Archive for the ‘sport’ Category

Welcome to 2013!

Posted: January 1, 2013 in arthritis, blogging, cancer, clothing, dementia, depression, family, friendship, Health, heart, love, pray, prayer, religion, Scotland, tennis, weight
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

Welcome New Year 2013

Welcome to 2013! I hope it’s a guid’un for you and yours.

I’m quite pleased to see the back of 2012, as just like 2011, it wasn’t the best year for me or my family.

So what about 2013, what am I hoping to achieve this year?

The main thing I’m hoping for this new year is that all my family and friends have a much healthier 2013 than 2012, but I guess I’m not going to be the only person hoping for better health for family/friends!

Other than that, like last year I’m not going to make any new year resolutions as I always think they’re doomed to fail. Instead I’m just going to set myself some goals/aim for my year. This time though, based on how I found measuring my aims last year, I’m setting less goals this time and making them more prescriptive.

So here’s my list of goals/aims for 2013, in no particular order:

  • Lose another 11lbs
  • Spend 5 minutes praying every morning
  • Think before I speak! – It’s not so much what I say sometimes that’s the problem, but how I say it!
  • Play tennis at least once by Easter, and at least 10 times by end of August
  • Challenge myself to look at old things in a new way, and new things with an open mind

Come the end of 2013, I wonder how many of these goals I’ll be able to say, “yes I’ve achieved that”, only the next 363 days will tell!

Whatever your aims for 2013, or your new year’s resolutions, I pray your year may be one in which you experience God‘s love for you, your friends and your family… whatever 2013 may have in store for you.

Have a great 2013! God bless.

My Aims 2012 – Review of the Year

Posted: December 31, 2012 in arthritis, bible, blogging, clothing, dementia, depression, family, Food, friendship, Health, heart, holiday, hospital, housework, life, love, motivation, music, pray, prayer, religion, Scotland, tennis, Travel, weight
Tags: , , , , , , ,
1

At the start of this year (2012), I shared with you my aims for this year (in Welcome to 2012). These were not my new year resolutions, but what I hoped to achieve this year as far as some lifestyle changes were concerned and some changes in my spiritual relationship with God.

At the end of each month since then I’ve given you an update on how I’m getting on with my aims. So now we’re on the last day of 2012, here’s my last update for this year, which will give you my honest opinions on whether I achieved, or failed, to reach my goals for this year…

  • Eat healthier
    • Over all, I would definitely say I have succeeded with this aim as I have definitely been eating much healthier when I’ve been at work, and have done ok when at home.
    • Yes there’s still room for improvement, as I have given in to my desire for chocolate on a few occasions.
    • Done ok with this ones I’m managing to continue to eat reasonably healthily while I’ve been at work, and not too bad when at home.
  • Lose some weight
    • Well I had my last weigh-in earlier today, and the news is that over the course of this year I’ve managed to lose 10 lbs.
    • I’m delighted with that as I have definitely not been on a diet, but have just been trying to eat a bit healthier and get a bit more active.
    • Hopefully if I continue doing the same things next year I’ll manage to lose a few more pounds.
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • Some months this year I managed to spend a lot more time reading my bible than I had previously, however there were still a number of occasions when I didn’t even open my bible.
    • Overall though I’d say I’ve managed to spend more time reading my bible this year than last, though there’s definitely still plenty of room for improvement.
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • As many of you will know, I’ve had some health issues for a few years now, which I had hoped would have been resolved by 2 major operations. Unfortunately, despite the doctors being happy with the success of these operations, I have still been experiencing severe pain of the same nature I was getting prior to the initial diagnosis.
    • Therefore it has been an on-going struggle again this year to cope with my pain levels. Having said that though, due to all the other situations I’ve had to deal with this year, I’ve often just had to get on with things no matter how severe my pain has been.
    • On the whole I don’t think I’ve actually given in to my pain completely any more than maybe a 3 or 4 times this year, which looking back now, I find quite incredible.
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • I have failed miserably at this one!
    • There were a few times during the year when I was all set to go to the tennis club at the weekend when my friends would be there, but typically the Scottish weather put an end to those plans, and on following weeks other things would happen or we had other plans, so it just never happened.
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • As with my aim to spend more time reading my bible, over the year, this has been a bit up and down – Some months I spent more than 5 minutes each day with God, others none at all.
    • Also depending on what’s been going on in my life at the time, and how I’ve been coping, some of these times with God have not exactly been quiet ones, as I’ve spent much of the time crying! They may not have been “quiet” times with God, but they were at least “times” with God where even although I couldn’t vocalise my prayers, I know God still knew what was in my heart.
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • I’ve failed at this one!
    • However I did get a brand new keyboard for my Christmas, therefore I will definitely make progress with in the coming weeks.
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Due to on-going health issues/concerns with various family members, this has not been possible.
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • I’ve said it before during some of my monthly updates, but I really do hate doing housework, and ironing is definitely my least favourite chore.
    • It’s should therefore be no surprise that I have failed miserably with this.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • To me, I have managed to be a little bit more patient with other…though you may disagree!
    • I do find this incredibly difficult, particularly with certain people (who shall remain anonymous)
    • I continue to pray for patience daily.
  • Stop procrastinating
    • I’d say I’ve been successful with this aim, as I feel that, on the whole, I’ve managed to just get on with things.

So that’s my honest answers to how I got on this year with the aims/goals I set myself at the start of the 2012. Looking back now, I think my aims/goals have probably been too ambitious and too vague, as if I’m honest, there was probably no way I was ever going to achieve all these goals in one year. I also think my judgement on how successful I’ve been has been very subjective, so I should probably have made my goals more measurable. i.e. by measuring actual status at the start of the year and comparing with actual measurements at the end of the year.

In conclusion, I’m reasonably happy with what I’ve achieved this year. While I may not have been able to say I fully achieved very many of my goals I have made progress with a number of them which I’m definitely happy about.

How about you, how did you get on with your aims for 2012?

Whatever your aims were for this year, and regardless of whether you achieve any or all of them, I pray you managed to make progress, and that you have at least achieved all God had planned for you this year!

My Aims 2012 – November Review

Posted: November 30, 2012 in bereavement, bible, blogging, clothing, family, Food, friendship, Health, holiday, housework, life, love, music, pray, prayer, religion, tennis, Travel, weight
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

At the start of this year, I shared with you my aims for this year (Welcome to 2012) – not my new year resolutions, but what I aim to achieve this year. Since then, at the end of each month this year, I’ve given you an update on how I’m doing. So here’s my update for November…

  • Eat healthier
    • Done ok with this ones I’m managing to continue to eat reasonably healthily while I’ve been at work, and not too bad when at home.
    • Hope in the next few weeks, before we get right into the Christmas season, that I can continue to each healthier, so that with all the eating that usually goes on at Christmas I don’t put on too much weight!
  • Lose some weight
    • Failed completely this month as I’ve put on a pound! Really not sure how I’ve managed that as I thought I’d been doing reasonably well this last month
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • A bit better this month as have actually managed to spend some time reading my bible
    • Although I’ve managed to read my bible this last month, I’m still struggling to find the time and energy to do this.
    • I’ve said this for the last few months, but maybe next month I’ll manage it!
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • Bit of a better month as far as pain levels are concerned, as although I continued to have daily pain, most days it’s not been quite as severe as in previous months.
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • Not managed this yet and given this is now the end of November and although my tennis club is open year round, there’s less people playing these days, so I’m guessing I’ll probably get right through this year without getting back to playing tennis…but you never know as there’s still another month to go!
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • Managed to spend more “quiet-time” with God in this last month.
    • Due to family bereavements during th month and some family health issues again, there were a few occasions again where my quiet time with God ended up being my crying-time with God!
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • Although I haven’t actually played the piano again yet, steps have been taken to change this!
    • I’m afraid though I’m not going to let you in on what that progress is yet…you’ll have to wait till my end of year review!
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Again, no progress with this.
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • I really do hate doing housework, and ironing is definitely my least favourite chore
    • It’s should therefore be no surprise that I’m still failing miserably at this one.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • Still finding this incredibly difficult!
    • I really do need to continue to pray for patience.
  • Stop procrastinating
    • Most of the time I’m doing ok with this, but I’m sure like everyone else, I do have my moments!

So that’s my honest answers to how I’m getting on with my aims for 2012 – To summarise my progress to date…it’s stalled a bit in the last few months, but overall, given recent circumstances, I’m reasonably happy with my progress even though I could do so much better!

There’s only one month left in 2012, so I’ve not got  much time left to achieve my aims, but I’m still hopefully still got time to achieve some more of them before the end of this year!

How about you, are you succeeding with your aims for 2012 so far?

Whatever your aims for this year, I pray you may be making progress in your aims for 2012, and that come the end of the year you will have achieved all God had planned for you this year!

My Aims 2012 – October Review

Posted: October 31, 2012 in bible, blogging, clothing, dementia, depression, family, Food, friendship, Health, heart, holiday, hospital, housework, life, love, management, music, pray, prayer, religion, sport, tennis, Travel, weight, work
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

At the start of this year, I shared with you my aims for this year (Welcome to 2012) – not my new year resolutions, but what I aim to achieve this year. Then at the end of each month this year, I’ve given you an update on how I’m doing. So here’s my latest update for October…

  • Eat healthier
    • An improvement this month on the last couple of months, as not only have I’ve done reasonably ok with this one when I’ve been working, but also done not too badly the rest of the time too!
    • Been drinking a lot of water at work, but haven’t managed to eat quite as much fruit in the last month.
    • For some of this month I was still going to the hospital to visit Dad, so had to have a few quick/ready meals for dinner as I was so tired by the time I got home from the hospital.
    • Fortunately Dad’s now out of hospital so for the last couple of weeks my eating has been much healthier at home!
  • Lose some weight
    • Small loss this month for the first time in a couple of months – it was only a pound, but at least I’m back to losing some weight again!
    • Hopefully now I don’t have hospital visiting to do every day, I can get back on track with my healthy eating both at work and at home.
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • Yet more excuses this month I’m afraid!
    • I’m still  struggling to find the time and energy to sit down and spend any quality time reading my bible.
    • I’ve said this for the last few months, but maybe next month I’ll manage it!
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • My pain levels have continued to be quite high this month, but I’m still just trying to get on with things as best I can.
    • Again I feel as though I’m making excuses, but I’m simply just saying how things are because of 12 weeks of hospital visiting I was doing while Dad was in hospital, and although he’s now out of hospital it’s taking me a while to try to get some energy back, soit’s hardly surprising my pain levels have remained high.
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • Not managed this yet as there’s been too many more important things to deal with in my life in this last month again.
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • A repeat of last few months again as I managed to spend some quiet time with God, however still spending much of it crying.
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • Continuing to make no progress with this one!
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Again, no progress on this one!
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • Still failing miserably at this one due to all the things going on in my life just now.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • Still finding this incredibly difficult!
    • I keep telling myself I must not get impatient with others, but when it comes to it, I fail miserably…much more praying for patience is required!
  • Stop procrastinating
    • Still doing ok with this most of the time, but ye, I do still have my moments!

So that’s my honest answers to how I’m getting on with my aims for 2012 – To summarise my progress to date…it’s stalled a bit in the last few months, but overall, given recent circumstances, I’m reasonably happy with my progress even though I could do so much better!

There’s still plenty of months to go in 2012, so I’ve still got time to achieve them all before the end of this year!

How about you, are you succeeding with your aims for 2012 so far?

Whatever your aims for this year, I pray you may be making progress in your aims for 2012, and that come the end of the year you will have achieved all God had planned for you this year!

My Aims 2012 – September Review

Posted: September 30, 2012 in bible, blogging, family, friendship, Health, holiday, hospital, housework, life, music, pray, prayer, religion, sport, tennis, Travel, weight, work
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

At the start of this year, I shared with you my aims for this year (Welcome to 2012) – not my new year resolutions, but what I aim to achieve this year. Then at the end of each month I’ve given you an update on how I’m doing.

So here’s my September update…

  • Eat healthier
    • Continuing on the same theme as last month…
    • I’ve done ok when I’ve been working, but not so well at other times.
    • Been eating a lot of fruit and drinking a lot of water at work, but because I’ve still been going to the hospital to visit Dad, I’ve continued to have a few quick/ready meals for dinner as I’m so tired by the time I get home from the hospital.
  • Lose some weight
    • Bathroom scales fixed, so this has been the first time I’ve weighed myself for a couple of months, so am happy to report my weight is the same as it was 2 months ago!
    • This is a bit of a surprise due to all my ready meals in the last couple of couple, but then again I have been doing a lot of walking so it’s obviously balanced things out
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • More excuses this month!
    • I’mstill  struggling to find the time and energy to sit down and spend any quality time reading my bible.
    • I’ve said this for the last couple of months, but maybe next month I’ll manage it!
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • My pain levels have really soared in the last few weeks, but I’m still just trying to get on with things.
    • Again I feel as though I’m making excuses, but I’m simply just saying how things aret…with all the running around I’ve been doing for over the last 10 weeks since Dad went into hospital, it’s hardly surprising I’ve been tired and my pain levels have increased.
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • Not managed this yet as there’s just been too many other more important things to bother about than playing tennis again.
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • A repeat of last couple of months again as I managed to spend some quiet time with God, however still spending much of it crying.
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • Continuing to make no progress with this one!
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Again, no progress on this one yet!
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • Still failing miserably at this one due to all the things going on in my life just now.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • Failing miserably at this…and if anything I think I’m getting worse at this.
  • Stop procrastinating
    • Doing reasonably ok at this, though I do have my moments!

So that’s my honest answers to how I’m getting on with my aims for 2012 – To summarise my progress to date…it’s stalled a bit in the last few months, but overall, given recent circumstances, I’m reasonably happy with my progress even though I could do so much better!

There’s still plenty of months to go in 2012, so I’ve still got time to achieve them all before the end of this year!

How about you, are you succeeding with your aims for 2012 so far?

Whatever your aims for this year, I pray you may be making progress in your aims for 2012, and that come the end of the year you will have achieved all God had planned for you this year!

My Aims 2012 – August Review

Posted: August 31, 2012 in bible, blogging, dementia, depression, family, Food, Health, holiday, hospital, housework, life, love, music, pray, prayer, religion, sport, tennis, weight
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

At the start of this year, I shared with you my aims for this year (Welcome to 2012) – not my new year resolutions, but what I aim to achieve this year. Then at the end of each month I’ve given you an update on how I’m doing.

So it’s now the end of August, which means it’s time for my next update…

  • Eat healthier
    • Fixed this last month. I’ve done fairly well when I’ve been working, but outside of work not so good.
    • While at work I’ve just been in my usual routine of eating a lot of fruit and drinking a lot of water, whereas dinner’s been a bit of a problem, mainly because I’ve been going to visit Dad in hospital and have been having some quick or ready meals for dinner when I’ve got home from the hospital because I’m so tired by the time I get home.
  • Lose some weight
    • Probably just as well the bathroom scales don’t seem to be working, as I suspect I’ll have put on a few pounds again.
    • As with the “eating healthier” task, it’s probably all down all the hospital visiting and quick ready meals I’ve been eating.
    • Maybe once Dad gets out of hospital I can get back to some kind of normality, but who knows when that’s going to be!
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • I’m making excuses again! But I’m struggling to find the time and energy to sit down and spend any quality time reading my bible.
    • I said this last month, but maybe this next month I’ll manage it…I really need to organise myself better to read my bible at a point in the day before I become too tired…mind you some days I have no energy at the start of the day, nevermind by the end of it!
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • Still struggling quite a lot with pain levels this month and generally not feeling 100%.
    • I feel as though I’m making excuses, but it’s not intended to be that way, simply a statement of fact…that with all the running around I’ve been doing for over 6 weeks now since Dad went into hospital, it’s hardly surprising I’ve not felt great.
    • Mind you, it may have been a struggle physically as well as emotionally in this last month, but I’ve managed to keep going, much to my surprise at times.
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • Not managed this yet as there’s just been too many other more important things to bother about than playing tennis again.
    • Also as my pain levels were still so high it really would have been daft to even think about attempting to try to play tennis.
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • A repeat of last month again as I managed to spend some quiet time with God, however much of it was spent crying.
    • Just like last month I’ve had to remind myself on a number of occasions that when things are bad, I need to turn to God rather than forget Him!
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • Continuing to make no progress with this one!
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Again, no progress on this one yet!
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • Still failing miserably at this one.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • Failing miserably at this
    • I’m continuing to pray a lot for patience because I certainly need it!
  • Stop procrastinating
    • At last a task I’m actually doing ok at!
    • Mind you maybe that because I’ve had that many things to do, I’ve not really had any time to procrastinate!

So that’s my honest answers to how I’m getting on with my aims for 2012 – To summarise my progress to date…it’s stalled a bit in the last couple of months, but overall, given recent circumstances, I’m reasonably happy with my progress even though I could do much better!

There’s still plenty of months to go in 2012, so I’ve still got time to achieve them all before the end of this year!

How about you, are you succeeding with your aims for 2012 so far?

Whatever your aims for this year, I pray you may be making progress in your aims for 2012, and that come the end of the year you will have achieved all God had planned for you this year!

Inspire The World for God

Posted: August 14, 2012 in friendship, love, news, olympics, religion, sport, UK
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

There’s been a lot of talk recently about inspiration, particularly on a sporting front, because of the London 2012 Olympics. When thinking about how inspiring the olympics has been in encouraging us all to do a little bit more exercise or encourage some to go that extra step and try to become the greatest sportsperson at their particular sport, it got me thinking about God.

Why did thinking about inspiring a sporting generation get me thinking about God? Well, hasn’t it been incredible how much the Olympics has pulled this nation, Great Britain, together, even for those of us living miles aways from London. Now why can’t we inspire the nation for God with such great effect?

There are thousands of Christians in this country, just as there are thousands of sports people, so come on let’s use the motivation and inspiration started by these Olympics, and use this to not only inspire the world on a sporting front, but also remind them of God.

Let’s inspire this and future generations to live their lives for God!

Inspiration – London Olympics 2012

Posted: August 13, 2012 in commonwealth games, friendship, Glasgow, news, olympics, Scotland, sport, television, UK, work
Tags: , , , , , , ,
1

Dedication. Sacrifice. Guts. Glory.

Those four words have been displayed on the Twitter home page for the duration of the London 2012 olympics, and don’t they just sum up what London 2012 has been all about for all the Olympians.

Before the olympics started 2 weeks ago, I thought I’d watch some of the olympics as I’m a big sports fan, however I didn’t expect to get so caught up in it all. Mind you I don’t think even the organisers expected, or could have hoped for, such patriotic crowds at all the events, cheering on all the British competitors regardless of whether they finished first or last in their event.

I missed the first half hour of the opening ceremony, and to be honest, what I did see of it, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Please don’t all shout at me at once, but that kind of show, while I acknowledge it must have taken hours and hours of preparation and practice, just wasn’t my kinda thing…sorry!

The first week of the competition, I was on annual leave from work, and although I spent a lot of time with my Mum visiting my Dad in hospital, I did manage to catch quite a few of the events during that time. I’m sure like many others, I found myself compelled to watch and cheer on the British team, especially as more and more of them performed either as expected or above expectations. It all came to a head on what became known as Super Saturday (#SuperSaturday), as medal after medal was won by the British team in the rowing, cycling and then athletics. What a day that turned out to be, with Britain winning 6 gold medals in that day alone…the best tally in a single day for GB for over 100 years!

I must admit I’m not particularly patriotic when it comes to GB, as I get a bit fed up by all the comments by some people about it being the “English team”, so I’ve been particularly surprised at how caught up I found myself during Super Saturday.

Week two saw me back at work again during the day, and visiting my Dad in hospital at night, so I wasn’t able to see nearly as much of the events during the second week as I was of the first. My highlights for weeks two were definitely Sir Chris Hoy winning a record breaking 6th olympic gold medal and Mo Farah wining his 2nd gold medal of these olympics after winning both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Yes TeamGB did an outstanding job overall in London 2012, yes there were a few people who underperformed, but I think that was far outweighed by those who did far better that anyone had hoped for. Well done TeamGB!

I’m sure we’ve all heard some amazing stories about some of the Olympians, their past and how they came to be taking part in the olympics, as well as how they celebrated their successes. There were inspiring stories of athletes doing amazing acts of kindness or show of their emotions. The one that really got me was the Hungarian swimmer Daniel Gyurta, who having won the 200m breaststroke events at London 2012, has offered to have a copy of his medal made to send to the late Dale Oen’s family as a mark of his respect. Norway’s Alexander Dale Oen who died suddenly in April this year of a heart problem was world champion in this event and so would have come into London 2012 as one of the favourites for this event if it hadn’t been for his untimely death. What a touching thing for the Hungarian swimmer to do.

I’ve already spoken about how proud I was seeing so many British competitors perform way above expectations, and the joy shown by the nation as we celebrated with them in their successes. But what does all this success do for us as a nation going forward? Well I hope it inspires us all to get out there and take up a sport and hopefully we can find some new stars who will be up there competing for gold medals in Rio in 2016 and in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014!

Finally I just want to congratulate the BBC on their absolutely superb coverage on a variety of mediums, as they covered all olympic sports in all venues. Not only was the coverage superb, but the commentators were fantastic too. Well done to the BBC!

Well done London 2012 and a particular well done to TeamGB on an excellent performance!

My Aims 2012 – July Review

Posted: July 31, 2012 in bible, blogging, clothing, dementia, family, Food, Health, holiday, hospital, housework, life, love, music, religion, sport, tennis, Travel
Tags: , , ,
0

At the start of this year, I shared with you my aims for this year (Welcome to 2012) – not my new year resolutions, but what I aim to achieve this year. Then at the end of each month I’ve given you an update on how I’m doing. So here’s my July update:

  • Eat healthier
    • Pretty good again this month as on the whole I’ve been eating a lot of fruit and drinking a lot of water…I was nearly tempted a couple of times to have something really unhealthy at lunch time, but I managed to resist!
  • Lose some weight
    • Yay! I’ve lost pound. I know that’s not much but at least it’s still another loss.
    • I’ve definitely noticed a difference in the last few weeks as I’ve managed to fit back into a few outfits which had been a bit too tight for me, so I’m delighted!
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • Started off quite well with this in the first part of the month, however since Dad went into hospital and have been visiting everyday I must admit that have just not had the energy to sit down and spend any quality time reading my bible.
    • I really need to organise myself better to read my bible at a point in the day before I become too tired…mind you some days I have no energy at the start of the day, nevermind by the end of it!
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • Still struggling quite a lot with pain levels this month. Mind you I’ve been so tired with all the running about I’ve been doing that it’s no surprise my pain levels haven’t improved, as I usually seem to need several days of doing absolutely nothing to potentially lessen my pain.
    • Having said all that, just because my pain levels have been very high has not meant I’ve given into them. Indeed it’s been the complete opposite, as I’ve had to support Mum through some difficult decisions regarding my Dad’s future, his subsequent admission to hospital because he wasn’t eating or drinking, Dad falling and breaking his hip while he was in hospital…and on top of that hubby not been too well either…
    • It been another very tough month again
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • Not managed this yet last month as life’s just been a bit too tough to bother about tennis
    • Also as my pain levels were still so high it really would have been daft to even think about attempting to try to play tennis while in so much pain.
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • This month continued in the same vein as last month, in that while I managed to spend some quiet time with God, much of it was spent crying
    • As the month progressed and I had to deal/cope with various situations/events relating to my Dad (see above), I found myself spending no quiet time with God at all
    • My excuse? I was too tired! Pretty lame isn’t it, as if I really wanted to spend quiet time with God, I could have accommodated it, but I chose not to…
    • Having said that, this hasn’t stopped me from spending a lot of time crying, and feeling sorry for myself
    • I need to remind myself regularly that when things are bad, I need to turn to God rather than forget Him
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • Continuing not to make any progress with this one!
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Again, no progress on this one yet!
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • Still failing miserably at this one again.
    • As I’ve said, it’s been a tough few weeks physically and emotionally and that just means I’ve had to put things like housework on the back burner.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • Failing miserably at this one this month – I think it’s all down to my high pain levels and how tired I am
    • I know these are just excuses on my part, so I definitely need to pray for patience!
  • Stop procrastinating
    • Doing ok with this one still as not really had any time to procrastinate!

So that’s my honest answers to how I’m getting on with my aims for 2012 – To summarise my progress to date…it’s continuing to go reasonably OK, although there are still some areas which need a lot of work. There’s still plenty of months to go in 2012, so I’ve still got time to achieve them all before the end of this year!

How about you, are you succeeding with your aims for 2012 so far?

Whatever your aims for this year, I pray you may be making progress in your aims for 2012, and that come the end of the year you will have achieved all God had planned for you this year!

Things That Make Me Happy #1

Posted: June 23, 2012 in animals, clothing, Food, friendship, holiday, life, love, pets, Shopping, sport, tennis, weight, work
Tags: , ,
0

We all have particular things/events that make us happy – What makes you happy?

Here’s a few things that make me happy (in no particular order):

  1. Hearing a cat purring
  2. Hearing children laugh
  3. Watching a good comedy
  4. Serving an ace at tennis or hitting a fabulous winning shot
  5. An ice-cold drink on a warm day
  6. A cat rubbing against my legs
  7. Receiving a gift from someone unexpectedly
  8. Waking up at my usual time for work, and then realising it’s not a work day!
  9. The smell of fresh-baked bread
  10. Find clothes from last year that were too tight, now fit perfectly or are even a bit loose

Have any of these things made you smile or think of a similar situation that you were in?

If your answer is Yes, I’ve done my job and made you happy, just by talking about my “happy things”.

Keep thinking happy thoughts!

Older Entries