Don't knock my door!

31^st October 2018

Do the one thing you think you cannot do.  Fail at it.  Try again. Do better the second time.  The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire.  This is your moment – own it!

Well yesterday was mostly about stew food wise, I’m still not tracking or pointing but I’m getting better, I need to do a healthy supermarket shop and get tracking, I’ll get there, there’s not a switch you can just click. 

I was deeply moved by one of my members yesterday, she handed me a card and my first reaction was ‘this better not be a Christmas card!’  It wasn’t inside it said;

“Dear Bev
Last week, when you were talking about the food bank, it occurred to me that I have never known a hungry day in my life (not really hungry!) or had ever gone to the cupboard and found it bare!  So this week we haven’t done any food shopping but lived out of the fridge, freezer and cupboards.  Please find enclosed our ‘Food Shop Money’ for the Food Bank Appeal.”

I was overwhelmed to count £100 in that envelope, which is amazingly generous and takes our total to just shy of a grand which I’m sure we’ll hit by the end of the week, that’s just an incredible boost to the Black Country Food Bank which runs solely on charitable donations.  The generosity of my members and people who know me has been unbelievable in less than a month, whether you’ve donated a carton of milk or a tenner, we’re so grateful and thankful to you all.  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/donatedinner

In other news, I finished my latest crochet blanket, it’s a lovely blush pink and grey colour, measures about 100x134cm, I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, a house only needs so many blankets!  It’s taken me about 3 weeks to do, I reckon at least 40 hours, which shows how much time I spend sitting with mom watching tv!

There’s a lovely sunrise going on out there, I need it to be 7am, we have run out of milk, managed one mug of tea each, if we have another it’s either coffee mate or borrowing a carton of semi-skimmed from the food bank lol, I’ll wait till 7, I only drink skimmed.

Today’s coaching card asks, “What must you have in your life to make you feel complete, fulfilled and happy?”

Interesting, my first thought was delicious food!  But that’s not true, well it is but there’s more important things.  I need peace and people and laughter, not necessarily in that order, there was not thought in that response, those were the first three things that came to mind – after food anyway.  I like things in my life to be calm, I’m happiest when I’m not worrying or stressing about things, even when there are stressful things going on, I’m happiest when I take it all in my stride.  I love to spend time alone in peace and quiet but I also love to be around the people I love and enjoy the company of, we’re social creatures after all.   Then there’s laughter, there is nothing I like more than laughing, making someone else laugh and forget their troubles if only for a short while truly is one of the most fulfilling things for me, in my work I see people struggling to cope with the stresses of life and if I can make them forget that for a little while and take some time out, I’m completely happy.

Right I’m going to sit and watch the rest of this glorious sunrise, here’s to a great day and if you’re doing the Halloween thing tonight – don’t knock my door!

Take each day as it comes

 30^th October 2018

When someone does something wrong, don’t forget all the things they did right.

Well the clocks might have gone back but my body isn’t playing that game, wide awake at 4am instead of 5am, thankfully we had an early night even for me!  I’m ready for my day, the fact we had such a lovely day yesterday has re-energised me too.

I spent a few hours on the morning, cleaning the kitchen before preparing a stew, which sat on the hob for hours, it’ll be perfect today.  Then I took mom with me to the food bank for the drive, we had a good natter on the way, talked about her days as a barmaid working at a pub in Brierley Hill where she met my dad, we tried to find the pub as we were over there anyway but it was long since demolished, she still enjoyed having a drive.  We found a song she’d started singing on YouTube and sang all the way home as the app changed automatically from one song to another. 

See as much as it’s good to spend time off your phone to engage with those around you and to be present in the world, they’re also amazing devices, yesterday it helped me get to Brierley hill with its map app and then helped me found info on songs and pubs for mom to keep her entertained.  They really are the best invention but like most things they can be used in the wrong way or overused.

She fancied chippy chips so that’s what we had for dinner, a bag of chips between us and we sat in the car together and ate them, precious quality time together, when I have the energy to handle the repetitive questions and she’s in a good mood are priceless and the calories from half a bag of chips is worth it.  Seeing her face as she walked round B&M’s on our way home was worth every penny of the bill at the till for all the biscuits she’d thrown in the basket, oh her diet went out the window about an hour after we had the conversation last week.  I’m afraid I have to pick my battles with her and that’s just not one I’m willing to have.  She enjoys eating crap and it’s one of her only pleasures so I’m not going to argue with her, I’ll try and limit it as best I can, she seems to have stabilised at what I call her happy weight, she’s been this weight for a good while so hopefully that’s where it’ll stay.

I didn’t eat after the chips, so didn’t do too much damage, no cooking to do today as the stews ready for eating on the cooker which means I get to spend a couple of hours with mom in-between morning and evening work.  I’ve finally got some balance in my life, who know it would take 30 years in the workplace to do that!

Today’s coaching card question – “who or what drains your energy?”  What can you do about this?”

Ooo that’s an interesting question, I actually know the answers to that for me but I’m not putting them in writing as I don’t want to offend anyone, but let’s just say I have made changes to address this problem.  Life’s too short to not make changes when they’re truly needed.

Anyway I’ll let you know how many dinners we donated again to the food bank once they’ve weighed it all and let me know, I do know I gave them another £269 cash which included raffle money for the blankets, the running total of cash raised now is £843.55 thank you so much everyone, no one should go hungry – ever! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/donatedinner you can donate online or by simply texting WWDD66 followed by the amount to 70070.  My local Co-op has let me put a collection box for food in their shop by the door – how fab is that, I do hope people donate stuff in there.

Right that’s me, off to get ready for work and to enjoy my day, stay focused BeYOUtiful, we’re all over this, let’s get those results we want.

Where's your attention?

29^th October 2018

Wherever you are, be all there!

I’ve just watched this video on facebook, worth taking 15 minutes out of your day.

https://www.facebook.com/fearlessmotivationofficial/videos/732114443801770/

I know most of you reading this aren’t millenniums, heck I’m not but I think we all have this thing with our phones and we could all spend a little less time on them.  No official coaching card today, instead I want you to answer the question, ‘what are you missing out on whilst you’re on your mobile’, or ‘how could you use the extra time if you put your phone away?’

My iphone has started giving me a report on a Sunday of how much time I’ve spent on my phone and on each app, its eye opening!  I left the house the other morning without my phone when I went for a walk with Alfie and it was beyond weird, I usually listen to audio books and play games whilst walking or catch up on Facebook, people even comment that they never see me without it, so that’s my mission this week, to walk without looking at my phone. 

In the evening, once I’m settled with mom, I plan to put my phone on silent, nothing can’t wait till morning, yeah this week I plan to lower the usage on my phone and be present in my life.

With us having visitors over Christmas now, I started thinking about what gifts I can buy for mom and I’ve realised this morning (and last night actually) that the thing she’d value more than anything is attention and time, those things are the purest form of generosity.  Last night she said how bored she was, so today I’m going to get us a jigsaw to do together, I’m sitting there with my crochet but she only has her crosswords and you can’t do them and watch tv at the same time.  Her attention span is negligible and her memory isn’t even ten minutes, she can’t keep up with a tv programme at all now, I acknowledged that yesterday as we were watching her programmes and she had no idea what was going on at all, something that had been painted on a wall in one scene, when they went back to it ten minutes later she couldn’t recall it ever being there before.  This disease is dreadful but I can give her attention in the moment and she’ll enjoy it even if she doesn’t remember it.

I made my roast beef dinner it was delicious, got leftovers to have again today, ooo could have bubble and squeak for breakfast.

I’m taking another car load of supplies to the food bank today, once again generosity from members is outstanding, also doing well with the raffle, over £200 with the collection tubs and tea money, we have £269 to hand over – wonderful.

Right I’m off to be present in my day, I suggest you have a go at it too.

Enjoy you day BeYOUtiful, we only get so many xx