CHALLENGING CHANGE, PRACTICAL STEPS

DEVOTION

4th February 2018

I am still not prepared to make the full and final commitment to implimenting the practical steps that I need to take to elicit the changes I am seeking. I need to be upfront and transparent about the process otherwise the whole point of this blog and writing about my struggles will be worthless and a waste of time. However, what is changing is my recognition and awareness of my problem that is almost becoming a daily reminder. I am trying to discipline myself first in my commitment to posting on my blog and hopefully this process will set the…

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FOOD: friend or foe?, Healthy Eating, Recipes

BROWNIES

2nd February 2018

2 days ago I decided to make a heathy version of some brownies naturally sweetened with dates instead of cane sugar. I had also read that you can make brownies with beetroot as an ingredient but was more intrigued with the idea of adding aduki beans instead. I didn’t have a tinned version of the beans and I had to therefore soak the dried beans overnight.( This recipe might necessitate some forward planning.) After soaking the beans for 10-12 hours you then have to boil them rapidly for 10 minutes and remove the scum that forms on top before allowing…

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CHALLENGING CHANGE

SCOUT’S HONOUR

2nd February 2018

I was listening to someone being interviewed on the radio this morning. She was a chef and was demonstrating and describing a dish that she was creating. In less than 5 minutes she said “ to be honest “ 5 times. I loathe this saying. To me it implies that they must be inherently dishonest if they have to state and reiterate how honest they are every time they make a statement. By not stating that what she was about to say was honest would she be telling a load of porkies? – “ To be honest these biscuits contain…

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CHALLENGING CHANGE, Friends and Family, PRACTICAL STEPS, RELATIONSHIPS

KINDNESS

31st January 2018

I love it when signs point towards a specific theme or issue that I have already been open to. My desire to make contact with someone in need for 7 days was further endorsed and enforced when I came across The Thirty Day Kindness Challenge .The challenge is to be kind in words and actions to someone or several people you know for an entire 30 days. The hope is that like all habits that form when there is consistency and repeated behaviour, one can also train oneself to develop good and positive habits. The benefits are huge, not only…

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CHALLENGING CHANGE, FOOD: friend or foe?

PANDORA’S BOX

30th January 2018

I loathe shopping. I especially dislike shopping inside a large mall. After about an hour I lose the will to live. There is however, one exception and that is shopping for food. I am passionate about this pastime. I get this feeling of total euphoria, a zone of inner contentment that borders on obsessional. My interest is especially piqued when I am in a foreign country or in an unfamiliar or uncharted food market. I can literally spend hours wandering the aisles not just looking at the merchandise but as a paying consumer, happy to spend a small fortune on…

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PRACTICAL STEPS

SMILE

29th January 2018

Say something to make at least three people really happy in one day. BRET NICHOLAUS

PRACTICAL STEPS

SUNSHINE

29th January 2018

For the next 7 days I am going to reach out to at least one person a day especially where I sense that someone may be in need. It may be to someone I already know or it may be a total stranger. It will have to be a form of communication that requires more effort than just sending a text or an email. At the very least, a phone call. At best, my physical presence. After 7 days I will add a post describing how I got on.

RELATIONSHIPS

A FRIEND INDEED

29th January 2018

It was all going so well. I had driven about 100 kms from our house in France en-route to London. I was listening to some soothing classics as I sipped a shake I had made in lieu of breakfast. A long day’s driving lay ahead but I love driving, particularly in Europe and I am used to the trip and know the way well. I was considering listening to a podcast and so I cast my eyes to the floor of the passenger seat where my IPad was. Well, where it supposedly was because it wasn’t. Instant panic. I looked…

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CHALLENGING CHANGE, RELATIONSHIPS, Things around me

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

29th January 2018

I’ve just been to the library. As a child, this was where I found my solace, my nourishment and my escape. Without a father and with an absent mother, I would spend hours wandering between the shelves, the smell of old books pervading my nostrils and the silence strangely comforting. Without the distraction of television and well before the advent of social media and technology, books ( and the occasional film ) were the only means of escaping into a world of fantasy . Through reading and books I learned how to numb myself , to remove myself from reality…

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Spiritual

THE SOURCE

24th January 2018

When God crowns our merits, it is nothing other than His own gifts that He crowns. Augustine of Hippo