Anticipation

 

Often the anticipation is worse than the actuality.

How many times have you not been looking forward to something, rehearsing it in your mind, preparing possible responses, only to find that it goes much better than you thought? How much energy do we waste in this worrying?

Maybe there's a better way.

Flow

 

Be like water - flow around obstacles.

We can butt our heads against obstacles, or we can find a way around them. It takes a little more ingenuity, and a bit more hard work, but it can usually be done. The thing is, if you manage to get around the obstacle, you don't have whining rights any more. For some people, that is a big downside. They like to whine and whinge, so actually doing something about the problem is not their aim. You know people like that - they complain about something, and you offer several possible solutions, but they just make more excuses. They don't really want to do anything to change.

So are you a whiner or a flow-er? 

Hot!

 

When the heat is on, stay cool!

We're having a little heatwave before Christmas here in Adelaide, so staying cool is on everyone's mind. But the words also apply to metaphorical heated situations. Staying cool is so important when harsh words are flying. Often we take things personally that are not meant that way. If you have the opportunity, sit with your emotion before responding. If you don't have the luxury of time, take a breath and don't make a knee-jerk response.

And I'd like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas. I've been accidentally absent for over a month, but things have been happening towards our Christmas church services behind the scenes, so I haven't been idle :)

Speak up!

 

If you want to be heard, you have to speak.

There is no point whining about things when you had the opportunity to say something, but stayed silent. Yes, it can be scary, especially if everyone else in the room is saying something else, but if you stay silent in the room, then you need to stay silent outside it, too. It's hard.