Giving and taking

One of the nicest things in life is the giving and receiving of compliments. It doesn't take much effort and, if meant sincerely, gives a great deal of pleasure to both the receiver and the giver.


I used to do this on occasion in the past but I've had the habit lapse during the last few years. Perhaps it's time to resurrect one of the better things of years gone by and use it to improve life for both myself and for others.


I received a huge compliment from one of my fellow runners from the running group today. Now I've become assistant-trainer and have shed my client status I've taken on a new role amongst the other runners. It was a bit difficult adjusting first, but I've been working hard and the group has been very supportive of my efforts to help them along too. I've also been putting a fair amount of energy into encouraging them in their own efforts to beat addiction and stabilise their lives.


We've all been learning a lot recently, there's been a lot of giving and taking but all things told we're all helping each other along tremendously. Have a great day, keep well...

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New perspectives

I've been doing a lot of soul searching recently, becoming a little more introspective as befits my mood in these darker days of the year. Trying to sort out my priorities has become one of my major tasks now, trying to understand my part in the world around me, trying to maintain my sanity and attempting to be as good a father as possible as well.


Some days are better than others. Occasionally I get bogged down in negative feelings and self-doubt, on others I'm more upbeat and somewhat more accepting of myself. Mostly though my days are fairly quiet, relatively stable and clear so I have a bit more perspective about what I'm doing and where I'm going.


I've set myself a number of goals and a number of tasks to be finished within a particular timeframe. My life needs some sort of focus, I've drifted too far and too long, and now the time has come to take charge. I've been granted a disability allowance for at least the next year, in which time I'm expecting myself to fairly and squarely get my act together and made a definite move toward the future in a way that I can feel comfortable with.


Ideas enough and possibilities galore, I still need to muster all the positivism and confidence I can get my hands on, but that's something I'll be seriously working on in the coming months.


Have a great (rest of the) day. Keep well...

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Fractals on Friday

I'm in a bit of an autumny mood today, and the fractals seem to be heading that way too as well. A little bit minimalist for a change, but there's a quiet elegance here which I've missed for a while amidst the chaos and confusion of the past months. Enjoy!




Keep well...

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Where do we go from here?

Life's in a mild state of flux at the moment. I've closed a lot of doors behind me, leaving my previous life for what it is and looking forward. My previous employment has been ostensibly terminated, no great loss since it was a great source of disappointment to me for a number of years now. Perhaps I'll now be able to apply my creativity in a better and much more effective way.


Many decisions to be made, some will make themselves along the way but I still need to pay good attention to what I want and what I need in life. I think half the problem in the past arose because I didn't even know what I wanted from life, let alone understand how I could get to doing something meaningful and fulfilling. Now that I've got the opportunity to quieten my mind, look long and carefully at both myself and my place in the world, I might be able to draw the right conclusions for a change.


As they say, time will tell. Keep well...

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Visual poetry

Something I found today, which I enjoyed very much.


Keep well...

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Future fictions

There's not much point in worrying about the future, it will take care of itself at some point. In the meantime it seems to be most important that I make the most of the moment, instead of worrying about what tomorrow will be like and wasting time now working towards a future illusion.


Today I was supposed to be at court, to finalise some arrangements to do with child support now the divorce has been settled. It's been planned for a while and although it's not a real big deal it's been niggling away at me for weeks now. I'd done a lot of ground work to get myself effectively prepared, the last couple of days have been a little unsettled and as time went by I caught myself worrying occasionally about what might happen, what kinds of strange twists might emerge and getting myself all worked up about something that was only a figment of my imagination at that moment.


Despite all the best of intentions, I wasn't easily able to shake off my unease and apprehension half the time. I was resigned to whatever might happen but was still bothered by the "what if's" and "perhaps's" I'd tried to prepare myself for. Imagine my surprise, just a few minutes after I'd left the station to go to the court in the next city, when my lawyer called me to tell me that the whole case was off, that my ex-wife had agreed to the settlement as proposed and that her lawyer had faxed this agreement to the wrong number last week so that neither I nor my lawyer knew anything about this until this morning.


This was, once again, a very good lesson for me. Instead of wasting time and energy planning and securing things for a future which probably will change anyway, I could have used my creativity and attention more effectively at that moment to work toward a general future goal, not worrying about particulars or details which might appear or become irrelevant at any given moment.


It's going to be a good day. It's raining, but after that it can only get better.
Keep well...

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Fractals on Friday

Often words are too much or never enough, unsatisfactory in any which way. Enjoy the silence (...and click on the images for an enlargement)




Keep well...

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Down under

Once again it feels like I'm back at Ground Zero, trying to contain and at the same time trying to understand the anger that is simmering quietly in the basement of my mind.


Sometimes I'm not so sure of myself.

Keep well...

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¿Que?

What I mean to say is not always quite the same as what you think you hear.


Keep listening, try to understand each other for a change and keep well...

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