Posts Tagged ‘new year’

Reality Check

Posted: January 9, 2013 in family, friendship, Health, life, love, religion
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Some things in life just aren’t important in the grand scheme of things and over these last few days, I’ve been reminded again how important it is to make sure the things that are important to you stay top od your priority list.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post (in It Might Be New Year But…) that this year, 2013, hasn’t been the best for me so far. I think it’s for the reasons listed in that blog post, that I’ve reminded myself several times this year already, that I shouldn’t get too bogged down in things that in the grand scheme of things, really aren’t important.

Sometimes I think we’re all guilty of paying too much attention to what others think of us, how much (or how little) we enjoy certain activities, and of course the one that cripples us all at times, timescales and deadlines!

reality-checkHere are some things to consider – I’d suggest you consider the order you would currently put these tasks, review that order, and then place them in the priority you would rally want these items to be in your life:

  • Work – including overtime, timescales, deadlines
  • Children – looking after them and sending quality time with them
  • Religion – attend meetings and gatherings, spend “you-time” with God
  • Learning – enhancing your skills so you can go further in your employment
  • Possessions – constantly the wanting to be one of the first with the best items available
  • Family – care and provide for them and look after them when they are ill
  • Relax – spend quality time relaxing and recharging with friends/family or by yourself
  • “You time” – spend time yourself doing whatever you want

I’m sure even at a quick look we can all put these items in a current priority order. But are you happy with that order?

Some of the things in the above list are not essential to achieve all you can achieve, therefore why not remove those unneeded tasks and focus only on those which will help you achieve what God wants you to achieve.

Why not make this year a year to concentrate on the important things in life and not get bogged down in trivial things, but lets keep God at the centre of all we do and out family and friends next. SO keep focused on what’s important in your life and don’t get distracted by other things.

It Might Be A New Year But…

Posted: January 8, 2013 in arthritis, dementia, family, friendship, Health, heart, holiday, hospital, life, love, New Year, religion
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…2013 seems to be bringing more of the same for me so far. :(

Firstly, I thought as it was the start of a new year, a time for new beginnings, I would once again make the first move to try to reconcile with brokenfriendshipseveral people who were once very close friends and confidants, but sadly for various reasons those relationships have broken down to such an extent in the last few years that not only to these folk ignore me and sometimes my husband too, but are often downright rude and cruel towards us – I certainly did not think any broken relationship merited such awful treatment, especially from people who would openly tell you they are Christians!

To be honest, I wish I hadn’t bothered again (I’ve reached out several times before to these folk), because the various people concerned either completely ignored me again, or responded in an obnoxious manner questioning why I thought I “had the right to expect them to speak to me” – At no time did I ever tell anyone I expected them to speak to me, so I was deeply hurt again.

So much for new beginnings and putting the past behind us and moving on!

I do wonder what kind of Christian does that make these folk? I’m definitely not saying I’m perfect, far from it, but I’ve felt right from the time these folk started to ignore us that things were taken out of context and exaggerated out of all proportion, and surely as Christians we should be able to rise above these disagreements, put them aside, forgive and move on…sadly not all seem to agree with me.

Secondly, health concerns for my hubby started again on New Year‘s Day again as we had to postpone our new year’s day dinner with my Mum as hubby wasn’t well enough to leave the house.

Thirdly, my own health problems seem to have peaked again since last Wednesday/Thursday although I think some of this may be down to all the other issues that have arisen since the start of the year!

hospital2Lastly, my Dad’s health has deteriorated considerably in the last week and a half as although he was previously sitting with his eyes closed all the time, he was at least responding to us when we spoke to him and was opening his eyes. However it got to the stage where he was no longer opening his eyes at all or speaking to us at all and he was also refusing to eat, drink or take any of his medication. So much so that last Friday he was admitted to hospital because he was badly dehydrated – That was a long day in itself, as the GP saw him about 3.45pm and decided he should go to hospital, although we later discovered he hadn’t bothered to order the ambulance until 5.30pm!

Meanwhile Mum and me waited at the nursing home with Dad for the ambulance as Mum was keen to ensure Dad got settled ok at hospital. What a long wait that ended up being…the ambulance didn’t turn up at the nursing home until almost 11pm. It was then about 12.20am before the doctor first spoke to us at the hospital and then about 2.40am before Dad finally got settled into a ward. By the time I dropped Mum back home and got myself home it was about 3.30am!

It turned out Dad has a chest infection and id apparently can often cause added confusion for dementia sufferers and cause then to be more sleepy and less willing to eat/drink than normal. Dad’s now being treated in hospital for his chest infection and he is beginning to become a little it more responsive when we speak to him  (not that much of what he says makes any sense), so hopefully he’ll get back to being able (and willing) to eat and drink by himself again soon.

So we’re only 8 days into 2013, but already I’d say I’m really not liking this year so far. So one thing is for certain, 2013 can really only get better, can’t it?!

It’s Your Choice

Posted: January 4, 2013 in friendship, life, love, music, religion
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What are your choices?  Whom are your choices for? Not just for yourself.  Chose now whom you will serve, and that choice is going to affect the next generation, and the next generation, and the next. Choice never affects just one person alone.  It goes on and on and the effect goes out into geography and history.  You are part of history and your choices become part of history.

-Edith Schaeffer

Sometimes it can feel as though we have no choices in life, because the outcomes of any choice we have have already been decided for us by someone else or by circumstances. That however is not true of every choice we have in life…there is one choice in our life that we can only make for ourselves, because even if someone else tries to make that decision for us it means nothing unless we make that choice too.

Any ideas what choice I’m talking about?

The decision to believe in God and give your heart to Him.

Having said that, just like any other choice in life, whether we choose to follow Christ or not, that decision will affect our future and the future of those we encounter during our life. Therefore, at the start of this new year, I again would like to urge you to make the right choice in your life, by letting God into your life and giving Him your heart.

Give God your heart and reap the benefits in your life and see the impact and change you can have on other’s lives too.

Wait!

Posted: January 3, 2013 in blogging, friendship, language, life, love, music, religion
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In my blog post on the last day of 2012, where I reviewed how I got on with the aims I’d made at the start of 2012 (in My Aims 2012 – Review of the Year), I spoke about how I have tried (and failed often) to be more patient with others. So although I haven’t made patience a specific aim for this new year, I do intend to try to be more patient.

As patience is something I know many of us find difficult to attain and retain, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on patience with you today.

Before we go any further, can I ask you to close your eyes for 30 seconds…
Closed-eyes

Did that feel like ages?

I don’t know about you, but I’m not really a very patient person. If someone is doing something for me, I expect it to be done now. If I get something new, I want to use it now. If someone does something wrong I get frustrated.

Maybe that’s why I find it so hard to wait for God‘s answers to my questions and my prayers!

…and yet I know God will always answer my prayers, maybe not today or tomorrow, maybe not in the way I wanted on expected, but He will answer them.

So why not join me today in pledging to be more patient, not just with others but also with God.

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
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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
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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!

Party Time!

Posted: December 15, 2012 in alcohol, Christmas, family, friendship, holiday, life, music, work
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It’s Christmas time, and for many that also means party time!

Christmas Party

But what does party time mean to you? A night out with friends and/or colleagues? A Christmas meal? Lots of drinking? Lots of dancing? Very late night or even an early morning?

And what about the day after the party, how do you feel? Hangover? Little recollection of events from the previous night? Exhausted? Memories of a night full of fun?

Sadly for many, Christmas night‘s out are all about drinking lots of alcohol and getting into a state that means they are not in control of their actions, and will have little memory of anything they have said or done. For me that’s not a good night out, that’s just a waste of money!

You can have a great night out and have fun spending time with friends, without the need for alcohol…trust me on that one as I’m talking from experience!

christmas party2I find it quite annoying when people assume that just because I don’t drink I can’t enjoy a good night out! I’m sorry to break all your preconceptions, but not drinking and having fun aren’t mutually exclusive!

Please don’t misunderstand my message today, I am not against people drinking, I am against people drinking to excess, because after all what does that achieve both for the person doing the drinking and those who have to look after them…I’ll let you answer that question yourself.

In conclusion, if you’re attending a Christmas party in the run up to Christmas, I hope you have a great night out, but even more so I’d ask you not to drink to excess but instead drink responsibly. 

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
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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
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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
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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!

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