niggling thoughts about nominations

I am trying to work out what it is about nominations that I dislike. I do have some genuine concerns regarding the latest ice-bucket nominations as the charity concerned does not really operate in the way I would hope but that doesn't really explain all my feelings.
Imagine I was happy with the charity involved, would I welcome a nomination then?
Not really.
I have been thinking about this a lot and have posted some other people's considered responses to the Ice-bucket nominations and they go part way to address my concerns.
I don't feel comfortable with these charity nominations  partly because they resemble the neck-nominations where young people nominated each other to drink themselves senseless then seemingly bright, intelligent people did just that rather than let their friends down so publicly.
I was starting to feel anti all nominations and then I realised that I have actually succumbed to a nomination scheme myself quite recently which was write 3 positive things about my life for 5 days and nominate 3 others to do likewise. I did this without thinking too deeply about it because it seemed positive and harmless and fun. I guess other people find the ice-bucket challenge positive and harmless and fun.
I am not so sure though.
If everyone nominated looks carefully at the charity being supported and is happy with it then it seems fair enough that they take part but then they nominate a number of people and this is where I become more uncomfortable.
Some people may receive their nomination and feel compelled to take part so that they don't let others down but there may be genuine reasons why they choose not to support that charity at that time.
This also seems to link with those posts that appear from time to time asking you to complete a simple puzzle and then telling you if you share the post immediately you will have a happy life and if not you will be cursed. A lot of people share these posts for superstitious reasons and this only passes the stress onto their friends who are then forced to comply of have something bad potentially happen to them.
On principle I never share these posts as I do not like to give into blackmail in that way.
The two challenges are not the same but I believe them to be linked.
I think the problem I have with the whole thing is people feeling compelled to do something they wouldn't ordinarily do because they don't want to let others down or appear mean.
Please understand that if you nominate things for me to do I will consider them carefully, go ahead if completely happy but if not I won't proceed and I hope very much that this doesn't affect our friendship.  The next time you are nominated for something please only proceed if you are 100 % happy with what you are being asked to do and the cause you are being asked to support as people love and appreciate you for being the unique person that you are and so will completely understand you thinking for yourself.  x

The Wicked Witch of the West had her own reasons for declining the Ice-bucket challenge!

The sequel

I have started reading the sequel to the Ken Follet book I mentioned before and as I read it seemed very familiar...It turns out that I have read it a while ago, oddly I have never read the original story before so I cannot work out why I read the sequel. It is a brilliant sequel however and so it is no hardship to read it again! Reading it this time around is helping to connect up some unanswered questions I had the first time around.
It is a remarkable skill to write a sequel so good that it stands on its own as a story but this is the case with this book!

Time to read

i a sorry to say I haven't read an entire novel for ages! I have been so busy working, studying personal development, getting ready to sell my house etc and reading a novel escaped my mind.
I resolved to complete a novel this summer holiday and I have just finished reading Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth- what an incredible book. I will have to read the sequel now!
It had everything. It was set in the Middle Ages and contained lots of historical detail but more importantly for me the characters were so believable I can thoroughly recommend it!

Making the most of every moment.

Time is whizzing past. Sunday was very pleasant. It was lovely to spend time with my friend Jan in her garden with her family and friends. The scones were delicious and I also enjoyed the company of my friend Ann. It is Monday now. I am meeting my friend Christabelle. Meeting friends and family in the summer holiday is such a lovely thing to do. Obviously I also see people during the rest of the year but the summer holiday is a wonderful opportunity as the days are longer and warmer and I am not teaching.
I am enjoying every moment and am determined that even when the holiday is over I will continue to appreciate these lovely moments in my life.
They say time flies when you are enjoying yourself and I think that is true.
As you get older the years seem to go faster but I guess that is because when you are young a year is a relatively long time but when you are older a year is relatively short compared to the rest of the life that you have lived. A year is one tenth of the life of a ten year old but 1/20 of a twenty year old and so on.
Life is very precious and I become more aware of this and more appreciative of the simple things in life as I get older.

Inspired

Spending time in my caravan is very good for me. When I am there I go for lots of walks with my dog, I read, I draw and I write. I used to write a lot and then I started working really really hard and this curbed my creative spirit. I do not resent this as in any ways the work I was doing required a lot of creative thinking so I was able to express myself that way but now at last I find myself in a position where I have space and time in my life to express my creativity in my preferred way.
I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I wrote pages and pages over the past two days and I think I will be able to turn the content into an e-book. watch this space...
Going away camping has undoubtedly helped me too!

eating out

I don't eat out often but I do enjoy going out to eat and meet friends. I am vegetarian and I also know people who are vegan and we often find our choice of menu limited. I accept as we are in the majority that there are unlikely to be many options on a menu but when I do find somewhere that offers vegetarian food that has been prepared with imagination and care I return to that place again and again. It is usually in those restaurants, pubs and cafes that the staff are also friendly and welcoming.
I don't think this just applies to vegetarian food either. If people take care to prepare food using good quality ingredients and present it well people enjoy their dining experience and wish to return.
I don't think there needs to be an extensive menu.
I have been to other restaurants etc. and found a very different experience where the staff seem fed up and the food is not well cooked or presented.
I think it boils down to people enjoying what they do. If someone runs a restaurant and they value their staff and customers the place will thrive while if they are out just to make quick money something gets lost.
Food should also come at a fair price. I am not talking about cut price but if a customer feels they are getting good value for money in a place where the staff appreciate your custom they are likely to return and bring their friends.

achievements

I am  very proud of the pupils in my school. Despite all the challenges they face many have achieved well in their exams including GCSE's.
If education comes naturally to you it is easy to forget all the people who struggle to reach each tiny milestone.
If you are a good reader it is hard to imagine being asked to carry on trying to learn to read when you are in your teens but there are many people who struggle and struggle and for me when they achieve each milestone I am so impressed. It means they have refused to give up and still have enough faith in themselves and in others to keep trying.
Whatever you think about the exam system I think it is important to recognise anyone who has taken a risk, feared failing by entering an exam and then achieving something against all the odds.
Congratulations to anyone who has managed to achieve that little bit more than they thought they could. Good luck to anyone who is brave enough to push themselves and sign up for a new challenge!

camping is brilliant!

I have just come back from a lovely camping trip with Graham and the dogs. Ollie loves running about on the beach with his doggy pals and I am delighted to say that I beat Graham at Scrabble by a mile! ( This is a rare and beautiful thing as I usually lose!)  There are some beautiful beaches in UK and camping close by is great. I really like visiting new places and camping in new sites.
I am looking forward to my next camping trip!

Learning

I always know when things are balanced and going well in my life as it is then that I have the energy and willingness to learn new things. In the last few weeks of the holiday before I return to work I have enrolled on an on-line NLP short course that I believe will be useful to me personally and also will enhance my future career as a Life Coach. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. It really helps me to identify the strategies I have adopted in my life that work for me and those that don't.
I love learning new things and realise we are living in exciting times as exciting new things are being developed all the time!

camping in a tent

I have just come back from a weekend in the Sussex countryside after camping ( in  a tent) with my friends Sarah and Tom. We were staying in a garden being looked after by friends of Sarah. It was a lovely cottage surrounded by fields with a pond, hens and guinea-pigs. We went on some lovely walks and largely Ollie got on with their dog Diva. We went for a walk around a beautiful lake. There were abundant blackberries, mushrooms, wild flowers and magnificent trees.
Ollie was a good companion in the tent as he acted like a hot water bottle. the night was pretty cold and windy for August but the rain stayed away until I had packed away my tent and got in the car ready to drive home and then in rained like crazy! What a lovely weekend. Ollie obviously found something nasty to roll in - let's face it, the weekend would not be complete without it!

meditation

Meditation, have you ever tried it? If you haven't, don't know it until you have. I am not very good at it as my mind likes to race about on all kinds of tangents but it is well worth persisting as it is so relaxing and clears your mind for more helpful and creative thoughts to rise up to the surface.
I was listening to some the relaxing music during a guided meditation with Deepak Chopra when instead of focusing on Hope my mind was wondering how friends of mine who do their grocery shopping monthly manage to negotiate the aisles with one or more shopping trolley piled up with goodies!
This doesn't really matter though, all you do when you find yourself focussing on such trivialities is to smile to yourself and let the thoughts go and before you know it your mind is clear for a little while at least.

Big Walkies help me to decide what I want to do when I grow up!

Ollie and I dodged the rain and went on 'Big Walkies' yesterday. It was great to see all the flowers and plants and somehow Ollie avoided rolling in nastiness so no dog wash was necessary when we got home so all in all it was a great success. We had to time it very carefully as when the rain came down it was 'biblical' as people have been reporting!
Ollie seems to be in a more restful mood today and hasn't even got up yet!
All this walking is good for clearing my mind and helping me decide on what to do in future.
I am enjoying my teaching job which is part time. In a little while I aim to reduce my hours further so once I have sold my house and reduced my living costs I would like to try something new.
Last year I trained as a professional Will Planner. I enjoyed meeting people and helping them to ensure their last wishes were recorded. The company I worked with is excellent and provide a great service but as I live so far away I had to try and establish my business a long way away with little money for marketing which I found was     impossible to juggle alongside my teaching job so I have decided not to continue.
(I would definitely recommend the company and if you live within travelling distance of The West Country and would like to make a Will let me know and I will put you in touch.)
I am still a distributor for Utility Warehouse helping people save money on their Utilities and long may that continue. The support and training offered is excellent. In fact the support and training helped to further spark my interest in Personal Development.
I have always been interested in  Personal Development and have been lucky enough to benefit from various counselling courses and coaching related to my various roles. I have found this training along with self directed study- reading books and attending Webinars has really helped me to live the life that is right for me. It has helped me decide on what is truly important in my life and what I can let go of.
As I have explored Personal Development I have started to focus on a role that I would really like to explore. I am looking into the possibility of becoming a Life Coach.
I have started to look at various training courses and when I have sufficient funds to undertake the training and marketing necessary I will proceed. Life Coaching is something I could develop on a part time basis and if I am able to help people enough I will be able to increase the number of clients I can work with  as I reduce my teaching hours.
I think this is a good time to offer this service. I have a lot of life experience now and so I think I am in a good position to listen to others and to help them to decide on the actions necessary for them to achieve their goals and dreams.

whizzing past

This year is going so fast. We are almost half way through August! It does feel like we have had some summer this year which is lovely. There have been some years in UK when it has rained all through the summer. I am hopeful that we will have a warm sunny Autumn too. It really helps us to feel ready for the colder weather. I like all our seasons. It  can be so beautiful in winter on a frosty day and the falling autumn leaves can be beautiful too. The colours of Spring are some of the  most stunning. I like the fresh green of new leaves.
There is a field near here that I take my dog Ollie to. It looks so different in the 4 seasons. I look down at all the fields  and really like to look out for those changes.

caravan

I have just come back from a few days at the caravan. It was lovely and rather exciting with a thunder storm crashing overhead for much of the time. Ollie was pretty scared but despite this whenever it stopped raining we were able to go out for walks. Sometimes I avoided the cliff and chose to walk in the fields instead because the wind was very strong and I didn't fancy falling off the cliff. I was very touched when I sat on a bench and read the plaque. It was in memory of a young woman who had been a channel swimmer. The plaque invited people to rest a while then go and follow their dreams. It suggested that her spirit would swim beside you and asked you to bring back a French pebble. Some people had left pebbles on the bench marked with the date of their swim.
I thought this was inspiring and I completely agree with the sentiment that we should all follow our dreams!

relationships

I went to my friend Fiona's 25th wedding anniversary party yesterday. 25th!! I think it is incredible when people meet one another and are happy for that length of time! It was lovely to see her family gathered round celebrating together. The food was lovely too. I do not believe that people should be forced to stay together in an unhappy relationship and I am also aware that even in a happy relationship the going gets tough sometimes but when you see a couple who are obviously still very happy after all that time it does make me smile!

What a lovely few days!

I have just come back from a brilliant trip. First I drove to Graham's and was treated to a delicious Chinese take-away. I dropped Ollie and returned the next day to my house. I loaded DVDs and CD's belonging to Clarrie and Jack and drove to Plymouth. It was so good to see Clarrie , Ben, Jack and George. Clarrie and Ben have done lots of work to their house and it looks great. George loves his new Ollie-free life.
We went to Dartmoor and visited the house used to film the farm scenes in the film Warhorse.
The weather was really good.
After my visit which  also involved eating lovely food and playing some boardgames it was time to drive back. I visited my friend Jenni and her gorgeous dog Bella and we have some great food too. I then drove back to Essex where I was reunited with Ollie and Graham treated me to a really nice Indian meal.
My car ran beautifully for the whole trip.
What more can I ask for?

Summer days!

What lovely days we have been having! I have not been indoors much unless I am clearing out the house ready for sale. Ollie, Burt and Rufus had some brilliant walks over the past few days and we took Valine and Lovely two more Romanian rescue dogs out too. They all enjoyed splashing about in the river. We have been so lucky with the sun, it feels like a proper summer!

peaceful days

I have just had a wonderful few days at my caravan. I met up with friends, ate lovely food, walked, read books, wrote and drew pictures. It was bliss! The weather was great and everyone was in a good mood. Ollie had his traditional role in a pile of poo and had to have a shower much to is horror but apart from that it was all flowers and butterflies!