Take in the scenery

Take time in your journey to stop and look at the scenery.

Sometimes we are so absorbed in climbing the hill, scaling the cliff, dodging round the rocks, that we forget to look around us. On occasion we have to stop and take a breather, appreciate how far we have come, and look forward in hope to the scene laid out before us.

I was fully anticipating doing lots of layers on this page, but I got this far and all I could see was a dramatic landscape on the right hand side, so I decided to go with it.

Cliff or tunnel?

Do not be put off by the height of the cliff - there may be a tunnel through it.

I've been using this page to wipe off excess paint from my brush or plastic card. Somehow a tunnel entrance/exit popped up on it. I can see a theme to my pages at the moment...

The other block of black kept reminding me of a cliff face or a huge building. When faced with something large, we can see it as an insurmountable obstacle. But you wouldn't think to climb a skyscraper before first looking for a door. Sometimes there is a way through rather than over.

This spiritual tunnel I seem to be going through may feel bleak, but it means I am overcoming an obstacle, even if I can't see what it is from this angle.

The tunnel mouth on this page feels like the end of the tunnel rather than the start to me. I am hopeful because the surroundings are bright

I am...

I am...

As I work out who I am again, I can listen to

           my own voice - my inner dialogue formed from habits and the things that I've been told in the
           past, whether true or not

           the voices of other people - what people see from the outside and what assumptions they draw
           from that, their opinions of me whether they know me or not

           or the voice of God - the voice that tells me truth, even when I find it hard to believe

Which voice will I listen to?

Celebrate!

Celebrate!

Celebrate all the wins, even the small stuff.

Turn up on someone's doorstep with a bunch of flowers and wish them 'Happy Monday!'

Celebrations acknowledge achievements and give them validity. Recognise your achievements and those of the people around you and celebrate them.

And on those days when getting out of bed is a major achievement, take that win and don't put yourself down for not doing more.

Tunnel through

I'm still contemplating my tunnel. After my thoughts in the last post, I have to ask myself, 'What am I pushing through?'

Still pondering.

Waiting to emerge

Waiting to emerge. Living with hope that the tunnel will end soon.

This page wasn't really going anywhere until I put the swathe of green across the middle. Then I could see the entrance/exit for a tunnel over on the left under the flower. Considering a previous page where tunnels were on my mind, I saw it as an exit. I'm in the tunnel, but hoping that soon I will find the end and emerge. There is hope because the page is bright and colourful. I look forward to emerging from the dark into the light.

Being in the dark in a tunnel is not all bad. A tunnel takes you from one place to another, usually through an obstacle that is too difficult or expensive to go around. I may be in the dark but I'm going somewhere. When I emerge I will be in a new place. At the moment I don't know where that is, but I know I'm moving towards it.

Fingerprints

What thrills your heart? What makes you unique?

When I looked at this page I could see fingerprints and a heartbeat wave. They spoke to me of a person's essential 'them-ness'.

We can think of our fingerprint as being the personal mark we leave on the world; the unique set of skills we have and how we apply them. When we use those skills in conjunction with what thrills our heart, we have found a unique purpose. As I work out who I am (again) I need to think about those things - what are my skills? How can I use them in the way that thrills my heart?

How can I be the best 'me'?

When we are authentic, we present the best we have to the world in a way that is the best for us, too.

Who I am

Working out who I am - again.

Whenever we move house - and we've moved a fair amount - I have to work out who I am again. You have to find your place in a new community and work out how you can contribute in your own unique way. As an introvert, it takes me a long time to do that. We've been in this new place for a year now, and I'm just at the point where I can begin to think about my place here.

Add to that my season of life - I hit 50 last year - and there's a lot to get my head around. There's both internal and external change in my life and I'm trying to go easy on myself as I face it all.

Do you hit the ground running or does change take a while to get used to?

Focus

Focus on the one thing rather than being pulled in all directions.

It is easy to flit from one thing to another, not focussing on anything. There are so many things out there that are good, that demand our time and attention. But what is the best? What is the one thing that is most important?

Where should your focus be?

Tunnels

If you're in a tunnel, keep going - there will be light at the end of it and you can't drift off course.