Go the extra mile

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

  
Quote by the wonderful and talents (all be it slightly bashful) Anon.

Don’t panic this post doesn’t mention the swear word ‘exercise’.

The quote doesn’t require me to delve into a huge ramble of meaning and metaphor, instead it says it all. I adore a quote that hits you with motivation and love and then walks away, I imagine it’s must like David Beckham walking over to you for a peck on the cheek (okay, that would be way better right?) you think at the time you’ll be cool, sassy and looking totes hot – instead you are blushing like a strawberry and wearing stretchy pants (Victoria wouldn’t approve of either the peck or the stretchy trousers)… I digress 

I guess simply many people settle. They plan small and within the reality of now, they settle and make adjustments where necessary, they live day to day and then one day…they die

Not sounding like the usual ‘fridge vibes’ because I spend my life (in my head) screaming at people to want more, to go bigger to enjoy the enjoyment, to actually feel ‘life’ before its gone and sure we all get caught up in the supermarket shop and the kids homework…but we can all dream and live a bit bigger right? Otherwise what’s the point and how come ‘other’ people achieve the things we desire? Because they dare to.

I have a good friend who is currently talking about marriage to a man who, when she got with originally thought was ‘too nice’. 

My Mum has ‘best China’

Other friends are happy settled in finances stretching to a holiday every other year and all the bills paid.

Now I’m hoping that if you’re reading and following the fridge and all its lovely positive contents – maybe your are ready or have  already gone the extra mile.

Settle only with the best of partners, eat off the fancy plates and dream big…because that’s life and what’s the point in life if your goals are around painting fences and a week in Majorca…and if your are the Majorca / fence person then go with the top brand stainer and upgrade to all inclusive. 

*im sure Majorca is lovely, sorry for picking on you. 

No one knows how to love anybodies troubles 

~ Fridgesays ~ 4 Comments

Quote by Frank Stanford

For better or worse? Hmm it seems a little out dated. Of course once in love, you can see imperfections and negative qualities – which at times can even be adorable. Love truly defined is ‘He / She still loves me with flu, greasy hair and when I have sloth like qualities’…

However, I spent most of my early twenties like most of my friends ‘saving people’ and if there is one thing I’ve learnt – you can’t save another; you can help and guide but ultimately we are all in control of our own car crashed and bad hair days, and a little sad but somewhat true is that some people live for the drama and chaos, they spring from disaster zone to complex doomed relationship and from the outside it seems they are celebrating in the misery. Of course, they are really just reliving negative patterns of behaviour and  ingrained habits. We’ve all been there, got the tshirt and the destruction of the ex partners in our history. So why is a positive place like whatmyfridgesays depressing us all…

Because I want to remind you (and myself) that negative people let out negative energy and it’ highly contagious. If you want to love and live happily ever after, listen to others but don’t become absorbed in the energy they are feeding you, because this doesn’t make you selfish, afterall a happy you is better for everyone around you.

So, when the ladies in the office are moaning about their other halves – make a cup tea, rather than swap stories that really are irrelevant and don’t push you in a positive direction.

Seems easy…it’s not, the world is sadly full of misery (one of the reasons I rarely watch TV and never watch the news), I’m guilty too of being absorbed and it’s something I watch, monitor and try to remove myself from.

So this week, think like a butterfly and take the best nectar from the best flowers…and leave the bees to spend all their energy buzzing when they too are just a petal away from the best nectar in town.

Little girls with dreams…

~ Fridgesays ~ 2 Comments

How can this quote be from ‘Anon’ it’s too amazing to not have a owner, like a shiny new coat abandoned on the school peg the day before the school holidays.

Dreaming comes easy to me, as a child I remember thinking I could fly, certain that much like Toy Story my dolls sprang to life as soon as I closed the bedroom door and that one day I to would be become a mermaid. 

My imagination has been busy since forever, I knew I’d be a teacher – I decided when I was around four years old after lining my teddy bears in regimented order and taking complex registers with giant ticks and crayons. 

I knew I’d marry; if Barbie can, so can I. I knew I’d have children and live in a big house (now working on it being bigger and convincing the boys a pink plastic mansion is the way forward)…from experience it’s true, I am now a woman of vision. 

Vision occupies my day to day mind, I’m always looking for improvement in all I do, climbing the ladder of career (insanity?), growing whatmyfridgesays to a level of greatness (in my own perception and not statistics someone else thinks it’s ‘worthy’), raising my son in a way that hopefully means he is a happy and fruitful human…vision is working productively, enjoying all life has to offer, vision is seeing new cultures and finding better ways of completing simple tasks…vision is seeing what others can’t.

A great way to do this is using Pinterest, I have a secret board of my visions…the dream house, aspirational quotes (obviously), the perfect body and places I will one day visit. I enjoyed putting it together – like shopping for that perfect outfit without the financial burden. My next step is to print the images off and transfer it to a collage in a frame that can enhance my vision and bring it closer everyday. Why not do one yourself?

So to my female readers I ask you to clean your lenses this week and make time to think about the reality you want for tomorrow. To read to your children, that’s where imagination and vision begin, as tiny words in bright illustrated pages of wonder (this was something Einstein encouraged)…and watch out because #thisgirlcan 

Dream big x 

Lovely things #9

~ Fridgesays ~ 4 Comments

Is it me or has someone put 2016 on fast forward? I feel like I only just started this year and it’s nearly May?

Being a UK blogger I have to comment on the weather, if you read this abroad then you have climate, Britain just has ‘weather’ and the last few days have seriously delivered, in five minute intervals we’ve had rain, sun, then the bonus of rainbows…oh and snow, hail and serious winds. If that’s not a sign that global warming is already taking effect I’m not sure what is?

So this picture captures my car roof on a sunny morning (covered in frost?)

I took the picture because the tiny pieces of frost seemed to be pointing upwards, plus the swirly patterns made me smile. Lovely things are so often the cause of Mother Nature.

2. My next lovely thing is gratitude. I’m currently working on being grateful for what I have (which is seriously so much more than most) without moaning about my materialist desires or discussing the things I lack. It’s hard because it’s habitual but I’m starting to see the positive aspects of life and not dwell in the drama and negativity.


If you too have lost focus on the happier aspects of life then try ’30 days of not moaning or making a negative comment’ it’s so hard at first, but I promise it soon becomes a new habit and your universe will be better for it. My top tip for this is do it with a friend, it helps you stay focused and you can even share your grateful moments with each other. You can text them to each other which makes a really cute ‘vertual keepsake’ to look back on. 

3. My little man loves books. I’m not sure how long it will last, but I will continue to remortgage so that we can bring home bookshops, hunt charity shops and stalls and generally develop his imagination in every direction. He loves to ‘read’ to me and at three I never seem to get over his sponge ability to absorb a story in seconds. This weekend we have ‘Harry Bear’ from nursery staying, so J was kind enough to ‘read’him Winnie the Pooh, so that he wasn’t scared. This picture melts my heart and completes my April lovely things.


Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle

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Quote and wisdom from Plato. 

I collect something invisible – it’s sad but true. They are free and it stems from a game I use to play with myself when I was a little lady (yup I’m an only child with an imagination as big as the wardrobe door in Narnia) and it’s called Karma points. I collect them all of the time and a bonus is there is no storage involved: In my car I let people out of junctions, I buzz off of a busy one way street, I let people out of shops and all the while I’m collecting karma points for later in the day when my toddler is having a tantrum and the possibilities of me needing to claim in some tokens is high…it’s silly but in this whirling swirling crazy world – it helps me to be nice. In my humble opinion the twenty first century is losing this quality and kindness is essential. 

As parents we encourage it ‘use kind hands’ ‘make sure you share…Ahhh that’s kind’ and then as the biggest hypocrites going we often forget ourselves. 

Life beyond the fridge is pretty good for me most of the time and it’s worth remembering that most people do have it much tougher, be that health wise, financially or just because their partner acts like a part of the male anatomy usually found below the waiste line. 

So as you go about your daily duties, picking children up from various childcare facilities, groups and team activities, make time to let the single mum in the Ford estate out of the car park or the Dad on the edge of sanity in Tesco with twins on a Saturday morning pass with his trolley…because it might be you that needs those karma / kind tokens cashed in one day.

Thanks for reading and please continue to share the fridges positive vibes with friends and loved ones. Have an awesome week 🙂 

I followed my heart…

~ Fridgesays ~ 8 Comments


Quote by Bill Murray.

Let’s face it good things come from the fridge…vitamins from the fruit and veg, calcium from the yoghurt and milk…I personally keep my ketchup in there and love the stuff. Did someone mention fizz – part of my moral compass for sometime has always been to have a bottle of presecco or champers in the fridge too, you never know when you may need to toast an exciting moment with someone, or drown your sorrows.

Warning: this blog is likely to be slightly slushy

I guess I really want to have a conversation with my blog, so here goes.

Dear Fridge,

So we started off as you can read in my intro Opening the fridge door by simply a growing love of positive vibes, quotes and a pipe dream for a motivational blog. Nearly a year on in blog land and we have had a ball, learnt a lot and you’ve become the best hobby ever (although this is because I have the attention span of a gnat, so the very fact you are still rocking is a miracle).

We got over the techno widgets together and we’ve been selective on the linkys we use…for heavens sake, we even know what a linky is and how to use them.

We love the blogging community…mostly; some are a little aggressive, bossy and there is a culture that recently formed where writing about your kids in an insulting manner or generally highlighting the mummy fails is popular (we stay clear, mainly as it isn’t positive) a side note: this doesn’t mean I think I’m perfect or have daily parent fails – I do, I simply chose not to share them with the world).

I need to say a huge thank you, you’ve given me a creative outlet that I’ve been missing since life got serious. You are patient too, when I don’t feel like posting…I don’t, although I aim to 2-3 times a week, I know that the world won’t stop if I don’t write anything and sometimes ‘not writing’ can be just as satisfying.

You also record my voice, freedom of speech or in this case typing is important to me. (I’ll probably cringe when I look back at some of the things I’ve written / there is a reason most of my diaries have been destroyed)

img_3565You also make my actual fridge come alive, he is a big beast and somehow blogging softens him and in my eyes gives him a greater meaning to life, although he also keeps food cool, frozen and makes ice; you could say my fridge is a multi tasking cool wizard.

What I’m saying is…thank you, I love our adventures, the people we have met and the places that we travel (mainly in my imagination – but hey you facilitate this), so although it’s not quite a year I will open some fizz to this little internet haven in your honour.

Love Lucy


 

Freedom is a state of mind

~ Fridgesays ~ 2 Comments

  Quote by Walter Mosley

This week I’ve worked silly hours at work and that’s meant that the demand on all areas of my life has increased from chores at home to time with loved ones. The week has had its moments of being overwhelming and then I had an amazing experience.

I had to return Thursday evening to work for a meeting at 6:30pm, I couldn’t go home and return to work in time so I went to a friend who lives local to the school I work at for a cuppa and an escape from the building i’d been in all day. She has twin girls so her house is a vision of pink and sparkle – it’s truly delightful, plus I’ve always been intrigued by multiple births and find the girls not only scrumptious but also fascinating, just the fact there is pretty much two of every toy blows my mind, plus Barbies house is beyond the realms of my reality – a tractor loving, puddle jumping monster.

Anyway, my friend picked the girls up and I was to meet her shortly after she arrived home. In typical Lucy style I was early, stranded on the door step and the cats weren’t prepared to let me in. 

I leaned on the garden wall and began my wait when a cheeky idea popped into my head, it was a silly spontaneous moment that saved my week. Opposite her house is a convinient store, so I ran over and bought a packet of crisps as a treat. I then sat on the wall in the 4pm sun swinging my legs without a care in the world. I know it’s sad but it felt delightful. 

Know why? Because it’s true, I love crisps but more importantly in a demanding week I had five minutes to just be. To sit. Not one person demanded something from me; not the pupils I teach, the family I adore or even the pet snails. I didn’t look at my phone and I wasn’t planning / time shuffling, there was nothing to do and certainly no list to haunt me. It reminded me of being a child without a care in the world and I liked it. 

Before you close this page or am concerned I’ve lost the plot – don’t. What I’m saying is no matter how small the time is when priorities are all encompassing always ALWAYS make time for you. If that means a cup of tea and five minutes under the duvet or locked in the bathroom with a good book – do it. Sure I know I need to get out more but for now when the world demands and keeps knocking on my door, I will perch on my wall kicking my legs without a care in the world, and when my crisp packet is empty and the sun has warmed my cheek bones I will answer the door with a bigger smile, as a better being and ‘demand’ will be no more.

I urge you too to embrace the small moments life offers, to be spontaneous in thought and gesture when appropriate and to make time for you because Walter is right – freedom is a state of mind.

Don’t rush and never settle 

~ Fridgesays ~ 4 Comments

 Quote original to what my fridge says.

Usually I find a quote that resonates with me and then use this as my starting point for writing. Today however I had a point to make and despite searching couldn’t find a quote that truly power slammed my opinion, so in my own empowered zone I created my own. It isn’t a particularly deep quote with under tones, meaning or hidden metaphors but as I often write, I’m partial to a quote that gets straight to the point.

For any younger readers, this advice comes from my thirty year old self…never settle. If you don’t love the dress, leave it on the hanger in the store. If the boy is cute but annoys you within five minutes of being in his company then he probably isn’t the ‘one’…side note, although I personally believe in soul mates these come in many forms, you may find ‘the one right now’ and after several months or years becomes a little too comfy or blooming irritating – like a jumper that was once a favourite but lost its shape and doesn’t bring out the best in you. It’s okay to release the jumper to the charity shop or back to relationships decide to go separate ways…the jumper will be a perfect fit for someone out there.

Despite our limited time in this weird and wacky world I’m not sure why everyone is in such a rush? Rushing to school, rushing to work, rushing to get jobs jobbed and meetings met…

I fully admit that at times pace is a friend, but never forget to make time to stop and look around once in a while. Toddlers are fabulous for this, my son walks at the pace of a snail and feels the need to stop at every daffodil, worm or rock (which may potentially have a worm under it) and although my adult brain is whizzing and encouraging him to pick up speed, it is he who has the balance right. 

Thirty year me has seen relationships where people have settled and sadly these usually result in divorce or seperation. Making do is best left to your sewing box and away from the people you surround yourself by.

So how can you avoid the rush and may be worst of all the settling…

1. Stop

2. Reflect, analyse and look around

3.does it make you happy (‘yeah I guess’ is a no!)

That’s it. Except may be act upon your analysis, always take stock of the relationships that take up your time – are they serving you draining you or have you just out grown them like that jumper we mentioned earlier?

This week take time to stop and analyse, it may prevent you from settling for something below you.

What’s meant to be will always find a way

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Quote by Trisha Yearwood.

It’s an ironic quote for me today as my current aim is to be more focused / disciplined and to use my time a little better, so reflecting on Trisha’s quote at first could make me think ‘bugger that it will happen anyway’… But I think there is a more to the quote than we realise – to make things happen in the first place we need to challenge ourselves and they may not always work out how we’ve planned.

Recently I seized an opportunity to go for a promotion and although I wasn’t selected I learnt a lot. I learnt that I believed in myself and that’s an important quality, I then learnt that the candidate that did had a skill set that didn’t interest me which meant that I probably didn’t want the role anyway haha, that it wasn’t for me and may be it was a lucky escape…loved ones reminded me that ‘better things were coming’ and I was kindly reminded how supported I am. I wasn’t looking for promotion at the time but by taking a risk it’s made me analyse my future, next steps and perhaps new horizons – not bad for an event that at first I thought had gone against me.

Hopefully in the next few months things will work out even better so that I can update you. I trust that things will work out well for me and my family…trust is an important element to this quote, but don’t underestimate action. If I hadn’t of taken a risk, I wouldn’t have learnt, developed or opened doors for the future. Things can’t happen (even if they are meant to) if you are present to collect them.

This week, take calculated risks that open doors and don’t worry if what’s behind the door isn’t what you first thought..if it’s meant to be, it will find a way.