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Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual

Four things, ways of being, of considering or doing things. They all have good things inherent in what they can bring to each of us, but there can be terrible things come as a consequence too.

Today I have done more, physically, than I usually do, with walking, and carrying things too. Mentally, I’ve had to thing about the best ways to do things, and offer my opinion about things getting done. Emotionally, I have been feeling very satisfied and also grateful about what I’ve been involved in doing today. Hmm, spiritually …

This is the one that has puzzled me a little, in life. I am not a religious person, not at all. I consider myself an Atheist, and Humanist and I love Nature a lot. But at what level of loving Nature might spirituality come into things? I believe in the science of Nature, not some God, not at all.

I find meaning in observing my pond, and listening to the birds, the wind and the fountain …

And I do good things for people when and if I can, and I am involved in my community too, doing various ‘good things’. I am a Stoic too, or do my best to have a Stoic attitude to life, and try to follow the words of the great Stoic Marcus Aurelius, as much as possible. I believe the best thing for us all, is to strive to be the best person, community member, and citizen we can be. Believing in Good, is that spiritual?

This is one meaning of Spiritual: Collins dictionary says, “Spiritual means relating to people’s thoughts and beliefs, rather than to their bodies and physical surroundings.” Hmm, yes, I can certainly say, on that definition, I could call myself spiritual. Some other, more New Age definitions say things about seeking, or having a deeper understanding of what ‘life’ is really all about, going further than the merely physical.

My own life has some limitations caused by the chronic illness I have lived with for over ten years. Multiple Sclerosis slows me down, and has at times been responsible for me having to slow down almost to a complete stop, such as the time last year that I tripped and fell, breaking my right ankle. There was noting to trip over, I just tripped. Again. This was the worst time.

When I was unable to do much at all, I spent a lot of time sitting around, right foot up, and resting. I also did quite a bit of thinking, and I actually wrote and had published a poetry collection, title ‘Angles on Ankles’. I the book, I don’t bemoan my awful bad luck, I just look at various things from a new perspective, relating to what it’s like to have a broken ankle.

I’ve sold copies of this book to others who have had broken ankles too, and they’ve loved my poems. I’ve also produced a book about sexual abuse, and child abuse in other forms too, as well as a memoir all about Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The sexual abuse book is titled ‘damaged children, Precious Gems’. The MS book title is ‘Mick Jane and Me, Living Well with MS’. All of these books are available for purchase, if you’re interested in having copies.

This is where you can request copies – books. The cost of these books is subject to change, and if you leave a comment here, we can discuss the possible cost. Basically, the costs for producing, and having printed the copies I have for possible purchase, have all been covered (paid for) already, and connecting with people is more important than the money side of things. Covering cost of postage, and a little bit more is usually enough.

So tell me why you’d like to have a copy, and I’ll send it to you, for not that much money at all. Is that a spiritual thing, perhaps, doing things for a greater good? Sharing words with others, making connections rather than cash, these are important things, money is merely a tool to do the things I want, and feel the need to do …

Anyway, that’s a bit about me, feel free to leave a comment, telling me a little bit about who you are, and what you thing, feel, believe. Personally, I believe that when I die, that’s it, I’m dead and all gone, apart from the people who remember me, and the things I did and said. That is enough for me.

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Take Inspiration Wherever You Find It!

At the moment, on the second day of the first month of this new year, I am in the middle of putting together a brand new program for my life. One where I finally commit to, and actually do, something I’ve been edging around for many years.

And because I’m putting together something that I hope is going to be fantastic, I’m looking out for inspirational things, to help me get to my very best. So on Facebook today, I found something that spoke to me, talking out loud, and I knew I had to look further at it, so here I am, showing it to you, and writing about it.

My pool of Life is full, I’m ready to leap into it!

It was one of those things where if you look at a mixed up jumble of letter, and pick four, you will find your life’s purpose, or some such thing. I’m not really a great believer in these things, and usually I ignore them. But today, I didn’t ignore it, I looked, and found some words that connect very much with where I am right now in my life.

So, a magical thing? Or just a coincidence? I know which I think, you are welcome to take your own truth of it. But anyway, these are the words, and the comment I wrote on that Facebook post, when I saw it:
Power, purpose, change, breakthrough. Hell yeah, look out 2021, I’m here, and I’m ready!

That was the order I spotted those words in, but not the order of importance. Thinking about it, if I were to rank them, I would put Breakthrough and Change together, and Purpose and Power together. The importance of each is there, but linking them as I did, adds much to their meaning, and usefulness to my mind.

Power will come once I am travelling this path, and change is already happening. The breakthrough has hit, and it is knowing that right now, January 2021, is the time to stop pussy footing around, and get working to make it happen the way I know it has to. My purpose has always been there, it’s what I’ve been working with ever since I wrote my first book, my first poem even. My purpose is to write words and use them to connect with others, and add good things to their lives, and my own.

I am going to make 2021 a fantastic year for me, and those who are there with me. I will become the person I’ve been working at becoming for all of my life, the good things, the bad things, the awful things, and the painful ones. They’ve all come together right now, and I am going to be the ME I’ve always known I can be!

So yes, Facebook offered that inspiration to me, but it’s only important to me because my mind was ready to grab it and run, to make it my own. I can do this – 2021 will be the year I have Public Speaking engagements, and present writing workshops, as well as continuing with writing, and launch of the novel I’m currently working on.

Inspired by my life, looking out, looking in, there is so much there to give me further inspiration, it just keeps on adding and adding. I can do this, I’m ready. Hello world, I am here, are you ready, because I sure am!

I’m ready, are you?

I look out of my window and see beautiful things, I look at my dog, and see her beauty, I look at the life I have planned beginning right now, and what do I see? I see a great big bundle of Beautiful things happening!

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Writing Challenges

I love writing challenges and writing prompts, and ideas. And being a member of a writing group is great because the group offers opportunities to take your writing further, dig deeper, expand further, and tighten it all up better. Writing alone is necessary at times, but being involved with others who you trust and value, that is awesome.

So something awesome is going to happen in January, 2021, that is writing related. One of the members of my writing group, who has been reading small bits of the Cosy Murder Mystery novel I’m currently writing, has decided she would like to see bigger snippets of the work at a time, and more regularly.

Michelle, my lovely reader/fellow writing group member, in fact wants me to send her 500 words of my novel, every single day of January, and then, after that, she and I will get together to see what I have, what it’s heading, what still needs to happen with it, and so on. I value Michelle’s knowledge, and am looking forward to what she says, for sure.

But it gets even better, because Michelle has let me know she’s interested in taking part in this challenge herself, and if so would send me 500 words of her current work in progress! Woo hoo, we are cooking with gas on this one!

This is why being involved with other writers can be so awesome – we understand the problems, and rejoice when things go the way you want them to go! It’s nice for instance if your mum likes your writing, but having an intelligent reader/writer giving considered feedback is potentially way more useful.

So many thanks to my lovely friend Michelle we can make magical things happen together!

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Two Words …

Yes there are two words, only two, that are holding me back from being the person I most wish to ultimately be. If I can crack the code, learn the password, bake the cake, in fact stop metaphorising and actually do it, I’ll be set for a great and inspirational life. But these two words, they there, every day, every moment I think now is the time to ‘do it’ and get started …

So what are these two words, you ask? Hmm, Procrastination and Prioritisation. These two words are the bane of my better life, the life I wish to live, that is bigger and better than the life I’m living right now. Don’t get me wrong, my current life is a fine life, far better than the life many others are living. I have a spouse I love and who loves me, I have a fine son who is getting on well in his life. I have great family and friends.

I’ve achieved things, I have books published, people in my community know who I am, and respect me. But I am a flawed person, one who realises all of us are also flawed in some ways, because that is the nature of being human. But I definitely know I have plenty of time, and the ability to be better than I currently am …

I put things off until another time, and I fail to give attention to the most important things to be done. I know these things, but what am I doing? I’m sitting on my bottom, writing about it, when it would be much more beneficial if I were sending off copies of my relevant CV to organisations who may want me as a Public Speaker. I even have an email that I could easily flick off to relevant bodies, and I have a fair idea of who those bodies are, that may respond favourably.

So have I done it yet? No, not really, and why not? Well, it’s a difficult time of the year, the between time after Christmas, but before the New Year. And I’m not entirely convinced my ideas on what I would talk about would be as good as I’d like to think. And, and, and. So do I have a plan for when and to whom I’m going to send off my CV, sell my worth as a great public speaker, step up into the lime light? No, of course not. And why not?

Hmm a good question that one. Why on earth haven’t I done that yet, at least devised, or begun devising a plan of action to get this done? I think I know the answer, and it’s a shameful one, in some ways, but again, not an uncommon one. The reason, of course, is fear. Fear of not measuring up, of not being good enough. Fear of failure.

But is that even a thing worthy of my ongoing thoughts? If I try something and fail, I will try again, if it’s something I care enough about, and the more I try, and fail and try again, the more I will learn, and eventually, the better at that thing I will be. That’s a good thing, something to aim at, not to fear.

So why am I still here, sitting on my bottom, and not looking at and improving my CV, and adding new possible organisations to send it off to? Inertia, comfort, and yes, still that fear, that feeling my best won’t be good enough. I need a big kick up my comfy bottom, so I get a move on and get things done!

If anyone out there has big boots, please give me that kick up the bottom, so I’ll get a move on, and move into the new year with plans and ideas, and gigs booked! Thanks, all comments welcome, I need the inspiration, the embarrassment, the oomph, to break through and get me moving!

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First Steps – Hardest to Take

Being something is always difficult. I remember, as an eight year old, I wanted to be a bike rider. I’d been given a bike for my birthday, and had sat on it, but that didn’t make me a bike rider. To get to that illustrious stage, I had to actually get both feet on the bike pedals, and pedal, fast, to beat Gravity!

But taking feet from the safety of the ground was the scary part, pedalling is hard work, and Gravity is a bitch and hated me. But eventually, after attempts and failures, skun skin, blood, bruises and pain, I did it, I became a bike rider. That first step to the glory of being a bike rider is like many things in life, it’s scary, and painful, if not physically, then emotionally. Being the loser that falls over instead of zooming along the road is embarrassing, at the least, and even worse if one lets it be.

But being a learner at anything, these are the needed steps, and each time you try something, really give it all you’ve got, well that is a thing to celebrate, no matter the result. So you fail at getting all the way down the driveway on your bike? So what, you got both feet from the ground and you pedalled some, you champ! One metre, two metres, ten, twenty, five thousand metres and more, it all starts with getting both feet off the ground, and trying.

So, if I am going to be the whatever it is I want to be, I will have to get my feet off the ground and pedal my hardest, ignoring any fear, and making sure I have enough band aids, to stop from bleeding too much! I can do this. I know I can, and I have the mindset, the story, the desire to share, and the ability to do the job. I am on my way to being the Public Speaker I most want to be!

You see, that is definitely one of my plans, my desired life roles. I have a story, I am able to speak well, interestingly, and both entertain, and inspire others. I know this, because I have been told so, by the ones who were entertained, or inspired by me and my words. I’ve lived a life worth telling others about. I’ve been down, way done, and am now up much, much higher.

So I have an inspiring tale to tell, regarding at least two kinds of potentially bad news, that have become good news stories, because of how I have been able to rise above the bad, to make it good. Child sexual abuse, and then a potentially crippling disability, both gotten over, and not holding me back. My life may have had some negative aspects, but my life attitude, that is rolled gold positive stuff!

I am now living a good life, because I have worked at making it so. Some things can hold you down, if you let them, for sure. I have been able to work through the bad things, with help from terrific family and friends, and am now living a good life, on the way to becoming a great life. I have written words I’ve shared and will continue to share with others, and now it’s time to share my spoken words!

I will become a noted public speaker, and if it couldn’t happen this year, for the obvious reason of this terrible Covid 19, let it be next year, with the year 2021 becoming the year I took my next, and possibly biggest step into the life of a Public Speaker. This blog post is announce my commitment to stepping more directly into public life, a firm step into life as a public speaker, as all of my writing life, books written and published have been steps towards affirming the truth of being an interesting person, adept with words, and with plenty of good stuff to tell others about!

My contact details are here, my book details are here As you can see, if you take a look, I have written on a wide range of things, some serious, some funny, all of it interesting! If you need a public speaker, contact me, and we can make it happen!