Tag: stress

One More Time

inspiringmax

If you were able to relive one day from the last 12 months, which day would it be — and why?

Given the chance I would relive 25th November 2014. The was the day my husband and I embarked on our 6 week Canadian adventure. We were so excited. However on arrival at Sydney Airport I became suspicious that our tickets were incorrect, so I asked at the check-in counter.

“Are these tickets correct, we are going to St John’s Newfoundland?”

“Yes they are correct they just used the abbreviation” replied the counter attendant.

So I settled and didn’t think about it again.

Then we arrived in Vancouver for some reason I became suspicious again. I checked with the baggage handler only to be given the same response,  so again I settled and we continued on our journey across Canada.

By the time our flight arrived in Toronto, we had been up for more than 24 hours and were exhausted. Being smart travelers we decided to check which gate our connecting flight went from before getting food or drinks. We wandered to the departures board where I discovered our flight number and destination didn’t match. Then I realised my gut instincts had been right.  The travel agent had booked us flights from Sydney to St John, New Brunswick and not our destination—St John’s, Newfoundland. We were devastated. The only good point was that we solved the problem before either our bags or we bordered the flight.

The gentleman at Air Canada’s service desk was excellent.  After about an hour he had made a plan to get us to St John’s as quickly as possible via Halifax arriving 24 hours later than we originally planned. To add humour to this difficult situation he told us this destination was a regular mix up for overseas visitors. The other common problem is people flying into Sydney, Nova Scotia when their destination was Sydney, Australia—a much bigger problem.

The moral of this story is mistakes are easily made and part of the journey.  Trust your gut instincts, triple check your airline tickets early and always pack your sense of humour when traveling.

Photo Credit: Google

Photo Credit: Google

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/one-more-time/

Home

inspiringmax

What is home?

For many people it is where they live, however as this is regularly changing I believe the consistent factor is yourself. For me, home is a place of security and I am the only person who can be responsible for my security. I create my security in me, which is why I agree with the following quote on Twitter. Home is myself.

When I think about the factors that make home myself—I think of my personal values.

Harmony

Open-mindedness

Mindful motivation

Expressiveness

As home is myself when life gets tough I  take a few moments, recentre myself wherever I am around the world and recharge. I hold the power and can go home, wherever and whenever, I choose. It’s a powerful skill—going home for me doesn’t need to wait for my physical return to my residential address in Australia.

Things I’ve Learnt

inspiringmax

Have you ever considered what you have learnt? The following list reflects my first thoughts after pondering this topic.

  •  I can do anything I want by breaking my goal down into small practical steps
  • Adequate sleep is essential for my mental health
  • Connecting with people brings me joy–in person and in the blogging community
  • Acknowledging my feelings takes away their power over me
  • I can do anything I really set my mind to by seeking the right help and guidance
  • Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but one of strength
  • My choices need to reflect my priorities to achieve my goals
  • Mindfulness colouring-in books are great for stress relief
  • We teach others how to treat us by how we treat ourselves
  • Colour lifts my mood
  • Positive thinking is powerful
  • When life is difficult I work out what I can practically do in the moment—the rest can wait till later
  • Drinking water makes my body work better
  • Spending ME time daily is important
  • Spending time visiting others blogs is an important part of the joy of blogging
  • If I just do things instead of procrastinating about them I save time
  • When one door closes a window with a better view usually opens
  • Getting back to nature grounds me
  • Get the facts then make decisions—don’t assume
  • If in doubt—Google

Never Helpless

inspiringmax

Helplessness: that dull, sick feeling of not being the one at the reins. When did you last feel like that –- and what did you do about it?

I don’t ever feel helpless. If I feel something needs to change in a situation I think outside the square to find an answer to the problem. Sometimes the leader may require help, I may need more explanation of what is really going on or life may have suddenly taken a tragic turn that needs managing. Whatever the reason feeling helpless just takes away my power. I hope you enjoy the following acrostic poem of how I turn HELPLESS into HOPE.

Hopeful an alternative could be found

Eager and encouraged to look for a solution

Liberated to have an idea

Pleased to put it forward

Liking the response I received

Empathetic to our leader

Safe in the knowing

Self-doubt didn’t stop me finding hope

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

Dreams Not Nightmares

inspiringmax

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

Thank you Cleaners

inspiringmax

What’s the household task you most dislike doing? Why do you think that is — is it the task itself, or something more?

Housework has never been mine or anyone else in the family’s thing. We all did it because we had to until one day we had had enough. After probably 12 months in discussion we hired a cleaner. Best decision we ever made.

Now a small family business cleans our home once a fortnight and they love it. When they first came to quote they stated there was 11 hours of housework in our house—no wonder we could never get on top of it—working and commuting full-time.

To honour ours and cleaners everywhere I have written the following acrostic poem.

Care about our chores

Love the work they do and working as a team

Enjoy the challenges of cleaning

Aroma in the air is amazing to come home to

No noise, no fuss

Environmentally friendly cleaning products

Remember the requirements of the household

Smile and sing as they work

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/those-dishes-wont-do-themselves-unfortunately/

N – Nimbin # A -Z Challenge

inspiringmax

Nimbin is the hippy capital of Australia. Although I have known this for many decades it was not until last month that I got to experience what that meant for myself. I was surprised. Tolerance for individualism was everywhere—two woman were verbally fighting loudly in the park. Nobody cared. It was normal.

“They have been at it all morning” said the local shopkeeper.

“Really” we replied.

” It is common for people around here to have rants. Some are just longer than others” she replied very matter of factly.

This set the scene for the rest of our visit.

The Nimbin community developed its identity in 1973 when it hosted Australia’s Aquarius festival celebrating alternate living choices and the arts. It attracted students, hippies, visionaries from all over Australia many of whom stayed on after the Aquarius Festival making Nimbin their home continuing to follow these dreams and ideology.

Names around the village describe its history well.

  • Peace Park
  • Hemp Embassy
  • Hemp Bar
  • Rainbow Power Company
  • Nimbin Co-op
  • The Green Park
  • Hemping Around
  • Tribal Magic

Forty years later the areas is still internationally renown for its alternative lifestyle culture. Marijuana reform has played a large role in the community over the decades. Today they are strongly fighting to legalise medical marijuana through their annual law reform rally—MardiGrass—held in early May.

“May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you and, the pure light within you guide your way home.” Aquarius festival anthem

#A – Z Challenge

Life in Sydney

inspiringmax

What do you love most about the city / town / place that you live in? What do you like the least about it? If you were mayor, what would be the most important problem you’d tackle? How would you tackle it?

I live in Sydney, Australia along with 4.5 million others. It is a vibrant, exciting city visited by millions of people ever year and home to the deepest natural harbour in the world. See my earlier post—Welcome to Sydney here for more information.

Working in mental health I love that Sydney’s specialists and hospitals are recognised on the world map as leaders in research in all areas. If help is needed it can be accessed—something that cannot be said for many places.

My biggest problem living in Sydney is the daily commute. Compared to other cities in the world, it is expensive—although now a little cheaper with the Opal card, time consuming and the buses are unreliable. I mostly use the trains which have improved recently however they are not yet at a level that encourages drivers to get off the road and catch the train. On average it takes me 1.5 hours to get to work on the train. If I leave for work early and leave work late I can drive the distance in half an hour—something I have begun doing a couple of days a week. During my usual hours however the drive will take a minimum of an hour so the extra stress isn’t worth it.

My only solution to this problem is to bring down the price of public transport, increase services and make sure they run on or close to time. Sydney trains has worked hard on this however the buses have far too few routes and buses often don’t show. Only last Sunday I needed to wait for 50 minutes for a bus that should have arrived 6 minutes after I did. If I had taken my alternate train/walk route I would have been home before the bus arrived.

These problems are not insurmountable and commuting would take less time in a smaller city. Smaller cities also have fewer resources something I am not interested in giving up. While 5 minutes to work may be great if I worked in an office or shop—in mental health physical distance can be a blessing in disguise as it gives time between work and home which helps me to wind down after a busy day. Having a view of Sydney Harbour to start and end my day isn’t hard to take either—something I don’t get on the days I choose to drive.

2012-03-14 08.37.20

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/we-built-this-city/

My Places

inspiringmax

Beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely?

To me connecting with nature is healing. I attempt to do it everyday even if only for 5 minutes. It clears my head. Any form of nature will do—smelling a flower on a short walk or a day trip to the beach or mountains. I love them all. As a child I spent many hours at the beach as well as walking in the bush so both have pleasant memories attach.

The higher my intensity of stress the more I will ensure that I take time out of my day to walk barefoot on the grass for 5 minutes. My other easy to go to places  are the river, Sydney harbour, local parks or wetlands—all are close to my work or home.  Half an hour in the silence does the trick of dealing with my stress nicely.

Last Christmas we wanted to experience nature in a different way and left sunny Australia for the cold winters of Canada. While we enjoyed our time there, it was only our last week that allowed us to experience the force of nature in this way—snow and ice. The first 5 weeks were above average temperatures and it was the first green Christmas in over a quarter century. Our proof that mother nature is to be enjoyed not controlled—she will always win.

 

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

Boundaries

inspiringmax

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/