Tag: personal-growth

Is Travel Worth the Trouble?

It’s been said that we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. As I faced my most recent travel trials, I had pause to reflect on this and wonder if it was true.

I enjoy my life at home. Fortunately, I have no reason to want to escape it. I’m retired; I live by the sea; my friends and family are nice; the climate is good and there’s little danger. But I’m often tempted by images of other beautiful landscapes and stories of different cultures and find myself hurtling towards another trip, just to experience more.

When we’re travelling, we’re learning, we’re adjusting, we’re seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling new things. That’s where the statement proves true. Life is bigger. And even when there’s challenges, as often there are, it’s worth it.

On my way to Croatia from Sydney, I hadn’t even left Australia before I faced my first one. A one hour stop in Perth grew into twenty-one hours due to a mechanical problem. Six hours waiting in Perth airport turned into a scramble at 10.45pm for one of the few taxis around, an online search for a hotel (thank technology for smart phones and Booking.com), a late night dinner order, a one hour phone call to Webjet to change my connecting flight Rome to Dubrovnik (I can’t praise Webjet more highly for sorting this out for me), an email to my travel agent to cancel my first day’s arrangements and another hotel booking for my midnight arrival in Rome. By Sydney’s clock, it was 2am by the time I was able to rest. I had achieved what I needed to, despite not normally functioning well at night, despite being afraid of failing somehow, despite not having anyone to share the stress with. I went to bed feeling it was all par for the course and proud of myself for managing. When my fellow travellers and I congregated at the gate for the flight the next day, we felt friendly and exchanged stories about the night, the connections, the reasons for our trips. We were unified and while waiting for our luggage in the almost deserted Rome airport, we helped one another activate our eSims and gathered in a group to make our way to the not-so-easy-to-find airport hotel. There was a feeling of camaraderie which somewhat compensated for the vexation. As a solo traveller I find myself magnetised to smiling middle-agers (usually women) when I need support. A one-minute connection often resolves a problem or boosts my resilience.

The next day, on hearing that an airport ground-staff strike in Rome (that followed the nationwide train strike) would mean my luggage might not get loaded, I stuffed essentials and two days’ worth of clothes into my carry-on daypack and headed back to the terminal. The check-in guy was reassuring – Don’t worry about it, he said in his thick Italian accent. So I chose not to. I had done everything I could to prepare for the worst and still felt optimistic about the best. When my luggage appeared on the Dubrovnik airport carousel, I was elated and excited again about my holiday. I had notched up my resilience level and learned I could cope. I was in a new land, and it was worth it. As I stepped into the sparkling Adriatic Sea and swam as the sun went down, I counted my blessings and acknowledged that life was indeed, not escaping me.

Next post, I’ll share my trip to Croatia and Slovenia, recommend some fabulous fun Must Do adventures and share my take on joining a small group hiking tour. It wasn’t all easy, but it was all worth it.

Arrival in Dubrovnik

Affirmations and Intentions

For the last few years, I’ve had a goal of writing a monthly blog. For the most part I’ve achieved that but there were times when I didn’t and times when it was written the day after it was due. I haven’t been perfect but when I set my intention, I told myself, I will write a monthly blog, and it will be published on the last Friday of the month. I didn’t say, I’ll do my best to write it. I didn’t say, I’ll try. I stated what I wanted as if it was already a fact, something that was not negotiable. I concentrated on believing myself and I didn’t feed any niggling doubts by voicing them or dwelling on them.

Which brings me to the point of this blog. Affirmations. Do they work? Have you tried saying any? To me, affirmations are like intentions. I will write a monthly blog is a statement of my intention as if there was no alternative, but it is also an affirmation in that it is positive reinforcement, a message to my adaptable and receptive brain that I can do it.

Our brains have the ability to change and adapt to different circumstances in our lives. This is called neuroplasticity. They can also confuse reality and imagination, which is why affirmations help. Regular repetition of affirmations coupled with the belief that they’re true, can turn those intentions into facts simply because we know our course, our direction is clear, and we’re far more likely to take action that brings about what we want. Of course, the action is the final step and without it, affirmations may help us feel better, but they won’t help us achieve our goals.

Avoiding self-sabotage is critical. Don’t dwell in doubt. Catch those negative thoughts and imagine throwing them out like weeds in a garden. Plant healthy, achievable, sturdy seeds and imagine them thriving. Believe it. Create the mental and emotional world you want to live in. Take action in line with your intentions and the affirmations you have in mind. Your world will be a much happier place.

I have a list of spiritual affirmations written a number of years ago when I needed them. I thought them up, wrote them, typed them (I’m a Word person) and printed them out. To be honest, I didn’t say them over and over, but I did process them, believe in them, and practise them. They obviously stuck in my head and in my heart because reading them now, I can say they’re still valid and the way I try to be every day.

So, affirmations are personal and how much you need to put into them is dependent on you and your circumstances. The science is there to say they help so why not give them a go? Write your list. Make your intentions clear. Repeat them and believe them as if they’re already achieved. No-one will be perfectly successful so when you’re not, just let it go. Infuse your life with positivity and watch how you grow.

Here’s my list. What’s on yours?

AFFIRMATIONS – How I want to be for the rest of my life.

I can steer the course of my life.

I am full of energy.

I am courageous.

Everything that happens is taking me one step closer to where I want to be.

My intentions are clear, and the Universe works with me to help me reach my goals.

I am brave and will realize my own great capacity.

I can and will write my story.

I will explore and discover.

Whatever happens, I can handle it.

I have a healthy assertiveness.

One step at a time is enough for me.

I reach out and invite others into my life.

I let go and I trust.

I am loving and generous and patient and non-judgemental.

I focus on my many blessings.

I know that I count and I act as if I do.

The quality of my life depends only on me.

I am drawing to me all good things.

I am powerful and I love it.

I am impeccable (honest and respectful) in my thought, word and deed.

Is manifesting thought alone?

Recently I had something occur that made me claim my manifesting skills were back online. Have you ever felt like that? Like you desired something to happen or some thing to appear in your life, and it did?

Once I regained my rationality – mind over feelings – I asked myself if it had really been mere contemplation of the matter that had brought it about or whether I had actually worked for it.

It led me to ask what I meant by manifesting skills. And what does it mean to manifest, anyway?

The relevant dictionary definitions for the use of the word manifest in this sense are:

1. To make clear or evident; show plainly. 2. To attempt to attain (something desired) by thinking or focusing intensely on it, especially as a spiritual or self-help practice.

Okay, so did I will something into being by exercising my mental powers and by the force of my belief alone? I don’t think so.

But… I had been thinking about it. I had been talking about it. I had been believing it would come. And when it appeared, I did recognise it.

So, maybe to manifest something we need to go through a process that’s part rational mind-power (self-help) and part heart-felt mysticism (spiritual practice).

It’s obvious that we need to know what we want in the first place; to be clear about it, to visualise it, talk or write about it, research it, imagine it as ours. We need to know what we’re aiming for, have a goal and an image of where we want to be. Dream big, reach for the heights, push past comfort zones, but don’t just wish for the moon and expect to land there. Pick a dream that’s possible, and actionable.

Actions make the dream grow. To start with, letting the idea germinate in a fertile heart and mind is good, but then we need to consciously feed it, prune it, shape it and take whatever steps are necessary to help it bloom. Manifesting can feel like magic, but I bet nothing is brought about without some effort.

This sounds like I’m all for the pragmatic, rational pursuit of goals. I am, but I also have faith in the inexplicable. Energy attracts energy. Positivity attracts positivity. I have an optimism that that comes from trusting in the Universe (or God, divine spirit, Atman) and my own energy. I believe my manifesting skills are a combination of both practical actions and heart-felt faith.

To manifest successfully we need to know what we want, be eager, be alert and be ready to seize opportunities as they arise. Think like an insect; focus on what you desire, use your antennae, be patient and then pounce. Go ahead; dream, act and claim your prize.

This month I’ll be doing my best to manifest a publisher for my novel. What will you be doing with your manifesting skills?