Month: January 2020

It takes grace to remain kind in cruel situations

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Anon

We named our first daughter Gracie. It came from my partners love of Jiujitsu, the Gracie family (a surname) are inspirational in the sport and I wanted her to know she is fierce and strong. Grace in the dictionary means ‘effortless beauty, charm of movement’ and this part of her name evokes a softer and nurturing side, a flow of calm. The balance within this name seemed perfect for our first born.

Words have power, they signal clear intentions. However you may want to act or be, other people’s intentions and actions aren’t always in alignment with ours. This often can build hostile and cruel environments, where everybody thinks their way is the best. I’ve noticed it’s a common theme in the school playground and also most work places. Perhaps management or career focused individuals are pushing an agenda that isn’t concurrent with how you view the world. Perhaps your child comes homes with stories from the playground that makes ‘little Alfie’ who seemed lovely when he came for tea that time portrayed as a monster of meanness.

These events are frequent, we are all travelling on our own paths, overlapped by many people on there very different paths. You have two options – roll up your sleeves and show up on the mat of life (much like the Gracie family do), defend your beliefs and take any action necessary. Or you can step back, breath and proceed with Grace.

Much like a Swan, elegant on top of the water, floating with ease but paddling like crazy under the water I think this might be the solution. The Swan knows it’s a Swan, it seems to know it large and often holds its head up high, but the bow in the head shows it’s also humble. When needed it expands its huge wingspan and shows it’s physical power, but mostly it glides with grace knowing it’s self worth. Most importantly, a Swan never tries to be anything other that itself.

If you find yourself in a cruel situation, perhaps led by other people’s agendas. Take a step back and be you. Know your truth, glide and speak with grace…but be prepared to flap your wings only when it truly matters.

Happy swimming

You can start over every morning

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Quote Anon

My last post was about vision boards, setting goals and motivation for the year ahead. I mentioned that I had signed up to 30 days of yoga and so far on day nineteen it’s going well, I’ve made it to the mat everyday.

However, I wanted to share a new perspective on motivation. Just because I’m successful in achieving my goal (so far) doesn’t mean it hasn’t been hard and doesn’t mean I haven’t wanted to skip a session. Last week I was exhausted from work, I got home and put my pyjamas straight on – I wanted to snuggle, until a sentence my friend had said just hours earlier entered my head, she didn’t want to go to her exercise class either BUT was going because she wanted to create the habit… sometimes when we least want to show up is when we actually end up getting the best results. So, sulking like a moody teenager and still wearing my pyjamas I sat on my mat. I was then blissfully rewarded and that days session invited us to wear snuggly clothes, grab a blanket and just breath. Snug in my nightwear and relieved I didn’t have to exert myself it was exactly what my body needed, plus I was rewarded with the satisfaction that I hadn’t created an excuse not to do the session. Sometimes showing up is enough.

However, sometimes like the quote suggests life throws you a problem that you didn’t foresee and it can prevent you from achieving your goals as quickly, for example you are watching what you eat and at a friends they order a take away, this can be the start of the end, from then on a ‘what’s the point’ attitude means biscuits, treats and high fat foods are on the menu. OR you could just see the meal as a celebration, a moment in time and with kind thoughts wake the next morning and return to the healthy choices you previously had succeeded in selecting. I think successful individuals don’t let the hiccups of life get in there way, instead they let them pass and continue on the path they intended.

The voices of failure and that we aren’t good enough are loud for all, it’s deciding not to and when to listen to them that’s the key to achieving your goals. If you did set a goal and so far the plan hasn’t…well, gone to plan. You will wake tomorrow, start again and that’s good enough.

Let your dreams be your wings

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Quote Anon

January, a new beginning and a chance to set new intentions, plans and goals – I’m in! I know most of the population are against new year resolutions, usually followed with an explanation of ‘what’s the point I’ll only fail’ or ‘ A new year is never any different’…not in this house! In this house we dare to dream, we set intentions and we strive to live our best life. That usually involves evaluating what we could do better and altering behaviour patterns. I was thrilled to hear that my bestie and her husband spent New Year’s Eve with a white board and divided their intentions in to personal and home goals, they also made themselves further accountable by putting the goals on to a time line of the year. *alas they didn’t colour coordinate.

Some people prefer to make goals public and share them on social media, others prefer a more personal approach and jot a few ideas in a planner never to see the light of day.

This year I’m trying something new.

A vision board: In essence you collate images from magazine, words or captions and create a collage of dreams you’d like to experience. Some people hang it up for the world to see, others abandon it in the loft, either way often people are successful in manifesting their desires, as a result I thought I’d give the process a go for 2020. As always, I did it my way and agree that if you’d like to try having a go then make it work for you. There are thousands of examples online to get your creative taste buds excited.

I didn’t like the idea of clutter and images overlapping in a frame. Instead I chose six visions for my board and created images represented in Polaroid photos. I don’t own a Polaroid so I uploaded the photos to an app called LALALAB. (This post isn’t affiliated but I have worked with the company in precious posts). I captioned each image and stuck them neatly near my mirror in my bedroom – a place where not everyone who comes to my home will see them, but that I look at daily.

Creating the images was the fun bit, thinking of how I would capture my vision. One of my goals is to increase our finances. For this I cut out paper butterflies, as they symbolise a sense of freedom and growth for me. I then arranged them coming out of a mason jar, escaping the rat race and soaring high.

For others I used images I had previously taken or asked friends to borrow them. After my miscarriage last year I couldn’t practise yoga for a while, this really set me back on my mat, I really want to extend my practise in 2020. Yoga is another source of freedom and flexibility for me. I’ve committed to a 30 day yoga challenge and so far (its day five) it’s going well.

At the end of the cutting, sticking, folding and creating (and of course I used fridge magnets for one of them) I’ve ended up with six images that make me smile. I’m not sure if I’ve been too vague, but I plan to return to this blog in December 2020 and review the process.

Meanwhile, I’d love to know if you’ve had any joy with you own vision board, how you created it and what worked? Please leave any comments below. And lastly, happy new year and may all your dreams come to fruition.