Valentines Day 2 – How to Find the Special One!
Continuing my theme for Valentine week, I am amazed at the pressure put on people to go out and do something for Valentine’s Day.
There are currently so many single people out there and I know many who feel this pressure to be with someone.
Are you single? Do you want to find the “special one”?
Valentines Day 1 – Just WHAT is Love?
It is Valentine week, and as usual in the Western world we are bombarded with all sorts of commercial pressure to go out and spend a fortune to show the true merit of our love for someone.
I am guessing that this is now also the case in the rest of the world, as the developing world clamours to catch up with the “enlightened” ways of the West 
I find it amusing to see so many people rushing around to prove their true love for that “special” person in their life.
To me, love has been commercialised to the extent that we have forgotten just what love means anymore.
Live your Best Life as per your Father’s Wishes
Over the last few days I have finally got back into the stride of things and getting on with my life once again after the sudden passing away of my father.
It has been a slow but comfortable process and what I have learnt is that I could simply not have hastened this in any way. Try as I could I just could not summon up the energy I needed.
In the last two months I have experienced quite a cocktail of emotions, ranging from utter desperation, sadness, remorse and then gratitude, joy, love as memories of my father and the knowing that he was no longer around kept cropping up.
Time to Make Things Happen again in My Life
It has been two very surreal and eventful months.
After the sudden and untimely death of my father, where do I even begin to descibe the last few weeks?!
Suffice to say that it has been like being in a dark fog for weeks on end, interspersed with the occassional bit of light heartedness and fun.
But sooner or later, I know that I have to move on with my life, not withstanding the gnawing pain and the sense of great loss.
What has been amazing and so heartwarming has been the support from family, friends, and strangers. I will write another post another time about the messages of hope, kindness, love and sympathy that I have received.
Gandhi’s Message as Relevant Today as 60 Years Ago
It is 60 years ago today since Gandhi was assassinated.
What would the world be like if he was around today?
Check out this video to see how he would have spread his message using the Internet!
Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy.
Gandhi may not be around but 6o years on his legacy and his message lives on.
Lessons in Compassion from my Father
Just over a month ago, my father suddenly passed away after a short bout of flu and a chest infection. The time since then has been rather tender and yet surreal as we come to terms with our great loss.
It seems only yesterday that I wrote about Father’s day and how it was time to remember just what your father has done for you
What has kept us going during our time of grief has been the support and love from so many friends and family. It is amazing just what compassion and kindness people are capable of showing at such times.
Make 2008 your Best Year Ever
2008 is now here and it is time to start planning for this New Year. Just what do you want from the coming year? How sure are you to achieve your New Year resolutions?
Getting a fresh start with the New Year is an artificial custom - you can begin to get the life you love and live it at any time you choose. But let the first week of January 2008 be the starting point for a new you. Envision yourself at the end of the year and describe at least 3 achievements you would like to have achieved to make you feel that 2008 had been a successful one.
Be Sure to Nurture Deeper Friendships in 2008
During the last few weeks of grieving for my late father, we have received so much kindness and love from many friends and family.
It truly is amazing just what compassion and kindness people are capable of showing at such times.
A friend sent me the following verse from Kahlil Gibran which perfectly sums up just what friendship means at any time in our life:-
My Key Lesson from 2007
As seems to be the custom at this time of the year to review the year just about to end, I am very clear about the biggest lesson I have learnt from 2007.
This was a year when I lost my best friend in June in tragic curcumstances in the USA, only a week after he had been with me in London.
Then in December I lost my father very suddenly after a short illness. Though it all still seems rather surreal, I am gradually coming out of the “fog”.
During 2007 I also attended two weddings of close friends and they were both wonderful events filled with a crecendon of love and happiness.
So it has been a year of contrasting emotions and a rollercoaster time. The common thread through all this time and my key lesson has been to spend more time with my loved ones - as I just don’t know when I will be going this way again.
In short I would like to urge everyone to spend quality time with the people you care for in your life.
Also, make everyday a big celebration of life - and not just at weddings!
What would your life be like in 2008 if you spent each day with lots of special moments (why not special hours?!) with your loved oned. And if each day was a special celebration of love and life?!
How amazing 2008 will be for everyone if we all lived like this in the New Year!
Happy New Year!
Wishing you the A to Z for 2008!
2008 is almost here - and it promises to be THE year of major change and to make thinigs happen for you in your life.
May it bring everyone lots of:-
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