What is the cost of saying yes, both tangible and intangible? In our voyage through the tricky waters of boundaries, saying yes to requests from others or to situations that arise when we actually would prefer to say no, is possibly one of the most difficult boundaries to maintain. If I say ‘yes’ to this,…
How often do you play The Comparisons Game?
How often do we play the comparisons game? You know how it works – I wish I was more/less like so-and-so If only I could…..like he/she can I can’t write/draw/play football/sing/cook/ as well as…….can I wish I was as handsome/fit/pretty/tall/short/thin as……. In reflecting back on our lives when we get to the end of them, if…
What is your word of the year 2025?
Once again we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year. There is an inexorable inevitability about this. One day follows another, a process we can neither slow nor stop. 2025 has gone – what word would you use to describe it? The Christmas festivities are passed. New Year celebrations are over. We are left…
The tastes and smells of Christmas…remind you of what?
It’s a very tasty and smelly time of year. And generally that makes me very happy. What are some of the tastes and smells of Christmas in your house? Our moods are affected most by what we take in through our senses. What we see, hear, smell, taste, and how we experience touch, can affect…
Enjoying Christmas with all our senses
Christmas is fast approaching – it is impossible to deny it now, despite my best attempts. What are your senses telling you as you go through this week? I absolutely love Christmas, but generally like to keep it to December. MB has been told that his favourite enormous Santa mug can be reintroduced to the…
How to live in the present in this season
How do we learn to live in the present, in this season? With all the uncertainty and instability in our world? And as Christmas rapidly approaches? One of the death bed regrets I have been musing on is regretting not making more of each moment that we live in. Do you crave the quiet enjoyment…
Become what you already are
Become what you already are. A bishop used this phrase on the radio this week, and it has stayed with me. We are more than half way through the year now, and the summer season, whatever that means to you, is here. For me, that means less time writing and shorter musings. The year is…
Why Contentment Matters: Skills for Modern Life
Should contentment be taught as a skill? This is a fascinating thought – that contentment, along with other life skills, could be on some kind of educational curriculum. Contentment matters, along with skills like emotional intelligence and resilience. These are cornerstone skills for modern life, equipping us to deal with the day to day pressures…
The Importance of Being Present in a Digital Age
When was the last time you bumped into someone on the pavement because you were both walking along looking at your phones? The need to raise the importance of being present in a digital age is such a 21st century phenomenon. But it IS important because it is another oft-cited deathbed regret: I wish I…
I wish I had taken more chances.
I wish I had taken more chances. Do you every feel like that? How does it feel to imagine getting to the end of your life and looking back at lost opportunities – the ‘what if’s, the fizzled out dreams? Not a very cheery place to start this week, I know. Sorry. But this stuff…