Tag: Daily Prompt

Daily Prompt: Survive

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What’s the best story someone else has recently told you (in person, preferably)? Share it with us, and feel free to embellish — that’s how good stories become great, after all.

Bush walking in Australia can be dangerous—even deadly. Situations can change quickly at the hand of mother nature. This is particularly true with canyoning—traveling through canyons using whatever mix of activities is required—abseiling, swimming, walking, jumping, scrambling over rocks etc to get through what is sometimes a very small space. Due to the areas where canyoning is possible, there it often only one way in and out. Without the  knowledge of these exits—you may not survive.

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Photo Credit: Google Images Canyoning in the Blue Mountains

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Photo Credit: Google Images Canyoning in the Blue Mountains

 

Recently, on a warm autumn day, a group of experienced canyoneers where exploring some of the many canyons in the Blue Mountains. As usual, they had spent the whole day seeing no-one, just enjoying each others company and the peace, serenity and beauty of the canyons.

Suddenly as they were moving through the canyons, they came across four lost unequipped young people. They were scared, freezing from the icy cold water and had run out of food and drink.

“Do you know where you are or do you need help?” asked the group leader.

“Thank God you are here. We have no idea and thought we might die here tonight.” replied the other leader.

“If we hadn’t of come along you probably would have, if you don’t know that the only exit is hidden not far from here. There is no other way out,” he said.

“We have learnt a lot today both about the dangers in the mountains and our own life journey. A brush with death brings you into the here and now quickly,” replied another member of the lost party.

“You are all safe now. We will be back at the top within the hour before it gets to dark. Does anyone need anything before we lead the way out?”said the female of the rescue party.

“No, we are good now. We are ready to leave when you are” replied the lost leader.

And within twenty minutes the older team leader found the hidden exit using his maps as well as knowledge of the area and they began their ascent to safety, teaching the young explores about the Blue Mountains—its dangers and its highlights as they went.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/second-hand-stories/

Go Paperwork Go

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If you could slow down an action that usually zooms by, or speed up an event that normally drags on, which would you choose, and why?

Paperwork is the bane of my life. Home, work and play—they all involve what appears to be mountains of paperwork. Just when I think I have contained one of these paperwork events, another one, even bigger arrives to take its place.

In a perfect world, I would find a way to speed up paperwork in my life. It’s not always about being organised—it is the amount of it. Documentation is the focus of the world. Documentation equals paperwork—so there is no getting out of it.

I would love to have a system to speed up this process. Usually—the busier my day, the crazier my desk. This doesn’t help anyone, especially me. I need my paperwork to be contained. Maybe a magic button on the wall stating—DO PAPERWORK NOW—would do the trick. Press the button and it is done for you. However, until someone invents such an amazing concept, I will continue to work on systems to make my paperwork at least easier to manage.

CleanDesk

Photo Credit: Google Images

How do you manage the mountains of paperwork in your life?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/pace-oddity/

 

Happy Birthday Toastmasters

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Today you can write about anything, in whatever genre or form, but your post must mention a dark night, your fridge, and tears (of joy or sadness; your call).

This month sees Toastmasters International celebrate its 90th birthday. Founded in 1924 by Ralph C. Smedley, it began as a single club in Santa Ana, California to help young men learn the art of public speaking.  90 years later there are 14,650 clubs in 126 countries and Toastmasters is continuing to grow.

Today, Toastmasters International’s membership is over 300,000 and it uses the tagline “Where Leaders are Made.” Emphasising the connection between public speaking and leadership in modern career paths.

I joined Toastmasters International in 2010 and have enjoyed my journey to becoming a competent speaker. I completed my first speaking manual —Competenat Communicator twice to develop my confidence writing and speaking, before I began the my Advanced Manuals, which I am now half way through.

The skills that I have learnt and honed at Toastmasters have definitely helped in both writing my book and commencing blogging. They help me think on my feet and this year in the impromptu speaking competition—Table Topics—I was runner-up at Area, something I am very proud of and a personal best.

My favourite part of Toastmasters, especially as a sponsor of a new club is seeing people make their first speech to the club called the Ice Breaker—for obvious reasons. This a  particularly stressful time for many new members due to fear, anxiety and lack of confidence. However, mentorship and support from club members gets them through. After presenting their first speech, it is not uncommon for members to cry tears of joy as they realise that they really did do it —the planning, preparation and practice paid off.

If you are looking for a supportive way to achieve personal growth and develop at your own pace I would recommend you consider joining a Toastmaster Club near you. They are a proven way to enrich your life for 90 years.

90th

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/trio-no-three/

Double Take

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You step into an acquaintance’s house for the first time, and discover that everything — from the furniture, to the books, to the art on the wall — is identical to your home. What happens next?

“My, what great taste you have,” I said. My new friend looked at me with confusion written all over her face.

“Thank you” she said sheepishly, wondering what I would say next.

“Do you realise that this house and everything in it, is exactly the same as my house?” I replied.

“Your kidding. I’ve been collecting my things for thirty years and I don’t even know where you live,” she said.

“I believe you because many of them tell their own story. They would take a lot of effort to purchase today—they belong to the 80’s.” I replied.

We spent the next hour discussing our experiences with our belongings— where we had bought them and the story behind them. Although many of our stories were similar,  some were vastly different. My miniature bottle collection was started as a 21st birthday present by a friend, whereas my new friend commenced hers after travelling overseas and bringing her free in flight alcohol bottles home.

 

A small selection

A small selection

 

The more we talked—the more we realised we had in common. Then, an idea hit me.

“We seem to be similar people, with similar ways of thinking. Let’s write a series of books together. We could get them done in half the time but with double the resources. What do you think?” I asked.

“Yes I would love to. Sounds great.” she said, as she grabbed her ideas folder from the coffee table. And, with that our new writing career began—here are a few of our titles.

  • Double Take
  • Double Trouble
  • Double Jeopardy
  • Double Life

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/doppelganger-alert/

A Ray of Hope

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Imagine we lived in a world that’s all of a sudden devoid of color, but where you’re given the option to have just one object keep its original hue. Which object (and which color) would that be?

I love colour. It brightens my day and lifts my mood. I would struggle living in a monotone world of black and white initially—although after time I would adapt. The problem isn’t in the black and white—they are stark contrasts and have their own sharpness because of it—the problem is all the shades of grey in between.

To contrast the lack of colour, I would choose to keep the rainbow. I see the rainbow as a symbol of hope. Hope—that after the storm, there can be a beautiful ending. It would remind me of the colours that can come and brighten our world again. Even if colours never do return to our world—the rainbow would inspire hope that they are going to.

All my life when I see a rainbow—I instantly dream about the pot of gold at the end of it. The one, I heard about in so many childhood stories. I now use rainbows to remember to dream, smile and make plans for my future.

 

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Rainbows need both water and sunlight to be created, so by ensuring a supply of rainbows, I am ensuring a supply of both of these natural elements— necessary for life.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/local-color/

Masks Off

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We’re less than a week away from Halloween! If you had to design a costume that channeled your true, innermost self, what would that costume look like? Would you dare to wear it?

Although Halloween celebrations are not big in Australia,  I do enjoy dressing up in fancy dress costume.  Wearing masks however—are not my thing. I find them restrictive and controlling. Neither which fit my personality. I chose my costume to be something that works for the occasion—with my open face plus or minus makeup.

On a day to day basis, I believe I channel my true self—in person as well as in my writing. Being genuine to who I am is important to me and constancy is the key. I am an honest, considerate person who loves teaching, nurturing and supporting others to grow. I also believe that it is important for me to do this for myself—to lead by example. I am aware of my limitations, but am happy to push myself beyond my comfort zone. If necessary, my personality allows deal with difficult situations to achieve the best outcomes.

Depending on how make-up is applied, it can be a mask, hiding someones real personality.  Not all heavily applied make-up is a mask but, for some people it is. At times, this can be a very effective tool. However, used all the time masks can stunt your personal growth, as they stop you and others from connecting to the real you. Naturally applied make-up can be our friend. It isn’t a mask and doesn’t stop our personality coming through—hides our worse and highlights our best features—making us shine.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/masks-off/

Out Of Breath

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The busier my day is—the more I need to focus on my breathing. It energises and anchors me. I take time to—stop and just breath.

 I stand still

Take a deep breath in

Create a circle with my arms

And breath out deeply and slowly

Moving my body helps me to organise my headspace and thinking. If I don’t do it, things get crazy and my desk or work area reflects the chaos in my world. However by stopping, taking control and replacing my breath—I can change my world by centering it.

My busy day isn’t taken away by this activity—I am just put in the present moment and able to make a plan. Yes, by a plan—I do mean a list—naming all the priorities to be addressed today. If I need any extra strength, after my deep breath—I will stand in a power pose  for two minutes to increase my testosterone levels—it is simple yet very effective skill.

 

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http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/out-of-breath/

Beer Please?

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We arrived at the cafe in our hotel after an exhausting 22 hours in transit from Sydney, Australia to Zhenzhou, China. She was the first person we met and looked younger than her years. Her Chinese hospitality uniform stole any individuality she had. She was humble and worked hard trying to communicate with us despite her very broken English.

“Hello” she said. Handing us a menu.

“Hi” replied my husband, asking if she had any dark beer. She looked confused and began pointing at pictures understanding the word beer.

“This one?” she asked

“No” replied my husband.

“This one?”

“No.”

“I get help” she said and slowly walked to get her friend. She returned with her friend who appeared eager to help and looked at my husband.

“Do you have dark beer?” he asked.

“Yes, I think this one” she said as she pointed to a German dark beer written in Chinese.

“Yes” he said. Both girls looked at each other and smiled broadly, proud that  together they had met the needs of this Australian traveller.

“I get for you” replied our first waitress and she returned with the beer and a free bowl of beer nuts. My husband loved it.

This interaction began the nightly ritual of our stay in Zhenzhou.  During the day every time we walked passed the cafe our new friends would smile and wave if they were working and saw us.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/ready-set-done-5/

Without Fear

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At what age did you realize you were not immortal? How did you react to that discovery?

Immortality is a funny thing. I don’t think I ever thought I was immortal, however, when I was young fear was not something I considered before doing anything. I don’t see this as a bad thing either. Before being a teenager, I can clearly remember playing with snakes, jumping of the 10 metre diving platform without any care or training—just for fun and swinging on the swings so high that I nearly went the whole way around. It was a feeling of freedom.

Somewhere in my teenage years fear crept into my life—or maybe it was just an understanding that things can go wrong. This was confirmed in my senior years of high school when I was affected by two fatal car accidents. One involved other school students and the second, a personal family friend. They were all my age. Death suddenly became a reality—not something to focus on, but a reality. This same year, my beloved grandfather also suddenly died while on holidays—unfortunately I never got to tell him that I became a nurse.

Yes, there are a lot of things that can happen—good and bad. But, if you focus on the bad you will never get to experience the good. It is for this reason that I decided years ago to always focus on the positive. Even in difficult situations there is always a silver lining—something to be learnt from it. This is how we grow through pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone. Afterall, there are only two guarantees in life—death and taxes. And while my personal goal is to live to be 100 with a great quality of life, if I don’t get to achieve this goal, I want to look back on my life and say with confidence—fear didn’t stop me giving it a go.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/finite-creatures/

 

Gone With The Wind

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You get to spend a day inside your favorite movie. Tell us which one it is — and what happens to you while you’re there.

Growing up I loved Gone With the Wind. Scarlett O’Hara was the first stubborn, manipulative, capable female character, I connected with. She was my role model. Being a child, I didn’t notice her relationship difficulties or three husbands. I only had eyes for the fact that she could do anything she set her mind to and everyone loved her even those who hated her.

This year is 75 years since Gone with The Wind was released. Today, through Daily Prompt, I have the opportunity to become involved in this great movie and see what it teaches me. Coming from Australia I knew little about American history, the setting of this movie. It is a civil war romance and the passion for the cause was something that I had never seen before. This backdrop to the story gives it drama and purpose. Casting the main characters correctly— Scarlett and Rhett—was so important to the director that he held up production until both were available. A secret that did pay off in the end with the film winning 10 Academy Awards including Hattie McDaniel—the first African American to win an Oscar for her role as Mammie.

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Photo Credits: Google

The story theme for me was Scarlett’s determination to do whatever she had to for herself and her family. This was in strong opposition to the role many women played putting others before themselves and not standing up for their rights.

Scarlett-OHara

Photo Credits: Google

Scarlett’s strength was the focus of much controversy, but also admired by others. Unfortunately for Scarlett, she didn’t understand herself well and was guilty of not thinking about the consequences before taking action.

So what have I learnt from my time with Gone With The Wind?

  • Believe in yourself.
  • Do what you have to do, but to be truly successful consider the impact of your actions on others. You may still go ahead anyway—plan for problems.
  • Change is necessary.
  • Don’t judge a book by its cover. Support can come from the anyone at anytime.
  • Ask for what you need.
  • Sometimes you need to wait for the timing to be right. Don’t settle for second best.
  • Freedom is worth fighting for.
  • If you want something done, do it yourself.
  • Don’t give up.
  • Hard work can rebuild your life.

And lastly my favourite quote:

scarlett tomorrow

Photo Credits: Google

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/fourth-wall/