queensland border but inland, so I am sure we will have fun exploring the hinterland.

If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be?

I’m not a big question asker, but if someone could honestly tell me what my future held I would be interested. I love going to fortune tellers and am often surprised by their accuracy. I would particularly like to know how successfully I will be able to market my book when I self-publish it later in the year.

Where do you eat breakfast?

I eat my breakfast every morning sitting at my computer working on my blog of the day or visiting my blogging friends blogs. It has become a happy ritual that starts my day of well.

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 for being able to take part in Blogging U’s poetry course. Although I didn’t write a lot of poetry as it is new to me and I didn’t have a lot of time—it was great to learn about poetry. I also surprised myself and I am better at it than I thought.

During this week I look forward to starting to plan our holiday to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in September. We are still deciding where we will go but we are considering returning to Hawaii where we were honeymooners all those years ago.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/02/23/share-your-world-2015-week-8/

Boundaries

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What question do you hate to be asked? Why?

I don’t mind what questions people ask me. I have strong boundaries so if I don’t think the person has a right or reason to know the answer I will tell them I am not answering. If I think it is appropriate I will give them a reason but most of the time I don’t. My boundaries—my decisions. No correspondence will be entered into.

Our boundaries are imaginary lines that tell others what behaviours, attitudes and values are acceptable and not acceptable to us. They tell others how close they can come. Think of your boundaries as the fences to your life. Fences have gates that allow certain people to pass and stop others.They ensure your safety because you choose who gets close and whom you keep at a distance.

You get to choose your own boundaries—for your behaviour as well as others. If you don’t like someone’s behaviours—you get to choose your response to their behaviours. Your response can be very effective in changing or stopping the other person’s behaviours.

Healthy boundaries are important for healthy relationships. People not taught effective boundaries—live their lives in chaos—with regular unwanted invasions from others. Learn to work with your personal boundaries as they can help you mange uncomfortable situations and tricky questions.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/plead-the-fifth/

ME Time

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What’s your ideal Saturday morning? Are you doing those things this morning? Why not?

I believe one of the best ways to look after your mental health is to enjoy regular—preferably daily ME time. Time alone  doing only what you want to do—something that isn’t taxing on the brain. ME time recharges and energises me. I also prepares me to do battle with whatever lies ahead or brings me down from a busy and demanding day at work.

Saturday morning is my favourite time to catch up with myself. My busy week is over and I am usually home alone. I love the silence. I love the only sounds I can hear are the birds chirping outside—it quietens my busy head immediately. Upon rising usually early, I grab a cup of tea and head to my blog. I enjoy the excitement creating new posts in different styles brings me as well as visiting other blogs. It never ceases to amaze me how one topic can be interpreted in so many ways. I also enjoy learning more about the people, words and experiences that make up my ever-growing blogging community.

During busy weekend times when I cannot fit in my blogging hit to start off my weekend—I feel more stressed. ME time is definitely my de-stress time. I find ME time is definitely my oxygen to get through the rough parts of  life—like the plane warning states “put your own oxygen mask on before helping others.” So now I prioritise my ME time.  If I am busy I get up fifteen minutes earlier—to have some ME time—in the end I feel better for it as my day runs much smoother.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/me-time/

Goodbye

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You have the chance to write one last post on your blog before you stop blogging forever. Write it.

 

Greetings friends

Open your hearts

Open your minds

Direction helps with desire

Blogging is your community

You can do it—look for the positive

Even in tough times continue to follow your dreams

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/last-words/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

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 This week, compose your subject off-center, obeying the Rule of Thirds.

For this weeks photo challenge I have chosen photos taken last winter when kookaburras decided to visit our yard on separate occasions. Taking the photos was a challenge as I didn’t want to scare them off, but wanted to get up close enough to use the rule of thirds. For a beginner photographer I was happy with the results.

Kookaburra sits on our back fence

 

Kookaburra sits on our house trim

 

 

Two visiting Kookaburras

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/rule-of-thirds/

https://mutafariqkhayalat.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/my-best-of-feb15/

Transition Recovery House

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You’re given a plot of land and have the financial resources to do what you please. What’s the plan?

If I had the resources I would open a transition recovery house for people in the later stages of recovery from their eating disorder. It would be a small facility with 6-8 beds. Its purpose would be to support during the first 90 days after discharge from hospital anyone who was transitioning from their family home to independent living and met the entry criteria. This post discharge is critical for relapse as the stress triggers reverting to old coping skills. By living in a purpose-built facility and continuing to work on recovery—new practical coping skills can be taught in the here and now.

Moving out of home is a right of passage for most young people. For anyone it is a stressful time with a rewarding goal—independence. For people living with an eating disorder without extra support this is even more difficult. Pre-requisites of my transition recovery house would include:

  • a stabilised healthy weight for the individual—based on their bodies natural set point not BMI
  • study and /or working
  • individual and group cooking
  • group food shopping
  • daily recovery work time
  • weekly group work
  • mindfulness
  • body image work including shopping for clothes
  • compulsory participation in the structured house program
  • no alcohol or drugs
  • shared chore roster
  • personal clothes washing
  • keeping psychiatrist, dietitian and  psychology appointments
  • continued control of eating disorder behaviours
  • nightly accountability groups
  • budgeting
  • meal planning
  • volunteer work

I hope that over time my recovery transition house would develop to fill any other individual needs of its housemates and teach them how to do the same.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/a-plot-of-earth/

Blue Mountains – Australia

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What’s your dream tourist destination — either a place you’ve been and loved, or a place you’d love to visit? What about it speaks to you?

The beautiful Blue Mountains are located 60 kilometres from my home in Sydney. For this reason I don’t take my annual holidays there but like to visit for a weekend getaway with my husband. I love the peace and ruggedness of the area that includes rare and endangered flora and fauna. Blue Mountains are also home to some of Australia’s greatest writers and photographers due to the serenity and beauty of the area. People find it truly inspiring.

The mountains get their name from the colour they appear to be when the sunlight mixes with the oil from the eucalyptus trees that cover the area. There are 91 species of eucalyptus trees here—13% of the global total. This is one of the many reasons that in 2000 UNESCO appointed the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site—14th in Australia. This area encompasses 7 amazing and individual National Parks some of which I have not yet explored—Blue Mountains National Park, Wollemi National Park, Yengo National Park, Nattai National Park, Kanangra-Boyd National Park, Gardens of Stone National Park and Thirlmere Lakes National Park.

The above photos are from our last visit and are from the Mt Wilson area—six weeks after devastating bush fires had raged through. We were excited to see that new life was emerging.  Internationally Australia is known for its beautiful beaches but just as important is its natural bush land very different to other parts of the world. If you ever get the chance come and spend a few days exploring any part of our beautiful Blue Mountains—they are so large you won’t be able to cover it all—do so as you will be greatly rewarded.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/tourist-trap/