Unschooling moment

Or maybe a deschooling moment. T got me an iPad for my birthday (woohoo!!), totally unexpected and I couldn't talk for about five minutes. My jaw just hit the floor. It was one of those wish list things but not really on my current wish list - more somewhere in the fuzzy future wish lists. I have been so excited at the possibilities and freedom it gives us for work. That's our main goal at the moment - to set ourselves up so we can travel anywhere, anytime while still being able to conduct business. I love this technology.

I have been downloading podcasts to listen to and am soooo excited about this. It has taken me into a whole new realm of learning possibilities. I have always had in the back of my mind that I would one day go to uni - in my mind the only thing stopping me was the fact that I can't pinpoint one subject passion. I love psychology, history, forensic science, biology, anthropology, travel, languages - French and Italian, literature and more I can't think of just at the moment. Very hard to do a uni degree encompassing that lot :)

As I move more and more into unschooling and fresh off getting home from the First Ever Australian Unschooling Conference and reading Dayna Martin's book Radical Unschooling - A Revolution has Begun, I was up until 2am listening to podcasts! I literally had to give myself permission to stay up this late. I was lying in bed at about 11pm (late for me, usually 10pm) thinking passionately about all of the fabulous free podcasts I have downloaded and getting excited about listening and suddenly gave myself permission to get up and do it NOW, not tomorrow or next week, but NOW. I know this probably sounds bizarre but I had a very strict bedtime all through childhood, even into my twenties and early thirties (self-imposed then but deeply ingrained) and spent those years with the belief that I would be tired, I would be tired if I didn't get enough sleep and guess what? My refrain was always, "I'm so tired". I am feeling excited and joyful this morning after about five hours sleep and that is so against my normal mindset. I feel like I have had a breakthrough in both understanding myself and where I've come from and with unschooling/deschooling myself.

Uni is getting pushed further and further into my future, not with regret or disappointment, but with excitement, passion and joy at how easy it is to gain knowledge when, where and whatever you want with the technology that we have available to us. I love unschooling myself probably more than watching the kids learn freely.

Love Karen

Fun!

Here is my new goal - more fun! I want to dance, skip, laugh, be myself without censorship. My daughter is playing T's guitar, singing songs - her words - "do you love me? I love you so much, we are friends, we will hopefully be friends forever." All to a beautiful tune. It is all so precious.

We had a lovely day today celebrating a little friend's birthday. The mums, dads and grandparents chatted and helped make the little girl's day so special. The 15 or so children changed dynamics on a constant basis - older boys being chased and playing with little girls, two girls playing together cracking macadamias, big groups of children playing on the trampoline, little groups playing dress up in the bedroom, snuggled up watchng a movie, joy at pass the parcel, enthusiasm, laughter, friendship, warmth, decorating cupcakes.

What more is there to life, seriously?

Inspired by The Biggest Loser

I have to admit I LOVE The Biggest Loser. I don't watch much television but I love seeing those unhappy, overweight people go from life threatening obesity and depression to thinking more positively, changing physically and mentally completely, overcoming their biggest fears and achieving massive goals. It really inspires me. I was watching this year's competition and their goal was to run a 42km marathon after 12 or so weeks. Some of them couldn't even walk 4km at the start without throwing up so to see them achieve a marathon had me in tears over and over again as they crossed the finishing line. I was so excited for them.

Which gets me thinking. I know I don't have masses of weight to lose. I know I am quite fit and healthy compared to many women my age but I look at those people on the television, some who are still 20 or 30kg heavier than I am and they are finishing a marathon!! While that sounds like a doable task, while I was watching the marathon episode, I hopped on the walker for an hour and walked what I thought was quite a good pace and only walked 6km in an hour. That means it would take me at least 7 hours, that's if I could keep at the pace of 6km an hour the whole way, let along getting through the mental barriers. My admiration for these competitors increased immensely as some of them finished it in 5 hours. I was amazed.

So I have set myself another goal. I want to be physically and mentally strong enough to walk/run a marathon. First of all, I thought about doing it on my walker and just plod along. Then T suggested I do it around Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra which is 35km around and would be not only different scenery so I would get less bored but I would be out in the fresh air as well. I would just have to make up the other 7km by doing a bit further.

I have googled beginner marathon runner websites as I have never been a runner, the furthest I have ever run is about 500m (gulp!) but I don't mind walking as much as I can and then break into a run where possible. I am going to train for the next three to four months and see what happens. Anyway, it's good to have lofty goals - even if I make half a marathon, it's more than I have ever done. I'm really excited about this and have the support of the kids and T so we'll see!

Great North Walk Hornsby to Crosslands

Yay, we started back working on one of my goals - to walk the Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle. The last time we did a leg of it was about 18 months ago. Last year we were quite overwhelmed with the trampolining commitment but this year we are determined to get quite a few legs done. After yesterday we have completed 51km out of 250km so a fair way to go.

We were laughing about our "date" as we had K minded and the boys just stayed at home. It was so lovely to have a day just the two of us, in the bush where it is so peaceful and quiet and just talk, walk and exercise without being interrupted.
The scenery as usual for this walk passed by and over a lot of water which always makes it a pretty walk.

This walk had a few extra challenges with a ladder helping us go down this tricky section.
Even though it was overcast most of the day and a lovely temperature, it was still humid and this little waterfall was a welcome relief for cooling us down.
This was the last section of the walk, lovely and flat, a nice stroll alongside a river. We really enjoyed it after the medium to hard grade up and down sections we had been through. This was the hardest leg of the walk so far, being 14km long and through Galston Gorge but we really enjoyed it. My perfect date - great company with my favourite man, exercising physically and mentally and walking surrounded by nature.

Random Acts of Kindness

I love random acts of kindness. I always get feel-good hormones rushing through my body when I see one and wish I had done it myself. I would love to become more creative when it comes to helping others. Apparently it has been scientifically proven that feel-good hormones are released not only by the person receiving the random act and the person doing the act but also by people witnessing it as well. So get out there and spontaneously give, you never know how many people are watching and are being made to feel better. I think this is especially relevant to our children watching us. The seeds we are sowing today will show up later in their lives.

I have been trying to think of a way I can discreetly help our next door neighbour who has just lost her husband to a brain tumour. She has gone away for a break to visit family and I am looking after her chooks and getting her mail, but I do those every time she goes away (although she hasn't been away for a long while with her husband so sick). I can't cook and she is gluten free anyway so on a very specific diet, she was overwhelmed with flowers, even giving me some as she had too many and I really don't know her that well to get her something small, just enough for a quick chat over the fence.

Today I wanted to let the chooks out for a run as they are in a rather small coop but there has been a cat stalking birds in her back yard and there was no way I was going to let them run without me watching them so I started to pull a few weeds out of her garden. It turned into a two hour job with the place looking really tidy when I had finished and I really, really enjoyed it. I'm sure she will notice but if she doesn't that is fabulous. I know I have done something little to help as at the moment she is quite overwhelmed with the grieving process, writing thankyou letters, etc. At least this is one job she won't have to do for a while. I am also going to mow her lawn in a couple of days, if it doesn't rain.

I would love to incorporate more random acts of kindness into my life and want to be really creative with it. T and I have already discussed putting a tidy sum of money in an account next financial year to give where needed (paying others' bills anonymously, donating equipment to sports clubs and other things dear to our heart) and I am really excited about that but often it is not just money that makes a difference but time as well. Listening to someone, running them some place, helping out, having a coffee and a chat. Not just strangers, family as well. I will post more random acts of kindness (where possible, if not anonymous) as they occur. I like the whole pay it forward concept - instead of a fuss being made and people finding it hard to accept that someone would be kind to them, think of some way to help someone else. I get kind of embarrassed when people make a fuss, just something else I need to work on :)

How Quickly Life Changes

Last year, especially towards the end of it, I was so overwhelmed. It was an extremely busy year with M's commitment to trampolining - three or four training sessions a week plus competitions most weekends - D transitioning to more independence, cadets 45 mins drive away each way every week plus sporting commitments, one of T's employees passing away giving way to not only grieving for our friend and employee but increasing his workload again and K becoming more and more ready for more input with her education requirements and stimulation rather than being content to play for long periods of time on her own.

I took a long hard look at where I could make changes, visualised what I wanted more of (time, peace, less commitments outside the home) over the Christmas break and lo and behold we have naturally made massive changes. Both older boys are now working casually at a local fast food place, catching buses there and back and D is often catching the bus or train to his sports and cadets due to lack of time between work finishing and those starting (eliminating the need for me to take him). I am still very happy to take him but he organises his time and transport and calls on me as a last resort. M is still continuing his studes by getting up earlier, working several hours a day and training in the evenings. We are very aware of him burning out so are quite happy to reduce his work hours if this is happening. His trampolining and studies are the priority at this stage of his life. N is working with T one day a week doing odd jobs and taking some of his school work over there with him to do between jobs, reducing the need for me to be completely responsible for his education and leaving me time to spend with K.

We have also employed a young man to train to do sales and take the pressure of T with the business and he is working out wonderfully. We plan to look after him really well so he can remain a part of our small team. We have just been able to take a two week break after seven years in business without the phone ringing constantly. It was fantastic and we really appreciate and value how much that is worth.

So, visualise how you want your life to be and it will come to be in ways you can't imagine at the time. Take time out to reflect what you want, what's working and what's not and you will be amazed where your thoughts will lead.

Love Karen

Vision Boards

Mine












We all got a vision board for Christmas along with our gratitude journals. They came with about 100 inspirational sayings and words which you can choose, along with some instructions to choose photos, pictures or words to describe what you want to do, be and have. We finally got around to doing it today and it was great. I read out all of K's (5) words and sayings and she chose those she loved - dance, music, truth and sparkle to name a few and asked for descriptions on all of the words she didn't understand. Then she placed them on her board (with a bit of help from me) and decorated it with feathers and jewels. She didn't quite get the concept of choosing pictures so she could visualise things she wants but she lives such a great, free, easy life with the majority of her needs met so I think she sees the world as abundant already. Her board will obviously evolve over time but I was really thrilled to watch her choose certain terms through either an affinity with those words or her intuition or just that she liked the sound of the word.

D (17) did his a couple of weeks ago in secret and surprised me with the finished product. I wasn't sure if he would do it but was absolutely thrilled when he presented it to me. Some of the words and sayings inspire him, some he knows he needs to work on and some of the pictures of things he wants are already on their way to happening.

N (13) and M (15) also took a lot of care in choosing from the wide range of sayings. Things that are relevant to where they are in life right now, things they want to work on and things that inspire them were also chosen. They googled images to print out, colour and put on and cut out pictures from magazines to either match their words or set goals for the future. I was amazed at some of the discussions that this project instigated and got to know my kids a little bit more. It became quite evident that they really do have their own thoughts, feelings and values and I can also see the influence their own life experiences have had on where they are right now.

I have started my own as well, cutting out a heap of pictures and just need to go through my sayings and words (or make up my own) and arrange it on my own board. Powerful stuff! (Finished now)




D (17)




M (15)




N (13) Not quite finished





K (5)

New Habits

I really don't know what has made such a big difference to my commitment and personal transformation over the past year. Maybe it was because we lost our dear friend and employee from cancer last May. I know his journey and death was a definite impetus to begin transitioning to raw food. I had been questioning my diet for a while and was planning on using the couple of weeks in Queensland to spend some time reading some sort of vegetarian/vegan book when I stumbled upon a raw food/lifestyle book in Byron Bay (of course).

I read it from cover to cover and it ranged in topics from lifestyle choices to environmental choices to dietary choices - juice feasting and fasting - and recipes. We had a juice bar under the apartment we were staying in so started having a juice for breakfast every morning. I'm not sure if it made a difference but the fact that I thought it made a difference was the key - may have been mind over matter. It just continued to flow on from there.

I had a dream a couple of nights later and woke up in a cold sweat with the thought that I had to give up alcohol which I managed to do for about five months and have that as one of my goals for this year. The changes were slow but gradually I added many of the ideas of the raw food lifestyle into our lives, avidly read articles on the internet, downloaded many MP3 recordings of people who have blissfully lived this way for decades and subscribed to blogs from experienced raw foodies.

As synchronicity happens, I did some work for a girlfriend and the pay was quite poor so she paid me in books of my choice - aaaah, what you wish for is granted. Naturally I chose a whole lot of raw food books or authors who have a more natural lifestyle - Brigitte Mars Rawsome, Angela Elliott Alive in 5, Shazzie Detox Your World and Jean Liedloff The Continuum Concept.

So here are 12 things I have transitioned into my life over the last 9 or so months:

1. Fasted for 3 days twice - Day 1 Water, Day 2 Juice (apple and watermelon), Day 3 Fruit (apple and watermelon), Day 4 Fruit until midday then break the fast with a big green salad.
2. Daily skin brushing - with the skin being the largest eliminating organ in the body, it makes sense to me to slough off the dead outer layers.
3. A green smoothie or green juice every day - check out Green Smoothie Revolution or take the 14 day Green Smoothie Challenge. What I like about it is that is not taking away from your usual diet, it's just adding in one small thing a day but makes a huge difference to energy levels, skin condition and eliminating toxins from your body.
4. Organic shampoo and conditioner - free from all of those nasties.
5. Natural deodorant - aluminium free.
6. Natural skin products - free from all of those nasties.
7. Organic food where possible and eating 80% raw most days. And yes, it can be more expensive but I shop around for specials and in season produce as I have always done. We tend to eat a lot LESS these days, our food is full of nutrition so there is less required to keep filling up on empty calories.
8. Created a food garden - with lots of love I have grown celery, lettuce, rocket, kale, spinach, bok choy, zucchini, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, aloe vera, mandarin tree and herbs - rosemary, lavender, thyme, lemongrass, basil, parsley and marjoram. I have also done a lot of sprouting - mung beans, alfalfa, wheatgrass, sunflower seeds, nuts, etc
9. Colonic hydrotherapy treatments - I had 3 last year and found them to be uncomfortable at first (a lot of these changes are way out of my comfort zone)but quite addictive as I got used to it. I am going to have another 6 on a weekly basis later this year just before allergy season to see if I can make it through without all of the toxins in my body.
10. No more plastic bottles for water - we have all changed to stainless steel bottles.
11. Supplements - Vit B, St John's Wort and a Woman's Hormone Balancer.
12. Writing in a gratitude journal daily. This has helped immensely in bringing a sense of peace into my life. By looking at what I like about something or someone instead of focusing on the negatives and complaining my whole attitude has changed. There is less anger and definitely a sense of well being that has replaced it. I have always seen the bright side of life but now it is infinitely brighter.

What has been the biggest factor in the way I feel now? Who knows? A combination of all of them, I'm sure. But the point is that they are all small changes I have made and the results are I have a lot more energy and have lost about 7kg. I used to dread preparing and cooking dinner and now I literally do it with love and bliss as I pick ingredients from my very own garden and know that everything I'm eating is full of life force and I am seeing my kids learn the difference between live food that will nourish their body and convenient prepackaged food that tastes good for the couple of minutes they are eating it and then makes them feel off afterwards so they are becoming aware of their bodies in a whole new way. That gives me simple joy.

There are a few other things I want to incorporate but I feel I have the time, focus and direction now to just let it flow into my life as it will. I am having so much fun.

Love Karen

Following Your Own Path

I have been really enjoying The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho as recommended by Brian Johnson of The Philosopher's Notes. It is a book about our journey through life, the search for our own personal treasure and the importance of following our hearts when travelling towards our dreams.

Here's a little excerpt which I love:

"Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him," his heart said. "We, people's hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them - the path to their Personal Legends, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.

"So, we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won't be heard: we don't want people to suffer because they don't follow their hearts."

"Why don't people's hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?" the boy asked the alchemist.

"Because that's what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don't like to suffer."
From then on, the boy understood his heart. He asked it, please, never to stop speaking to him.

Paulo Coelho from The Alchemist

What is your Personal Legend? Do you know it already or are you still searching?

May you always be able to hear you heart whispering.

Love Karen

Judgement

I come across a lot of judgement in my life. From what I understand from my extensive reading of spiritual, inspirational and motivational material over many years this is because I am judging others and it is therefore a reflection of what I do in my own life. As I am aware of this I have analysed this a lot. I know I try really hard not to judge others. I strongly believe that everyone is on their own path and makes decisions based on their own knowledge at the time, life experiences up until then and family of origin experiences.

I think it is natural to be aware of what others choose to do and question whether that would fit into your life according to your values, in other words testing the strength of your own values, or dismissing it as it does not fit your model of the world. Is this rejection of others' values judgement? I'm not sure.

I have started quietly questioning the judgement I feel has been directed towards me by expressing myself more freely with confidence and clarity and have been pleasantly surprised when after the discussion I can see that my conviction is actually admired, not being put down. Previously I have held my tongue and stewed over careless comments on the way I choose to live my life, losing sleep over what I could have said or done and what I would do better next time but, of course, next time never comes and I just end up really tired and cranky :)

I still have a long way to go to set boundaries over what I will accept as reasonable but have been given lots of opportunity already this year, probably because I made a decision at the beginning of the year to start setting these boundaries. And guess what? The world has not caved in.

Love Karen

Dreams

"What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'

"Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested."

The boy remembered an old proverb from his country. It said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.

Paulo Coelho from "The Alchemist"

Don't give up on your dream. It's just around the corner.

Love Karen

Bike riding

We have been doing some great bike rides lately. Last Friday we cycled to Speers Point Park for a get together with a bunch of home schoolers. Yesterday we cycled to Blackbutt Reserve, again a picnic with home schoolers. Today T, K and I rode into Hamilton for some brekky at our favourite cafe then decided to try out the new section of the Fernleigh Track from Adamstown down to Redhead.

What a fantastic ride. Long slow grades that were very easily managed and great hills to ride down the other side. It was great to see so many families out enjoying it as well. It rained quite heavily in one section but it was so refreshing after a hill climb. We made it all the way to the beach at Redhead, had a play in the park and a walk along the boardwalk, then back home, stopping at Jesmond for a very late lunch.

Just hopped out of a deep bath filled with bubbles and had K reading me a story. She was laughing the whole time because I am usually the one reading her a story while she's in the bath. The temptation became too great for her and she stripped off and sank slowly in with me with a contented sigh saying, "This is delaxing - that's delicious and relaxing."

That's me for the day.....

Love Karen

Peaceful day

Cool breeze off the lake
Hot summer's day
Large shady trees
Children's bubbling laughter
Renewing friendships
Quiet murmur of inspirational conversation
Nourishing living food to nibble on
Hot and sweaty riding home
Challenging
Relaxing
Peaceful
Fulfilled
Blissful life

Baby Steps

I am sitting here watching the Australian Open tennis marvelling how at such a high level each point is vitally important. Every point represents a baby step to the ultimate goal, winning the match. This can be translated to any area of your life - step by step, any goal can be reached.

When I was 30, I decided I was going to fulfill my fifteen year dream of visiting Europe, mainly France, for my 40th birthday. I loved French classes at school and had a funny, caring, inspirational French teacher and I never stopped questioning him about his experiences to do with France. It was like I had a connection to that country. At 30 I was a single mum with two young boys, 5 and 3 years old and I was a stay at home mum at the time, my values being I wanted to be there for them at such a young age. There was no way, on a pension, I could imagine how to save for a European holiday but I was absolutely determined. Step by step, I methodically put away whatever I could towards my dream.

As it turned out, my husband and four children ended up coming with me - the three boys on the proviso that they save their airfare and spending money. It took them three and a half years to do it by saving pocket money, Christmas and birthday money, washing cars, taking people's garbage bins in and out and baking and selling cookies but I'm so glad (and so are they) that I set the bar that high. I can see in their ideals now how much of an effect it has had on their goal setting and savings capacity. Also, I didn't require my little dream fund after all. We were able to take the money out of our business as dividends to pay for it. At 30, I could have never imagined where the money was going to come from to provide the fabulous experience we had but I strongly believe that setting the intention with complete conviction and taking baby steps to achieve that manifested the experience beyond my expectations.

Spanish Steps Rome

The Italians were lovingly fussing over D climbing the steps on his crutches, directing him to the nearby lift. D just said, "But then I would have missed out on the experience of climbing them."

Another area of my life I take baby steps in is my health and fitness. Daily habits of diet and exercise are really important to me and I notice that when I let these habits slip, other areas of my life are affected in a negative way. That doesn't mean complete discipline. If I miss a couple of days of exercise, there is no guilt or beating myself up. Just move on and start again tomorrow. Transitioning to a higher raw lifestyle at the moment, I have set myself a goal of one new recipe a day so that I can increase my repertoire of quick, easy and delicious healthy meals and is another step by step process. A little bit each day adds up to a massive difference by the end of the year.

There are many other areas this can also be applied to - starting a business, parenting, home educating your children, walking the Great North Walk one leg at a time - one baby step at a time can lead to massive results.

Love Karen

My Parents Rock!

Mum and Dad have often inspired me but it really hit home what great role models they are after a phone call the other day. Backing up a little, they have spent the last seven years travelling around Australia in their motorhome, being away for up to sixteen months at a time down to shorter trips of three months or so. They have had such an awesome time and, I suppose because travelling is one of my highest values, I have really admired their openness, willingness to explore and their ability to enjoy life and laugh a lot, especially at themselves. Anyone who is a traveller knows that there are often things that are not faced in your ordinary life that need quick answers and a great degree of flexibility and patience and my parents have ample.

They are not made of money, just average retirees but have made some smart decisions. They downsized their family home before travelling to reduce costs and maintenance and create cash to have a great lifestyle rather than "saving it for their kids". They have created a fantastic life with the resources they have and have a wonderful positive attitude and mindset which I think adds to their rich life.

They sold their motorhome last year and are now more settled in their lovely little house. Dad has always had passions and immerses himself in them 110% - at the moment it is orchids - growing, breeding, constantly learning everything there is to know. Mum is doing computer classes and often rings me excitedly with little tips on how to do a shortcut for something.

To get back to the phone call. They have decided to do something special every month this year. Early February they are going on a river cruise on the Hawkesbury River, late February they are off to Tasmania, March they are going to the Mornington Peninsula to do some bushwalking and April they are going hot air ballooning and climbing the bread knife at The Warrumbungles (see pictures here). Dad's had two knee replacements but they bike ride regularly and Mum does yoga as well plus lots of walking. That's all that is organised so far but I have no doubt that the rest of the year will be filled with more exciting adventures. Last year we bought tickets for the three boys to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge and as T and I had already done it, Mum and Dad were very quick to put up their hand to escort them. They also didn't hesitate to come to Adelaide in September to see M (14) in the National Trampolining Championships and when M was violently ill the day before it started and we were doubtful that he would even compete, Mum and Dad said, "Oh, well, at least we'll have a nice week down there with you."

They are both coming up to 70 and I am proud to say that they inspire me regularly.

Love Karen

Being Inspired

I have been immersing myself in motivational and inspiring reading/MP3s and work since about September last year. It started with my bestie Global Jewels asking me to transcribe all of Dr Joe Dispenza's work from a Video Q & A show he has as one of his products. There were 25 hours in total of talk time which equates to over 100 hours of typing time. Dr Joe made the movie What the Bleep, has written a book called Evolve Your Brain and is about to release another book called Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. He writes from a very scientific perspective which suits me because I like to know how things work in the body, as well as describing the quantum field and how it affects us, an amazing phenomenon.

So I have been re-inspired for life - to live the most ecstatic, blissful, purposeful life I can. I have always been a goal setter and a list maker and have achieved a lot of things this way but still feel I am falling way short of the mark. I think this has to do with having my baby girl five years ago. When I have babies, I tend to let it take over until I can manage adding a few things at a time. I have always read and kept educating myself informally but it's like my life is on hold until I have the energy/time/space to move into another direction. I find I can't have a career and children, it's one or the other. When I have tried to do both, because of my all or nothing personality, I have fallen in a heap. This time, I have been very careful to look after myself and have most of my needs met so as to manage for my sake and my family's.

As you can see, I have listed things that are inspiring me at the moment plus goals I would like to achieve in the short term. As I complete them, I will post a little update on how I went about it, they are really just reminders for me to follow through instead of just writing them on a list :) One of the goals is to write a list - I got that out of Philip Humbert's newsletter http://www.philiphumbert.com/Free/ and it's quite comprehensive. The reason I haven't done it (no, I'm not procrastinating) is that I am away next week and I have been thinking and brainstorming how I would like my life to be so when it comes to filling in those little boxes, I will be well prepared - that's a Virgo for you!!

One of the goals running around in my head is to inspire people this year. I have been blessed to have many people in my life who constantly inspire me - friends and family and also books, blogs, websites and MP3 recordings. I replied to a question on teens on one of my yahoo groups and, not only did quite a few people respond saying that my answer inspired them, but the moderator asked if she could publish it in an Australia wide magazine. Wow, the power of affirmations. I am constantly amazed at how easily things can manifest if they are put into the field of quantum phemomena, surrendering and not controlling the outcome. I had no idea how this inspiring other people would come about but had a good belly laugh full of joy when I received those emails in my inbox thanking me for my words. Very encouraging.

Looking forward to whatever else is going to unfold in this blissful, free, ecstatic journey.

Love Karen