Caring for Others = Too Sensitive?

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Rod's World

For the first few years of our lives we rely on our parents to take care of us, they are not accused of being too sensitive. I spend a day with my mother recently where she kept showing me a picture in our family reunion book of when I was a young child saying that I was a shy, sensitive child. Due to her memory issues Mum did it about 15 times in two hours.

Does this mean that I was a more difficult child to raise, that I reacted to things more readily than my siblings. I don’t ask my mother what she means by it as she is 88 years young and doesn’t remember what happened 5 minutes ago. So I have decided to see what society says about the Sensitive individuals that populate it. I have chosen 15 inspiring quotes on the subject, Lets explore them :

1. There are many articles and lists on what the actions of our pups and moggies mean. I agree with the statement that they know when their masters are angry or craving love, they are sensitive creatures who love those who care for them.

2. Its sensible to show your emotions by being sensitive to others and discussing your own because if you hold them in they will cause illness to arise. As a sufferer of Depression and Anxiety who was hospitalise 5 times I can assert the dangers of doing this.

3. Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian in the 1800’s. Famous for his quotes, He states the heart is our most sensitive organ.

4. Roy Ayers is a funk, soul and jazz composer. People who choose the Artists Way often face being considered sensitive as they grow up through the school system.

5. Love is the way of the sensitive soul. They feel what others are feeling, are highly empathetic and know when to contribute to another.

6. In being empathetic this opens up the area of suffering to enter your life, but you are also gifted much more Love and many more dreams of the night and day varieties.

7. Sometimes we sensitive people let people stay too long in out lives. This is something to always keep working on, staying strong and always Moving.

8. In our country boys are trained from a very early age to act like a man, this means no displays of emotion or sensitivity, that is women’s business. There are a lot of wounded souls amongst these men, I know I was one of them, at the age of 61 I am working my way out of this by attending men’s groups and ecstatic dance.

9. Time for a song, sensitive people tend to believe in the magic in life, here is Beyonce’s song about that, Yes we Believe in Magic. This is how we react.

10. With all the horror that is reported on mainstream media, which I recommend turning off, being sensitive is an act of Courage, worthy of an award.

11. Want to charm your beloved? Jane Austen says that the ultimate way to do this is through having a tender heart.

12. What a great line, an Empathetic Bad-ass with Superpowers Oh Yeah!!

13. Going through the struggle of the dark side gives you the gifts of appreciating life, a sensitivity and understanding of it and the ability to be compassionate.

14. Beth Gibbons is the lead singer and lyricist for eclectic band Portishead, her distinct voice catches your attention every time you hear it, writing on many an emotive subject, here is one of my favourite tracks, Mysteries. This is an example of the above statement.

15. The Heart is where you feel your sensitivity first, it is the home of Beauty and Love. These are signs you are a sensitive soul.

I have enjoyed creating this blog, as the Dalai Lama says, we need more Lovers, Artists, Musicians not soldiers, millionaires. I think a large dose of sensitive people would help solve the issues he is pointing at as well.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

Do you Live Yours?

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Rod's World

I was wondering what to write about on the final day of the year, when this passed through my Facebook News Feed.

I can’t quite get an analogy for meeting people on FB.

It’s a bit like a party maybe but on FB, accepting friend requests is fraught with difficulty. At a party you might spend a while chatting with someone to find out who they are.

On FB the equivalent is looking at people’s profiles. Being a friend of a friend is not a valid reference, because the hackers, spammers and trolls have made it so. It’s your profile that tells the world who you are.

Like I’ve said, I don’t accept friend requests from people who do not show themselves on their profiles. Pictures of self, family and pets are no indication of who a person is, except they maybe indicate that the only thing public about this person is the generic, and this person does not care to step outside the common denominators of life.

Well a pale representation is not the richness of a human being and photos of family will never make up the difference.

Do we really have that much to hide? Are we really not allowed to have opinions, or discuss passions or inspirations, and are we not allowed to disagree with each other, with our employers opinions, with those who do not suffice as the leaders they claim to be? Something is wrong with that picture. Personally I’m not buying it.

My suggestion is, if you really cannot disclose to the world what you think and feel and who you really are then perhaps you could consider a pseudonym. FB cannot possibly keep track of them all. Just close your account, let your trusted friends know what you are doing, and start up a new one called Jane Carstairs or Adam Lake. No one cares what your name is but they do care who you are.

My friend Debra wrote this and it made me think of my 4,000 Gods and Goddesses of possibility on Facebook. I check each one and check if they are up to making a difference with their posts and if they have a PASSION. I send each of them a unique Facebook Birthday Card for being on my team.

So lets have a look at what the world says about living with passion. Here are the 15 quotes I have chosen, lets go :

1. Simple in its message, along with the passion throw in a handful of generosity. Its not about expecting something in return. Passion comes from within.

2. And who does our passion affect. Ralph Waldo Emerson says if even one person is touched by it, its worth the journey.

3. David Bowie wrote a song back in the 70’s titled Oh You Pretty Things: Classic Bowie. They were all Passionate people.

4. I changed a quote to include this because it is so beautiful and empowering. Lets turn one into the other in 2016.

5. Beauty again, my friend Vic used to say if you Love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life. having discovered this at the tender age of 59, I would have to agree.

6. This perfect day, Every day is a once in a lifetime day, Choose Passion.

7. Blogger turned New York Times best-selling author and speaker Mandy Hale is affectionately known around the world as “The Single Woman.” With a heart to inspire single women to live their best lives and to never, ever settle, Mandy cuts to the heart of the matter with her inspirational, straight-talking, witty, and often wildly humorous take on life and love. Mandy’s Website.

8. Your Passion may be abstract art like my friend Yasemin, Yasemin’s Beautiful Art. She does all these things, buy some of her art, its beautiful and she needs money to heal at the moment.

9. Soul Growth, another way of saying living with passion, who said that it has to be perfect

10. Essence and Joy, two things I have been studying over the year through my participation with my mentor Arion Light and his Activation School – Arion’s website. I combine them in my passion day to day.

11. More and more people are walking away from the corporate world as they realise that money does not fulfil their hearts wishes. There is a new class of people , they live from their Passion.

12. Kelly Corrigan is an American writer born in the late 1960’s. Host of a show called Foreword, where deep thinkers take on deep subjects., she also launched a website called Circus of Cancer. Leading by example, she speaks her dreams out loud.

13. At times following our passion we sometimes feel lost. Do the above and you will soon return to the path you are meant to be on.

14. Are you as equally good at giving and receiving. I cannot say this. i am a classic giver but have some weakness in the area of receiving. I love Oprah because she is pure Passion.

15. The lucky last, four simple words and the cute cat photo. Do it with Passion, your unique Passion!!

Well , this is the last blog for 2015, Thanks to all the people all around the world who read my words. Have a beautiful time celebrating the New year, and remember: Passion, turn to the Left, the Right, Upwards and Downwards, but especially Inwards.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

What’s that rumbling in my Gut?

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Rod's World

I redid the process at Kundalini dance last night led by the remarkable Leyolah Antara, creator of the magnificent Kundalini Dance process that transformed my life in 2013 and set me back onto a healing path after being in a locked psych unit for six weeks a mere six months before. Here is the link to Leyolah’s web site : The Road to Freedom

The process was dancing blindfolded for up to two hours to investigate the wisdom inherently available by cleaning your Third Eye Chakra and freeing your intuition. We were meant to dance with a question in mind. In 2013 I chose How would I get to the $1300 festival that Nemone, my previous KuIdalini Dance teacher had said it would be good for me to go to when I had $50 in the bank. When I got home from the process, the payment plan email was the sixth I opened. I intuitively took from this I was meant to go , even though I had never heard of Tanishka Tantrika, The Moon Woman – she has 500,000 followers on Facebook, here’s her website, empowerment of women is her speciality : Star of Ishtar.

I chose as a question this time to dance to what would it take to cleanse the deep seeded mistrust of allowing myself to be loved by women following an incident when I was five when I was dacked by my best friends two elder sisters. Look up any good Australian slang dictionary for its meaning. So we will see what my intuition or gut feeling or as my friend Lissa Rankin in her new book The Fear Cure our Inner Pilot Light comes up with.

That’s why I have chosen 15 images on intuition, that old gut feeling to comment on, two of them don’t even have words, the image speaks for itself. Here we go :

1. Sacredness is a very special word and state of being to many of my friends. They have stepped outside their servant status and honoured the path of the intuitive.

2. Sylvia Clare, author of the best selling book Trusting Your Intuition : Rediscover Your True Self to Achieve a Richer, More Rewarding Life has written many quotes on the subject, I like this one on transcending all other abilities.

3. It wants the best for you, but how often do we give in to the dark side of reason and logic of our closed mind.

4. Your Inner Pilot Light is a beautiful way of expressing that voice with in our gut that says get out, get out now.

5. Here’s the first wordless image, as you can see it doesn’t need them.It creates its own powerful scenario and touches me deeply.

6. Is your gut rumbling, that’s your hunch speaking to you to listen and listen deeply.

7. I like number seven, Intuition has no age. How many times have we been shocked by the wisdom of our 5 year old nieces and nephews, How could they know that at such a young age.

8. A colourful mind map showing there are many ways to utilise our intuition, its not like our logical journey of right and wrong, black and white and good and evil.

9. The good old listen to your heart not your mind for the important things like who you love, what you do to fulfil your passion in life, where you live, who you live with and many other questions.

10. Trusting your Intuition, your third eye wisdom can transform your life into one of eternal bliss if you stick at it over an extended period.

11. McCall Erickson has a truly beautiful webpage, Pictures and Quotes on Life. He points at you have to become a risk taker and listen to that old gut feeling ,it gets you under its spell to sense the beauty that is possible following your intuition.

12. Ingrid Bergman was one of the greatest actresses from Hollywood’s lamented Golden Era. Her natural and unpretentious beauty and her immense acting talent made her one of the most celebrated figures in the history of American cinema. Bergman is also one of the most Oscar-awarded actresses, second only to Katherine Hepburn. This beautiful quote speaks to the training required to nurture that small voice inside.

13. Another quote that speaks to the power of intuition over closed logic, discovery over knowing. Leonardo is a prime example of what you can create if you are willing to be intuitive in your actions.

14. Learning from within, the heroes journey. Its takes a modicum of courage and bravery to walk this path. Doe Zantamata is an author, artist, and photographer. In addition to the Happiness in Your Life book series, she also creates and designs poster books of different titles, including “Happy By Nature,” “Old Children, A Book for “Adults”,” and others. I like her pointing to don’t let yourself be talked into something that doesn’t feel right.

15. Wordless image number two to finish on, good versus evil. You definitely don’t need words to define this one. Who do you listen to the most?

Well if I have as much success with my intention from last night that I did with my 2013 one I am looking forward to a whole new relationship with many of my women friends I adore but have been unable to fully appreciate due to my deep held belief.

Namaste and speak to you again on Thursday my dear friends.

Doing the Honourable Dance!!

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Rod's World

I went to my friends Jules Mojo Trance Dance on the weekend. Its a dance where you change partners each song and dance to a theme. This month it was on being Honoured, not a subject that I think of much when it comes to Conscious dance. Jules is a beautiful, beautiful soul who’s commitment in life is to empower people’s souls and build community. Here’s the link to her Facebook page – Perpetual Mojo.

So how do you honour one another at dance. You follow the two signals, I want to dance with you, but I don’t want to be touched, there are a lot of Contact Improv people among the attendees who just love being touched and the other signal that I want my own alone time. You always get so much out of the night and the group Hug at the end is worth the money alone.

So what do we as human beings have to say about honouring one another. No Oprah again but some quality insights among the fifteen I have chosen. here we go :

1. We go way back to 400 B.C. for our first look at honour. Sophocles is one of the three surviving Ancient Greek playwrights, imagine out of such a prolific era that only three people made it through. His message is simple, Honour is all that matters, corrupt success is bad for the health.

2. Our school system seems to be focusing more and more on the three R’s, turning out corporate clones. What matters later in life is how you relate to others not your ability to know the 12 times table.

3. Samuel Langhorne Clemens is Mark Twain’s real name. He lived by this famous quote above, a true man of honour.

4. Remembered for saving England and smoking Cigars Winston Churchill was meant to be a man of simple tastes and it seems simple words – freedom, justice and of course Honour.

5. Back to the 400 B.C. time frame Socrates is held to be one of the founders of Western Philosophy. This cute and pithy quote points to how to live a great life, be who you say you are going to be, Astronaut or President or Postman. it doesn’t matter, the joy is in the honouring.

6. Winston again, He had a profound belief in the fact that if you kept your word that you could do anything, but that honour and good sense were vital ingredients in the recipe required. He helped save a country with this belief.

7. I have several of Martin’s speeches on audio. They go for over 15 minutes but you are riveted the whole time. One of the most honourable men of all of history he made a race of people believe they weren’t niggers, they were proud African Americans.

8. Balastar is a cool name, he is a Spanish Jesuit prose writer. He was also known for his insightful quotes, why say something with more words that necessary. Balastar points to the value of keeping your words in the face of pleasing others is what counts.

9. Looks like this has been taken off a graffiti installation, How many of us create our present moment to moment. I know I’m guilty of not doing this 24 hours a day.

10. The Law of Abundance, always remember that abundance does not mean more possessions. In fact most awards are given to those who have contributed the most to society, get out there and be abundant by giving of yourself.

11. Taking us back to the the fact that Honouring oneself not be so significant is well known screen hero Chewbacca. I could’t find the language on Google Translate but I’m sure it is profound.

12. Prepared to die, not many people live by this creed. Nelson Mandela was one such inspirational being. I remember singing Free Nelson Mandela in our singing group Soulsong and how much we were moved by it each time we sang it. Here is the Specials great version of the song The Specials.

13. Off to ancient Egypt for this one, 1300 B.C. Akhenaton was a Pharaoh. I suppose the Pharaohs words got saved before anybody elses. Interesting that the soul had importance way back when.

14. I have been a bit male centric this Blog, and unfortunately this is by an other man. But it is about our mothers. Sai Baba, eccentric Indian Hindu guru from the 1970’s made a promise that we would come to no harm if we honoured our mothers.

15. Misunderstood critical thinker Werner Erhard, founder of the Landmark Forum, the mainstreams rite of passage into Transformational work came up with this classic. I did his work back in the 80’s and 90’s when he was still around. We did courses led by out there Americans who shocked us naive Aussies, so much that I went to the States and did two of their advanced course and ran the Moscow Peace Marathon the year before the Berlin Wall came down.

So I promise that my Blog on Thursday will be focused on that the wild women of our society have to contribute. Namaste until next time my dear friends.

Stop Running Away!!

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Rod's World

I have recently begun working with my friend Arion Light’s principles at his Activation School on setting up my new business Rod has a Way with Words FaceBook Link..I commit to three actions each week and have not yet completed them all.

At our weekly session I breathed into what did this mean to me and I felt this incredible sense of Fear of Success rise up in me. With Arion’s work you accept that being fearful is part of how you are. He asked me was it OK to be OK that I have a Fear of Success, checking into my body the answer was No. So I am working on having it be OK to be Fearful and be in action to have my business be an outstanding success.

So what does society say about fear. I have chosen 15 pithy quotes and yes, there’s one from Oprah , so here we go.

1. Around it, run from it, pretend its not there, all of these things do not work, you must enter it and have a play with it. Like the joy of entering a mud heap, getting dirty but having so much fun you forget about it.

2. Fear is more of a feeling than a solid object, yet is has the strength to immobilise us completely. Working to overcome it is possibly more beneficial than a few days at the gym.

3. Its often the what if’s that drive our fear. What if they don’t feel the same way, what if I try again and the same thing happens. No action has the same result, fear just makes us imagine it will be.

4. Bruce Lee talks about fearing the man who has practised the same kick 10,000 times more than the man with 10,000 kicks because the man with one kick has gone through many failure to perfect it and not listened to his fears.

5. The title of this Blog is Stop Running Away. I met my dear friend Emeli Paulo from Collective Potential Their Webpage. at a Yoga and Meditation day. We were putting out the chairs because we had arrived early, we’re both like that. Em did a mini 30 minute workshop in which she promised we would know what stopped us in life. I have her card in my wallet with the words – Stop Running Away on it. She delivered.

6. Oprah time. The rulers of countries don’t get the privilege of being wimpy about their fears for too long. They must make decisions daily and cannot afford to take days off to ruminate on them.

7. Eleanor Roosevelt was one bitching woman. She says she did her best work after the time she was the President’s wife. What she points to is thta your dreams and challenges live on the other side of the Fear.

8. Right Here, Right Now – In the moment there is nothing to fear, just being present. I plead guilty to have spent a lot of time in my past being focused on the past or worrying about the future. I’m getting better at it.

9. What are our largest fears. Mine are that people will find out I am unlovable and that I am disgustedly revolting. How good would it be if we were OK about them. I’m working on the first and truly OK about the latter.

10. Perfection the booby-prize that stops many people achieving in their lives. Linked with Fears this can be totally crippling. Salvador Dali, one of the great interpreters of the Absurd points out how silly it is to dwell on it, because it is essentially unobtainable.

11. On the other side of Fear is curiosity. A bit like the classic Divinyls track Pleasure and Pain Here’s the Video its a choice we can make as to how we interpret it. When a fear arises accept it and get curious about where it came from.

12. May Baker Eddy founded the Christian Science Church in the latter half of the 19th century. She would not have been able to do this as a woman in those times if she had given into her fears. The above quote sums it up nicely.

13. As a writer, this list empowers me. I took up writing again after doing Catherine Deveny’s Gunna’s Writing Class Link to her page which gave me the greatest gift: Just start, because beginning the writing dispels fear.

14. Fight and Flight both are not the answers to overcoming your fears, its in the acceptance of them that the power lies. Facing them full on as they approach and saying OK I’m fearful but it doesn’t have to disable me.

15. This can be construed two ways. You give power to the fear and they become all consuming, or you embrace them and inquire into why you have them and this allows for a more positive essence to emerge, I chose the latter.

So I will keep on embracing my Fears as this has given me power in being in action on a day to day basis.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

What does Lady Gaga mean to You?

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Rod's World

Its Blog writing time again, I read this fantastic one by Luminita AKA The Purpose Fairy this morning and it was about Integrity and it featured of all people Lady Gaga The Article. It was a short video by Lady, and Luminita’s discourse on it. Luminita is in my top 10 posters on Facebook. Her posts are always inspirational and well thought out. Here is a link to her Website – The Purpose Fairy.

How do we relate to Integrity, do we try our best to keep our word but have it drop out when life get busy. Or do we make it what we base our existence or no matter what the cost. Myself I wander between the two. I spent many years doing the work of Landmark Education and did their Integrity seminar at least three times. It is a rigorous enquiry into what it takes to live from Integrity and brings up stuff in all the areas you are not in integrity. So myself I travel the path of improving the amount of time I can say I am in Integrity.

So what do other people have to say about it, no Oprah today but an interesting collection to comment on, Here we go.

1. A powerful way to see Integrity is as your Inner Lover. The person we give all of our heart to, who we try not to disappoint and make good our relationship as soon as we damage it.

2. The Chinese culture is known for its philosophers and wise sayings. Here is their cut on Integrity. Very simply, do what you are willing to have people know about.

3. Mainstream media is full of sensationalist drivel 90% of the time. Mostly it is reports on when people are out of Integrity. Murderers , Wars , Domestic Violence all come from Lives lived without Integrity. Why do they think that is what we want to hear as news, then again why do we want to know about it in the first place?

4. Wise people are often quoted as being the thought leaders of our generations. They put us on the Right path, but it is the life lived in Integrity that matters, Actions not Words deliver the goods.

5. I often in my younger life made decisions that did not have a lot of Integrity. all for the instant gratification moment and personal gain. Luckily as we mature we realise that this is not the noble path and amend our ways.

6. Are we leaders without Integrity, Dwight Eisenhower, one of the most respected of U.S. presidents didn’t think so. The cement that binds Leadership is Integrity at whatever level of endeavour we exist at.

7. By now you may have worked out that travelling the path of Integrity is not Easy. It is taking the Road Less travelled.

8. Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Atheist – It doesn’t make a difference that you have strong beliefs if your actions are suspect. Integrity lives in your actions and behaviour.

9. Do not admire the person who has made their wealth from raping and pillaging the land. They are crooked in their ways, instead admire those who say This shall be and deliver on it.

10. The conundrum of one with out the other weakens both. Weakness and danger lie waiting if both are not on display.

11. This one is right in your face. Success simply does not exist if Integrity is missing. Imagine if this is how it was measured instead of how much money was made?

12. We have all read the quote about 1 percent of the worlds population having 40% of its wealth. Douglas Adams, best known for the eclectic Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy novel points out that Sincerity and Integrity are what needs to be provided to deliver True Service. I agree whole heartedly.

13. Consistency of Action is not the world of the hypocrite. It returns you to Power and Truth in your life. I am always seeking this sacred place in my day to day journeys.

14. I am always moved by that other quote that states people remember how you made them feel, not what you give them. This quote also points in that direction as to the cost of breaking your Integrity with others.

15. Erich Seligmann Fromm was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory in the 20th Century. I like his quote being the last one, it states that which we already know, that Integrity is the basis of our identity. To break it is to violate it.

So Lady Gaga lies with some esteemed scholars in reminding us as to how to live a Life of Integrity. I have recently discovered her music as well , its not as bad as a cynical Indie rock and Singer Songwriter loving music fan thought it would be.

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

It’s not about selfishness—it’s about sanity!!

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Rod's World

Was in a quandary what to write today’s blog about when a friends video blog and this fantastic article Authentic Self Care appeared on my News Feed.

It raised in me memories over my life when I had not done this for myself. The times I would go to work with no sleep and fall asleep at my desk when I was meant to be managing Fourteen people. The times I would not take notice of my depression and anxiety returning and end up in hospital again. The times I would not be in contact with the people who loved me, my mother once sent me a post card with a picture of a ship on it asking if this was the ship I was returning to Australia in as she had not heard from me in 3 months. There are many other examples over my 60 years but I hope you get the point I’m making.

I have spent the last five years becoming more in contact with what is self care for me and am much more aligned with it these days. I gave up drinking, I declared a day the 40th Anniversary of commencing, thanked it and gave up, I investigated healing modalities and settled on Tai Chi as my practice, and I go Op Shopping with my Mum and sister every Tuesday.

So , onto the 15 quotes I have chosen to discuss the sacred practice of Self Care – Here we go.

1. I remember those times earlier in my life when it was about Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. That life was about me and my pleasure. I have since learnt that Service is what provides true satisfaction. Some of my friends didn’t make it through.

2. The glass half full quandary is a popular way to look at how you look at life. The empty vessel is a state you do not really want to get to, what it does to your health can be devastating.

3. William S. Burroughs, one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th century speaks to the power of relaxation in this oft quoted statement.

4. Never forget to add a sense of humour to your Self Care principles, Snoopy has something to say on the matter.

5. What affect does does how you Self Care have on you, It shows the world how you are willing to be treated, so choose it wisely.

6. I handed this poster out at a Mental Health talk we gave at our centre last year, people still come up and thank me for it stating that it is on their Fridge door. it’s a great list of practices that can make profound changes in your health.

7. Guilty as charged, I was a Yes person for Years, Byron Katie is known for her generosity in having a website that enables you to do The Work for nothing. It is profoundly healing and transformational.

8. I like to pamper myself, be pampered by others and to pamper others. It is an excellent way to return to the heart, to me this is the journey we are on as we travel towards the time we are no longer here this time.

9. Sacredness is holy divinity, promising yourself to honour your own well being should be on your personal Ten Commandments.

10. I fill out my Desire Map daily planner every morning here’s the link Daily Planner, one of the five sections is Well Being, another Essence and Spirituality. These are just as important as work you have to do. All work and no Play makes us dull boys and girls.

11. I enjoy Mind Maps, they look swirly and a bit chaotic, which self care can be some times. Give it a go for your prescription for Self Care. A resource for this is the magnificent book by Lissa Rankin The Fear Cure.

12. Make a habit of Excellence in your Self Care, keep on doing it daily.

13. Blogger turned New York Times best-selling author and speaker Mandy Hale is affectionately known around the world as “The Single Woman.” With a heart to inspire single women to live their best lives and to never, ever settle. Her advice is to never give away being the source of your own happiness AKA self care to another.

14. My friend Emeli Paulo from Collective Potential, creator of the transformational RAW workshops and True Grit weekends, has us go around at the beginning of meetings and say I am enough to empower the space and get rid of the stories we have come in with. I recommend the practice if you attend or organise meetings or workshops, Its powerful.

15. Here is a mind map that I have followed for several years. At times I forget part of it and when life starts feeling dazed and confused I look it up and see what it is that I have let slip and put it back in place.

Writing this has reinforced for me the importance of including Self Care in your daily practices. Waking up, Showering, having a coffee, rushing off to work, Getting home, making dinner, Watching TV , crashing out, repeated daily is a formulae for disaster.

Here’s to a healthy dose of Self Care daily.

Namaste until next time, my Dear Friends

Stand by your?

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Rod's World

I made one of the toughest decisions in a long time the other day. I told the woman I thought could be my soul-mate to go away. I had sent her an SMS message daily , that’s the way she liked to communicate, for the past five months what I liked or loved about her.

Yet she continually reminded me that I was being negative towards her and seemed to store them in a negativity database to bring out when she felt like. The last time she did it was during a conversation where she contacted me saying she had been sad and teary and thanking me for my latest SMS.

I offered to stop what I was doing and come and see her. It went through this weird process which ended up in her messaging she was not sure whether she wanted to see me due to my negativity. This is why I do not like communicating by SMS, it is totally impersonal and can be misconstrued by both parties.

I have chosen 15 quotes about breaking up, one of the things I used to consider the hardest thing to do. Here they are.

1. It takes you to get to that point where you know your rights are being abused before you say enough is enough, do it and hope they get the message .

2. My heart has been hurting since I did it, The last thing I wrote was that PS I still love you, but self love has to come first.

3. It takes something to do this, you argue with yourself remembering the good times, and I will miss them so much. But I have grown as a person over the last six months and know what I want in my life

4. The she’ll be right syndrome. The horses head on the meal table Say it like the image you prefer but you have to go all the way down in your relationships to come out the other side.

5. Not at this point yet, far to soon and my heart is still hurting. But I can relate to the concept, it seems it will open space for me.

6. I told her that I would change my life to see her more often because I did think of her a lot when doing things wishing I was that she was there. Now I won’t have to, shame really.

7. I’m not sure if this is true for me at the moment, they say you should fight cat and dog for those you love.

8. I didn’t realising it was hurting me until the last time, I had always apologised for doing it, then realised I wasn’t the person she was referring to, so got the lesson.

9. In my heart I don’t want to do this, but my anxiety level says something else, that for my health I need to or have it dramatically change.

10. This is a nice way of putting it, perhaps they should put it on all government forms.

11. I thought I was satisfied with where I was at, my truth had other ideas and said stand up for yourself.

12. Self explanatory, this is the silly humorous quote in case I got a little too serious.

13. Was I asleep, it didn’t feel like it. Will discover this over the next few weeks.

14. I suppose it happens in all friendships, that there is a honeymoon period. When you are not contacted for several days you realise that its over.

15. What would it be like if you had an unbreakable heart, I think it would have to be made of plastic. Meanwhile we journey down the Yellow brick road of Relationships.

I am getting sadder and sadder as I write this , yet I stand for my decision to have the right not to be criticized on an ongoing basis.

Namaste until next time my dear friends

Forgive and Forget, Is it that Easy?

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Rod's World

I was recently talking to a friend outside her house discussing what publicity I could help with for an event she was involved with to receive a discounted ticket when I recieved an SMS from my bestest friend asking me if I was off the airwaves.

I SMS’d her back and explained what I was doing or at least I thought I did. I then received another SMS asking where we still going out that night. I sent one back saying that going out with her was my main priority. The reply I received was not what I expected, It was that she had not felt that way for a long time and felt I was being negative to her.

After the initial shock of receiving such a reply I realise that we needed to discuss the difficulties we had been having in catching up and forgive each other and re- establish our friendship to what it had been when we first started going out with each other.

Wikipedia defines Forgiveness as follow –

Forgiveness – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//

Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well.^[1]^[2] Forgiveness is different from condoning (failing to see the action as wrong and in need of forgiveness), excusing (not holding the offender as responsible for the action), pardoning (granted by a representative of society, such as a judge), forgetting (removing awareness of the offense from consciousness), and reconciliation (restoration of a relationship).^[1]

In certain contexts, forgiveness is a legal term for absolving or giving up all claims on account of debt, loan, obligation or other claims.^[3]^[4]

As a psychological concept and virtue, the benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religious thought, the social sciences and medicine. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives^[5] including forgiving themselves, in terms of the person forgiven or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In most contexts, forgiveness is granted without any expectation of restorative justice, and without any response on the part of the offender (for example, one may forgive a person who is incommunicado or dead). In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, an apology, or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe himself able to forgive.^[1]

I have chosen quotes from across the Ages to see what our society has to say about it, Here we go –

1. In our love relationships we will always come across things that make us arc up. This enables us to practice the noble art of forgiveness on a daily basis to restore the deep state of Love that we committed too when choosing those particular people to fulfil these roles in our life.

2. When we are ruminating on the past and blaming others or being the victim of circumstances in our lives, it is valuable to realise tht we cannot change events as they occurred but we can drastically lessen the effect they will have on our future by uttering the words, silently or out Loud, I foryou you, me , them etc. etc.

3. Lissa Rankin, Author of the ground breaking book The Fear Cure points to that a major percentage of disease is caused by False Fears. On reading the books I discovered that a lot of these fears come from things and events where you have not forgiven ,even to the point of Heart Attacks, here is the link to her page about it – The Fear Cure .

4. Self Forgiveness is an important part of Self Love, a state that is required to allow other Love into your life. Be courageous in admitting that even you make mistakes.

5. Holding on to interactions and events that play on your minds days and years later is very bad for your mental health research shows. Converting these from a bitter experience to a valuable lesson will free you from the debilitating illnesses that often follow the practice of blame and shame.

6. Every Tuesday the local Council come and collect the rubbish I have been unable to recycle. If is was as easy to clear the mind of holding of things from the past that clutter up our lives.

7. The vow goes I will love and cherish, whether in Good Fortune or adversity. Its not always plain sailing on the good ship Matrimony. Moments of forgiving occur every single day as we journey down this sacred path.

8. How long have you sentenced yourself to. I had one shadow belief that was from the age of four. It only took to the tender age of 60 to realise what it was costing me, the world looked very different after letting this one go. I suppose there was no internet and Facebook when I took it on.

9. World Peace Day is 21st September, It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, there have been a total of 26 days of peace since 1945, the end of World War 2, the War to End all Wars. Oops got that one a little eschewed.

10. Be in the Now, Moment to moment, Discipline – all words that point to what is needed to live in the state of the dignity of True Forgiveness.

11. Any you an anyone or a butterfly? Butterflies have beautiful colours and character and fly lightly in the wind because they are not carrying their past burdens around with them.

12. Two steps forward, three steps back doesn’t get much done. When you grant yourself and others the precious gift of forgiveness you free your feet from work-boots to the latest Nike runners and you have the ability to Just Do It!!

13. Promises, Promises was a minor hit for the band Naked Eyes in the eighties. What they sung in the 80’s. Its about how much value we place on them. When you forgive it better be of a reasonably high level.

14. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a fantasy about a man who grew younger not older. He grew smaller the longer his life went on, do you by holding on to those grudges?

15. Finally, the words you use in your life is what gives you your power. In Australia we are known for saying sorry for the simplest of things. So when you have cut someone deep those words have little effect, Try on Will you forgive me?

We had a frank and moving discussion that night when we went out and restored the relationship to nearer what it had been. I didn’t sat please forgive me. I will next time I see her.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends

We live on Her, sometimes we Forget

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Rod's World

I just went to this fascinating seminar on the weekend Free Humanity lead by entrepreneur Jeffrey Slayter His website who has got in contact with his conscious as well as his business side. Most business seminars do not have drumming ceremonies and lengthy discussions on the need to be in contact with Mother Nature to heal our souls.

Having not been out of my urban environment for quite a while and traveling out of the city for four days next weekend this made me think about what our relationship to Mother Nature is and its importance to humanity.

Wikipedia gives the following definition of Mother nature :

Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth-Mother), is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother.

It has been a popular subject over time and here are the 15 quotes I have chosen to exemplify her importance

1. Language is an interesting concept, Before written languages there were the languages of nature, the wind, the rivers, the animals, the birds.

2. Since we have arrived on the planet we have chopped a lot of these down to make things without realizing they are our lungs and healing spaces. There is no anger or greed in a forest.

3. Author of the best selling Wikinomics Anthony Douglas Williams attributes great healing powers to Mother nature, we in the west appear to have forgotten this.

4. If you wish to be reminded of the power of nature, look to your children. They see the fairies, the beauty of plants and the glory of the night sky, Life is still a wonder to them.

5. As you hustle off to your income generating job on a crowded train or highway it is easy to forget the beautiful planet that we live on. Whoopi Goldberg points out that she doesn’t feel that way towards us.

6. My friend Kavisha Mazzella the singer/songwriter with the voice of an Angel, hear her here An Angels Voice, says that the power of music is in the silence after, very much like the beauty of the sound of walking in a pristine forest.

7. It is said a week in a forest is recuperative as a month in hospital, I know which one I would prefer.

8. Do the words Tsunami, Earthquake and Perfect Storm bring up pleasant associations for you. Mother nature is mild and calm until she is woken from her sleep and then her rage can be devastating. Be nice to her.

9. Jeffrey said at his seminar this powerful one liner, as we get older we become more of a student, less of a teacher. You cannot read in books or hear in talks what mother nature can teach you, you just can’t

10. Where are the invisible spaceships that are being built to exodus us from the planet when it become uninhabitable for humans. Oops, that’s right they’re not being built, damnation.

11. The humorous quote, most of those sounds you hear in nature are mating calls not unlike the pickup lines that are heard in the beer caverns that fill our cities.

12. David Brower, founder of Friends of the Earth, points us back to our origins with a poignant reminder that we still need them, because with out them we will not be here either.

13. Lao Tzu, one of the great thinkers, slows us down to remember that everything is accomplished in nature, and not at the breakneck speed that humanity is rushing along at.

14. The fascination of language, the two words left out of this quote that seem to be relevant are corporate greed, shame really the influence they have on our current situation at the moment.

15. Karolina Kurkova, listed in the top 50 most beautiful women reminds us that we come from Mother Natures loins as well. We are all a beautiful offspring of the stardust that makes up our planet.

One could write on this subject for time immemorial, which is how long she has been around. I felt my heart open writing this, thank you Mother nature for that gift.

Its time to say Namaste until next time my friends, thanks for reading my quirky output, Love you all.