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5 Valuable Reasons to Indulge in Self-Reflection

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Self-Reflect_1Self-reflection gets a bad rap sometimes. It has many close cousins from wallowing and self-indulgence to over-analysing leading to self-doubt and paralysis when action is needed. But this is to ignore the benefits that a good ‘ole positive self-reflection can have on our lives if we’re prepared to heed what our deeper selves have to say and then make some alterations in our perceptions, how we approach life and/or others and how we live with ourselves.

There’s also a potential downside when maybe we don’t like what we see, but with an open-mind and the right attitude, these negative revelations can also be turned around. Indeed, it’s through these most challenging insights that the greatest gains may be made.

Get To Know Yourself Better

We all think we know ourselves well, but this often isn’t the case. Can you remember a time when, after an experience, you’ve wondered why you did or said something? Maybe you felt bad about your reaction or surprised at your depth of feelings in reaction to something someone said or did? If this is the case, then maybe that self-knowledge you believe you have isn’t as precise as you think. [Read more…] about 5 Valuable Reasons to Indulge in Self-Reflection

Friends

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Friends_1I’ve often alluded to the difficulties we may encounter when we start moving out of our comfort zone. We might lack confidence in what we’re about to do, our skills are likely to be under-developed or we could be facing opposition from others who are uncomfortable with the direction we’re planning to move in. All of these are very real feelings and present as obstacles that can, and will derail us if we allow them to.

But when it comes to the potential loss of support from friends, this can feel far worse than just not having the skills or a general lack of confidence.

Without the support of our friends, we may feel lonely and sometimes even that we are being reckless! After all, if others don’t support us and can’t see the merit in what we’re trying to achieve, we may wonder if it’s sensible to keep going.

Is this your experience? Do you sometimes question your intentions because of the negative or unsupportive stance of your friends?

Like others I have experienced this situation and felt these feelings too. Indeed, there have been times when my commitment to keep goingFriends_2 has not been strong enough to overcome the seeds of doubt which have been sown, and so, I’ve floundered and turned back, at least for a while.

But with this in mind, what might be out there, beyond our comfort zone that we can hold out for to help keep us going?

[Read more…] about Friends

Gloucester: Bucket List Challenge City 2

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Gloucester_1After a little research, Gloucester has been selected as the second of our Bucket List: Visit 12 UK Cities in 12 Months Challenge. Last month we spent a couple of days in Bristol as we are currently facing the challenge of shorter days and cold weather.  The cities we’re choosing are therefore closer to home than those we will visit during the Spring and Summer months.

Gloucester is a city of approximately 122,000 inhabitants, originally founded by the Romans. Its main attraction is the Cathedral which is a beautiful, grand building dating from 681. Gloucester also has an inland dock and numerous historical landmarks.

This trip was a ‘one-dayer’, and so we picked out a few things to do and see to get a feel for the city. We also wanted to build in a little fun. Here’s our itinerary for the day:

  • Leave at around 8am
  • Taster skiing lesson
  • Into Gloucester for lunch
  • A wander around the Docks
  • Visit to Gloucester Cathedral

A cold but sunny Saturday morning was a great start to our trip. The journey was clear and easy and we made good time. Once you cross the Severn and head into England, the landscape in the area is fairly flat with the Malvern hills framing the distance. Given the time of year, there were lots of trees with pretty displays of mistletoe, which seems to be quite prevalent in the area. [Read more…] about Gloucester: Bucket List Challenge City 2

Planning 2015 – are you ready?

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Planning 2015It’s time to start planning 2015!  The old adage that if you fail to plan you plan to fail starts to gather momentum at this time of year. As we advance towards the festive season, the busyness leading up to the big day takes over our lives and we often start to lose our way with our good intentions and plans. Couple with this, the increase in entertainment, food and general good cheer and it’s no wonder that things get a little out of control!

But as we all know, come January the 1st, we will all be feeling the effects of a tighter than usual waistband, our fitness levels will have succumbed to the allure of too many late nights and our good intentions to keep up with our homework, keep the clutter at bay or just be more mindful have drifted into no-mans-land!

We may also feel that we have run into an impasse and be questioning our life direction. We may want to make changes, but as yet we have not surfaced those changes into concrete plans and a list of actions.

Whether we like it or not, January is the time for planning 2015! Not just any old plan, but a life plan that specifies the things we want to have, see and do. We need a list of actions that will bring us to that place and we need to be ready to take action. But first and foremost, we must get planning! [Read more…] about Planning 2015 – are you ready?

Dealing With Criticism

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criticism0

Dealing with criticism is difficult.  It can cause us unhappiness and distress.  In my post today I’ve taken a fictional case study approach to exploring this area.

Marie sat opposite me sipping a cup of coffee, her eyes red and puffy from crying which, for now, had at least stopped.

“I’ve struggled to deal with criticism all my life.” She told me.

“Whether this was well-meant in the form of so-called (she highlighted the words) constructive criticism or a deliberate insult seems to have been irrelevant. Instead my automatic response was, and is, always to take it to heart and then to make the mental leap from initial indignation to upset and anguish.”

The tears threatened the edges of her mascaraed eyes once again…

“It’s as if I can’t rationalise what I’m being told in the moment and either can’t accept it as a fair point or I’m unable to come back with sensible reasons as to why it’s just not true.”

“But then, I can’t deny how, when I felt the criticism was undeserved, it has fuelled in me a desire to show the culprit that I am not guilty of the so called misdemeanour. This in turn has made me very determined and consequently made me push hard against my perceived barriers.” [Read more…] about Dealing With Criticism

Bristol: Bucket List Visit 12 UK Cities In 12 Months!

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You might have heard me mention in an earlier post that I’ve recently put a Bucket List together? I was inspired by other Bucket Lists I’d read and suddenly it had dawned on me that I needed more adventure in my life. My Bucket List grew out of this idea and now runs to a list of about 40 things I want to experience, have and do! I guess I’ll need to post my full list up at some point, but for today, I’m going to write about my first Bucket List Inspired Adventure!

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living.

Dale Carnegie

It started with the happy coincidence of the arrival of my birthday and the inevitable question of ‘what do you want for your birthday?’. It’s not often I yearn for a ‘thing’ for my birthday, if I need anything, like a lot of people I go out and buy it. Instead it’s more likely that I will want to do something and that usually means going out for a nice meal. But instead, this time I already had the beginnings of my Bucket List! I had an incomplete entry for ‘Visit xxx city’ that, with a little more thought had morphed into ‘visit 12 UK cities in 12 months’.

Wikipedia gave me lots of ideas for places to visit, in fact, far more than I expected as my ill-informed understanding had assumed that in order to be called a City, said city must have a cathedral. I now know that this condition relates only to cities recognised before 1888. However, I have since decided that the 12 cities I choose to visit must meet this condition.

So, with a little bit of research, a check on the budget and the amount of time we could be away the decision was made for my husband and I to spend two days in Bristol. [Read more…] about Bristol: Bucket List Visit 12 UK Cities In 12 Months!