Apple or orange?

Answer:  APPLE

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.  There is some truth in this old adage.  A study at the University of Nottingham found that people who ate more than five apples a week has improved lung functions, fewer asthma symptoms and less wheeziness.

Make eating apples more interesting?

I love baked apples!  Buy a nice BIG baking apple. Core it and in the middle stuff raisins &/or sultanas chopped dates, mixed, if you have it in with a bit of apple juice.  Wrap in foil.  Cook in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.  Serve with a big fat dollop of Greek yogurt.  It tastes like a naughty desert, yet it is healthy and guilt free.

Why do we find it so difficult to just simply STOP? To take the time to appreciate, and enjoy our everyday surroundings, and the beauty that is around us. The majority of our life’s are spent caught up & tangled in our thoughts, living out our lives in our heads. I include myself in this.

This poem expresses perfectly how we live “poor” lives, if we cannot begin to appreciate the small things in life, even if we may be “materially rich.”

Every day simple, small things can give us pleasure. Take today whilst I was walking along the canal with my two friends Darren & Kim. I allowed myself the time to look at the pale and contrasting bright pink blossoms on the cherry tree & the stretch of bluebells in the woods on the opposite side of the toe-path.  It would have been so easy to be so absorbed in my own “stuff” and conversation to be oblivious to all the natural beauty that surrounded me.  

The quote that springs into my mind, whilst writing is the one about moments. That in the end our lives will be measured not by the breaths we take but the number of moments. These moments happen most when we are able to connect totally with the here and now, hen we value and truly experience the simple pleasures that life has to offer us. To be fully in the present moment we need to allow ourselves the time and space to stop and stare.

What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep, or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

William Henry Davies 1871 – 1940

In the silence…I am enough

Now is the only moment

I am everything, yet nothing

No beginning or certain end

In the silence…I am enough

Powerful currents begin to settle

Going deeper

Letting go

Closer to my source

In the silence…I am enough

I am whole, I am one

Peace within

In the calm of my storm

In the silence…I am enough

At the heart of stillness

Energy is pure

Life is eternal

In the silence…I am enough

I am not alone.

My fears are self-created

Allowing

I can just be

In the silence…I am enough

This poem was written just 5 minutes before I hit the publish button. It’s surprising what we can create if we allow ourselves the space, and open, even a small window of time. I was able to relatively quickly write this poem (something I don’t often do) because I didn’t place too much expectation on the end product and result.

I used a writing technique called Clustering.  It is very similar to the old school activity, Brainstorming. I started with this sentence, “In the silence I understand…”

The sentence came from Sabrina Ward Harrison’s book The True and the Question.  I spent about 10-15 minutes jotting down any thoughts that came into my head. No pressure. There were no right or wrong thoughts & ideas.  My main objective was just to get everything out of my head onto the paper. It didn’t matter if it made no sense, or sounded silly.

That was a couple of days ago. I then came back to it today, with fresh eyes.  Fom the words, phrases, and random sentences I had jotted down I created this poem. It took me about 15 minutes.  I allowed myself time to play around with the words, and mess about with a variations on the sentence structure. “In the Silence” is my end result.

I could quite easily have spent much longer re-working, editing, and generally trying to create THE perfect poem…but I didn’t want to spend forever rehashing and re-writing.  I wanted to enjoy the experience.  I wanted my poetry experience to be short and sweet. It was.  Because it was easy I am likely to not be put off or afraid to write more.  I made the creative process as easy as it could possible be for me.  Happy Days!

Below is a picture taken of the Sabrina Ward Harrison book. As you can see there are all my scribbles all over the pages.

April is National Poetry month, so it’s a great time for us all to start to express ourselves in more poetic way.  Let the poetic, creative, juicy rivers flow….

Recently I watched a program about the migration of the Monarch Butterflies, from North America to Mexico.   The Monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles across some seriously harsh terrain, surviving extreme weather conditions.  It is incredible to imagine such a tiny fragile creature being able to travel such distances, and survive.   Yet they do, on mass, each and every year, migrating back to the same place in Mexico.

This is a truly amazing phenomenon, and must be magical and enchanting to witness.

The butterflies are worshiped in Mexico, and are thought to be the souls of the dead.

The film highlighted the worrying fact that the butterflies habitat is increasingly under-threat.  That this wondrous creature is facing extinction.  This year there was a 59% drop in the numbers of orange and black butterflies that sleep in huge clusters hanging from the trees in the forests of Mexico.  This marks the 6th decline in the past seven years.  The use of herbicides which are used in the USA for genetically modified soybean and corn crops destroy with milkweed, and the large-scale illegal logging of the forests, where the butterflies migrate are all contributing factors for their decline in numbers.  How tragic it will be if WE humans end up killing this wonderful creature?  Purely because of our greed & our need to conquer.  Driven by BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER, MORE.  All in the name of PROGRESS!

Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that, and this wonderful creature is able to continue migrating each year.

HAYES?

I had a feeling the word HAYES was a publishing house.

Looking on-line I found a publishing house called Hayes, but it certainly did not seem to fit the bill for my book as it sold practical car and motor bike manuals!

I didn’t give it much more thought.  Fast forward two more weeks.  There I am chilling in the bath, with possibly a wee glass of red wine, or even a  Bailey’s coffee (yes I like to take hot drinks in the bath with me!)  I  happened to turn to glance at the back cover of my new book I was reading, Lynne Franks,  The Seed Handbook ~ The Feminine Way to Create Business.

Published By HAYS HOUSE PUBLISHERS.

A light bulb moment.  Of course.  The word HAYS was meant to be spelt without an E.  This was the publishing house my subconscious mind was trying to tell me about.

When I Googled HAYS HOUSE and saw the authors they have published I was in awe!  Hays House is one of the biggest in the business.  My subconscious mind must have already known this of course.   My mind began to buzz.  How amazing would it be to be published by Hays House, the biggest players in the field of personal-development?   It would be out of this world.  I would be up their with the very best of them. I took a look at where “Holdsworth” would fit on the A-Z of authors.  If I was to be published by Hays House I would find myself sitting snugly imbetween the Dalia Lama and Esther and Jerry Hicks!   How wonderful & cozy.  You don’t get much more amazing than that.  It really is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Yet I still have not written my book.

Okay, I have a book idea, and yes I think it’s a good one.  But it’s only an idea until it is out of my head and on paper.  I have decided the chapters.   The subsections.  I have a reams of notes in numerous notebooks  BUT, and it is a BIG BUT…  only about 5 thousand words have actually been typed.  So to imagine me completing my book and then gaining a writing contract with Hays House, this was massive.  Impossible some would say.

How could I possibly get Hays House to publish my book?

More importantly…

How could I turn what is just, in a sense an idea into a real book that people want to buy?  I needed a deadline to work towards.  Something that would kick my butt into gear.  Without a deadline I had a real concern that the book may never see the light of day.

To write a book has always been a childhood dream , yet a dream that was long buried deep, until it had  become so far removed from my reality and possibility.  Commitment, discipline & focus haven’t always been my best allies!

So there were hurdles to jump before even getting this book written, never mind published!  The obstacles of course are all self-imposed.  Fears that manifest themselves as procrastination, and a lack of self-belief have created a hole so big I was buried deep.

Yet I believe in the power and magic of dreams.  I believe that anything is possible.  My book is about dreams and following your true path so I knew it was, and still is crucial to keep the faith.  To believe and keep going, regardless of  the set-backs I will inevitably experience.

I couple more weeks went by.  I’m sat in Dare Cafe in Headingley, Leeds having lunch, whilst out on a  shopping errand for work to buy face-paints.  Until this moment I had never even thought of the significance of the name of the cafe.

She who dares...

I was doing a a 10 minute timed writing exercise.  With timed writing exercises the key is to keep your hand moving, write fast, don’t think & lose control.  This helps you cut through the resistance of ever-present concsious mind. It helps us cut through to the truth.  I was writing about FAITH.  How to keep the faith.  As I’m writing about Faith I start to write about my desire to write a book.  I am banging on about the universe working in mysterious ways, and that if only we meet it half-way with energy, action and enthusiasm the Universe will step-up to help, guiding us along the way.

Ten minutes is up and I’m feel kind of down-hearted.  My faith is wavering.  I type into Google…

How can I get published my Hays House?

Pathetic I know, as there are no short cuts to getting out there, out of your head, and making it happen in the real world.  It takes action and sheer determination, not just luck, serendipity and belief.

I click onto a “Once in a Life-time Competition” to win a publishing contract with Hays House.  Another light bulb moment.  I feel myself getting excited and a little emotional. It feels right.  Goose Bumps and a few tears.

There’s only one catch,  the workshop that you have to attend to be eligible to enter the competition is in Denver Colorado!!  America.  It is taking place in  three weeks time!  It’s a crazy idea.  Ridiculous.

I try to put it out of my mind, yet how hard I try it keeps popping back up.  Maybe I could do it?  Maybe I should?  The universe has led me to this point after all.  Isn’t it my duty to listen?  My rational left brain soon kicks in telling me not to be so reckless and daft.  It’s all in your head, you’re just  seeing what you want to see.

Yet another part, a braver more wild part is saying, you  need to do this.

I begun to look at flight prices to America.  They were through the roof.  The whole trip would wipe out all my saving and a bit more besides. My little cash safety net that I have spent the last year creating would be gone.  I was scared and I knew it was all a bit insane.  What was I thinking?  Yet if I didn’t pay attention to the bread crumbs the universe had presented I would be going against everything I believe in.  All that I had read so much about, learned about and begun teaching.  Living your dreams.  If I didn’t do it I certainly wasn’t walking my talk!

I fly to Denver in 2 weeks time.   The Butterfly journey begins. I am taking flight.   I will actually only be spending 4 days in America, so it is literally a fly-by trip!  The workshop is co-delivered by Wayne Dyer who I have listened to avidly for the past couple of months.  (Another Sign)

On Sunday I went for lunch with my friend Andy and he happened to be wearing the Denver Cowboys t-shirt.   (I take it as another sign).

The cost of the ticket was £1021    21 is my lucky number.

Some/many would think this is just a series of coincidences.  Perhaps.  I guess it doesn’t actually matter whether it is or it isn’t.  It only really matter what I think.  Believing is seeing, and I believe.

I now have the much needed dead-line I desperately needed.  A timescale to complete the book by.   6months.  The book has to be submitted by October28th and the winner of the competition is announced on my birthday…

& of course, yes I see this as another sign from the universe that the winner will be announced on my birthday!  Two weeks today I will be on that plane.  A new adventure awaits.  Watch this space.  I can’t wait.

Start with your values – what are the things that really matter to you?   Use the exercise below to help clarify your core values.

Finish these sentences.

I am happiest when…

Who were you with?  What were you doing?  What other factors contributed towards your happiness?

If I won the lottery/inherited a large lump sum of money I would…

If I had one day in which I could do whatever I wanted I would…

I am sad when…

Something that upsets me/that I feeling strongly about is…

Something I would like to change

in the area I live…

The country I live in..

The world…

I would like other people to think of me as…

I am proud of…

Did other people contribute to you feeling proud?  Did anyone share the moment/time with you?

One thing I wanted to do but, so far never dared to do is…

Success in life means…

I enjoy

I am embarrassed when…

If I could make one law it would be…

I think it’s important that everybody….

WHAT IN LIFE IS MOST IMPORTANT TO ME?

Values exercise

1. Circle all of the above which are important to you.  Add any others that occur to you and are missing.
2. Narrow this list down to the 10 that you feel are really important.
3. Now narrow this list down further to the 4 words that best represent the person you are.  These are potentially your core values.
4. Does your life reflect your values?  If not, what’s missing? What would you have to change?

INTERESTS EXERCISE

The aim of these exercises is to find out what floats your boat, to come up with a list of all the subjects/fields that interest you.

• How do you spend your spare time?  What do you do at weekends and on holiday?
• What would you like to have more time to do?
• What do you like talking about?  (What can you talk for Britain on?  What subjects do you bore your friends almost to death about?  If you had to give a 5-minute presentation on any subject under the sun, what would your topic be?)
• What do you like reading about?  (What newspapers and magazines do you subscribe to or buy regularly? If you buy a weekend paper, what parts do you always read in detail, what sections go straight in the bin without your looking at them, what kinds of articles catch your eye?)
• What sort of non-fiction books do you read?
• What do you watch on television?
• What do you like learning about? If you could take a course just for fun, what would you study?
• If you wrote a book, what would it be about?
• Are there issues or campaigns that you are passionate about? (Environmental issues, breast cancer, the war in Iraq, human rights, education, science?)
• What hobbies did you pursue when you were younger? Why did you give them up?
• If you could choose only one of your current hobbies or pastimes, which one would it be?
• If you had a big win on the Lottery, how would you spend the rest of your life (once you’ve had that long holiday!)?  How would you fill your day if you didn’t need to work?

• What kind of people do you want to work with?
• What kind of environment do you want to work in?
• Do you prefer doing things on your own or in a group?
• If it’s a group activity, how big is the group and is it made up of people you know well, or relative strangers? What kind of people are they? What role do you play in the group – leader, organiser, secretary, or simply team member?
• Do your spare time activities require generalist or specialist skills?
• How much of your spare time is spent on indoor/outdoor activities?
• How many of your hobbies have a competitive element (e.g. team sports, chess)?

• What fields of work appeal from:
  • areas you’ve worked in?
  • areas family/friends have worked in?
  • jobs you’ve read or heard about

Have you got a few minutes to spare?  Great!

Grab yourself a piece of paper.  Draw a big circle in the middle.  Divide the circle into segments, just like a yummy Chocolate Orange or a tasty piece of cake.  Each segment of the circle represents an area of your life.  See below.

The idea of this exercise is that it will help you to see which areas of your life are out of balance.  It will make you more aware of the areas in your life that stress you out the most, and which you are the least happiest with.

Divide the segments from 0-10, starting from 0 at the very heart of the circle, working outwards to 10.

Now rank your level of satisfaction with each area of their life by drawing a line across each segment. Place a value between 1 (very dissatisfied) and 10 (fully satisfied) against each area to show how satisfied they are currently with these elements in their life.

Looking at the wheel here are some questions to ask yourself to take the exercise deeper:

What are your first thoughts when you look at your completed wheel?  How does it make you feel, honestly!?  Were there any surprises?

1. 1. 1. How do you feel about your life as you look at your Wheel?
      2. How do you currently spend time in these areas?
      3. How would you like to spend time in these areas?
      4. Which of these elements would you most like to improve?
      5. How could you make space for these changes?
      6. Can you effect the necessary changes on your own?
      7. What help and cooperation from others might you need?
      8. What would make that a score of 10?
      9. What would a score of 10 look like?

This exercise is intended to help you define the occupation (kind of work) most likely to suit you.  It is designed to help you:

-          identify specific, rather than merely general, skills

-          identify the skills you most like to use

-          identify the way in which you like to work.

Throughout the exercise, the emphasis is on what you like to do and how you like to approach things.  The more honest you can be about the answers, the greater the value of the exercise.

STOCKtake is an acronym for Skills, Traits, Other people’s perspectives, Career anchor, Knowledge.  Each of these (and the accompanying exercises) is described below.

Take time to complete the below activities and exercises.

SKILLS

-          List all your skills.  Divide them into skills with people, with data/information, with things.

[A sample list of skills, to help prompt you, is attached at Appendix 1.]

-          In particular, what are your transferable skills (i.e. skills which can be used in a range of situations)?

-          Most importantly, what are your favourite skills (the ones you most enjoy using)?

-          Focus on your favourite skills, and refine and flesh them out by attaching an object and an adverb/adjective to each verb (e.g. I like organising information logically).

TRAITS

List your traits & Qualities (your characteristics, how you deal with things).

OTHER PEOPLE’S PERSPECTIVES

Find out what your friends/family really value you for, and what they think your top skills/attributes are.

Select 5 or 6 friends or family members, and interview them to ask:

-          what are the first 5 words that come to mind when you think of me?

-          what would you say are my top 5 skills?

CAREER ANCHOR

Identify your top two career anchors.

[A list of career anchors, and definitions, is attached at Appendix 3.]

KNOWLEDGE

List all your knowledge (things you have learned).

Think about the following categories:

- things you learned from your parents/at home

- things you learned at school (not just qualifications)

- things you learned at college/university (not just qualifications)

- things you learned at work (including on-the-job training)

- things you have learned for pleasure (hobbies, self-taught courses)

- things you have learned from other people (e.g. about your friends’ hobbies).

In particular, think about the things you have learned (even if they are long forgotten!) because they really interested you.

By the end of this exercise, you should have a much clearer idea of the skills that you love to use, the way in which you like to work, and the things that you know about and that interest you.

An old character stone cottage in a semi-rural location.  With an open roaring fire in the living room.  A wood burning stove in the kitchen.  Gardens at the back with chickens.  A field close by to keep my own horse.   Close enough to drive to Leeds in half an hour ideally!  Small local town close by which is a bit quirky with a community of free-thinking creative people…now where could that be?!!

~ Have a child   (looks like this one is well under way!)

~ Visit Venice, Barcelona, Australia, India, America, Scotland

~ Live on a boat on the canal

~ Write a book

~ Deliver inspirational workshops in this country and abroad

It would love to hear from anyone who is willing to share their Bucket List.   Look forward to hearing from you….