Tag: fun

Holiday Attitude Everyday!

YellowDaisy

What good is that holiday if you have to wait 50 weeks, or maybe even longer, before giving yourself permission to relax and have fun? Sure, life requires us to put in a fair bit of hard work from time to time, especially if we’re parenting whilst earning a living, managing a household, actively contributing to local clubs, supporting extended family and volunteering with community projects.

Add to this the sheer organisation of being able to get away for that much-needed break including sorting out the who, how, when and where details of the holiday, the final push to get certain tasks finished in the days leading up to your holiday (“I really have to get this done before I go away”), not to mention the anticipation of the backlog of emails and tasks that we’re sure will pile up and greet us on our return.

BookPile

We can invest a lot of time and energy and money into preparing our annual holiday. Many of us place a lot of value on it and we have high expectations that we will feel refreshed and revived at the end of it, ready to slog it out for another 50 weeks or so until we can do it all over again. Yet how many of us have experienced that sense of dread as our holiday comes to an end, the thought of returning to reality, to the ‘normal’ routine of work, school, study?

So I ask again “What good is that holiday if you have to wait 50 weeks, or maybe even longer, before giving yourself permission to relax and have fun?” How much wear and tear do you place on your mind and body in order to reach that annual goal of a holiday?

Oceanscape

What do you say to the idea of creating the kind of life that you don’t desperately feel the need to have a holiday from? By choosing your reality here and now, you can choose to integrate some aspects of your holiday mode into your everyday routines. What is it about holidays that you simply long for? Maybe it’s a break from packing lunches, sleep-ins, less housework, flexible routines, site-seeing, family time …….. .

Whatever it is that you crave about your holiday, choose to adopt a new way of doing things or a new way of being so that this can become your everyday reality rather than your once a year investment. It doesn’t need to be a big dramatic change in your life, but it could be if it’s very important to you. Very often it’s the little changes that make the big difference to our health and wellness and happiness – maybe arranging to take turns to sleep in on weekends, setting aside time for a family picnic once a month, creating fun routines such as “Monday Milkshakes” or “Fun Fridays”, teach the kids to make their own lunches, cook double sized meals and freeze half for another night. The sky is the the limit – be creative and work out a plan that suits you and helps you to live the lifestyle you desire.
Milkshakes     MenuPlanner

And because there is unseen power in writing things down and sharing with another person I invite you to write down or share your commitment with someone else. It’s when we are wholeheartedly committed to change that we are most likely to implement and sustain the necessary actions and attitudes that create the reality we desire!

Having a Crack at Chicks in the Sticks

Daisy Field

Have you watched “The Croods”? If not, do yourself a favour and watch this exciting, inspiring family movie starring the voice talent of Emma Stone. The Croods are a cave family living in prehistoric times relying on their sense of fear to keep themselves protected, safe and sound, cocooned in their little familiar world, and avoidant of any risk or danger that might jeopardise their lives. In short, fear has kept them alive. But it has also kept them confined; inhibiting individual family members from living their lives to the full.

TheCroodsCropped

In many ways I’ve lived much of my life like the Croods. Fear has long been my ally signalling danger with a blast of adrenaline and cortisol surging through my body and subsequently bringing with it great waves of nausea, muscle tension, sleeplessness, hyper alertness and fatigue. Fear has kept me safe from many dangers and it has also kept me small in some ways, becoming an obstacle to achieving some of my dreams.

Getting up ‘close and personal’ to your fear is the first step towards reaping its benefits whilst simultaneously learning how to keep it in its place. Throughout my own journey to uncover the true nature of my innermost fears, my eyes were opened to its duality. On the one hand fear has a protective, almost loveable quality, and on the other hand shows characteristics of being a bully by giving voice to my harsh inner critic – self-deprecating and self-defeating. Not wishing to succumb to the tactics of an overprotective ally or an inner bully, I have made conscious choices to work towards my dreams despite what my fears tell me.

Actually_I_can[1]

My mountain bike escapades have taken on a new dimension since I made this commitment to myself. I have always shrunk away from the idea of racing because I know I wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace, I don’t have the technical skills, I would get in everyone else’s way, I would probably hurt myself and possibly the rest of the field too, I wouldn’t cope with the heat, my butt would get too sore, I would panic and do something ridiculous like crash on the start line, I would feel miserable ………

KW Helmet

One day recently I made the decision to take action against these fears. I quickly registered for an MTB event before the volume of my inner voice increased any more. “Chicks in the Sticks” is promoted as a women’s only 3 hour enduro event that will ease me into the world of mountain bike racing. The forums are all so positive, the photos full of smiles and camaraderie, and best of all, the grading categories speak the language of newbies like me! I’ve entered “Have a crack” specially for those of us with no prior race experience but simply wanting to have a go.

Chicks in the Sticks

I’m sure my fears will continue to challenge my decision to register, but for now I’m feeling excited! Excited because I’m having a go at something that I thought I probably wouldn’t ever have the guts to do, excited because I’m standing up to my fears, and excited to be part of a community of women who ‘get’ where my confidence is at.

So here I am with only a few weeks to go before the big day! My ‘very-informal-training’ has included going on longer family weekend rides and bringing a greater degree of intensity and variety to my weekday exercise. And I am absolutely loving it! I’ve booked in for some coaching prior to the event to become familiar with the trail and improve my skills to ride the more technical sections. Each of these actions brings new evidence that I CAN do it, and that I WILL do it.

MTB Bike Trail

As the Croods and myself have learned, avoiding everything you fear might keep you hanging on for dear life, but it isn’t much fun. It’s claustrophobic and confining. Life has no variety and risks the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams. By confronting those things we fear, we find new ways of being and doing, and it can open up a whole new world!