FLOATING away in your personal Dinghy????

On the topic of inadequacy, lets look at some of those GIANTS that are blocking the way to us being totally adequate, live with confidence, good self esteem, happiness and just the amazing ability to laugh for the sheer pleasure of it.

Self-Sabotaging  = what does that mean?
(To self-sabotage is to behave in ways that are not in one's own best interest.)

Self-sabotaging falls into three categories:

The Floaters, The needy and The Workaholics

Today we focussing on...The Floaters: These are people who are unable or unwilling to take charge of their lives or make changes to their lives, they float through life taking what comes their way.  These people often become underachievers, convinced it's the best that they can do and are fearful of failure or rejection, they stay at jobs with inadequate pay with poor or nonexistent benefits, or in abusive and unfulfilling relationships. They avoid taking classes or bettering their education (for fear they would fail), don’t join groups (for fear they won't fit in), refuse to seek therapy (because it would be an admission of inadequacy), and may even be ashamed to be seen purchasing a self-help book and think its a whole lot of hogwash. With the result they remain stuck, repeating their mistakes, unaware of their self-defeating behavior, and unable to do things differently from the past.

So, how does one get off the dingy you floating in, remove the gumboots and rainjacket and take a bold step to change? One thing is for certain, soon than later that dingy of yours will get a puncture, deflate and where will that leave you?

Begin by being truthful to yourself. Start a journal today, with these topics (spend an hour a day) focus on them, ask yourself these questions, then start applying the positive thoughts to your life, step by step:

• what makes me a floater?
• how can I change?
• why I need this change in my life.

In any situation you find yourself in, look for truth, search for it deep in your heart. Let that truth of your heart flow, and you will see obstacles melt like ice.

Truth has strength and power of its own

If a truth sets you free, what does a lie do?

It binds you.

It will hold you against your will.

The truth let's you live life

to the fullest

your cheeks will be rosy

and you'll be smiling

but what about a lie?

A lie will hurt you

and your life will be dark and dreary

you'll look pale and sunken

and your face will show pain

A lie will bind you.

So then the truth shall set you free.

till next time...here's raising my cuppa to you.

Blessings!

 

So, you feel inadequate...not good enough hey?

Do you think you’re not as good as someone else? What’s new? 

We all feel this way at sometime. Don’t settle for the same old familiar tune of friends and family. Friends and family say they mean well and often what they say is honest. But does it really satisfy your emotional need?

When we are feeling inadequate what is really going on? It is not just a question of the glass half empty or half full. Either we haven’t lived up to our own expectations or we fear we won’t live up to our own expectations or maybe the expectations of others. Where do our expectations come from?

My expectations come from my self-image. I would like to excel in everything, well, mostly everything.  When I put my mind to it I have excelled at many things. Yet, have I excelled at being MYSELF?  Does that realization make me feel adequate? Not really.  When placed on disability from work how will I deal with the reality of the situation? How will this affect my family emotionally and how will they react toward me now that their tower of strength needs a tower of strength?

What then makes me feel adequate? Sometimes it is simple things like straightening the house and making the bed. Today it’s been the ability to take a shower without fear of falling, without people hovering outside just in case, today its getting this blog written tremors and all.

I have thought for days how I can take this blog to the next level. Now that I am writing, it is taking a form different than what I thought it would. This is not the first time a blog has written itself and come out differently.  Sometimes I’m concerned that what I would say would sound corny. Now I see those fears were a means for my unconscious thoughts to come up with a new answer. The answer for me to feel adequate seems that I must just go ahead and just do it. That means of course figuring out what you are afraid of, and finding a way to approach it.

When we feel inadequate we are also feeling overwhelmed. Yet, a huge task like putting a man on the moon wasn't done in a day. It took thousands of people working over a decade to make it a reality. The overall tasks seemed impossible. Yet when they broke it down into do-able parts it was accomplished.

So, when we feel inadequate how should we approach it? Well, we need to define the task, break it down into do-able parts, and get started.

This may seem right when we’re overwhelmed by a future task. I would define the task, to find my expectations, review the outcomes, look for lessons learned (from past experience), and celebrate my successes. We can always claim we tried. We can always identify factors outside and within our control that prevented us from reaching our expectations. Then we can design new strategies to prevent those things from happening again. This process is easier if you have somebody help you work it through, but let me tell you its even more rewarding just doing it, seeing the outcome and feeling great!

That is one of the tasks of a coach and that means you need not do it on your own, you have support.

What in your life is making you feel inadequate? How have you coped with your feelings of inadequacy in the past. How have you overcome them?  What wisdom can you add?

You feel you need a coach…im just an email away.

So, here's raising my cuppa to you as I sign off..

Blessings to you

YOU are just soooo awesome :)

Today, right now.......

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.

Sometimes, life hands you a chance. It hands you something amazing, you almost think it’s a dream, but no matter how much you pinch yourself, you don’t wake up. It’s moments like those that make life really worth living, because no matter how hard times get, there are always those miracle moments that lift you back on your feet.

So, as I raise my cuppa coffee to you, I ask, are you the passenger or the pilot in your life?

Its all about YOU in life, what happens in your life is only because YOU allow it. You are awesome, you are who you are, a special addition, carefully selectively designed by the Master Crafter of Life. 

"fix your face, you look like a blown up bull frog" she said

We all tend to walk about with these ridiculous negative thoughts about ourselves....

I remember as a teenager wearing specs, it was these rather big squariesh fashion (1970's) things not like we have today, elegant, streamlined or even contacts.  A teacher one day said to me," oh come on fix your face, you look like a blown up bull frog".  just because i was angry about something.  well, after that I stopped wearing my specs for a long time, because I had this hang up about how I looked.

Its took me a long time to realise, that what actually is important iswhat I think of me, myself and I, and when people are hurtful and say things to hurt others its because they themselves hurt inside, they themselves have hangups and insecurities.

Today, Im no teenager any longer, and heck I like who I am, where there are imperfections...there are ways to cover them up to actually show off the beauty, the amazing me..(no one will say i'm amazing, so i'm saying it *smiles*)

I challenge you today, make a list of all your imperfections, your hang ups, those negative thoughts that are holding you back ....then dump them or burn them or flush it down the loo...GONE and never to return.

Does it matter what others think of us? No

Does it matter what we think of ourselves YES.  when we are positive, believe in ourselves, we attract the positive to us, life becomes exciting, we see the beauty around us, we notice those that need a smile as we walk by....when we all negative we push people away and then thats why they only see the ugly.

Today you can have the power in your own hands to grasp the truth about WHO you are.  You are special, loved by God and carefully creatively designed, unique, a one of a kind.  Priceless and treasured.

Grab hold of that thought, believe it, its yours, given freely.

Blessings...and time to share my cuppa with you 

A broken tree can bear fruit

I saw this pic today and it really spoke volumes to me, it reaffirmed that feeling, that desire, to follow the passion burning in me by reaching out to people who are having to deal with their various disabilities, particularly our youth but also not neglecting people facing the changes and challenges to their lives suddenly, due to some progressive disability.

Despite the situation we find ourselves in due to the challenge of whatever disability we have, we need to identify and use the gift or talent we have so that the fruit from our "tree" can grow, develop and become that which we can depend on, day in and day out. 

If you good at woodwork or hairdressing, art or designing, or just simply need to do house sitting for people when they go away for weekends or holidays, then do it, God has given each of us unique talents or gifts, its because of God's grace that we can do these things.  You never know, the fruit from your efforts may just pay off.  

Let me share two things that happened in my life....

1. Due to doctors negligence my son suffered a lack of oxygen at birth, today, 23yrs later he is a well adjusted, capable, amusing, loving young man, he has his athletics which I believe fully, was the way God made up for the Doctors negligence, has a good job and works hard.  He also knows, that although he is achieving both work and sportwise, he needs to keep his feet firmly grounded, remain the person he is and always remember its thru God's grace that our broken bodies can bear fruit.
2. Again, doctors negligence, my mom suffered a stroke at the age of 45 they forgot to monitor her blood pressure during surgery...my mom was a "on the go" lady, made our clothes, designed her own hat and matching shoes and made it herself, she baked cakes which would put Mug n Bean to shame.  So, what was her gift or talent after all this tragedy in our lives, where she now only had tunnel vision, lost the use of her left hand and had moments of dementia.  She never lost her humor.  But, she became an intercessor, she had this amazing relationship with God, she daily did our washing and while hanging the washing on the line or taking it down mom would be praying, she would be talking to God, This has sustained me for most of my life now, 12 years now after her peaceful passing away, I still wish she was here to pray for us all.  

You see, our broken tree (our body) can bear much fruit, we just need to be willing to put that gift or talent to good use so that we can enjoy and reap the blessings.

Be blessed...here's raising my cuppa to you

How do you fill your cup?

It is often said, what you fill your cup with usually spills out.

So, I'm just wondering, who fills your emotional cup? how do you keep that cup filled with positivity, encouragement and support?  How often do you need a refresh, top up or refill?  Do you reach empty and say..."Ah, great that was just what I needed for today?

Taking care of yourself = keeping your cup full. 

 If you don't do things to keep your cup full, you will have nothing to give or share with others.

As we continue forward, pouring out of our cup to take care of everyone and everything around us, and notice that dry, cracked feeling at the bottom of our cup or seeing It’s bone dry, lets realise empty cups lead to burnout and breakdown. So before we get all angry and frustrated and resentful, we need to be strong enough to say, enough is enough

It’s our responsibility to take the time to do what feeds our soul – first.

When we do this, the world won’t fall apart.  People won’t hate us.  People won’t think we incompetent losers.  People won’t think we selfish.

When we do this, we happier. We have more energy to care for others.  We calmer.  Our body feels better.  Our mind is clearer.  People want to be around us because we giving off good, positive energy.

So the more we do for ourselves, the more we can do for others.  It’s one of Nature’s laws.

Speaking from my own personal, self interest:  Please go out and fill your own cup.  I, along with those close to you, will be glad you did.

Remember ~ Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks

Raising my cuppa to you
Blessings!
Romans 12.1

A scarecrow in our lives

Don’t let fear freeze you into paralysis. Hannah Hurnard, author of Hinds’ Feet on High Places, was once paralyzed by fear. Then she heard a sermon on scarecrows that challenged her to turn her fear into faith.

The preacher said, “A wise bird knows that a scarecrow is simply an advertisement. It announces that some very juicy and delicious fruit is to be had for the picking. There are scarecrows in all the best gardens.... If I am wise, I too shall treat the scarecrow as though it were an invitation. Every giant in the way which makes me feel like a grasshopper is only a scarecrow beckoning me to God’s richest blessings.” He concluded, “Faith is a bird that loves to perch on scarecrows. All our fears are groundless.”

Yes, I know what you thinking...."but you dont understand....!"  We all, if brave and honest about it, will admit, we all have fears, particularly in the day and age we live in.  Fear can be very crippling in your life.  Its like an infestation of ants and you just can not rid yourself from it.   I have a friend who is constantly afraid of his financial status and well being when he retires, people fear the dark or birds, I have a fear of heights and the list of peoples fears go on and on.

What is it that makes us fear? That grabs our gut and turns it into a knot, deprives many of sleep, makes us sick?.

Then reading the above note on the scarecrow, It dawned on me, that if a little bird can challenge a scarecrow which is to put fear in the little creature, why do we all allow fear to be our GIANT and what stops us from allowing our fear to take hold of us, and how are we going to conquer the scarecrow in our lives.. 

I think, its that little inner voice that whispers back and causes self doubt and fear at a low ebb of our circumstances, and its time that we face the Giant Scarecrow in our lives, be like the little bird and tweet away excitedly because the field is full of wonderful, exciting treats, show the scarecrow that while it stands there nothing stops us from challenging that which we fear.  

Still. we cannot do this on our own and in our own strength, we need to grasp tightly onto Gods' promises, we need to believe, have faith, speak the positive in our lives and know that God will never let us down, He is our Hope for today, tomorrow and always.

Blessings to you...raising a delicious steamy cuppa to you!

Shower Hour - Priceless

Today has been an exciting, daring, scary day since I hit gravity in July and broke my leg.

No one was home - my son went to visit a friend and my friends assisting me while "out of action",
went shopping.  I was bored and feeling really iffy with myself. So, I got a bee in my bonnet and with
the walker I hobbled to the bathroom determined to get into the bath and have a shower.
Ok, now you thinking, irresponsible, silly, wacky.......  I am not arguing or defending myself, I agree..what if I slip and fall etc.

So, I put the walker in the bath side ways, yep it fits...Cool bananas, I say.
Place a few towels on the floor for the water spill you know!
Strip, "right lady, lets get going, no turning back now",

Now close your eyes and imagine the scenario.....
sit on the side of the bath, swing left leg (thats the broken one) over the bath, hold onto
other side of bath with left hand, right hand hold onto walker (outside the bath)
swing right leg over...ooops oops bit slippery there, ok ,,,my legs are in,
push on both sides of the bath, and stand up (walker still outside the bath)
YES!  I explain to the air, Im in!

Turn water on, glorious, oh glorglorious! you have NO idea how amazing that felt,
gave myself a good scrub down and enjoyed that warm water flowing over me.  Oh thank you Lord, I murmur.

Water turned off, now how to get out?  and there my mind froze for a few moments.
Ok so if i got in from the left, I will need to get out from the right, i think.
Back to sitting on the edge of a wet bath edge,  swing good leg over, hold onto walker
and swing broken leg over.  The floor is wet, but thank heavens for the towels.
Laughing like a crazy woman, I was thrilled for taking the challenge.

For weeks I have been washing down from the hand basin.  I feel like someone with Happy Cow Syndrome.

When we are faced with challenges in our lives, sometimes it's necessary, to practice some patience, (seems like patience is a constant learning curve in my life), and when the time or situation is right, things will work out as it should.

greetings from a rather cold, wet and windy Cape Town...heres raising my cuppa coffee to you!

Not letting go - holding onto what was

I unashamedly admit, I am a great fan of Gordon Ramsay!  There ...I said it.
I watch each of his programs, oh I think he uses the F word way to much, but hey, F stands for Food.

I just finished watching one of the programs where Chef Ramsay assists struggling restaurant owners to refocus, think out of the box or close down.  This particular series was of a struggling Italian trying to keep the 55year old business going ...as his parents would have done.  He never had training, he worked in the restaurant after school, from the age of 8 and as he said, not to come home for lunch but to work. After the parents passed away, he just continued where they left off.   When his staff tried to address failures or suggest changes, he would respond by saying, "its my business, mind your business and get back to your job."   It was so sad to see him break down and admit to Chef Ramsay that he failed because of where he was emotionally, still thinking what mamma and pappa expected.  How he desperately was sending out that life line for survival, eager to survive.

As I am reflecting and sharing this with you, I realise how many of us find ourselves in a situation of denial.
Whatever it is, ... stuck in an unhappy situation at work, or relationship, the way we do things because thats all you know  or the way we think, because its been "impressioned" into our minds, the way we view life or people or situations.

Are we so afraid then of change?.  Is it too much to rise to the challenge? or are we afraid that change may change us?

I think, IF we are able to throw out that life line and say hey..im not loosing out because of the past, because of where I find myself today, because of what people say or think, IF we look past the here and now and look toward the horizon, we will surely realise we must live life to its fullest, responsibly, but with the permission we owe and allow to ourselves.

I leave this thought with you...as I raise my cuppa coffee to you...

Blessings  

My Gosh, am I Gobsmacked!

I received an account in the post a few days ago from my Neurologist, and shortly after, an sms from the medical aid to say the doctor claimed.  I was rather confused about this as the doctor is contracted out of medical aid and I have to pay R750.00 for every visit.  So, I contacted medical aid, nope they declined the payment which is R80.50c  ok, now the doctors rooms, the receptionist explains the amount is for services rendered.

•   "Yes, but what services?" I ask, "considering I paid cash for my consultation!"  "Oh", she replies, Dr charges for every script her writes, for every form he fills in, for every out of consultation phone call you make to him."  
• "What?", I say in a rather exasperated tone?  "Is he now becoming like a lawyer, charge for every breath I take"?  "My dear", she says to me, "please remember Dr is not a local GP, he is after all a Specialist, his time is very valuable!"

I am totally Gobsmacked, geez, since when?  Well,  apparently recently as he never did it before!!!

My Gosh, am I Gobsmacked.

So, that will mean, I see him for consultation of R750.00 (15min) he writes out my 6 monthly repeat prescription for my Essential Tremors R80.50 = R830.50   Who in their right mind walks about with  R830.50  C A S H, in todays life on the tight budget forced on us due to the 560% fuel increase over the past 15years, the rising cost of food, 3 peaches for R25, potatoes a pocket R50 !!

Crazy man...just totally insane!

So, after all this ranting, my thoughts turn to the average worker, the poor, the elderly, people with disabilities. How on earth do they cope let alone survive?  

This song came to mind, a song my mom and dad often sang....and if Gods eye watches over the sparrow, He sure will watch over us....and with these words below, I greet you...

Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for Heav'n and home?
When Jesus is my portion,
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He cares for me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy, (I’m happy)
I sing because I'm free, (I’m free)
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Verse 2:
"Let not your heart be troubled,"
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fear;
Though by the path He leads me
But one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Verse 3:
Whenever I am tempted,
Whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing,
When hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him,
From care He sets me free:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He cares for me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me

How do you choose to spend your day?

I recently read a rather touching and inspiring blog recently, where a father shared a thought regarding his son who is mentally challenged.  The father goes on to say:

"........yet in so many ways he is far wiser than I am. He has an intuitive knowledge of what is important in life. When we go out he looks people in the eye, calls them by name, and shares his smile far more easily than I do. He goes through life with a soul full of love, joy, and kindness that he gives to everyone he meets. He makes others feel better. He makes each day shine brighter. He makes this world more beautiful just by being in it. He may not understand everything in life, but he knows how to live happily and lovingly. He shows me everyday that life is simple. It is we who make it complicated.

You see, life is just the choices we make each day.

We can choose to love or we can choose to be afraid.

We can choose to help or we can choose to turn away.

We can choose to forgive or we can choose to hate.

We can choose to be kind or we can choose to be cruel.

We can choose to trust or we can choose to be suspicious.

We can choose to give or we can choose to take.

We can choose to serve or we can choose to be selfish.

We can choose to laugh or we can choose to sulk.

We can choose to cry or we can choose to hide our hearts.

We can choose to smile or we can choose to stress.

We can choose to be at peace or we can choose to be at war within ourselves.

We can choose to live or we can choose to just exist.

We can choose to believe God loves us or we can choose to live in doubt.

We can choose to shine our souls or we can choose to dwell in darkness.

We can choose to make this world more like Heaven or we can choose to make this world more like Hell.

It was very touching and inspiring to read this, and I hope by sharing it with you, you too would think how you wish to spend your day.

Blessings...here's sharing my cuppa with you

Laugh WITH me not AT me

Friday Humor

I decided on quite an interesting blog for today, lay awake during the night planning it, thinking of all the quirky things to say, and lo and behold,....yes the train of thought left the station .

*****************************

"So lets talk about me baby"..You see, not only did I meet gravity, I have been diagnosed with a progressive disease called Essential Tremors.  That means, my hands shake, my legs quiver, and sometimes I feel my head quiver, and I wonder is it nodding YES or shaking NO.  Ok thats just my sense of humor.  

At the age of 15 I fell on my back at school during PT class was knocked out for a few minutes, but that never phased "godzilla" the teacher.  One Sunday we had some youth over for lunch and I kept dropping my knife and fork, my cooldrink glass would wobble as I brought it too my mouth.  We just thought it nervousness because a guy I fancied was sitting next to me. 

Later, working for a large Mining Company in Johannesburg, secretaries were rotated to serve to all the very high profiled mining magnates, my turn came, I was extra super nervous, cups were these fancy bone china noritake stuff.  So, carrying a tray of 12 cups and saucers with saucers made a jovial ting-a-ling chiming sound, suddenly silence....and I mean S I L E N C E, everyone looked up (say about 48+ mining male big shots) and there I froze, and all you heard was ting,ting ting ting ting ting ting ting.  An elderly gentleman stood up, took the tray from me..."there there my dear, you relieved from tea duty"..well, if I could evaporate there and then I would of.

Years later, when my dad was diagnosed with Parkinsons, I thought, maybe thats what it is, cause the doctors could never pin point the tremors and make a diagnosis, medications and xrays, ct scans and mri i have been through it.

2007 I was attacked with chronic tiredness, tests, medication, tests, and more tests.  A lot of speculative diagnosis.  Finally, July 2012, I was so zombie like, just living because I had to, I thought at one stage I would never see the end of 2012.  The August I was referred to a Neurologist who assessed me and yes..more tests, placed me on medication.  I went from zero km p hr to 120 km p hr in like 4 months, ready to take on Julius Malema if I had too. 

It was a good 2013 until I hit gravity and broke my leg.  My shakes have deteriorated to such an extent I cannot write or sign my signature, its ziggity zaggity squiggles, my concentration span lasts from here to there and then I have to ask you to please repeat yourself, I am not forgetful, I just cannot focus, particularly when it is important things that need my attention. When i'm anxious or stress its aggravated even more, I have had to (shamefacedly) ask my ex and his wife to help me with managing my finances, and some independance is being challenged as I find it difficult to drive when my legs go all wobbledy gook on me.  Oh, try to drive and when you stop at a robot and you wonder how you got there, the journey in between is non existent.  Scary stuff...even I think so now that im actually sharing my thoughts with you.

Well, work has now become an impossibility for me, so I now need to hear if they will put me on disability retirement.  Lets hope and pray it all goes thru soon!

We have a joke here at home, a new energy saving mechanism to make milkshake, beat up cream, froth milk for coffee, just give it to me I will shake it up for you.

Is humor necessary when you have an illness or a disability?  What do you think?

as usual, its time to sign off,   raising my cuppa coffee to you

On a Journey from Frustration to Patience

Today has been one of those days ..........

Since breaking my leg and being wheelchair bound, I have been on a journey.  At first, I wondered what the reason was for this unexpected event in my life, and decided "well lady, you home bound, wheelchair reliant, lets see how we fare!"

The journey so far, has taken me

• thru valleys of self doubt and self pity, 
• short tunnels of depression - (short cause I make sure I quickly switch the headlights onto bright, I aint getting stuck in no darkness, no m'am, its way to scary.),
• along the highway with peace, serenity and clarity,
• then the pot holes of frustration, irritation and annoyance.
• Presently the GPS is set on frustration and leading me to the off ramp towards patience., 

Reflecting on the road map of my emotions, I am realising I need to take note of the beeps of the GPS, you know, when it warns you of pending roadblocks, speeding  cameras?  So, how do I avoid these pitfalls?      I decided I needed to do some self introspection and identify...

1. Why I feel frustrated?
2. What can I do about it?
3. How can I over come it?

mmmm, ignoring this, could lead to 1 of 2 things.  I just explode at everyone around me, make myself miserable and later....apologise, or talk about what is bugging me.  If I had to ask you which of the the two choices you would have chose, i'm so sure you would immediately say the second choice.  Yes it is the right course to take, however your fellow travellers have emotions too!

Luckily, as things turn out, there is a Pitstop at the turnoff to Patience, so I decide its time for a cuppa coffee and a piece of yummie mousse chocolate cake.  Over a cuppa I explain my frustration, and ask my travelling companions their input as to what we can do together to over come my building and pent up frustration and ask there assistance or partnering in trying to assist me to over come what's frustrating me.

Believe me, the journey has not ended, I am sure somewhere along the journey the GPS will bellow out that I need to change direction, go around the round about, or re diverting or re calculating or for that matter re charge or update my GPS, but thats fine, because you see I am on a journey of understanding, discovery and well what ever good comes out of this.

We look at life and wonder, what is our purpose to and in life?  I cannot be encouraging, supportive, motivating, engaging and showing compassion genuinely if I haven't travelled a similar journey to someone God sends along my way, so that I could guide them in the right direction.

I sincerely hope that you too are encouraged by my experience today and next time you use your GPS, smile, you just never know where your GPS is taking you.  May it be an oasis of peace love and joy.

Raising my cuppa coffee to you.....

Rolling in my Buigeetti (you spell it like that?)

Have you ever found yourself in a situation which is not usual for you?
 In July 2013, I was trying to be a good aunty for my darling 27 year old niece, she got into a kinda hot pickle by double booking herself with "house sitting", so we kinda juggled things around, "I" spending a few days at house 1 and "she" at house 2, then we would swop...cool, no problem, until ....yours trully goes to house 2.
Now let me back track for your amusement, house 1 had lots of stairs, and rather steep angled stairs, 5 sets to be exactly, I would use 3 sets of these stairs nightly...down  9 stairs from the bedroom then 11 stairs up to the the level where the toilet/shower was, return to bedroom via same route,  2 to 4 times a night (it happens as you get older, pinching is no option) and no incident happened in the house of many stairs.
House 2, no stairs in the house only 2 on the side of the drive way. A beautiful house.  A beautiful amazing bed with a typical old fashioned feather mattress, heavenly I tell you.  Well on my second morning to work, my foot decided to just skid under me and WHAM  i went down.  Yep, I seriously broke my left leg.

Now, this brings me to rolling about in my Buigeetti (you spell it like that?) , my 4 wheeler, on hire and no not from avis, budget or rent a truck. (and wearing my moonwalker -the support i need to wear day and night, that weighs about 8kgs)

If you are used to getting about using your two feet, think twice next time you see someone rolling in their ferrari, buigeetti or rolls royce.

Oh let me tell you, my 23year old son loves "pushing me around", spinning me in the wheelchair, running down the parking lot at the mall and let me "free willy" till the chair comes to a stop.  Yeah, there is humor in it, but let me tell you I have a new respect for wheelchair bound people, even if its only temporary.  Its the most uncomfortable mode of movement, by the time you get to bed at night your bottom aches, your back aches, your good leg is spasming, your wrists are painful.  How wheelchair bound people do it, I just dont know, and they always smile!

I now think of my dad who had parkinsons disease, a very active man before that, he walked every where.  How did he feel when he was eventually wheelchair bound?  We as a family never really gave it a thought.  How dependant he was on others to get him to the loo on time,  how humiliated he must have felt when he never got their on time.

As I reflect, and yes with some humor, while I find myself dependant on my Buigeetti, I now understand and respect how others feel who daily find themselves bound to and ever so reliant on their wheelchair.

Tonight again, I raise my cuppa coffee to all ......
Never forget to be so greatful that you have two feet to find your way, dont take life for granted.
If you find yourself in a wheelchair, raise your head up high, you are a champion.

Blessings to you.

YOU can do it, yes you can

Hello there!  Have you ever felt the need or the desire to do something different?  Well,

thats exactly how I feel at the moment.  

We always do things the right way, dress right, walk right, sit the right way,

behave the right way (well yeah its necessary), drive the right way (now thats questionable in South Africa, right?) 

Right now I just wanted to write, different, because......I can, So, im typing

with the alignment set on right side. 

A sign of a rebel you say?  No way...

I just felt like being creatively different.

Just so, there are many people out there with disabilities, different kinds of disabilities and they feel...different...but in fact people with disabilities are no different to any able bodied person.  In fact, I personally feel and have observed how people with types of disabilities have shown so much

creativity in the way they get to go about their life.  I raise my cuppa coffee to each one of you.  

So, I thought a thought, and decided I would share this encouraging and motivating thought below, with you.

Blessings to you ....till my next blog entry

Everything will be ok...

A disability, An opportunity

The Social Adapted Model of Disability: States although a person’s disability poses some limitations in an able-bodied society, oftentimes the surrounding society and environment are more limiting than the disability itself.

For every disability there is an opportunity