The Journey...Where ever it takes me.

I know I mention in my blog posts about the journey of life, or in life. I feel that at this time mine is taking on another curve. I am currently feeling like there is new lessons in my life and I am ready to take on those lessons, for I am sure there are positives to those lessons. I am the sort of person who believes that the universe has a plan for each and every one of us.

I have always being a very active person and today that seems to be slowing down, for positive reasons. I feel like my life is going in a new direction on my path and journey and one full of excitement. I guess its my time to finally see that slowing down, smelling the roses, so to speak and listening to the universe more is what I should be doing. I am not going to give up my swimming or my goal to swim from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island next year. I guess I am not going to be so obsessed with it.

This past few weeks I have been reading an awesome book by Paula Munier, Writing with quiet hands. I have been interested in writing for a while, and since starting blogging I have become more interested in non fiction and fiction writing. Writing with quiet hands by Paula Munier has opened my eyes even more to the craft of writing and not just the words that are written. Right at the beginning you are asked to work out what genre you are writing for. For me its a mix of Inspirational, Women's fiction and even stepping into the world of non-fiction for health and well being.

My daughter has been an avid writer for the last five to ten years, even at school she was wrapped up in her writing more than her homework. I knew that she had an issue with planning and this past week with what I have learnt from reading Writing with quiet hands, has helped me to guide my daughter to see that some planning is better than none. We have both spent some time planning our novels, and can now look to extend the planning and start the next phase of adding more detail to the plans. So here is to some awesome creativity coming from us girls.

I now step forward with reading another of Paula Munier's books, Plot Perfect. With today being a national public holiday where we remember those past that have sacrificed their lives for our country so we can have what we do today, and the weather here to be persisting down with lovely rain, and cool, but not cold temperatures its nice to be indoors to be reading, writing and learning.

If you get the chance to pick up a book and have the time to sit, read, learn and even run-a-way to a fictional world to be someone else just for the day. Enjoy and have an awesome day.

Hayley xx

Transitions in Life...

We all go through transitions in life, even from the time of being a young child. We go from being home with mum all the time to kindergarten, then we go to primary school, then high school, we make friends as we go, we might make friends when we start school, and then due to our parents having changed jobs, or moved house we change schools and make new friends, and even as we go through our adult lives, such as university, careers, moving interstate, overseas, etc life is all about transitions.

As much as transition can be a big part of our lives, why is it, that some transitions stand out a lot more than others? Is it the family member that is no longer with us, that makes us stand back and re-evaluate our lives? Is it the loss of a job that we start to think that a change in career or job might be needed? Is it a win fall in money that makes us change the way we live, by travelling, being financially free, being able to buy what ever, being able to help others around us? Or can it be stopping and listening to your own inner voice for once? The day you get back news from your doctor about having to deal with a non life threatening illness? Why does it take so long for us to stop, take stock, and re-evaluate our lives?

For me I have felt myself going through a big transition period in my life for the past few years. I have decided that recovery from an eating disorder to be vital to my well being and that of my family and friends around me. I have come to see that as much as I love exercise and always felt the absolute need for it everyday, isn't really needed as strongly in my life, though when I do exercise its for a positive reason not a negative one. My down time after surgery to see that a love as a child of writing can be so therapeutic and enjoyable and not rushing the inner thoughts and ideas, when just letting them come as they do is most enjoyable. So for me going from a hyper person always on the go, and not stopping till I drop into bed and fall asleep, is really no longer, and that I can take time without being scared to listen to my inner self, find my joys, lessons, and understanding.

Transitions in life can be simple or more complicated. It is up to ourselves to work out if these transitions are a lesson and take heed of that lesson, or just a transient time in our lives.

Have an awesome weekend...

Hayley xx

To be Perfect or Imperfect the Choice is Yours!

"She sits by her window, gazing out at the garden, her mind running away, to a far away place. The place of perfection. The perfect house, the perfect family, the perfect career, and living the perfect life. Pop the day dream ends, her mind rushes back to the present, school, home, parents...the ideals of a twelve year old girl."

Why do we constantly search for perfection in everything, when deep down we all know its not there. Why does society push for us to be perfect? To have the perfect career/job, house, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, life, body, school exam results, friends, family...Nothing in life is ever perfect. This is what we need to explaining to the generations to come. Life is Life, its what we make it, not what we are expected to be!

If there was a thing such as perfection, we wouldn't have failed businesses, divorce, murder, theft, jails, war,  and the list goes on. So we already know that nothing in life is perfect, so how come its so hard to live a life that we are happy with and don't have to go searching for something that isn't there? This is a big part of the disordered eating and eating disorder world. That perfection is always searched for and as we can only really control our bodies, of what goes in it and out of it, we find that we get so caught up in the search for perfection that we forget that reality isn't what we think it is. Its a false sense of reality, that we are fed through social media and society that we should have the perfect body for summer, the perfect job, saying,  its the only way we will really be happy. Its not what life should be, its a matter of doing things that make us laugh, engage in, enjoy, share, and yes even argue about, be passionate about, and that is doesn't have to be perfect to work.

How can we break this on going wheel of looking for perfection in our lives? How do we come to understand that looking for what makes us happy is enough? How do we teach our kids and the coming generations that life is for living not searching for what is not there?

Take a moment or three and stop, look at yourself and see if you are still searching for the illusive world of perfection...if you are, please stop, take time to see that its not there, and that finding what makes you laugh and smile every day is enough, and that you are unique and different and don't need to be seen as being perfect or we all would be the same and that my friends is boring. We are different for a reason.

Have an awesome weekend everyone...

Hayley xx

Same Journey Slightly Different Direction...

ZigZag Sunset

As time has progressed in my recovery from foot surgery and my patience or there lack of has started to surface more in the past week, even to the point of feeling like I had to run away with a writing magazine to have coffee at the local coffee shop and then head out to see the sunset, which may I say was stunning. Then I came home to have some dinner and rest the foot some more and then head for bed.

I have been writing over the last couple of weeks as I layed on the couch resting and then yesterday I just hit a massive brick wall with
it. Writers block I guess, but I just didn't feel the words were working for me or the way I was writing. While sitting at the coffee shop with my magazine I wondered, instead of going down a non fiction style, why not try fiction, but with some truth in the story. I suddenly felt ideas flying at me, luckily enough I had my mobile phone with me to be able to take notes as I was getting the thoughts. As much as I had prior the book style to be non fiction, I didn't even consider a fictional style book instead. I remembered writing a story in year ten at high school for English, and got an 'A' for it. The feeling of getting that 'A' resurfaced with in me, the feeling of accomplishing something that I thought of and that was good enough for such a good grade. So why can't I do it again, and use a deeper part of me to impart words of wisdom in a different way.

Its interesting that you can have such a definite way of doing something and it takes just one little thing, thought, idea, block, etc to get you to think of doing the same thing but just in a different way. This can be done for so many different things in your life. A particular project you are working on, a particular way you train yourself or others in sport. It just takes that something so small to help you to see that you can have the same out come, but doing it in different way, just taking in a slightly different direction. As long as you have the end goal still in mind that is what matters, how you get to that end goal is the journey and one that can have some amazing twists and turns and lessons to learn.

Have an awesome week everyone...

Hayley xx