Virtual Vision Boards

I stumbled across a virtual vision board creation tool the other night when an email came through from my yoga studio. The director had made up a virtual vision board of all the cool stuff we'll be enjoying next year, from salt therapy to workshops and early morning classes. She'd then stuck the picture in the newsletter.

Aha! What a fab idea - much as I love the physical creation, I wanted something "quick and dirty" to pop up at home - aka I want it now, so I'm making a virtual board right this second! Instant gratification is a dangerous thing, but here's what I plan to work on in 2014:

Basically, 2014 will be the year that I slow down and take more time for myself, after the crazy whirlwind of 2013 has left the building. 

2013 has been a year of immense personal growth, professional growth and figuring out what I need from life, with a side of knowing very well now what I don't want from life. 

Needs and wants are different - I need peace and quiet, I want a happy life. I need to avoid drama and evil pond scum. I want to have nice, happy, positive people around me. I need to let go of all the baggage of 2013 and I want to grab 2014 and give it a giant hug.

Wants and needs aside, I have managed to keep Harold the happy houseplant alive and kicking for several weeks, along with the aloe vera and the green plant with spines and a red throat. I also bought another five succulents which are still alive too. The cat is still kicking after eight years and I've still not put back on a single kilo of the weight I've spent five years leaving behind.

Despite it's immense highs and lows, up and downs, inside outs and back to fronts, 2013 hasn't been too bad a year. I'll reflect a little further on New Year's Eve, but for now I'm happy just being me, right here, right now. 

Unresourceful Drama and the Law of Attraction

This past week has been one of the most challenging since returning from Malaysia. There have been some pretty darn challenging times over the past 8 weeks - mega stress, death threats, abusive people, way too much drama and unnecessary amounts of other people's self-cherishing impacting my life - but this past week saw a particularly unpleasant situation that has been almost a mainstay of daily life for the past three months, finally require resolution.

I'm not going into details as it's done with now, but let's just say that the other person involved really does need to take a good, hard look at their actions, speech, thoughts and life - and then make some fast and positive changes. They simply will never be happy if they do not change. I hope they get over themselves and take action to find some inner peace and strength to stop behaving in an unresourceful way.

I regret nothing - life is too short. I have forgiven myself for my part in the situation and I have forgiven them for their part in it also. I have no issue with getting over myself, or taking action when I need to because I'm heading down the wrong path at the fork in the road. Life is not about regretting the things you've done, the decisions you've made or the actions you've taken along the path. Life is about pulling your little socks up and getting on with living.

But - always, always, always trust your intuition - if it tells you something or someone isn't quite right for you, please listen to it and act accordingly. That's called trusting and backing yourself. Never be afraid to ask for help. Never think you have to cope on your own and never question your intuition. 

As some clever person once said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. I've learned lessons from this situation, so it is time they did too. They need to move on with their life and I wish them happiness, kindness and a happy life moving forward.

On the subject of onward and upward, I submitted both my NLP Practitioner Assessment Workbook and my Basic Law of Attraction Practitioner exam and essay this past week for final consideration and grading. Yesterday morning I received the awesome news that I have passed the Basic Law of Attraction Practitioner course and am now a fully-fledge Basic Law of Attraction Practitioner! Woohoo!  I hope to have confirmation of passing the NLP Practitioner course early next week.

Amazing things happen when you disconnect the idiot's lantern (aka the TV) and focus on reading, learning and personal growth and development. I challenge you to spend one less night each week watching TV and instead, pick up a book, find an online course, learn something new - just do something other than being a brainwashed turnip on a sofa! TV is like evil pond scum - it lurks under the surface, ready to suck you in and mess with your mind. Less than ideal conditions for inner peace and outer strength, don't you think?

I've found a fantastic site called Daily OM where you can purchase a variety of awesome courses on all kinds of topics at very affordable prices. There's Ayurveda, Feng Shui, 21 day life detoxes, meditation, Buddhism and lots more. I've enrolled in a few to keep my mind busy on the nights when I don't have yoga and so that I can keep on learning new skills!

I believe in lifelong learning, CAN-I (constant and never-ending improvement), developing my mind, embracing my spirit and improving my body. If you do too, please do something small right now to get off your butt and on the road to a better life, filled with goals and dreams and purring kittens and fluffy bunnies. Or whatever.

Namaste.

The Malaysian Adventure

I'm not going to go into millions of details on this blog about my Malaysian adventures. Instead, you can head on over to my Adventure Blog and read all about it there.

I will however go into detail about how I went all smackdown on two fears that have plagued me for years - flying and heights.

The flying thing has been a serious mind pest since a particularly less than ideal flight from Auckland to Brisbane in 2000. It was the most violently turbulent and scariest flight I've ever experienced. It wasn't like the odd air pocket - this was almost diversion to another country material. I've flown over the Rockies in the USA and that had nothing on this one particular flight. Seriously, I've let myself be totally traumatised by turbulence for 13 years. Until this trip.

When I booked the flights, I made damn sure I had to get on as many planes as possible, and that they weren't the super familiar Boeing planes I've spent pretty much all my life flying on. I wanted Airbus planes, with their different noises and different layouts. I figured seven flights in 23 days should do it, with an overnight longhaul and a daytime longhaul at either end. I wanted short flights, medium flights and long flights. I wanted to see how I'd cope with total overload.

The flight from Melbourne to KL was okay, to a point. I had new anti-anxiety medication with me, actually it was stuff that was left over from my shoulder surgery which I didn't take because I was in a vulnerable enough state without adding a new medication I hadn't tried before into the mix. To cut a long story short, I didn't take Valpam with me. I took this new stuff instead.

At the boarding gate in Melbourne I started to freak out a little so I popped one pill. By the time we boarded and took off, I was okay calm. Not one Valpam calm, but okay calm. I had my dinner, watched a movie, started watching another movie, we had our snacks, we flew off the coast of Australia and the plane started bouncing. I popped another new pill and started reciting mantras to chill out. I took a nap-type thing and dozed off for a while.

About 4am, all hell broke loose. No, not turbulence - yes, it was bouncing and the seatbelt sign came on, but that was the least of my worries. I had to sprint to the bathroom and spew my guts out. Clearly the pills didn't agree with me, so I'm glad I hadn't tried them while convalescing after my shoulder surgery. However, this also meant two things - one, I was going to have to cope without them from here on in and two, they were of SFA use to me now.

We landed uneventfully in KL about three hours later and I felt like utter shite. I'd been able to get water and cans of 100 plus on the plane, but I was now sick and starving. I had something vaguely resembling food for breakfast and an iced coffee in a can a little later. I availed myself of the massage chairs, blogged and chilled until the new plane ride to Langkawi. It was only a one hour flight and totally uneventful. To be honest, I was too sick and tired to care about turbulence, which didn't really happen anyway.

Fast forward a few days and it was a silly 35 minute plane ride to Penang. Again, no turbulence and no issues.  Three days later, a butt crack of dawn two hour flight from Penang to Kuching, Borneo. This was a little more bouncy but I had movies and music and books and a cute baby in the seat next to me to entertain myself with.

Three more days went by and it was onto an evening 1.5hr flight to Senai in Johor State. Yes, it bounced, but you have to expect that flying in and out of Borneo and over Singapore. From Johor I caught a bus to Singapore, then flew from Changi to KL. Again, no hassles. By this stage the anxiety on planes was pretty much non-existent. However, the real test was yet to come.

I'd been working through Tony Robbins' programs and my NLP certification, so I was okay with pattern interrupters and anchors and the like. I did a flight simulator in KL which really helped - I learned just how much concentration and effort and training is required to fly a plane, so I had more faith in pilots after that.

This "real test" that I speak of was my flight from KL to Melbourne. It departed KL at 1:30pm and was eight hours' duration, so I'd be awake the whole time. I hoped it wouldn't bump too much and if it did, my idea was to do Buddhist practices and recite mantras and meditate, then do Zumba moves in my seat and shimmy along to the bumps. I also planned to update my travel blog entries on my iPad, ready to copy and paste when I got home.

I needn't' have concerned myself so much with plans for the worst case scenario, as it hardly bumped at all. Sure, there were the routine "we're over Indonesia, bring on the jumping castle" moments which you must expect but other than that the flight was totally uneventful. Well, until we landed and the pilot seemed to be coming in too fast and proceeded to overshoot the runway a few hundred metres as he had to SLAM (and I mean SLAM!) on the foot pedal brakes three times to stop us.

So, flying conquered.

While in Langkawi I tackled the world's steepest cable car. I didn't think I could do it without really freaking out, but I did - and with no chemical assistance at all. While in Singapore I tackled the world's tallest observation wheel. Same deal. I went up the Petronas Towers in KL and had no issues.

Turns out I'm not scared of heights and never was. I listened to a Tony Robbins tape and discovered that I was scared of falling from a great height if the doors weren't closed properly, or scared of being trapped and not being able to get down if something bad happened. Like, whatever dude! Slim to non-existent chances of that happening. I seem to have particularly good Karma for these things.

And, tall buildings, elevators and high structures were therefore also conquered.

Remember, FEAR is an acronym for False Expectations Appearing Real. It's all a product of your mind and in Dharma, we are taught that nothing exists separate from our minds - we make it all up. So, therefore, all these fears are total made-up crap.

Awesome.

Have more fun

I made a decision back in Joe Pane's Personal Power funshop at the end of May. I decided to have more fun in my life, as I've spent the last 15 years being boring and serious.

The major source of fun for the next two months will be my upcoming adventure to Malaysia and Singapore.

Let me be clear that this is not a holiday. Holidays to me are for people who just want to sit on their butts on a beach somewhere with a nice cocktail and baste themselves in coconut oil while developing a tan that later in life may cause them health issues. Or, holidays to me are for people who just want to sit on their butts on a deck chair on a cruise ship while eating far too much at the all-you-can-eat buffet and then come back 5kg heavier. This is my map of the world - yours may of course be very different.

Holidays are not for me.  If I wanted to laze around and be bored out of my skull, I can do that at home. Or in my sleep!

I do adventures - I want to get out and see the world, experience new things, try new foods (that may or may not make me sick), take part in another culture and LIVE like there's no tomorrow. I want sun, sea, sand, rain, thunderstorms, heat, humidity, cool sea breezes, puddles, mud, bus rides, train rides, public transport, overcrowding, noise, smells, tan lines, heat, air conditioning, plane flights and everything else that comes with 22 days in Malaysia and Singapore.

In terms of the FUN I'm going to have, well, there's Legoland, Universal Studios, Lost World of Tambun, Adventure Cove Water Park, Go Green Segway Tours, Indoor Archery, Boeing 737 Flight Simulator, river cruises, cultural performances, day trips to ancient cities and holy shrines, orchid gardens, giant slides, towers, photos, lakes, hot springs, breakfast with Orang-utans, special white coffee, black pepper chicken, layer cake, batik painting, elephant rides, headhunters and a whole lot more!

It's a lot to pack in to 22 days but I've planned it to death and it's going to be EPIC!  I've scheduled time to rest, meditate, run, do yoga, sleep, eat, shower and pack bags between the cities I'm visiting, which are:

• Langkawi
• Penang
• Kuching
• Johor Bahru
• Singapore
• Kuala Lumpur
• Ipoh
• Malacca

Yes, that's 8 cities in 22 days. Yes, I am a little crazy. Yes, there are 8 flights, three big bus rides and a pair of big train rides in there. But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!

I'm taking myself right out of my comfort zone as although I've done three of these eight cities before, it was six years ago and I'm doing a bunch of new places and staying in different accommodation to last time! And did I mention I'm going by myself?

There's also a few massage and beauty treatments booked in and my needs for certainty and variety are being met with a great packed yet organised schedule with lots of new things to try.

Jealous yet?  Don't be - just decide to have more fun yourself and then book yourself an adventure somewhere awesome!

Just make a decision!

About a month ago I attended a personal development weekend funshop (note the distinction of "Funshop", as opposed to "Workshop") called "Personal Power", facilitated by the amazing Joe Pane and held at The Coaching Institute in Albert Park. It was the best weekend I've had in ages - possibly even years!

At the funshop, I made some pretty significant decisions. I took action on some of them immediately, and have been reaping the rewards. I took action on another one tonight, something that has been bugging me for months. I decided that enough was enough, I needed answers and I needed them now.

And I got answers.

Not the answers I actually wanted, but at least now I have clarity and information and a desire to move forward with the knowledge that nothing ventured really does mean nothing gained. Apologies for being a little cryptic here, but this is the public domain of the interweb and let's face it, I may be a coach in training but that doesn't mean that my whole entire life is (or indeed needs to be) an open book!

Now there's a whole lot of "should-ing" on myself going on. I should have done this months ago. I should have presupposed the outcome, I should have known that this would be exactly how it went. I should have known that things would turn out the way they did. I should have given up weeks ago. I should have...blah blah blah.

As Anthony Robbins said, "before you know it, you've just should all over yourself!"

And then there's the could haves, would haves and all the rest of the mind games going on in my head. "It could have turned out differently if only I would have...". Where will this get me? Well, it won't help me GET OVER MYSELF!!!

I am disappointed that I didn't get the result that I wanted from this taking action on this decision. Would it have been nice to have things go my way? Of course. But that's not what happened and even though a tiny wee part of myself is annoyed with myself because things didn't turn out how I wanted them to, I am proud that I had the lady balls to GET OVER MYSELF and give it a red hot crack.

I am also proud that I haven't compromised my values.

I regret nothing.   Neither does this random spinning disco chicken.