A Long Drive
I have set off on a long drive from Cairns to Brisbane and back, two to two and a half thousand kilometres. It is my first ever long drive alone and I am finding it a real adventure, fun and exciting. Hours and hours alone in the car, just me for company and with a need to stay alert at all times. I have found the following three things to be fantastic for all kinds of reasons. First, I continue to work on my personal development, second I am remaining awake and alert and third it is fun.
- Practice being present, in the here and now. This is really easy to do while driving because you need to be! So it is a matter of gently drawing yourself back each time that you drift off into the past or future. You can also concentrate attention onto the things that surround you, looking for picturesque scenes, at lovely gum trees and the wildlife around you. Easy, and you stay present while doing it as well as scanning the environment for your own safety.
- Show appreciation and gratitude, especially for other drivers. I find that by concentrating on those drivers who are friendly, generous and accommodating, I am finding more of them on the road. It also triggers in me, the need to do the same in return, particularly for the trucks. Overall it makes the driving experience a whole lot more pleasant, it is sweet to get the waves from other drivers and I find myself in gratitude really easily. I can also look around and be grateful for the road where it is good, the countryside, how my car performs and so on. Easy.
- Listen to music, especially baroque which is said to be the best for assisting to tap your intuition and ideas. Music can also be uplifting which is good for energy, the mood and soul. It works for me and makes the journey pleasant and go by faster. I intersperse the music with personal development CDs and silence (or as silent as you can get while driving). These are all part of my personal development program and on this long trip, it is almost an immersion. Fabulous and most enjoyable.
So next time you are on a long drive, turn it to your advantage and arrive at your destination with energy, in a great mood and having made in roads into your own personal development. You can do it any time, any place.
Positive Thoughts Across the World
I am like most people I know in that I have had no idea what to do with some of the distressing new stories that I hear on a daily basis. Having recently returned to Cairns from Mexico, the outbreak of swine flu hit my conscious mind quickly and alerted me to the very real risk that exists in the Universe as a result of the unlimited travel that is now available. I could very easily be one of those Australian people who needed to be tested. Indeed, I had friends calling me to ensure that I had followed up as I should.
Today I see on the news that the level of concern in Mexico is reducing with authorities accepting that a high level of quick public action was necessary to manage the risk of a world wide outbreak of swine flu. No doubt that will be well received everywhere and will perhaps be little comfort to the families of those who are very ill or who have died as a result of contracting this very serious virus.
So, the one thing that I can do, that may be of help to everyone is to send positive messages this way to all of those affected, and to all of those who are afraid right now while they await there own tests. To those people I send messages of compassion and hope.
Additionally I send messages of gratitude to those people all over the world who have contacted authoritites and who have worked to control and minimise the risk. To all of those people I send my appreciation for the responsibility taken and the work that you all do on a daily basis to take care of the rest of us.
Finally, to everyone else I send positive messages about good health. The good news is that the rest of us who are not affected can work to keep our own good health and can support everyone whom we know to do the same. The more positive messages that are sent out into the Universe the better.
Being Positive is Just a State of Mind
To be positive or negative, that is the question!! And you can make that choice for yourself at any time of the day – positive or negative, which will I choose? Optimism or pessimism – which path today? The truth is that there needs to be a healthy balance to life, in being negative or being positive – pessimistic or optimistic. Life is about balance, happiness and fun.
So just for fun you could google optimism and take one of the many tests to see how you score on a basic look see. Not to be taken too seriously, these tests start to bring your focus to the matter and the mind muscle works best when being used. So the better your focus on positivity versus negativity; optimism versus pessimism, the more you give it consideration, the more likely you are to make a considered choice in your day. The better you will be placed then to see how you feel when being positive or negative. Which feels best? Which do you want to aim for?
These questions can only be answered when you are paying attention to how you are feeling. Once you get to grips with that, you can decide for yourself which feels best – positive or negative. Having made that decision is when the fun really starts because you will find yourself being affected by all sorts of things; other people’s moods, the news, the weather – just about any conceivable thing. At least that is what happens to me.
The other option of course, is to accept that your feelings all just happen, without any conscious input from you. Why should you bother to notice, adjust and work towards having a close level of understanding of how you are feeling. Well for starters, people who are optimistic enjoy better health and success. Don’t believe me? Then take a look at this article and make your own decision. Additionally, you do not have to leave your feelings and state of mind to chance, unconsciousness or any other thing. You can choose your emotional state.
As I said, this is when the fun starts. First, to put some positive energy out into the Universe, you can begin to pay attention to things that you like. For example when someone does something that you like – let them know. You may be very pleasantly surprised at the reaction that you get. Go a bit further and set a target to write a couple of notes to someone every week. Be sure that the note clearly says what it is that you appreciate about that person or something that they have done that you noticed. Keep doing it and eventually you will get a lovely response and at those times, I feel a healthy glow steal over me. Hopefully you will too.
Second, pay attention to the little things that you appreciate every day. You might say out loud what it is that you like so much eg “I really love this glorious weather, every day it reminds me why I live in Cairns“. Remark just like this on every single thing that you like, say it out loud or to yourself, think it or write it. Doesn’t matter. Putting positivity into the Universe is just such a good thing to do, however you do it. And soon you will find it getting easier and easier. Things that you like will just jump right out at you, begging you to pass a compliment or tell someone how appreciative you are.
Perhaps you also will notice how much more pleasing every day is when you start to do this and how many things you begin to see that you like, love, appreciate or are grateful for.
And remember, being positive or optimistic is good for your success!! I know that business can use every bit of positivity available right now to keep moving forward. Every little bit counts so please, make someone’s day by telling them how great they are. Go another step and do the same for yourself. And make yours a great day. It is all just a choice to be made; a state of mind.
Happiness is a Pair of Sunbirds
For the past four years we have experienced great happiness and joy because a pair of sunbirds began to raise their families in our backyard here in Cairns in Tropical North Queensland. Over the years we have offered them a variety of locations to nest; putting up pieces of rope just for that purpose in places that we thought were protected. Eventually they chose an internal corner of our verandah, very protected and in full view of our family from many angles. There they raised several sets of babies.
That was until one night, just before Christmas, when we were entertaining and the mother bird suddenly became very disoriented and distressed. We rushed to her assistance to find that her nest had fallen and was held very tenuously by threads at the bottom. Her babies were still safe but at great risk of falling from the nest. We decided to assist mother nature and tied the nest; top and bottom back to the strings on which it was built. The next morning, mother and father were back taking care of their family and getting them out of the nest as quickly as they possibly could.
Our joy remained as they continued to raise their subsequent families in our garden. They regularly came to inspect the broken nest and showed constant interest in nesting there again as well in each of the other locations that we provided for them.
This weekend, they began to build a new nest on our front verandah, on a new piece of rope that they specifically asked us for. I kid you not!
We were relaxing on the front verandah recently with a friend when the sunbird pair came to look over the tree that we have in a pot in the corner. They carefully examined every branch that was hanging down and the fluttered endlessly over the top of the tree and over us. I got the idea that they were asking us for a nesting site in that corner.
We jumped up there and then and shifted the potted tree to the front of the veranda for protection and tied a rope in the corner. The sunbirds visited the veranda daily, looking the offering over and comparing it with the one on the back veranda. Then they got to work and we get to sit in our lounge chairs and watch over our precious sunbird pair. Or should that be, they get to sit in their nest and watch over their human pair? Whatever, we have this delicious opportunity to chill out and watch mother nature at work and reflect over the many wonderful messages that come our way through this interaction.
The actions of a pair of sunbirds speak louder than words, their communication was most effective and reminds me to continue to offer the same in my own communications. I think that they must have been around Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said “What you do speaks do loudly that I can’t hear what you say!” Their leadership was just fabulous. With minimum fuss they prevailed upon us to get on and do exactly what they wanted.
Want to know more about sunbirds?
Shape up your intuition with symbol work
Did you know that symbols and their meanings have a HUGE affect on our subconscious decisions and beliefs? It’s true…whenever you try to work out your dreams you are working with symbols and their meanings. Many symbols that appear in our dreams warn us that we are operating with limiting beliefs or confirm that we are on the leading edge of personal development 
. It is our intuition though (that feeling of, “yep, got it” when analysing dreams) that helps us identify, integrate or learn from our dreams.
Megan Bayliss has worked with people and their symbolism for many years. As a child therapist she relied heavily on interpreting the things children said, drew or created in play. As a therapist to adults, she frequently had to sort through entrenched and limiting beliefs that often began in childhood. Talk about having honed intuition – Megan claims that it is the symbol work that shaped her intuition and made her a fantastic counsellor.
Nowadays though, Megan and I work closely together in personal development and life coaching. However, using her past professional experience in symbol work, Megan has designed a fun filled tea leaf reading workshop for anybody interested in picking up a fun new skill AND giving their intuition a kick start.
There are still some spots available for her first Tea Leaf Reading workshop in Cairns on Sunday the 19th of April.
Held over High Tea at The Sebel, the tea leaf reading workshop is a fun and trendy way to reconnect with your subconscious and intuition and to attract success back into your life.
Cost: $55.00 per person. Suitable for everyone: men, women and tennagers. Contact Megan for more details.
