Precious Time

23/01/2010 — rosannagordon

All the while we’re out there, doing whatever it is that we’re doing, the clock is ticking and moments are passing. Can we honestly say that we’re making perfect, or at least good use of time? That we’re happy with what we spend it on?

Something so precious as time, is sadly often taken for granted, wished away or just not cared for. And this is a great shame. We can never tread the same step twice, touch the same waters or get opportunities back, and so it’s down to us to act in moments when they arrive. Otherwise, we may look back and wish we’d stepped out more and not let things slip between our fingers.

Perhaps there’s a new adventure we want to embark on, a friendship to invest in, a career line to take, a love affair to run with, a dream to follow, a call to make. Wherever we are on our journeys, we need to open our eyes to what’s before us, and our ears to hear it calling our name.

It may mean that we need to create some new behaviour, to get things started. These new opportunities calling us over could seem scary and risky, out there in unknown parameters. Doubts may arise and fear set in. We’ll want to cling to our comfort blanket, the place we’ve been rested so long. So, we’ll need courage and strength to lay the first foundations, and thirst and enthusiasm to see us through into the new life.

When we start to make truly good use of time, we will feel a change of flow. And this is natural; time will take on a new meaning. Things may suddenly speed up or an hour could last a lifetime. This is a part of the process, of breaking free from the humdrum of wasted time, wasted moments. It is important to reach out and not just stay where we are, living in wonder of what life could be.

Recently, I’ve decided to make some changes. In seeing my time as precious and dear to me, I’ve chosen to spend my moments with people I feel real joy and happiness being with, to do the things my heart is in and to say yes to new experiences and adventures I had only dreamt of.

What we choose in our present is what defines our future. Each choice, each action counts in its making. We won’t simply arrive somewhere one day we’ve been longing for – not unless we set stones today. This is why we need to act. We need to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’, bite the bullet, strike whilst it’s hot and shake things up a notch.

Remember, things can get better. Time can be an amazing healer, a tool, a valuable source, a treasure. You can have the life you truly want. Make time work in your favour. Make it count, last and accommodate all of your inner desires. Make the best use of this gem that you ever have before. Let it astound you.

Take a look at your life as it is. Is time working for you or against you? Are you flying high or staying low? What could you bring in/act on today that you haven’t already?

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The Best Year of My Life

24/12/2009 — rosannagordon

It’s the Eve before Christmas, and as I look forward to celebrations to come, I can’t help but also look back over the past year at celebrations been and gone, and feel tremendous happiness. What a year I’ve had! Quite honestly, the best year of my life.

A stroke of luck? Far from it. You see, I pretty much decided on 2009 being the best year of my life at this very time last Christmas. In the words of Debbie Ford, my great source of inspiration, I dreamt it, planned it, and the only thing left was to live it.

If I scan back, a few things in particular stand out for me, in making this a year above the rest. For one, the very reality of this website wakeuptohealth. I finally got around to channelling my passion for healthy & positive living, somewhere where I can reach others. From a collection of ideas to a purposeful source, my intention precisely.
From here, I discovered my great love for writing and have seen several of my articles published in leading health magazines. On the career front, I followed my intuition in embarking on a primary teacher training course, and have embraced the friendships and rewards it has brought me so far. Most importantly, in myself I feel lighter, more balanced, free and at peace than ever before.

So, what prompted me to go out and make 2009 the best year yet? Why this time last year did I reach for Debbie Ford’s book The Best Year of Your Life?

It was the lead up to Christmas 2008 and I was staying in a London apartment. My friend was out of town and the pad was all mine, for two weeks! Fantastic, eh? Well, no, not when you’re feeling miserable. “I’ve hit rock bottom”, were the words I chose when my Mum called. Curled up on the sofa in a ball that evening, I texted my friends to cancel the dinner party I had so looked forward to hosting. “I’m really sorry, I feel rather down and I’m just not up to it.” There, I’d escaped an evening of crying on my friend’s shoulder. But, where from here?

At the real surface of it, I just wasn’t entirely satisfied with my life. Stress had accumulated over the preceding months, balance had been lost, and I didn’t know where I was headed. A great yearning for more meaning, focus and alignment was calling from within. And this was the perfect catalyst for what happened next.

Back at home and in need of something to boost me into a new direction, I picked up Debbie Ford. I’ve never read something so quickly and with such fixation. Every word seemed to jump out at me and strike a chord within. “Yes, this is what I want! I want to create great meaning to all of my days and sculpt the very life of my dreams.” Suddenly, it felt within reach, as though it were achievable. “Ahh”, the satisfaction in knowing this.

Since January, I’ve kept a Best Year of My Life diary, starting each entry with this phrase. My thoughts and words have therefore had a driver, an underlying focus, and brought me back in when I’ve drifted off. Perhaps not each day has been out of this world, but each has brought something with it; a learning, a wake up call, a new idea, a mirror, a base, an angle.

For me, this year is confirmation that we can make of each year exactly what we want to. As creators, we choose, we sculpt and we define. I plan on living each year with this in mind. I plan on living the best year of my life, every year. On defining to myself the exact kind of year I want to have, the attitudes I want to hold, the values I want to live by, the things I want to achieve, the people I want to know better and the me I want to be. And so that when I look back at the end of the year, I can feel happy with where I’ve travelled.

So, here I go into 2010 with the intention set, to make it the Best Year of My Life. Are you with me?

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Who Do We Think We Are?

08/09/2009 — rosannagordon

TR

We’re walking down the road of our life when suddenly we hit a junction and freeze “who do we think we are?” are the words crying out from inside of us.

From the surface, things may look ordinary to anyone who sees us – we are the same old person we always were, right? The same we were yesterday, five, even ten years back and the same we’ll be tomorrow. All fine and dandy. Well, no, not necessarily.

We can carry on walking the same path, replicating the same existence day in, day out and carrying around with us the same belief system and state of health OR we can start to be receptive to the cries yelling out from within us, pleading and longing to be heard. I urge you to listen intently, right now.

Our identities that we’ve created, mastered and set in stone, that we’ve handed out to and convinced our loved ones, strangers and even ourselves of, may very well be masking who we truly are. And we’re going to have to chip away at this protection layer if we want to discover our inner gems.

I woke up to health a few years back. By letting my inner voice be heard, accepted and not resisted to any longer, I was able to end the conflict between my lifestyle as it was at the time – centering around fleeting highs, low lows alcohol, feelings of weakness, helplessness and a lack of direction – and my inner yearning for a more meaningful life. When I really listened to what my heart, my inner guidance was telling me, I knew instinctively I had to make some changes.

Did it rock my identity? Sure. Was it easy? Far from it. But you know what, once I got over the fear, the frustration and uncertainty of not knowing who I was or where I was going, I was then able to start a very special journey and align with my true self.

I spent a while wandering around in ‘no man’s land’. Sick of the old me, unclear of the new. I noticed my friendship circle changing, my sense of security loosening and my sensitivity to life heightening. What was I supposed to be doing? What was my life’s purpose? How could I break free from the old me? With time I could see that this was a necessary step and part of my journey which led me to the answers I longed for.

We need time, quiet space to reflect on what’s important in life to us. Who we think we are. It became clear to me I didn’t want to be carried along by the world, that I wanted to have dreams that I could realise. I wanted to help people feel happier and healthier than they had before. Wake up to health and my vision to own a Retreat House came into existence whilst I was searching for answers – and has stayed my guiding force, my motivation.

It can be frightening to leave our identity behind in setting sail to create a new one. There are risks we take as we leave one version of ourselves behind and put our feet into unknown waters – not knowing where the tide will bring us to. But the thing is, unless we try, we’ll never know. If we cling to our lives, our identities as we know them, we may never experience the greatness we can become.

We need to challenge our identity. Look ourselves in the mirror and ask ‘who do we think we are?’ In presenting the question, we can begin the search to fulfilling our dreams.

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