Start missing the lights

 I was sitting at the traffic lights this afternoon after missing the green ‘go’ light for the fifth consecutive time and starting getting annoyed. Then it occurred to me ‘maybe we need to start missing the lights’ more.

Slowing down. Taking time to just ‘stop’. Stopping.

These are all things we don’t do often enough but know we should!

Why is it that we tend to do the opposite of what’s good for us? It is human instinct or is it a learnt behaviour that we need to break? 

God only has good and prosperous plans for us but have we been missing out because we’ve kept going? Have we missed signs or plans from Him because we are too busy? 

We can’t afford to miss His signs too often because we will end up in a self-created ‘rut’! As I learnt the hard way. 

I have been there and wish I hadn’t ended up in a ‘rut’. I remember thinking ‘how did I get here, why am I here, how did this happen and where is God? 

Well, He was there with me in the midst of my ‘rut’ because He is with us all the time. Although, at the time I was angry at God for ‘putting’ in the rut, well that is what I believed at the time anyway. Reflecting back on the situation now, I’ve realised I had actually put myself in the rut because I never slowed down and stopped! 

What I have learnt is we must slow down everyday so we don’t spiral out of control and end up in a self created rut. 

If I was to give my former self one piece of advice it would be ‘slow down more often so you can take care of yourself’!

So, we need to start missing the lights more often!

Black Gold – Wake up & smell the coffee

http://muvi.es/w928/105353

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Blood From Rocks

Reblogged from 1 Story A Week:

The roar of laughter from the men surrounding the fire filled the night air. Kuumo shifted uncomfortably in the dirt next to his mother. She smiled a knowing smile, but said nothing. Another burst of laughter soared through the village and found its mark in Kuumo's heart.

He could feel hot tears of anger and frustration building and willed them to disappear with fierce determination.

Read more… 2,105 more words

Another wonderful story written by 1 Story A Week - your are an inspiration - please keep writing =)

Friday thought

Things have been hectic lately, so sorry for not blogging as regularly as I normally do.

Here is a lovely picture I came across today.  Enjoy the moment!

Source: Inciting Incidents

Validation

This short film is really, really great. I loved it.  psssst….it has a surprise ending that is so cute.  It will brighten your day.  ENJOY!

Become the Writer You Were Meant to Be

Every day, writers fail at one important task: being who they are. They succumb to their doubts and don’t embrace their gifts and talents that the world needs.

Why do they do this? The reasons vary:

fear of failure
uncertainty of the unknown
anxiety of success
I was the same — until a friend gave a simple, potent challenge: “You are a writer. You just need to write.”

Ever since then, I’ve been writing and sharing my work and building an audience. And you know what? My friend was right. I was a writer; I just needed to write.

About the Book

You Are a Writer is an eBook about the process of becoming who you already are. It’s a guide for those called to a life of words, a book about passion and calling, striving and sacrifice.

Mostly, it’s about writing: the glorious and grisly process of putting your butt in the chair and creating something worth remembering.

This eBook will challenge you, call you out, and launch you into the life you should be living — a life of writing.

Get Started Today

Are you ready to begin? To stop dreaming of being a writer and start living into your calling? To use your words to make a difference and get your due reward? It all begins with a simple declaration, an act of faith and courage: You have to call yourself a writer.

>>> You Are a Writer – Screen download here <<<

Silver lining

Wrecked for the Ordinary

I have been following Jeff Goins blog lately, and I have been blown away at the quality of resources he has on his blog – all written by himself!

Jeff is one talented writer, he has just released a new book called Wrecked, available from Amazon for 99c for the ebook version at the moment (YIP I said 99c) so grab your copy now before it goes back to $8.99.

Take a read of the free e-book below, it will change your perspective – for good!

Here is a short intro from Jeff’s Wrecked for the Ordinary
Most people don’t know who they are. It sounds trite, but it’s true. Of course, they aren’t willing to admit that. You’re probably not. I certainly wasn’t. But that doesn’t change the reality that most people, young people especially, are suffering from an identity crisis. They’re struggling to find meaning in their everyday lives. They’re floundering, lost in a cloud of insignificance and mediocrity.
And they can sense this void. So they make up for it with performance: working late nights at the office; getting involved in church activities; spending hours on the internet; even reading self-help books.

eBook title:
Wrecked for the Ordinary- A Manifesto for Misfits
Written by: Jeff Goins
Download your free copy from Jeff Goin’s blog 

Loss

In order to move through loss and beyond it, we must acknowledge it and share it.

Because artistic losses are seldom openly acknowledged or mourned, they become artistic scar tissue that blocks artistic growth. We must remember that our artist is a child, and that what we can handle intellectually far outstrips what we can handle emotionally.

The unmourned disappointment becomes the barrier that separates us from future dreams

Source – Julia Cameron 

Lonliness

Our mythology tells us that writers are loners. In fact, one of the most potent writer’s blocks I know is the fear of loneliness that people associate with the writing life.

So much has been written about the loneliness of the writer’s lot that it feels like heresy to report the truth as I know it: in my experience, not writing is a lonely business. The minute I let myself write, everything else falls into balance. If I get a dose of writing in my day, then I can actually socialize with a clear conscience. I can actually be present for the life I am having rather than living in the never-never land of the non-writing writer, that twilight place where you always “should” be somewhere else– writing– so that you can never enjoy where you actually are.

Source – Julia Cameron