Tag Archives: adventure

Friday the Thirteenth

12 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by in Advice, Attitude, Being brave, Life journey

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Friday the 13th…
Scared or not?
There are some people who are so scared of the date that they stay at home to avoid accidents or sudden death.  If you are one of those people, hello! We wish that we were home in our pyjamas too.
So, how can we be scared of a date?
Or a black cat crossing our path, or walking under a ladder, or breaking a mirror or any other superstition that you may have grown up with?
My mother taught me that if I killed a spider, I would lose my money which may explain a lot….
Whether you are superstitious or not, I hope that you are aware of the fact that all of these fears only come true if you allow them to.  The more you think about them and obsess about them, the more likely it is that something happens to you.  Not because you are willing it to but because you are more aware of things potentially going wrong.
Suddenly you have a spate of bad luck and you remember that a cat happened to have run past you a few days ago and that cat might have even been black.
The more you think about it, the more you notice that your luck seems to have changed for the worst.

The truth is that some things are just out of your control.  Things happen – whether for a reason or not.  You go through good things and bad things and you may be prepared for them or not.  And a lot of the time, they have nothing to do with you.  You just happened to be there.  Wrong place, wrong time, wrong man, wrong career choice….
When you realise that you have no control, you can either freak out or sit back and relax.
Okay, maybe not relax but realise that things are out of your hands and you can stress about forcing it back to the way that you want it to be or see where it takes you.
Because it may be a crazy, wild adventure.
Wild enough to even go to work on Friday the 13th!

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Change – the scary stuff

03 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Advice, Change, Fear

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Change is scary!
Maybe not as scary as snakes, zombie apocalypses and ghosts (Okay, I know Halloween is over now… get on with it)
Just as I was about to start writing about dealing with change, my 13 year old came into my office and asked if he could write my blog for me.

So this is what he wrote (unedited):
“Change can be scary because its like you are going into new territory the unknown, you could be scared because of a new medication you need to take or starting a new job even learning the simplest of things can be scary and hold you back, what you need is to break through your fears and try if you cant do it try try and try again never give up hope never stop believing in yourself”

My son has a chronic illness so we never know how each day is going to go – some days he wakes up feeling well and our day is routine based and for a short while we feel normal, and other days are so horrible that all of our plans go out the window.  He is used to nothing going as planned even though he craves living a “normal life”.  I really hope that this will put him in good stead for his adult years.

Most adults fear change so much that they stay in their comfort zones and stay unhappy.
I’m guessing that if you were truly happy, you wouldn’t need to be reading this blog.  So if you are not happy, or if you think that you could improve some aspects of your somewhat happy life, you are going to need to change in order to do that.
Often change is an absolute blessing but we don’t realise it when it happens because it makes us feel that uncomfortable.
Change leads to growth and onto new things that you may never have even thought possible.
If you find it difficult, start doing small things that will still make a difference but won’t necessarily change your life path.
I do things like colour my hair (it’s currently purple) or change my route to work.  It adds a tiny twist of adventure that makes me believe that the bigger changes are manageable too.
Give yourself a chance for adventure too!

I don’t want to be mediocre

02 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Being brave, Fear, Life Lessons, Success

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How comfortable is your comfort zone?
It may feel comfortable only because it is familiar – you all know the saying “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” – and what a shocking thing to say!
How about no devil at all?

A comfort zone is about just getting by – doing what you have to do without any real level of enjoyment or passion.  It is like operating on automatic mode.
You will know that you are in that position when a day, or even a week, goes by and when you think about it, it feels like you haven’t really achieved anything or you haven’t got a lot to show for your efforts.
A comfort zone is associated with one my worst words in the world (right up there with slug) – mediocrity.

“adjective

  1. of only average quality; not very good.”

That word makes me cringe because really, who wants to be mediocre?
Even if you are not doing well or you feel like you are failing, at least you are creating opportunities to learn and to find what works for you (or what doesn’t work out).
Mediocrity is just being in the middle – nothing good, nothing bad, no risks taken, no stepping out of ‘box’ and certainly no adventures.

Start an adventure!
Get out of that comfort zone of yours because you really aren’t gaining anything by being in there and you aren’t doing yourself any favours.
That means that you are going to have to face your fears and take risks.
You are going to explore new things and try new ideas.
You will make conscious efforts to get your dreams out of your imagination and into reality.
It is going to take courage and you may not succeed on the first attempt – you may not even succeed on the tenth attempt.
But you know what?
You are going to be amazing!

Time for a bucket list?

20 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Attitude, Bucket List, Change, Life journey, Mindfulness

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Okay, I’ll admit it, a lot of what I am going to say in the next few lines is me trying to convince myself that I’m doing the right thing.
You see, I’m bidding on something on eBay that is beyond my budget (make that way beyond my budget when bidding closes).
And while I am in no ways advocating that you should be financially irresponsible, I think that you should also live in the moment.  Enjoy the moment while you are in the moment.
Because as far as I know, you only get one shot at life, so you might as well make it a good one.
It is enough of saying one day and maybe, it is enough of putting things off.
Life is for living, so now is a good time to start doing it.
In the brilliant Rob Reiner movie The Bucket List, the protagonist in the film had written a bucket list of things he wanted to do before he died. And he set out to do it!


In case you haven’t heard it yet, we are all going to die tomorrow. (Though as I write this, it is already tomorrow in New Zealand). Well that theory is according to the Mayans who are not even alive anymore to tell us why they came up with that idea.
I am not that worried about the end of the world. Mainly because I don’t have any control over it. If it ends, well then so be it. And if it doesn’t end then we have at least one more day to get on with our bucket lists.
Is there something that you really want to do?
Is there something that you really need to say?
Get going with it! Don’t wait, or if you have to wait for whatever reason you think is appropriate (and I am not talking about procrastination here – yes you!), then at least start making solid, realistic plans for your great life.
There are so many wonderful things to do yet we put them off. For fear, for lack of money, for lack of resources.

And I am off to check my bank balance – I’ll let you know the outcome next week – yes, I believe that I’ll still be here next week.

Be brave enough to change the idea of being stuck, of not seeing life as an adventure.  Do something meaningful now.
You deserve it, you really do!