Heaven on earth
Have you ever experienced a moment of sheer joy when your heart felt like you could hardly speak? A moment of awe when you felt the harmony and beauty of everything around you? Most of us, I like to think, have enjoyed such a moment,
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He tangata – it’s the people
Here in New Zealand, there’s a Maori proverb which ponders what is the most important thing in the world. Their answer is ‘he tangata, he tangata, he tangata’ – it is the people, the people, the people. People here, I’ve found, are warm and friendly,
Just the way you are
This morning in meditation the words of the song “I love you just the way you are…’ came, which got me pondering… How willing are you to let people be themselves and love them just the way they are? What expectations do you have of
Joy in simplicity
D’you ever stop to reflect on how you live, your way of being? Are you someone who is busy, busy, constantly multi-tasking, your mind jumping around a constantly expanding to-do list, worrying about this or that, feeling stressed, overloaded? Or, do you take each day
Forget about what’s wrong with you…what’s beautiful?
These past few weeks we’ve been looking at connecting to our heart and being joyful – and – what can get on the way of being joyful. Focusing on what is wrong with you is an easy trap to fall into when we go on
Connecting to your joy.
Some people, it seems, find it hard to be happy – they are happy being miserable! Never satisfied with the status quo, never one hundred per cent at home anywhere, always worrying about this or that. They might not like to admit it, however, what
Choose joy!
Learning to respond rather than react – how do you do that, you might ask? It’s all about managing our emotions, then taking responsiblity and focusing on how we want to be. Unless we had an extraordinary parent or teacher, most of us don’t learn
D’you react or respond?
What’s your way – d’you tend to react, or, respond to life? Recently we’ve been looking at how expectations can result in frustration and disappointment, at how the beliefs that fuel our expectations keep us in a box, limiting our choices. When we don’t achieve
Loving messages
How aware are you of the messages you give to your children? How do you show delight in your child? We all know that our children feel valued and loved when we give them our warmth, love and attention and show delight in who they
Nurturing creativity
These past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the topic of parenting. Our role as parents, I see, is to prepare our children for life, teaching them to be responsible and care for themselves and the world around them. Throughout the process, we can look
Our essential nature.
When you look at a new born baby, what do you see? I see innocence, pure light, love, joy… and infinite possibilities. I see a diamond! Like the precious stone, babies come in different sizes, colours and cuts and they have many different facets. Our
All we need is love
These past few weeks we’ve been looking at one of the challenges of parenting – taking action, asking for support, when your intuition tells you that something needs attention and you have no idea where that might lead. What can stop us from taking action?
A moment of choice
Our daughter went to boarding school in England when she was 10 going on 11. There, she was bullied for a number of years. Not interested in clothes, make-up or boys, she was marginalised and attributed with being either ‘weird’ or ‘gay’. The fact that
A mother’s intuition
We’ve all heard the expression a ‘mother’s intuition’ and typically we understand this to mean that a mother ‘knows’ when something is amiss. What I’ve learned is that it’s one thing to hear our intuition, it can be quite another to find the courage to
Taking care of diamonds – our children
Most parents say that parenting is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world – and it can be one of the toughest. It doesn’t come with an instruction manual! Caring for a child who is seen to be ‘different’ or who has an
Speaking up
The key to any relationship, personal or professional, is to be our self and be able manage any differences. ‘Be all things unto all men’ encourages us to be seen for who we are so that people recognise who we are and the calibre of
Conflict – or – opportunity to understand?
What is your pattern when it comes to managing differences with others? Do you … tend to stand your ground and blame the other do everything to avoid conflict look for a compromise see an opportunity to clarify and understand the other more, to collaborate
Finding a way – when the children leave home
Children leave home for different reasons – to go to boarding school or university, to live with a partner, to live independently, perhaps even to escape mum and dad. Most of us long to see our children happy, independent, confident yet when the day comes
Finding peace… at the end of a relationship
When a relationship comes to an end and it’s not what we want, we may try to fight it. However, if our partner is clear that it’s not what they want, then at some point we need to accept that this is how it is.
Heaven on earth
Have you ever experienced a moment of sheer joy when your heart felt like you could hardly speak? A moment of awe when you felt the harmony and beauty of everything around you? Most of us, I like to think, have enjoyed such a moment,
He tangata – it’s the people
Here in New Zealand, there’s a Maori proverb which ponders what is the most important thing in the world. Their answer is ‘he tangata, he tangata, he tangata’ – it is the people, the people, the people. People here, I’ve found, are warm and friendly,
Just the way you are
This morning in meditation the words of the song “I love you just the way you are…’ came, which got me pondering… How willing are you to let people be themselves and love them just the way they are? What expectations do you have of
Joy in simplicity
D’you ever stop to reflect on how you live, your way of being? Are you someone who is busy, busy, constantly multi-tasking, your mind jumping around a constantly expanding to-do list, worrying about this or that, feeling stressed, overloaded? Or, do you take each day
Forget about what’s wrong with you…what’s beautiful?
These past few weeks we’ve been looking at connecting to our heart and being joyful – and – what can get on the way of being joyful. Focusing on what is wrong with you is an easy trap to fall into when we go on
Connecting to your joy.
Some people, it seems, find it hard to be happy – they are happy being miserable! Never satisfied with the status quo, never one hundred per cent at home anywhere, always worrying about this or that. They might not like to admit it, however, what
Choose joy!
Learning to respond rather than react – how do you do that, you might ask? It’s all about managing our emotions, then taking responsiblity and focusing on how we want to be. Unless we had an extraordinary parent or teacher, most of us don’t learn
D’you react or respond?
What’s your way – d’you tend to react, or, respond to life? Recently we’ve been looking at how expectations can result in frustration and disappointment, at how the beliefs that fuel our expectations keep us in a box, limiting our choices. When we don’t achieve
Loving messages
How aware are you of the messages you give to your children? How do you show delight in your child? We all know that our children feel valued and loved when we give them our warmth, love and attention and show delight in who they
Nurturing creativity
These past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the topic of parenting. Our role as parents, I see, is to prepare our children for life, teaching them to be responsible and care for themselves and the world around them. Throughout the process, we can look
Our essential nature.
When you look at a new born baby, what do you see? I see innocence, pure light, love, joy… and infinite possibilities. I see a diamond! Like the precious stone, babies come in different sizes, colours and cuts and they have many different facets. Our
All we need is love
These past few weeks we’ve been looking at one of the challenges of parenting – taking action, asking for support, when your intuition tells you that something needs attention and you have no idea where that might lead. What can stop us from taking action?
A moment of choice
Our daughter went to boarding school in England when she was 10 going on 11. There, she was bullied for a number of years. Not interested in clothes, make-up or boys, she was marginalised and attributed with being either ‘weird’ or ‘gay’. The fact that
A mother’s intuition
We’ve all heard the expression a ‘mother’s intuition’ and typically we understand this to mean that a mother ‘knows’ when something is amiss. What I’ve learned is that it’s one thing to hear our intuition, it can be quite another to find the courage to
Taking care of diamonds – our children
Most parents say that parenting is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world – and it can be one of the toughest. It doesn’t come with an instruction manual! Caring for a child who is seen to be ‘different’ or who has an
Speaking up
The key to any relationship, personal or professional, is to be our self and be able manage any differences. ‘Be all things unto all men’ encourages us to be seen for who we are so that people recognise who we are and the calibre of
Conflict – or – opportunity to understand?
What is your pattern when it comes to managing differences with others? Do you … tend to stand your ground and blame the other do everything to avoid conflict look for a compromise see an opportunity to clarify and understand the other more, to collaborate
Finding a way – when the children leave home
Children leave home for different reasons – to go to boarding school or university, to live with a partner, to live independently, perhaps even to escape mum and dad. Most of us long to see our children happy, independent, confident yet when the day comes
Finding peace… at the end of a relationship
When a relationship comes to an end and it’s not what we want, we may try to fight it. However, if our partner is clear that it’s not what they want, then at some point we need to accept that this is how it is.