While revising through my therapy books I came across this poem. It's a poem I used for my work with young people's Emotional Health and Well being, for adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other Traumas  I thought it maybe useful for people.   The poem is as follows:

RISKS

To laugh is to risk being a fool

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental

To reach out for another is to risk involvement

To show feelings is to risk showing yourself

To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss

To love is to risk being loved in return

To live is to risk dying

To hope is to risk despair

To try is to risk failure

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing

Those who risk nothing, do nothing, have nothing and are nothing

They may avoid suffering and sorrow but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live

Chained by their certainties, they are slaves, they have forfeited their freedom

ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS ........ IS TRULY FREE

Iris 

DETERMINATION

I set myself a goal of writing a weekly blog.  This week I struggled with a topic and was about to take the easy option of giving the blog a miss.


Pondering over what to write about, I reflected on the lessons learnt from attending two of 
our  Grandson's Sport's Day today; as did all the children who participated in the various races I  took up the challenge to write this blog.


Sport's Day is a big occasion in a school's calendar, especially for the children. The excitement was obvious from our oldest Grandson who woke at 5am to get up to practise for his races.  He was determined to keep up his previous years records and win as many certificates and medals as he could.


Throughout the races children strived for their Gold, no child refusing to complete a race, no matter how slow and regardless of winning; which echoes the phrase by the founder of the Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin who said "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."


Most people would agree that trying and failing is more admirable than not trying at all and that life isn't all about winning.  Today the children had loads of FUN in the process, showing effort, dedication, determination and the desire to achieve their personal best.  Which are all commendable in themselves.


Applying the life lessons learnt from participating in sport into other areas of a child's life is also important i.e:


Teamwork: within the family where everyone has something to offer
Practising: repeating certain skills which will be necesssary in later life
Prasise: for effort regardless of performance, telling them 'I'm proud of you'
Acceptance: and knowing that you accept them no matter how they preform, will give children all the confidence they need to succeed far beyond any playing field.

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're to go to bed with satisfaction".  

George Lorimer 

There are definitely satisfied children going to bed tonight 

and I'm so proud of my Grandchildren xxxxxx

Iris

TAKE-A-MINUTE

Are you struggling for personal time but can’t get the time to find it?  Many people have a job that occupies 10 hours of their day on top of having a family and other commitments. It becomes part of daily life that you have to figure out your personal time in advance and blank out that space in your diary.  We just don’t seem to have a minute.

How many times do we regularly use these phrases in our work place, with family, friends and our children? Wait a Minute; Give me a Minute;  I haven’t got a Minute;  Give me a Minute’s Peace;  Just a Minute;  In a Minute;  Stop for a Minute; Hold on a Minute;  I just need a Minute;  Got a Minute, It only takes a minute.  When we say these phrases do we really mean a minute as the definition of a minute is a period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour. 

I’d like to share with you an exercise from my programme entitled:

      

‘THE AIRISU WAY’

This aim of this exercise is to put the length of time of one minute in perspective, so as you can experience what a minute feels like.

HAVE A GO It only takes a Minute: Use a clock, watch, phone or stopwatch to measure exactly one minute. 

Take this minute to be comfortable in your environment

• Keeping  your eyes open, gently rest them on a chosen point in front of you
• Withdraw your attention from all sights and sounds
• Acknowledge and appreciate the positive feelings and thoughts which may spring directly from this exercise
• As the minute comes to a close stay with your feelings for a few moments, closing your eyes, creating complete silence in your mind.

When we stop for a minute, we stop speaking, moving, worrying – Perhaps you think that nothing has happened!  Well, actually a great deal has happened. 

You will begin to notice things like, your body slowing down, your thoughts  becoming calmer, your mind begins to clear and the view of how things are begins to become interestingly different.  Quite a lot when you Take-a-Minute!

It may be useful to quickly jot down some of your thoughts, especially if they were creative ideas so as they are not lost to you for the future.

Take-a-Minute and let the silence unfold its treasure around you.

Iris

‘A LOO WITH A VIEW’

The loo facility upstairs in our new rented house is somewhat small, measuring 6‘ x 3‘. It houses a toilet and a small radiator, it doesn’t have a sink, but hand sanitiser is available for anyone thinking of ‘walking instead of washing.’  The window is narrow with clear glass, so pulling the curtain is necessary every time you need to use the loo; when it’s dark you can see the lighthouse beacon flashing at St.John’s Point, (Co Down. Northern Ireland).

Having had to use the loo at 5am one morning, I pulled back the curtain, had a peak outside and was greeted by the large glowing red sphere of sunrise slowly rising into the daylight.  As it rose a vibrant yellow and layers of spectacular colours spread through the sky, silhouetting the landscape.  Nature is amazing!

In our house laptops, kindles and mobile phones have accompanied those who use this small room.  It has many purposes i.e.  A reading room, for catching up on Twitter and Facebook updates, even telephone conversations have be heard taking place in this room.    Most importantly it allows for private SPACE.  As in most homes the loo is one of the few rooms in a house where privacy is routinely respected.   No matter what this space is used for there can be some considerable down time during the average trip to the bathroom.

Latest American research shows that the average person stares at a screen of some sort for 8½ hours a day, lingers a mere ten seconds on any given image before moving on and applies only two or three minutes of concentration between distractions.  External noises - city streets, television, loud music, mindless chatter - play on our ears day and night. 

To find Personal SPACE and quiet is so important in our hectic fast paced lives. To relax, refocus and re-energise prevents us from reaching burnout. We

don't need to be meditating for hours to achieve this.  Just a short time is needed to bring ourselves back to our natural state of inner peace and well-being. Your private SPACE and quiet can be found wherever you are, in a noisy office, on the bus, the train, stopped at traffic lights, in front of the computer or even in the loo.

‘Let me take some time each day to look within the self and experience the beauty of my inner qualities’.

                                 Brahma Kumaris

WHAT POWER ANIMAL ARE YOU

Having recently been lucky enough to sell our house with the intention of moving to France to start a new life in 2013.  We find ourselves renting a beautiful property with the gate from the garden opening onto the beach. Each day I pinch myself when I look out at the ocean view; I am so grateful to be living in such a beautiful location. Having been given this space to make plans for taking my business forward a chance to rest and embrace this period of change. 


Everyday when the tide goes out and no matter what type of weather; around 15 seals bask on the rocks.  A lone seal pops up everyday just opposite the house; it's as if he is watching us, knowing that we are new residents of this house.  These daily visits from the seals led me to reading a Shamanism article, which described Seal's medicine as a protection during change, imagination, creativity, protection from danger, movement through emotions and the inner voice.


Seals are highly symbolic of our feeling and sensual selves. The seal helps us to remember our connection to our deep inner rhythms, feelings, and knowing.  Seal being a good swimmer and knowing how to flow with the ever changing current, reminds us how to swim with the current. When we do this the negative feelings we have created such as worry, fear and anxiety are released from our minds. If seal enters your life, you are being asked to review the ebb and flow of your thoughts and emotions and find and keep up a point of balance.


Water is a creative element and symbolises the feminine imagination and intuition. If the seal appears in your life, pay close attention to your imagination and insight - in the waking state and in your dreams. A lot of what you imagine generally has a strong basis in reality, no matter how far-off it may seem. People with seal as a power animal are generally highly imaginative and very creative. They will need activities that channel and direct this. The Seal can show you how to develop and focus your imagination.

Rather than having external ears, seals have small openings. This shows their deep affinity with their inner voice, and can show you how to listen to your inner self, balance your life to it.  Seals swim both below and above water, giving them the ability to experience both the inner and outer worlds. They teach those with this totem how to flow, how to hear, and how to discover the deeper mysteries of their true nature. Seals are keepers of wisdom. They reveal to us what is hidden deep within ourselves, and teach us how to integrate our imagination with the reasoning power of the intellect. This will give balance and harmony on all levels.  The seal which is so sleek and gorgeous in the water, teaches us how to feel at home in our bodies, and to uncover our inner beauty.  


A powerful suggestion that we are more closely linked to the animals than we may think, may inspire us to look into these connections in more depth. As humans generally believe themselves to be apart from ‘animals’, when really we are a-part of them, we often fight giving in to these deep rhythms and are afraid of ‘losing’ what we consider to be ourselves. 

Whether you  believe this to be literally true or not, I found this information very relevant to me and where I am in my life at this time. Knowing that when you let go of FEAR and can TRUST and BELIEVE in the ever changing tide of life, you will enjoy the magnificant journey that has been planned for you.


Iris