jeni starfish

Guaranteed to raise your spirit

Meet my almost brand new great nephew, Charles William, demonstrating the happy chortle that can only come from a 4 month old human being when lifted on high by strong hands for a photo opportunity. 

Wishing you all this same sense of trust and joy in your world today.  

And know that you are always held by strong hands, no matter how old you are. It is knowing this that helps you to fly. 

Try scaring yourself to life

There is a lot going on in my personal worlds right now, both the inner one and the outer. Most of it utterly magical and glorious. Some of it darn scary. Recently, I happened to write to this effect to a fellow traveller on the hero's journey and actually found myself typing that I was "scared to death" about something big I had just commited to.

I have a rather comforting and always challenging inner coach to balance my amorphous, know-it-all blob of an inner critic. Ever ready with the insightful question, my sweet inner coach said to me, now, honeybunch, what's that about, then? Is scary bad for you?

For good

One of the joys of running my own business is the ability to choose my clients and colleagues. (Well, actually, they choose me, but that's because I attract the most wonderful people to me quite deliberately - it's really the only marketing strategy to have, IMHO.) And last night I had the privilege to be involved in the York launch of a very worthwhile initiative. Now, when I say that this is something called Collaborative Family Law, I can almost hear the sound of mice (mouses?) clicking away. But linger awhile, my dear readers, because this is part of the whole new wave of higher level consciousness that is happening in the world. It's important, it's heart and soul work, and it's one reason why we are all getting closer to the day when hatred, war, and evil doings will be eradicated. For good.  

Flowers grow out of dark moments

This is a time of year when many people around me seem to be mourning the loss of a loved one, as they also seek to celebrate their lives. For me and my family, yesterday marked 20 years of remembrance of a bright spirit of a father, husband, grandfather...and if he were still alive, great-grandfather. These times and these moments are bittersweet. I send this quote in comfort to whomever needs it. 

Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each is to succeed.

                                                                                 Corita Kent

 

The correct way to exercise on a treadmill

This may seem to be a trivial post (well, it is Saturday morning) but I can assure you it is very relevant to the subject of goal setting and achieving.

I've had to put my black cat Girlie on a diet recently as she is almost twice the weight she should be. (In her defence even as a kitten she was always big boned.) Along with the high-fibre, low-fat cat food she now has to suffer, the vet suggested that I try to get her to exercise more and told me that cats do often respond to being taken out for walks. So far I can't even catch her to fasten on the collar and lead. She may be lazy but she can shift when she wants to, so I guess at least she is burning off a few calories running away from me.

Her "brother" Gismo isn't helping. Whereas Girlie is a big, black moggy from The Block, Gismo is a lithe and fluffy persian aristocat from the better side of town don't you know. He looks huge because of his fur but he is actually very lean and not a little mean (he mercilessly bullies Girlie who could probably squash him out of existence, if she only had the bottle).

Anyway, as this photo shows, Gismo does not set a good example. 

                

Yes, that is a treadmill, and no, that cat is NOT going for the burn!

So if anyone has any tips for how to motivate and inspire a lazy, lovable, nervous-of-her-own-shadow cat couch potato who wants to look good naked...well, I'd be very grateful.

I would share a photo of my beloved Girlie but she is refusing to have any taken until she has dropped at least a dress size.

I think she has Issues.

Look for the chocolate bar

As part of the starfish coaching programme I focus a lot on values. Get your true north sorted (and unconflicted) and it immediately helps you make all the decisions in life from the sublime to the ridiculous. And one of the things that comes out is a kind of "rules for living" that I call Wise Guidance.

This morning, on my 7am call with the delightful and resourceful Barbara, she told me that one of her Wise Guidance rules was "look for the chocolate bar."

She can be playful, Barbara, and she does enjoy the odd square of Green & Blacks, so I wasn't sure if this was to be taken on face value. Oh no, she assured me, it relates to my value of Compassion...

Evermore thanks

I make no apologies for the ungrammatical-sounding title of this posting. Is Shakepeare, luvvies, and whether he actually existed, or was the illegitimate son of Queen Elizabeth the Very First (unlikely) or was in fact, the first alien invader, his words are inviolable and always invokable.

(Marie, I know you don't do Shakespeare. Just let me get you along to a rollicking performance of Twelfth Night sometime and I'll prove you wrong...)

And I digress. This post is about reminding yourself how thankful you really are for your life. Even in the midst of enormous challenge, hassle and headache...