Monthly Archives: July 2013

When life throws you lemons

25 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in Attitude, Food for the soul, Positivity, Recipes

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If life throws you lemons you:
A. Feel sorry for yourself while you’re choking on lemon juice
B. Make lemonade (or even better lemon meringue pie)
C. Call for tequila (although I think it goes better with limes)
D. Take those lemons, make loads of lemonade and build a thriving lemonade business.

The choice is yours.  But we all have the ability to take the negatives that life throws at us and turn them into amazing opportunity if we can think positively about the situation that we find ourselves in. And hopefully you don’t need alcohol (choice C) to put you into an artificial, short term positive space.
I don’t think that anybody has a particularly difficult life.  Everybody has their challenges and yes, your’s may seem so much worse than somebody else’s.  But by the time you’re ready to make lemonade, those people may be the ones who are dealing with new challenges and having to encounter lemon juice for the first time, when you already have mastered the lemonade recipe!

W. Clement Stone was one of the first people to write about Positive Mental Attitude (PMA).  He would say, “Every adversity carries within it the seed of equivalent or greater benefit to those who have positive mental attitude”.

Get ready to start building that lemonade stand because all of the obstacles that you are working on overcoming are going to make you wiser than you could imagine.
You never know where life is going to take you but this I can promise you: it is going to be worth it!

And now inspired by my Brazilian sister – here is the recipe for Brazilian Lemonade (which actually uses limes but don’t tell anyone):

Ingredients:

  • 2 limes (or one big one if you can find it)
  • 1/2 cup of sugar (I have seen recipes calling for 1 cup – for the very sweet toothed)
  • 3 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 cups of water
  • ice to serve

To make:

  1. Wash limes thoroughly.
  2. Cut off the ends and slice each lime into eight wedges.
  3. Place the limes (rinds and all – that is where the flavour comes from) in a blender with the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, and ice.
  4. Pulse in an electric blender
  5. Strain through a sieve – so that you have only liquid and you don’t eat the rinds
  6. Serve over ice!

Saude!

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Achieving greatness through adversity

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in Advice, Freedom, Life journey

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Today our beloved Madiba, Nelson Mandela, turns 95 in his hospital bed.  And my thoughts and prayers continue to go out to him.
Every year, on his birthday, South Africans from all walks of life dedicate 67 minutes of community service in honour of him (and his 67 years of fighting for the freedom of our country).
I am always on a mission to do more to serve my community but right now, I am spending 67 minutes writing this blog and I will contine to dedicate myself to helping anyone who reaches out to me in need!

The one thing that I often think about when I my thoughts turn to Madiba and his achievements in life, is that I wonder if he would have been so great if he hadn’t struggled to get what he believed in.
It may be controversial to say that but I believe very strongly that if things always come easy for you, you are more likely to stay in your comfort zone.  But if life throws you challenges and difficulties, and you overcome them, you are more likely to be great.  This is because it forces you to step out of your comfort zone and see things in a different light.

When you are at the absolute bottom, there is only way to go and that is up.  You only understand light when you have experienced dark.
Passenger sings this so eloquently in his song “Let her go”:

Well you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missin’ home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go

You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA

Believe that there is a reason that you are going through all of these difficulties – they are the lessons and the stepping stones that are taking you to heights that you may not even believe you are capable of reaching.
Think big! Step out of your comfort zone!
Soar to great, great heights!

A kick in the right direction

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in Advice, Change, Gratitude, Life Lessons

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It’s amazing how things happen when you need a wake up call to shake you out of life’s dreariness and humdrum existence.
I was blessed enough to receive a wake up call a few days ago.

I was feeling was feeling unwell and generally just feeling sorry for myself. I decided that I would leave work early and rather mope around at home, so I got to my car and guess what was waiting for me? Nothing else but a flat tyre!  My initial thought was just to sit on the floor and cry but I quickly realised that sitting on the floor and crying was not going to solve my problem.  Before I knew it, there was a team of people willing to help and it didn’t take long before the spare tyre was in place.  And then I realised that my spare tyre was pretty much flat as well!  I won’t bore you with the details but I eventually got home safely and amazingly I felt energised and not very sick at all!
The power of the mind is amazing.  I went from feeling sick and sorry for myself to feeling like I could deal with anything!  Something going wrong actually energised me and motivated me to have a different approach to life.

The reality is that we shouldn’t need these wake up calls to make us grateful for what we have or to make us do something differently. But we do.  We worry unnecessarily and forget what we have until something comes along and reminds us.  And hopefully reminds us in a gentle way.  But sometimes life gives us a big fat kick in the butt.  And that kick forces you to make the changes that you’ve been so scared to do.

I will never forget a person that I treated years ago who was afraid to change her job that she hated.  She constantly put off changing because she was afraid and she was in a comfort zone.  After resisting change for a long time, she was fired from her job and she started a new job that fulfills her in ways that she never even imagined!
Hopefully you don’t wait for that big kick to motivate you to change.
Sometimes we just need a little nudge in the right direction – a chance to give that little voice of your inner self some attention.  The one that says that you can do more and be more and just be wonderful!

How to survive winter and other miserable days

05 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Advice, Food for the soul, Lists, Moods, Recipes

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While we are blessed to have short, mild winters in Johannesburg, I still often feel miserable in winter.  The air is dry, the grass is brown and the mornings are dark and chilly.  A lot of people have complained to me that they feel tired and generally unhappy and while it may well be related to winter, it could also be a mid year tiredness.  Wow, we’ve made it halfway through the year but we still have months ahead of us.
(By the way, if you’re reading this and it’s summer where you are and you feel really happy and energised, that’s great! Please store this for later in the year when it applies to you).
Our instinct in winter is to do things that are not necessarily good for us.  Hibernating and eating the wrong things.  Yes, there is definitely a time and place for cuddling under a duvet with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in your hand but is probably not going to energise you.  Save all the rich, sugary treats for the weekend when you can enjoy it more and use it as a reward for yourself for a week well done.

Here are some of my ideas for feeling better and more motivated and energetic in winter:
– increase your vitamin intake by getting plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables
– always drink a glass of water before you reach for that cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate.
– use invigorating oils like grapefruit or lemon in the morning to get you going.
– try to exercise more (I know, I know you don’t really want to but those feel good endorphins will kick in and you will feel great!)
– start a gratitude journal so that you can focus on all that is good rather than on all that feels bad.
– when you feel like hibernating under a blanket, remember that many people are not in the position to do that. So volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate a blanket, start knitting some cosy woollen items.  You will feel good and so will they.

knitting
– cuddle with somebody that you love before you rush off to go your separate ways (you’ll both feel good about it and hugs keep you warm)
– smile!
– before you rush off into the dark morning, take a moment to take a deep breath, watch your breath steam out and wonder at the marvel of winter
– and my ultimate winter happiness is baking (yes, I know I just spoke about not overdoing the sugar).  Baking is a very tactile thing and I find that making scones is very soothing.  And eating warm scones with dollops of jam is even more soothing!  The softness of the flour when you rub the butter in, the release of tension when you’re kneading the dough…

Best scone recipe:
2½ cups self raising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Good pinch of salt
30g butter
¾ cup milk
½ cup water

Heat oven to 220°C
Sift flour and add sugar and salt into a bowl
Rub the butter in with your fingers
Stir in the milk, and then add water until your mixture is a nice, soft dough
Knead the dough until it is smooth and then press it down to about a 2cm thickness
Using a circle cutter, or a glass, cut into rounds.
Keep kneading and pressing the dough until you have used it all up.
Place your scones on a prepared pan and bake for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!