New tricks hurt my head!

MANY people tell me I’m too old for my age 😛 I’m going to go with the fact that it’s because I am maybe a little wiser than most of the people my age… it has nothing to do with the way I look! 😛 😉

And so this old dog is trying to learn some new tricks… and I have pretty much felt like this for the past week :

I’ve been down so many rabbit holes that I’m starting to feel like my name should be Alice!
I’ve felt a little more like the good old White Rabbit though! As if time is slipping away, and perhaps there is a very important something that I am supposed to be heading towards but find myself constantly late in actually FINDING it!

There are moments in the day where I feel like a champion! Coffee in hand, I conquer the confusion and celebrate a small win! ”Oh my gosh! I understand! I can do this!”
And then there are the moments where I’m a spectator, desperately cheering myself on, but sometimes having to just reassure my overworked brain that ‘it’s okay if you don’t get it! You’re not young anymore! It’s not about winning or losing, or even HOW you’re moving… it’s about finishing… even if you finish last!‘

And I’m not even that old 😮 😛

I have no idea how long it will take me to grasp these new tricks… or even if they’ll represent what can be considered a win.
AND YET… the fact that I am even trying something new? That I am willing to dive into an unfamiliar pond, and actually doggy paddle my way around no matter what the result? Is that not a form of a win in itself?

In the middle of all of these mental acrobatics, my body was put through a form of acrobatics itself on Monday! I had actually intended on writing this blog post on Monday!

Instead I found myself half calf deep in water, bucket in hand, scooping and sloshing to the nearest drain, as I desperately tried to stop the rushing water from continuing to access my neighbour’s house!

We get hail here. Two or three times a year. But Monday was my first experience with hail that size! I could almost picture the golfers grabbing their clubs and heading to the streets! Yes! They were golf ball size! And the heavy rain that came with it was absurd!
The entire storm lasted about twenty minutes.
The damage in its wake will take months to repair for many. 😦

I worked for a few hours in my neighbours driveway. I roped in one of the guys down the road too. And the neighbour arrived home midway and also jumped in. Water needed to be swept out of the house, and the garage. Crates needed to be brought out the garage, emptied, unpacked and their contents dried off. It was a heck of a day!
I then came home and tackled my own back area, which had drained itself by that time, but there was so much debris to be cleared!
I woke up yesterday hurting in places I’d forgotten I had muscles! Ha ha!

And in all the brain pain, and body pain, (I’m fine, by the way 😛 ) I find myself smiling at the many lessons that have been sent my way these last few days! (Some intentional, and some very much unplanned! Where did that weather come from??? 😮 )

I suppose that if we are willing we just never have to stop learning 😉

6 secrets to a healthy, successful life

When I see articles, and blogposts, with these types of titles, the first response in my mind is : ”well, yes, sure… but how does the writer define health and success?” – or whichever word they are using.
The second thing my mind utters is, ”I wonder how exactly they learned these things… ”
Yes.. I can sometimes be a little bit too sceptical 😛

This morning it’s cold and raining – my favourite kind of weather! I did a coat of varnish on some crafting items waiting to be finished off, and while waiting for them to dry, I decided it was time to look through some emails! (You know the ones : not important, as such, so you decide to read them later, and then later forgets! Ha ha! I’m going with this though : I saved them for a rainy day 😛 😉 )

There was one, with the title of my post, hidden in the body of the email. BUT! This post title? It was preceded by the words : A 103-Year-Old’s
Wait, what?!?!? 😮

My mind didn’t even bother to do any of its usual questioning! Age brings wisdom… and if you’re 103, I definitely have a LOT to learn from you! 😉
The lady’s name is Dr. Gladys McGarey. She opened her first medical practice at a time when women were not even allowed to open bank accounts! 😮
While reading up on her as a doctor, and a mother of six, I found it so very interesting (and I smiled) that she co-founded the American Holistic Medical Association the very year I was born! 😉
The article I had received in my email was written after the release of her most recent book – which is now on my wish list 😉

As per the Amazon write up (linked under ‘her most recent book’) :

On these pages, Dr. McGarey shares her six actionable secrets to enjoying lives that are long, happy, and purpose-driven:

–Spend your energy wildly: How to embrace your life fully and feel motivated every day.
–All life needs to move: How to move—spiritually, mentally, and physically—to help let go of trauma and other roadblocks.
–You are here for a reason: How to find the everyday “juice” that helps you stay oriented in your life’s purpose.
–You are never alone: How to build a community that’s meaningful to you.
–Everything is your teacher: Discover the deep learnings that come from pain and setbacks.
–Love is the most powerful medicine: Learn to love yourself—and others—into healing.

I can’t say that I disagree with any of those six things. I may broach them differently, but I can definitely see how pursuing a life that encompasses all six – in whatever way – could be considered a life lived with purpose and fulfilment! ❤

And while I am not so sure that I myself would like to live to be 103-years-old, I do know that I would definitely like to embrace all six of these!

But the greatest of these, for me, is LOVE! I can tell you from personal experience that love, when given in its entirety (the way it is meant to be – non judgmentally, kindly, unselfishly, acceptingly etc) is most definitely a very powerful medicine!

May you all experience extra bits of love this week 😉

A complicated house plant!

I have quite a few email subscriptions, to receive thoughts and notes and ‘stuff’ from a variety of ‘well known’ individuals to inspire me, encourage me, remind me, and help me ‘try and be a better me’.
It’s all about growing… which reminds me…

😉

I received an email on Monday, that basically told me to :

”Do something difficult this week, simply for the sake that it’s difficult and uncomfortable.”

It made me smile, because for the last few weeks I have been doing a few things that are ‘new’, that require small steps OUT of my comfort zone.
Now, do I prefer my comfort zone? Well, of course! ‘They all’ know me there 😛
Even the small steps, in just a few things, have been somewhat scary. There have been difficulties trying to wrap my brain around certain things, and I have experienced slight embarrassment, despite knowing I am the only one ‘who is seeing it’. Ha ha!
At the same time as the scary though, there has been a somewhat exhilarating feeling deep inside of me!

As if I am on a road… to somewhere! (You’re welcome to come along – just please bring snacks 😛 ) Destination still unknown… but I’ve decided that that is okay! 😉

I’ve had way too many days of late where I feel stuck… I take two steps forward, and then it seems like the next two steps are back again!
So now I have decided to crawl 😛 😉
It’s slow progress, but as I have said before, it’s better than NO progress 😉

And on that note, I am about to do something that is a little uncomfortable for me! Ha!

My granny was a very talented and creative lady! She wrote stories, sang and played the piano, painted breathtakingly beautiful scenery and portraits, and she wrote the most beautiful poetry – modest and expressive at the same time – it always flowed like a beautiful melody.
My son writes poetry – his is more in the form of rap though – and he always amazes me with his play on words, and the strong, impactful way his words deliver!

And while I am a rather creative individual myself, poetry has never been a strong suit of mine. Ha!
And I am shy about the poems I do write!

I shared one recently with a good friend – someone I consider my kindred spirit in so many ways. And I was told it was worthy of blogging 😮
And because I trust this spirit so much… and because I have been challenged to do something ‘difficult and uncomfortable’… I will now share this poem that I wrote with all of you 😉

(WHERE did I put my blankie!!!! 😛 😉 ) Enjoy, and Happy Wednesday 😉

”There’s a part of me that doesn’t speak.
A part of me I continuously seek.
Trees whisper to me, and I see her swirl…
That grown up little girl.

She’s a puzzle piece lost in a different design,
Searching… will her soul ever align?
The sun sets, the moon rises, the darkness consumes,
Fear doesn’t descend – instead she blooms!

Slippers afoot, she will dance on her toes,
And she’ll giggle out loud at the wind as he blows.
For in the dance of life, she knows she’ll eventually find,
The place in her world for her beautifully confused mind.”

Infinitely More Beautiful

There are three or four people in my life who I call ‘distant friends’. NOT because there is a great distance between us, ha! But because we hardly ever get to see each other, even though we live in the same town. On the rare occasion that our schedules become free at the exact same time, it’s as if the days/weeks since our last visit cease to exist.
In between that though, I am often surprised by a random image being sent to me, and the caption is usually along the lines of, ”this is SO you”! Granted, it’s usually pictures like this one….

(On that particular day, my friend actually sent me this link and I have chosen this particular meme to share 😉 And the words that went with the link were, ”I saw this and they all reminded me of you!” 😛 )

It makes me smile because, hey, someone was thinking of me 😉

And then sometimes, I receive images or links that warm my heart so much, it make my eyeballs perspire 😛 😉 This morning was one of those times.

It was actually a link, once again, to Case Kenny’s Instagram post, which was the picture I’ve shared here.

And this time my friend had added a message : ”Did he know he’s writing this about you?”

Let me be entirely honest here : I do NOT always get it right!
I’ve made that bold, because it is important to me that you see it, and know it.
I definitely mess up on at least one of those things listed in that image, at least ONCE A DAY!
(Bold, again, because I don’t want you to miss it!)

But I’ll be entirely honest about something else here too : I WANT TO BE THE PEOPLE IN THE IMAGE, as much as I possibly can, as often as I can. And I will keep trying to be, and to get it 100% right, because ‘the people’? These types of people? Well, THEY are what I think navigating this life should be all about.
I’d love to be thinner, have a more toned physique. I’d love to have flawless skin and be drop dead gorgeous. Which may be attainable if I chose different life goals, and could afford plastic surgery – hey, I’m getting old here 😛 – but you know what? HONESTLY? If you told me to pick ONE that I could have? Just one, 100%?

I’d pick to be ‘the people’ in the Case Kenny image, 100% of the time!

Here’s hoping you all get to encounter these types of souls this week – because it’s a whole other type of magic when you do 😉 ❤

Two steps forward, two steps back…

…and then I found myself singing….

”We go together like opposites attract…”

My mind took me back to ten year old me, sneakily switching on the television and quickly turning the volume as low as I could without jeopardising my listening pleasure, desperately trying to master the dance moves associated with the music video. All while keeping ‘an ear out’ for my mother’s footsteps. Because this was very much frowned upon – my brother was constantly in trouble for ‘his music’ (except, I can assure you, he had GREAT taste!) and I knew he’d be blamed for my devilish behaviour!
It’s yet another bitter sweet memory… except I have finally learned to ‘let it go’ when the bitter part tries to creep in and rob me of the sweet part… and so these days I am more inclined to smile and giggle at my ‘utter rebelliousness’- can you hear me rolling my eyes? 😛

Remembering the song had me wondering, ”whatever happened to Paula Abdul?”
How strange that for a few years she was such a big part of my life… but honestly? I’ve not thought of her since the early nineties! Good grief!
Naturally, I looked her up, and was pleased to find that she is alive and well, as creative and charismatic as ever, and mentoring the youth – she’s making a positive impact on the entertainment industry! (I’m not interested in gossip and speculation 😛 )
I have to admit that I was rather shocked to find that she’s already 61 years old! Because the thought that popped into me head was,
”Goodness gracious, Meg! YOU’RE getting old!” Ha ha!

Did you know that a woman’s mind is like spaghetti?
Because all of the above came from the way I was feeling, that I had taken two steps forward only to stop and go back again…
And I jumped from feeling frustrated and stuck, to a search on Paula Abdul, and then pondering who else was great to me then that I might have possibly forgotten…
And then?
Iron Brew! My first taste of it at age 12, and the phase I went through where it was my ‘favourite’….
I wonder if Surf Brew still exists? (A coffee cart type thing that used to do pop ups in my town, and occasionally give away free coffee!)

You may now understand why sometimes I actually have to say out loud, ”Meg! Stop! Focus!” 😛

Which brings me back to my blog post title. (You knew I’d get there eventually! 😉 )

I returned to blogging (and while trying to explain the magnitude of this step would possibly help you gain understanding, you’re just going to have to trust me : it’s been a giant leap for my short legs 😛 )
and made other ‘small’ changes and I high-fived the reflection in the mirror because I do silly things like that 😛 – it’s never mattered to me if my progress is slow, so long as there’s progress, I’m happy.

And then I encountered yet another setback, and everything else just became overwhelmed by frustration! Gah! That darn valley has become so familiar, I’m about ready to name it and start cooking for it! Unfortunately, I stayed there a bit, but mostly because I was too tired to leave. Sleep, and stillness, brought a sense of peace – my waking moments were not as kind… and there were a lot of deep sighs as I miserably started unpacking my tent – I needed shelter if I was going to stay in the valley, right? Except that I do stuff like that in slow motion, because I just know I’ll get over myself 😛

I was reminded, yet again, of the cyclical nature of life : moving forward always has moments of going backwards too. (My ‘mountains and valleys’ attitude, I guess.)

How will I ever learn to persevere? And how will I become more resilient?
Well, by facing obstacles and challenges.
”We grow through what we go through” is a quote attributed to Tyrese Gibson.
I think the attitude we bring to the ‘going through’ determines the type of growth.

And since I am striving to be the ‘best version of me’ as much as possible, I will just need to keep watching my attitude 😉

Where do I begin?

A good few years ago, I received an email from someone, who began with, ”Meg! It’s been a minute!”

Confusion reigned! I had not heard from this person in so many years, I’d actually lost count!
I was telling my U.S. friend about it, and she laughed at me! Apparently, ”it’s been a minute” is the equivalent of the expression we use around here, ”Oh my! It’s been ages!” – or donkey’s years. (As a child, I never quite understood what a ‘donkey’s ears’ had to do it with it, ha!)
I was certain I’d not heard the expression ‘it’s been a minute’, and yet I probably had… and possibly glossed over it… because all of a sudden I started hearing it in so many American movies and series that I actually found myself quite embarrassed at having not known what it meant!

And I find myself sitting here, typing away at familiar keys, reaching out to a world that I love, thinking : ”It sure as heck HAS been a minute!”

I could offer up pages and pages of reasons for my absence. Oh, boy, do I have a lot to fill you all in on. I shall refrain from delivering on all that reading though… if you were a regular reader, and have found your way back to me, you know already that bits of the story will spill out sooner or later 😉

Blogging world, you have been missed!

I keep looking longingly out of the window next to me, watching the dark clouds as they slowly seem to approach, only to suddenly be swept away. We’ve had incredible heat the past few days, and with humidity levels in the 90%+ range, we’re all expecting that it will finally rain! And hoping it will be the cooling kind, and not a brief shower that disappears and leaves behind an even worse ‘hanging heat’!
Us humans are so demanding, aren’t we?

I’ve been delaying re-entering the blogging world for a good few months now – my biggest reason being that I felt as if I couldn’t just ‘come back’ – I needed to have something eloquently written and ‘worthy of reading’ in order TO come back. I’ve been toying with the idea of ‘just being me’ for a few weeks now – this is, after all, a personal blog. But what if ‘me’ was not enough for all of you? What if the expectation was higher? I have felt so out of touch for so long that some days I chastise myself with, ”Megan, find your words”!

And so while I am still the woman who will tell you that there IS always hope, and genuinely believes it is so…. I am also the woman who is struggling with self doubt, and, for the most part, in many areas that I probably shouldn’t be!
Despite the lack of eloquence, (not much fluency of expression in an interesting way either, ha ha!) I find myself typing this blog post ‘anyhow’.

Because my Monday email from Mark Manson just told me that it’s a GOOD thing if I doubt myself (any abilities I do, or do not, have left within this brain of mine!) and that I need to ‘learn to act despite it‘ and ‘there’s only one way to find out if your doubts are true—do it anyway.‘

So here I am, doing it anyway.

I’ll close with this : as a young girl, I used to take piano lessons. I was very far from expert level, but I could hold my own. My granny used to play for hours on end, and in my eyes, she was expert level 😉
When I was 10, she made me a copy of her sheet music for ”Where Do I Begin” – the love theme from Love Story, by Andy Williams. I had spent many moments singing this piece along with Granny while her fingers flitted expertly across the keys of her piano!
And it was the first ‘non exam’ sheet music piece that I learned to play properly. (Still not expert level, but I did well enough that Granny and I could sing while I played! 😉 )

As I tried to think up a title for this blog post, my first in far too long, for some reason ‘Love Story’ came to mind.
Sorry to disappoint you : there has been ZERO romance in the time I have been away, ha ha!
But as I sat staring at the blank page, wondering, ”Good grief, where do I even begin”, I found myself humming at first, and then singing that love theme. And I smiled.

My absence has not been an easy time; I have faced many difficulties and often times found myself ‘stuck’ in valleys – and I am sure that in my absence some of you have been through valleys of your own.
But, if I was to ‘report back on life’ over the past year and a bit? Much of it would be a love story. LIFE has been a love story TO me!

Because even in the moments where I was most desperate, devastated, scared, worried, lonely?
”The simple truth about the love she brings to me” was still very relevant to my life!
I didn’t always see it in the moment – I’m grateful that most times I did though – but there were always small measures of love along the way to see me through.
When I felt empty? ”She gave new meaning to this empty world of mine” – life sent me smiles from strangers, encouraging messages, just the right words in a ‘soul mates’ email!

And through it all, these words are also applicable to ‘my life as I knew it’….

”She fills my heart with very special things
With angels’ songs, with wild imaginings
She fills my soul with so much love”

If it wasn’t for life, with its ups and downs, I wouldn’t grow. I wouldn’t know. I wouldn’t be me.

And so… as full of doubt as I am, and as inadequate as I may feel, I will never stop being grateful for MY life – the special things, the music, the wild imaginings (I definitely can’t share all of those, ha ha!) and a soul filled with love, and willing to give love!

Isn’t it crazy how often we prove that we are our own worst enemies?

Power Struggle

For real!

Power… as in electricity.
Not the kind that runs through our veins 😛
The kind that powers a household… lights, no camera, but fan action for the heat (no aircon).
The kind that a business needs to be able to operate.
The kind didn’t exist way back when.. but we’ve been really grateful ever since it got discovered!

WELL!!!

I’ve mentioned loadshedding before. Where they cut our power for time periods throughout the day and night. Suffice to say we have an energy crisis. BUT! In order for me to NOT get all political on you, and maintain my inner peace on this very humid Sunday morning, I shall refrain from saying more. You’ll have to Google it! Ha! (And it may be best not to discuss it with me 😛 )

ANYWAY…. we’ve reached pretty ridiculous levels of it the last few weeks.

(interesting side note : MY town, where I live, is the only one who loadsheds 3 and a half hours at a time! Everyone else has 2 and a half hour slots. Hmmmm.)

I’ve had more than my fair share of days where the schedule means that out of the 16 waking hours in my day, we only have power for SIX hours!
Bearing in mind, my water supply dwindles when there is loadshedding too.
So… in those 6 hours, I am trying to catch up with washing (clothes, dishes), shower, vacuum and clean the house, try and give attention to computer work stuff, etc.
AND, our humidity levels have been at around 94%. With very little cool wind accompanying it.
So when you are done rushing around trying to accomplish all you need to before the next time slot, and you’re starting to overheat, and finally get a chance to sit down. BAM! The fan goes off. Sigh!

BUT, HEY! AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE POWER, RIGHT? I have to work really hard to find the rainbows here 😛 😉

All of the above is my reason for being so absent.

Just when I was getting back into the swing of things, our ONLY electricity supplier said, ”NOPE!”

(Insert massive eye roll here 😛 )

Today, I have a reprieve of sorts. Our power was off last night from 11pm till 2:30am, and then again 3am till 6:30am this morning.
The good news is that it means I have a whole day electricity today – unless they changes stages again and notify us last minute of a new schedule. My power will be off this evening again from 6pm till 9:30pm.
But I have today 😉

My washing machine is working overtime, my vacuum cleaner awaits. But I had to pop in here and say HI 😉 Because I can 😉

And I thought I’d share some romance, just because. 😉

I love music. It’s hard to choose a genre. It’s even more difficult to pick a favourite song!

And yet, the one that gets me every time, is good old Frank Sinatra, and ‘The Way You Look Tonight’.

It’s been on my mind a lot the last few days and I find myself singing and humming it quite a bit.
NOOOOO! There is no romance in the air – no new interest for me. (Loadshedding DOES mean occasional candles though, and what’s more romantic than that 😉 )

But perhaps it reminds me that one day there might still be. Who knows?!?!?!

What I DO know is that it makes me feel warm, and it makes me smile.

May you all have love in your lives this festive season.
May someone glow when they think of you.
May you touch someone’s heart.

May your world be romantic, even if just for a moment, even if not with a partner 😉 ❤

When I am frustrated…

… I WILL PERSEVERE!

I sometimes sit down and type random word documents ‘to myself’. They’re either part of a bigger picture, or just something that has struck me in the moment. I am currently extremely frustrated (it’s a very long story, ha ha!) and I happened upon this piece that I wrote about 4 years ago….

”Are you a stubborn person? I know I can be. Not all the time, but I have my moments.
Perseverance is stubbornness, with a purpose.
It’s a good kind of stubborn.

Albert Einstein was heard saying that he was not a very smart man – it was just that he ‘stayed with his problems for longer’. In other words he persevered, until he found the answer.
Did you know Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he got financing for his dream of creating the “Happiest Place on Earth”. Today, due to his persistence, millions of people have shared ‘the joy of Disney’.

Thomas Edison said that many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

You’ve failed many times, although you may not remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn’t you? Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat? Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot.

Macy’s – R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on.
English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs.

Don’t worry about failure.
Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.”

Of late, I find myself waking up each morning to the sound of my alarm, and uttering with a sigh of relief : ”thank goodness I GOT TO WAKE UP this morning!”

The days are incredibly challenging, to say the least. And not just for me, but for so many who I know where the hits just keep coming, and not just ‘the small stuff’ that makes up daily life.

And so… my challenge to myself at the moment is to continue to persevere, to continue to be grateful, and to continue to search for the good, because it is definitely there, in each moment!

My hope for you is that the light at the end of the tunnel is NOT another train coming 😉 Just keep persevering, and may you be rewarded with something good! ❤

Life goals and Superhero’s

I saw this on me.me, and it made me wonder if I should reassess my life goals. Because apparently, Batman is it!

~ photo credit for the pic below : boredpanda.com ~

I also got it completely wrong! After finding a ‘boyfriend’ to kiss, I completely forgot to jump to step 3! (Must have been some kiss 😛 )

I also found another picture on boredpanda.com, and I laughed out loud :

I remember someone saying to me once, ”don’t take life too seriously, none of us are getting out alive anyway”. It was a quote they had read, and it was said with a wink and a smile.
The other day, as I was reminded of ‘silly life goals that were just plain fun’ when I saw yet another shared meme, I remembered that statement.

There is, indeed, a time for everything. And there always has to be a time to laugh! 😉

But what about serious life goals? (What? Being batman is not serious???? Good grief, Meg! 😛 😉 )

We all know it, but I’ll share it anyway. According to an article on Mindtools.com, the reason why we should set goals is this :

Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation . It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the most of your life.

Have you ever looked at someone, at their life, and thought to yourself, ”They clearly don’t have any goals in life!” Or perhaps you have chatted with them and concluded, ”they really need better goals – they’re not going to get anywhere with those”.
You know what? If you have never thought that way or reacted that way to someone in your head? Then I really take my hat off to you!
Sadly, I have ‘misjudged’ a few people in this way, over the course of my life. 😦

Recently, in my household, we have experienced the ‘Google is listening’ thing that seems to be happening. My son and I will talk about something, and suddenly we’ll start getting ads on our social media about that very thing!
I was comforting my daughter the other night through her heartbreak, and I went on to Facebook a short while later and suddenly a ‘suggested for you’ page popped up with a meme about heartbreak 😮

It seems Google can read my mind too 😮

I was sitting and thinking about this whole ‘life goals debacle’ and picked up my phone to scroll through Facebook, and the third picture I saw was this one :

I read it through a few times. It spoke to my heart in a way I can’t explain. And I shared it to my personal profile, with a caption, adding ” #lifegoals ”

If I have learned anything about myself the last few days, it’s that I have the audacity to believe, and hope, even when things are going wrong… or perhaps I finally have truly lost my mind 😛

Perhaps my life goals as listed above seem insignificant to you. Perhaps they don’t equal your interpretation of success.

But for me? I can think of no better reasons to be considered beautiful.
For me, these are my primary goals in life.
I want to come alive, while I am still alive ❤

Grumpy storms

My friend has a fridge magnet that reads : ”Sometimes I wake up grumpy, and sometimes I let him sleep!”

The first time I saw it on her fridge, I laughed…. just as her husband was entering the kitchen. And the chase was on. I think his intention was to tickle me to death, because ‘how could I agree with her‘! She came to my rescue, and I laughed my way through trying to apologise. Eventually, he agreed – he can be pretty grumpy, ha ha!

Well! The other day, I woke up stormy! And there was NO man in my bed 😛 😉

4:30am, and something disturbed my sleep. I looked at the time, groaned, and closed my eyes again – I still had half an hour to stay in bed! And then I heard it! Not even a rumbling or rolling of thunder. Cracks instead, that sounded like dynamite explosions in the sky! It was terrific, and a little horrific, all at the same time!

I hopped out of bed to get my coffee made, just in case our power went. While waiting for the kettle to boil, I looked out of the window and found myself in awe of the sky! I rushed to my room and grabbed my phone on my way out back – I simply HAD to get a picture!
Sunrise was only at 5:20am. But at 4:45am, this is what the sky looked like! (No edit done on this picture!)

The explosions in the sky got closer and closer, and woke the rest of the household at around 5:30am. My daughter came rushing out of her room, in a flurry of ‘oh my word‘ exclamations. And stopped dead in my doorway. I looked up from my reading and smiled, ”Quite a storm, huh?”
She was baffled! ”How are you and Lily so calm? Sheesh!”

My little dog was curled up, and still fast asleep. As if she didn’t know the storm was even happening around her! I was sipping my coffee, and reading, genuinely not afraid in any way. My daughter shook her head, and then disappeared off to the kitchen to make her toast.

I put down my book, because ‘my day now needed to begin’, and as I readied myself to face it in a way that would make me acceptable to be seen in public 😛 I found myself feeling very thoughtful when considering her words.

We all know that life itself holds plenty of ‘storms’.

The physical storm that we were experiencing in that early morning? I had absolutely no control over it, and I knew I had to wait it out and ‘see what happened’. Summer is coming here, and I know we are in for plenty of really big ones. The knowledge that they are coming, and that they will go (eventually, ha ha!) and that I just need to wait because I can’t do anything about them – something about knowing all that means that even when it sounds so destructive, I have a calm and a peace inside me. I know that sometimes there will be damage done that will need to be dealt with, but that I have to wait till it’s over, and then tackle those things.

It reminded me of this :

And I smiled. I have more work to do 😛

How wonderful if I could apply my reaction to physical storms, to all the other storms I have to face, that are not in my control?

If I look back on my life, the proof is in the pudding – a decadent chocolate one 😛 😉
This too shall pass!
(And hopefully not like a kidney stone 😛 )

I just need to shift my focus more towards the peace and calm 😉

Hoping for peace and calm for all of you, in whatever storms you may be facing right now ❤