Farewell 2014

The end of a year tends to bring thoughts of self-reflection of the past months to most people. No doubt the tv will be filled tonight with compilations of news stories from the past year. Some of that will be pleasant to review however most of it will not.
The world’s media tends to only focus on what is bad in the world these days and unfortunately there has been too much darkness over the past twelve months.

But what about me?
What has my year held?

Gratitude for the things we overlook

This morning as I browsed my FB feed, I came across a meditation by Louise Hay. I thought I’d listen to it and see what it was like.
As far as meditations goes, it wasn’t too bad however what really caught my attention was the general focus of her words.
For those that are not aware of Louise Hay, she is very driven by gratitude. This is one of her teachings that I have readily adopted and I strive to incorporate into my daily life.
As I listened to Louise’s words this morning, she reminded me of the little things that we often overlook in life that we should have incredible gratitude for.

The cat meows….

…. and my world returns to normal.

The past week has been a whirlwind of chaos including shopping, baking, food preparation, cleaning, visiting and a constant stream of visitors through our door.
I have ached for it all to return to normal.
And today it did.
Once the cat meowed, I realised that my crazy family was entirely back to normal.

My thought for the year

Wishing you Joy

It is Christmas Eve here.
I have much to do today beginning with picking up my DIL shortly to go to the local Christmas market. Then it is home to put the finishing touches to everything that needs doing.
Unfortunately that also means cleaning the bathrooms! *sigh*
At this time, I would wish you all the joy of this season.

Christmas in Australia

When we are bombarded with the traditional images of Christmas involving snow, winter clothes and Frosty the Snowman year after year, those of us in Australia do feel a little confused.
Right now as I type this the weather outside is beautiful. The sky is blues, there are a few clouds in the sky and the temperature is predicted to reach 31° celcius today (that’s 88°F). Christmas Day is predicted to reach 32°C with the possibility of an afternoon shower.
When we go to shopping centres to do our Christmas shopping we spend an inordinate amount of time driving around and around in an attempt to find undercover parking. This is important as here in Queensland it is not just the heat you are trying to protect the car from, but the possibility of an afternoon thunderstorm complete with hail.
Driving around looking at Christmas lights is different. Not everyone decorates their homes with lights but some do. We enjoy doing it as it means we get to sit in an airconditioned car for an hour or so, grab some takeaway from a drive through and spend time as a family.
Christmas in this part of the world is uniquely different.

The feeling of Christmas

“City sidewalks. Busy sidewalks.
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas”

So goes the opening lines of the Christmas song “Silver Bells”.
It’s playing in my head right now as I search for that ‘feeling’ of Christmas and go through the motions of all that needs to be done at this time of year.

I love Christmas. I love the decorations and the feeling of anticipation and the rush of love that people show each other.
I love that for one day each year people are (mostly) kind to each other.
I love the carols and songs that play in the stores as people shop for food and gifts for the day.
There is so much to love about this time of year.
BUT…..

Speak Kindly Challenge

Mike at the Kindness Blog has sent out a challenge – to try to speak kindly for a whole year.
I’m thinking that this is something that I will take part in. I will try my hardest.
The thing is, speaking kindly 24/7 is gonna be hard. Real hard.
But then the thing with challenges is that they aren’t meant to be easy – otherwise they wouldn’t call it a challenge would they?
Truth is, I’m not sure I can do it for a whole year.