What am I celebrating?

A wonderful mothers day weekend, with infectious excitement shown by my children and the caring and concern given to me by Andrew after my incident on Sunday morning.  I will share with you my face book post

 A mothers day mishap – invited the kids into bed to share a cuppa, they had theirs in takeaway mugs so they didn’t spill (keeping things safe) …not mine though …..yep, kids jumped into bed and i wore my very very hot cup of tea. Lots of cold wraps later, feeling much better, but still not sure what I crying about …the pain or the fact I had to strip the bed and wash the sheets that only went on the bed yesterday again!!

Andrew, came and sat with me in bed and kept the towels on my tummy moist and held my hand while the pain and shock subsided.  He is a keeper.

 What am I acknowledging?

Last week I was celebrating cosmic connections, this week it has happened again.  On Monday, I woke up at 4.40am and was in bed trying to lie very still so as not to shift the atmospheric pressure within our house as any slight movement that I make wakes Nathaniel who is sleeping down the hallway.  My mind started to wander and settled on my friend Carmel, whose story we have shared at Living Savvy.  She is definitely creating her dream life at the moment and I decided that I would call her later in the day and ask if we could do a follow up installment.  An hour later, I was firing up my computer and saw this message from Carmel, she had sent it through the night before

You might need to do an updated review on my music as of late!

These moments are too special to let pass without a recognition

 What was missing?

Restful sleep, late nights and waking around 4.30am in the morning is taking its toll.

What small change can I make for next week?

Make an appoitment to see Heidi, the acupuncturist with the magic hands.  I am certain that she will be able to help me with my sleep and fix the pins and needles in my arms and shoulder that are waking me up.

This week we are catching up with Tania Sherley, a member of our Living Savvy community who regularly drops into the Living Savvy facebook page and who pulled off a big coup when she changed my mind about bucket lists.

Chasing dreams and catching them

Tania’s intention for 2012 is “chasing my dreams“.

In her blog, Tania explains the changes she has noticed in herself since she started “chasing her dreams”. Tania wrote:

I am actually seeing things through.  I am committing to things, and seeing them to completion.  I am no longer flitting from starting one thing to another, trying to find ‘fulfillment’.  I’m no longer ‘trying something just for the sake of something to do’.  I am living my life with complete purpose now and I am fulfilled and it is an awesome feeling!

Tania explains how ticking something off the list is so much more than a recognition of completion:

The sense of achievement I get, when ticking something off my List, whether it is something ‘small’ or something monumental is one of the best, and most important feelings in the world, to me.  This sense of achievement sometimes is few and far between when you are living with a disability, and not ‘achieving’ what others are, in this world.    This is part of what keeps me going on this journey, I am achieving.  I am really living.

Earlier this year, Tania put down on paper the three ‘major’ life dreams she wanted to achieve.  Tania shares:

The more I ‘do’, the more it has expanded my mind, my confidence, and my belief in myself to the point where I say that anything is possible

And Tania’s “Chasing my Dreams Bucket List” was born.  This list contains a mix of fun experiential things she has always wanted to do along with a “maybe in another lifetime I could”.  You can read Tania’s full list here.

Tania talks with such enthusiasm about how her world has opened up in many beautiful ways since deciding to live her life with a clear intention.  In October she plans to tick off three major fitness goals and host a fund raising event  for Spina Bifida Queensland.

Final words to Tania:

Life…grab it with all you have got – it is SO worth it!

What word or phrase captures your intention for 2012?

What are you taking away from Tania’s story?

How are you grabbing life today?

Living savvy is not about unsustainable overhauls – it’s about the small changes we can make to create a life that is a little more fulfilling, a little more satisfying and a little more joyful.

Each Monday I share a few simple ideas I have to fine-tune my own ordinary to live extraordinary this week, and I hope you will  share yours!

Enjoy a city getaway with Andrew on Saturday night, including dropping into the Irish bar where my friend Carmel will be playing her fiddle

Buy a new pair of running sun glasses

Whenever I am feeling frustrated make the most of my Dammit doll (a mothers day present from Natty)

The card reads

“When you want to climb the wall, And stand right up and shout.  Here is a little DAMMIT DOLL, you cannot do without.

Just grasp it firmly by the leg and find a place to slam it.  As you bash the stuffing out, SHOUT DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT”

A weekly tradition where we pop the cork on the week that was, celebrate what worked, reflect on what didn’t, and look forward to a sparkling new week of possibility.  I hope you’ll join me  and share your reflections in the comments.

What am I celebrating?

The company of my daughter while she has been off school this week feeling poorly.  I know I will have to send her back to school eventually, but we have both enjoyed our time together.  Also celebrating cosmic connections with family.  On Tuesday I phoned my step sister Sam, who was “chasing her dream” on Monday and making things happen.  I wanted to see how she went.  Apparently at the exact time I phoned, Sam was talking to her Mum, my step mother (still with me) and was saying “I was talking to Jo about it ..” and it was then, right on cue I rang.  These are the moments that make life extraordinary!

What am I acknowledging?

Be careful what you wish for.  On the weekend I decided to cut back on my exercise this week.  I was “reading” the signs of adrenal fatigue within my body and wanted to ease back before going over the edge.  My choice was supported by a series of events that made it very easy for me not to do much at all, my week usually looks like this

Sunday: 5 – 6km run

Monday: Boxing class followed by yoga

Tuesday: Gym session

Wednesday: Boxing class

Thursday: 4-5 km run followed by netball game

Friday: Yoga

instead it looked like this

Sunday: Spent at an outdoor concert under blue skies, sipping wine and nibbling on homecooked treats

Monday: Sat on couch, drank a cup of tea and munched on a cookies and cream magnum (

Tuesday: “Nursed” sick child

Wednesday: Boxing cancelled

Thursday: Netball only due to “nursing” sick child

Friday: Yoga

I have enjoyed almost every moment of not doing something, although starting to feel a little edgy and looking forward to run on Sunday.

What was missing?

Self control when it came to snacking – a little loose on the food choices this week.

What small change can I make for next week?

Less snacking on chocolate and more stretching

Let me be clear: these mums were not friends or even close acquaintances. They’d never exchanged more than a few words. And yet stay-at-home mum was investing energy in defending herself against imagined opinions. Why did she care what working mum did or did not think of her?

Why do we care?

Specifically, why do women care so much about what other women think of our choices?

I’m no longer surprised when I meet a woman for the first time and, in response to the usual friendly enquiries about work, family, etc., I hear what sounds like justifications of life choices: “I used to work but now I’m staying at home with the kids because…” “I’ve gone back to work part-time because…”

I want to reach out, gently touch her shoulder and say, “You don’t need to explain yourself. What I think about your choices shouldn’t matter to you.”

You get to decide whose opinions really matter to you. Choose wisely.

In my mid-twenties, I started a relationship with a man who was not my husband and, as eventually happens, the affair came to light. To complicate matters, I had not strayed far from our marital social circle and the situation became public knowledge. Each time I left the house, I became more and more worried about bumping into certain people. What must they think? What will I say? Anxiety became a constant companion.

Finally I decided I had enough to work through without piling on all these opinions, imagined or otherwise. I asked myself, who really matters to me? The answer: my parents (all four of them!), my two best friends, my husband (though we were living separately) and one of our mutual friends.

Once I was clear on whose opinions mattered to me at that point in my life, I began to breathe a little more deeply.

No woman is an island

This is not about going it alone and never giving consideration to the opinions of others. Honest advice, given with our best interests in mind, from people we respect, is a wonderful thing.

Interestingly, at least half the people on my list at the time of my separation were not supportive of my choices. Even so, knowing whose opinions really mattered to me meant I could turn down the volume on the other voices of judgment (real and imagined), and more calmly focus on making the best decision possible.

Now, on the other side of 40, my list is even simpler: me (I didn’t make the list of my 25 year old self!) and Andrew, my partner-in-crime 15 years ago who remains my life partner.

The question is: have you decided whose opinions really matter to you (and given up worrying about the rest)?

Living savvy is not about unsustainable overhauls – it’s about the small changes we can make to create a life that is a little more fulfilling, a little more satisfying and a little more joyful.

Each Monday I share a few simple ideas I have to fine-tune my own ordinary to live extraordinary this week, and I hope you will  share yours!

Before I celebrate Mothers day with my little family on Sunday, drop very clear hints on the gift that will make the day sparkle all that brighter.

Make a big pot or two of some very hearty and wholesome soup (perfect for these cooler evenings)

Live a little gently this week, I will keep moving but limit the strenuous exercise

A weekly tradition where we pop the cork on the week that was, celebrate what worked, reflect on what didn’t, and look forward to a sparkling new week of possibility.  I hope you’ll join me  and share your reflections in the comments.

What am I celebrating?

Since last night, my home has been filling with family and friends.  We will be spending the weekend sharing a mixture of scheduled activities and celebrations (concert in the park and Bella’s confirmation / first communion ceremony) and spending the rest of the time “playing it by ear” and doing things that feel right for the moment.

What am I acknowledging?

That an active family of four, creates a lot of washing.  I know very banal, but this week I wondered many times how can a”normal” size family create so much washing?  So I got counting, take yesterday for example, kids PJ’s x 2, swimming costumes from morning lessons x 2, school uniforms x 2, tennis clothes from afternoon lessons x 2, Andrew’s work clothes, my running clothes, my work clothes, my netball clothes and if I do yoga I will through them in too not to mention 1 set of double sheets and 1 set of Queens size sheets from the kids room.  Phew!!  I am very thankful for the washing machine.  Once I asked my grandmothers what “invention” made the biggest difference to their lives, I thought they would say the washing machine given my fear of mine ever breaking down, no that was not their answer, it was the fridge.

What was missing?

Sticking by my rule that if I have to think for longer then 10 seconds on this then my week is complete.

What small change can I make for next week?

I need to follow up with some health appointments – a long overdue trip to the dentist and chiropractor.

Living savvy is not about unsustainable overhauls – it’s about the small changes we can make to create a life that is a little more fulfilling, a little more satisfying and a little more joyful.

Each Monday I share a few simple ideas I have to fine-tune my own ordinary to live extraordinary this week, and I hope you will  share yours!

This week is very experiential

Enjoy the company of family and very special friends who will be filling my home by the end of the week

Enjoy a belated birthday lunch in the city with two very savvy ladies

Dance, sing and be merry at The day on the Green on Sunday

A weekly tradition where we pop the cork on the week that was, celebrate what worked, reflect on what didn’t, and look forward to a sparkling new week of possibility.  I hope you’ll join me  and share your reflections in the comments.

What am I celebrating?

My version of living on the edge….went to the beach without a spray tan, going two weeks between an eyebrow wax and purchasing a strapless all in one black harem pants suit (my 8 year old daughter laughed and my friend rasied her eyebrows when she saw it – I like it!).

What am I acknowledging?

Staying grounded in my thinking, not over thinking things and getting caught up in worry and enjoying the sense of being.

What was missing?

Not a book, thanks to my friends personal library.  Strong exercise sessions, listened to my body and rested when needed and spent ANZAC day at the beach…a complete week.

What small change can I make for next week?

Last week I wrote

Make more space to write and chip away at my work to do list.

More of this.

When I am coaching someone, very often an issue will come up that will have me searching through the archives for a post best suited to help my client work through the process of Living Savvy, supporting them to ask, do, discover, commit & celebrate.

Stressed out. Over loaded. Too much to do and too little time to do it. I experience this myself, and I hear it from family, friends and coaching clients. So many women are feeling the pressure of keeping up with family, work, social and community commitments. In a busy schedule, the first thing to be sacrificed is personal time. Particularly, personal recovery time. Time to be alone and free of any obligations. Time to unwind, rest, reflect or even play.

We know it’s good for us (and for our loved ones as well)

Of course, we know we’re no good to our family or friends if we burn out. Staying healthy, performing at our best and maintaining a positive outlook, means making time to step away from everyday stresses and simply relax.

But this is about much more than just keeping the take-care-of-everyone-else machinery running. Unlocking our potential to live extraordinary requires deep questioning and quiet reflection (hard to squeeze into a tight schedule). Quality ‘time out’ provides the vital space needed for new understandings and insights to emerge.

Sounds great, but who has the time?

It’s a nasty catch-22, isn’t it? I find that just when I need it the most, just when I’m busiest, it seems impossible to find any time for myself.

The good news is that creating space to unwind and reflect does not mean overhauling your life. You don’t have to spend a week on silent meditation retreat nor a weekend at an expensive health spa (though either one might be nice in the right circumstances!).

In fact, I’ve learnt that making the most of the ordinary moments in your day can produce more powerful results than grand once-a-year holidays.

Begin with a brief daily appointment

This is an appointment with you, and it’s one you should to keep as diligently as you would an appointment with any other important person. It can be as little as fifteen minutes, though longer would be better.

The important thing is to establish a time and honour it. It’s time for you. Do something that brings you into the moment, something conducive to quiet contemplation (though you are not obligated to think about anything at all if you don’t want to), or something that simply makes you happy.

The only rule is: no multi-tasking! Slowly savour a cup of your favourite tea, go for a run around your neighbourhood, or capture your thoughts in a journal. Create this small, ordinary space in your day, every day, and you might be surprised by extraordinary shifts that start to take place.

Image by CoCreatr