Focus on the Kindness

There has been a lot of tragedy in our world of late, there always is, but social media seems to be rife with it. I'm not going to mention specific events, they are there, and they are horrible. 

This week I had a beautiful friend pour her heart out on Facebook about the injustice and how people can treat others so inhumanely. 

I urged her to turn her focus to the good people walking this planet, the ones who are going to leave it a better place when they rest in peace. Focussing on these awesome souls and practising the kindness they project, encourages others to follow suit. 

Once you do this I guarantee you will see even more beauty in the world and show even more peope how to do this. 

Remember that darkness is where light shines the brightest. 🌻

Don't follow your dreams...

I bet the title got your attention! 


Don't follow your dreams, lead them!  Don't act like a lost puppy with nowhere to go.  There is always somewhere to go.  Here are some tips from me:


 Decide what your dreams are (for some people that can be the hard part). 


What do you constantly think about wanting to do?  Write to and study under a motivational speaker who might just change your life (I did!), write a book, go sky-diving, take up Zumba, work in a job you love, meet the love of your life, be wealthy enough to support your loved ones, the list is endless...


Pay attention to your actual Dreams while you sleep


You probably hear a lot, keep a dream journal.  There is a point to them.  I believe dreams to be your subconscious mind trying to sort out your thoughts but also what you want to do with your life.  I had the BEST ideas from my actual dreams, including my daughter's middle name!  I also believe dreams are your intuition and connection to the divine really speaking to you.  So a journal could be a great way to sort through things that are in your conscious mind.


Write your real-life Dreams down too


It's a way of telling the universe what you want.  How is it going to know if you don't tell it??  There are so many ways of doing this - as a vision board, as a ritual, writing a letter to yourself in 10 years time from where you want to be.


Lead your Dreams to where you want them to be


Start taking steps immediately toward the life you want. 


If you want more money in your life - start an abundance jar with loose change, doesn't matter how much as long as the intention is there.  Also, start giving more away!  The universe takes note when you do this and REWARDS your generosity - a win/win!


If you want more love in your life - start giving it and stop asking why you haven't received it yet.  Have you been specific as to what you want?  Really specific?  The universe might be sending you the wrong kind because that is what you are sending out - you may have lots of friends and people that think you are amazing (lucky you) but not found "the one" yet, be specific down to eye colour, mannerisms, religious beliefs, humour, intellect, then stop obsessing over it, focus on other dreams, and let the universe do its work for you.


If you want a happier life - hang around people who you want to be like, don't sit in on the pity party.  It brings you, your energy, and everybody else down.  What if you don't have people in your life like that?  Then befriend motivated people through Facebook, podcasts, music, books.  Once that intention is out there that you want these kind of people in your life, trust me, they will start falling out of the sky.


Doesn't this all sound so much more fun than just wanting something?  Actually taking any kind of step towards it and chasing it? 


I started this process in February this year and in 4 months, my life has improved DRASTICALLY.  Imagine if you worked at it for that small period of time, what amazing things are going to come into your life?  I can't wait for it to happen for you. <3 <3

Everything really matters...

It is only 10am and today I have already heard an amazing story about a woman losing both her legs and winning gold medals AFTER the fact, then a gorgeous friend has lost a loved one who was only 26 years old.

 

What is the message in this for me/us?

 

• Are you sweating the small stuff?
• Are you thinking something is not within your reach?
• Are you living life like you are the author of YOUR OWN book?
• What have you done to make a difference in your world, and anybody else's?
• Do you need a kick up the rump to realise how precious YOU and your life truly are?

 Well come sit by me, I would love to show you <3

 

Wishing you an amazing, spirited, loving and life-giving day.




Kristy xoxoxox

 

 

 

The Power of the Passion

Don't just follow your passion, support it!

I have recently had a few people in my life question and ridicule my passion. The old me would have just said "ok, well you're entitled to your opinion", but a lot of the time that hasn't been working for me. 

If people laugh or mock what you are doing, I have found it is generally for a few reasons - fear of the unknown, knowing nothing about what it is (and not wanting to admit that), and caring what others' opinion is. 

I am SLOWLY learning that instead of being upset or annoyed by their opinions, I listen with compassion, and if they are willing to listen as to why I am so passionate, that's awesome. If not, I will go to people who are, and they are always around and supportive. You learn after time who those people are, and WHO they actually are may surprise you. 

Thank you for supporting one of my passions, just by being present on this page. I hope to be able to support you too. Kristy xo

Dealing with the Imposter

I wanted to share with you all something life-changing that I took away from the course I went to recently. Some of you may have heard of this technique before.


It is a sequence that you do to acknowledge and work with the negative voice inside your head that says you can't do things, you're not good enough, why bother etc etc. Here is a rundown of the steps:...

1. Name it - make it something fun, mine is Miss Prickle Pants.

2. Actively Listen - take note of what it is saying to you, if you think you don't have one, then that is The Imposter telling you to go no further, we all have them, it's just whether we choose to listen.

3. Notice it - what is it saying to you? In the course, we were given a rubber band to have on our wrist, and everytime we had one of these thoughts, we gave it a sharp tug, but don't leave it there, its not just about the pain.

4. Interrupt it - you know where the thought is going, so instead...

5. Contradict it, in the spot where you have the rubber band, rub or kiss it and pay yourself a compliment instead, I can do this, I am more than good enough, I care to bother, I am awesome!

6. Silence Your Imposter - we kept up with the band flicking for the week and I found that by the end of it I didn't need the band as I was consciously aware of the Imposter and therefore taking the time to re-program it.

We all have this little bugger come and visit us from time to time, the trick is, not giving it much time to fester (good word for it hey?!).

You don't need to be like me and use a band on your wrist, it can be an un-noticeable act like tapping your fingers, followed by rubbing your hands together, it's up to you.

Give it a go, ask me any questions if you aren't sure or have real doubt about anything (your Imposter is probably telling you not to, but I am here and you're worth it!). Enjoy, cause that's what it's all about, hey! (now I'm singing the Hokey Pokey!). Kristy xo

Walk into the Light

Today I just finished an intensive 4.5 day course for personal development and business training. I took so much away but I thought I would share with you a piece of writing that has always struck a chord with me, but this weekend I actually got it. I hope it encourages you as much or even more than it has for me. Please share if it does. Kristy xo

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of the universe. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. 

We were all meant to shine, as children do. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." 

By Marianne Williamson.

What's your Joy Story?

Watching the Bucket List for the first time and I love how they mentioned that in Egypt, they tell the story of how when you are at heaven's gates they ask you two questions:

- did you have Joy in your life?

- did you bring Joy into others' lives?

Forgetting religion, culture and anything else that may seem to make us different to anyone else. Living and giving joy is what it is all about. In my books anyway. 

What daily activity do you do to bring joy into your world? It can be a simple act like a smile, or being kind, or donating time or money. 

No matter what you believe about how we leave this world, how we are living in it now is what it's all about. Wishing you a joyous day!

You are perfectly imperfect

I am extremely lucky to be the person that types up podcasts for The Kickass Life.  I typed an interview up with the beautiful Lisa Nichols, and it is one of the best I have typed so far.  I wanted to share with you an excerpt of this interview, and an exercise that I am going to start to undertake.  It is really worth taking the time to listen to the whole podcast (link at the bottom of this post).  But here is a delicious taste:

                               ....you have lost sight of who you are, you have lost sight of the contribution you bring to the world, you have lost sight of your value, you don’t know who you are in this moment.  We gotta reintroduce you to yourself.  So I got at the mirror and I did this every single morning, every single morning, David.  I finished three sentences and I gave them at least 7 different endings.  The first sentence is:

                            Lisa, I am proud that you …

                            Now I could barely find an answer because my son was 3 years old at the time.  I had endangered his life, I had endangered my life, I am publically embarrassed now because I am calling off this wedding, everyone knows that something is happening, my self esteem is in the tank.  But I had to find 7 things that I was proud of, and it was just little things. Like, Lisa I am proud that you are standing here in the mirror.  Lisa, I am proud that you went to the Doctor.  Lisa I am proud that you got up this morning.  I mean, I was crawling, I was crawling.   And the second sentence was, the hardest one, if you choose to do this, this is the one you are going to want to stop, but this is where the breakthrough comes:

                            Lisa, I forgive you for…

                            And oh, David, I was barely audible, I forgive you for being so lonely that you dropped your integrity bar, I forgive you for gaining 50 pounds because of your sadness, I forgive you for being so scared you couldn’t tell your family you were being abused, I forgive you for not trusting your intuition anymore.  I mean I went deep, I just went crying, when I got to the forgiveness I had to like sit down, because it took all the energy out of my body.  But I had to keep forgiving myself, and then the last sentence is:

                            Lisa, I commit to you that…

                            I was willing to make commitments to other people, but I had stopped making commitments to myself, David.  I did those 3 sentences every day in the mirror, for 6 months straight.  I turned my crawl into a walk, my walk into a run, and my run into a soar.  And it did not take 6 months, for 3 years I worked just on healing myself, loving myself enough to give myself a better conversation, loving my curves, loving my hair, loving my skin.  Understanding that intimacy is not a sexual romantic act between two people, that is the second level, third level, in intimacy, the first level and foremost level in intimacy, is in to me I see, intimacy, in to me I see.  And when I see into me, then I am willing to see into you, or to let you see into me.  That’s why our relationships, David, yours and mine are so rich, because we can go everywhere with each other in conversation and dialogue, we talk about our fears, we talk about our aspirations, we talk about our mistakes.  Because I have come to peace with who I am as a woman, and when you realise that you will never ever be perfect, perfect does not exist.  Excellence does.  Perfect doesn’t exist.  But that you can learn how to perfectly manage your imperfection.  What I have learned, is how to perfectly manage my imperfection and to be at peace with that, and so it’s a journey and it’s a journey that can only start with you and when you start loving you at a deeper level, at a higher level, at a richer level, you will begin to model for others how they can love you, and people will be a bit disarmed because they are so used to treating you a certain way because you trained them to do that, but when you retrain them, man that’s when life gets super duper special....

What an amazing lady!  3 "simple" things you can write down and stick on your bathroom mirror, in order to start accept how imperfect and wonderful you truly are! 


Here is the link to the full podcast:


http://www.thekickasslife.com/podcasts/300-lisa-nichols-from-the-secret-shares-her-3-step-formula-to-success-and-self-love/


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Become the Master Warrior

I am someone who deals with a wave of emotions, all the time.  I've been called sensitive more times than I can remember.  These emotions aren't always positive, and I am trying very hard to be conscious of them.

My tips I can give to you, and remind myself at the same time:

- know your triggers - if there is a particular person who bothers you (on social media, in person), make an effort to either not take on board what they have to say, or even better, turn everything they have to say into a positive.

- don't beat yourself up - we all have bad days, as long as it is just a day and not something that you go to bed feeling angry about (I recommend a good dose of meditation while you sleep or a bath while you don't!).

- seek counsel - a friend's understanding, advice or company can be the best thing to lighten your mood and help everything not seem so bad.  Make sure you choose the right friend to do this, we don't want the one who will just join the pity party.

- turn on some music and dance, sing and enjoy!

- distract yourself - listen to a podcast, do something creative, get some work done, clean! Taking your mind off it is one of the best ways to let it pass and not allow that "monkey" to get it's negative thoughts in.

- affirm that you are doing the best you can.  You really are (don't listen to those doubts that might pop in now!!).

By practising at least one of these exercises each time you have that doubt/negativity come through, you are doing yourself a favour and not allowing it.  Before you know it, it won't be part of your thinking anywhere near as much as it was, if at all.  Trust me :)

What does success mean to you?

I am in the middle of a 10 day journey with a group of people on Facebook, half of which I know. Each day we have to write down and share 10 things which we have been successful in.  Topics have included financial success, skills, and things we have learned.

It has been a great little exercise for me to realise how successful my life has been so far, and the one I found the hardest to write about was financial success, something that most people would consider their number one priority.  For me, it comes later, after I have worked out what my soul is all about and enjoying the things I have always wanted to do (travel, partying, good times with friends, exploring with my family).  I'm not saying that being financially abundant wouldn't be nice, but I have always had enough money to do most things I enjoy. 

I know will be able to do more when I am rolling in it, but there is so much to do while I am on the journey!!  Who knows how long I have on this planet, why wait around to get rich before I start loving what I am doing? 

What are your successes?

http://www.success.com/article/the-definition-of-success

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The Rest of the Weekend

Anybody else find it hard to switch off? Over the Easter long weekend my challenge, given by my hubby, was to avoid social media. I surprised myself at how much I do look at it and really had to make an effort.

So instead of liking on Facebook; I gave encouragement to my kids, instead of looking at my phone; I watched shooting stars with my beau, instead of checking emails; I checked in on a friend. 

I feel like I have achieved so much more and my soul feels all warm and fuzzy. 

I love how some simple activities can make you do that. Here are some more...

 

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Worth the Weight?

Since I was a teenager I have always been a plus size. I have constantly made bad food choices and even with the occasional exercise fads I go through, I have never really appreciated or respected my body. That in itself is a big admission for me. 

Diets have never lasted, I always say I have weak willpower and go on my way. Lately I have had a number of things change my attitude toward the way I look at me, and in turn my weight. 

Firstly, I am a bit of an addict of a podcast by David Wood called The Kickass Life (http://www.thekickasslife.com). You can't help but be motivated, inspired and want to change the world listening to it. You will probably hear me talk about it a lot in this blog. 

Secondly, I am all about kindness, joy and love towards others and yourself. How can I be a spokeswoman about such things if I am not a living embodiment?!

And lastly, and most importantly for me, is the time I spend with my kids. The bigger I get, the harder it is to play, run, jump, skip, dance, swing, swim, and cartwheel (been a while!). 

How can I encourage them to live life to its fullest when I'm not??

I didn't think weight was such an issue until I realised it was holding me back. I'm certainly not saying there is anything wrong with plus sizes, I am never going to be a size 8 (Australia) and I like my curves too much anyway. 

"All" I am saying is that I have finally realised, after 37 years, the importance of putting good stuff into my body and to love what my body can do for me as a reward. 

So this week I have cut back on my caffeine, sugar and dairy. Yes I had the detox headaches but I'm also not waking up with an urge to get my fix! Going forward I am having a 30 day nutritional cleanse and then plan to maintain and get so much more enjoyment out of life. 

Writing it here is a way of making myself accountable and actually working out what my motivation is. 

I'm also happy to say I am young enough to still make so much of my life. I think everyone should say that! 

Watch this space people, an even more awesome and energy filled Mama is coming!!!

 

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Fun in the Playpen

At every opportunity I try and bring out my Inner Kid. Here's an exercise for you. In this puzzle there are 33 words for activities to help bring out such joy. The words can be forwards, backwards or diagonal. There are a couple of cheeky ones which I didn't intend to be in there but they're fun!!

I would love you to report in and tell me what you found. 

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Child-like not Childish

What's the difference? I hear you say.

To me being child-like is having wonder, love, fun, silliness, playfulness, enjoyment, excitement, good energy, and so much more good innocent stuff.

Being childish is all of that but with an "ish" thrown in, meaning you haven't quite gotten there. Your acts could have layers of cruelty toward the recipient (an innocent child never starts off this way), the things you do may have a selfish ring to them and aren't just about joy and kindness.

So next time you want to question whether you are being child-like or childish, you just need to ask yourself one question. Is this bringing joy to everyone involved? Simple.

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No Act of Kindness goes unnoticed

For those who know me, they know I'm all about Random Acts of Kindness.  I have an activity on my Facebook page called Give a FRAK (Friday Random Acts of Kindness), where, on Fridays, I encourage people to do something kind for another.

I have had people hand out cards, chocolate, money, put notes on windscreens, share an umbrella, say a kind word to a stranger plus many more.

Sometimes when we are kind to people they react in a way that we didn't expect, and this can be negative. This can happen for a variety of reasons - the shock of someone being nice to them, their own self worth and shyness, amongst other things. Please don't stop doing such things because of their reaction. The world needs more good stuff.

Just remember that even though that one person may not have reacted how you had planned, the universe is taking note that you are extending such generosity and deserve it back. Yes that's right, it's a win/win for you and them, even if they don't show it.

So next time, don't get offended or bothered just keep remembering how good it makes you feel to change the life of someone else, no matter the magnitude. Thank YOU for all you do.

Kristy :-)

 

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Welcome to Universal Zen Playpen!

Hello and welcome to the Playpen! 

I'm Kristy, mother of 2 cheeky kids, wife to a gorgeous man, owner of a dog and 3 chickens!  But that's just the surface of me...

Please join me on a journey of self - discovery, imperfections, contemplation, everyday cheekiness and motivation, just to name a few things! 

I will be using this blog to share some wisdom, some exciting new projects I have coming up, encourage Random Acts of Kindness, and to top it all off, work at making as many people as I can feel awesome and learn to understand their place in this world (and we all have one!).  I have already started this journey on my Facebook page Universal Zen Playpen, so feel free to join me there too.

Wishing you a lovely weekend ahead and hope you get a break over the Easter weekend.

Kristy :-)

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