Month: October 2015

Weighing it up

Yvette # # # #

Our minds race with them every single day.  From the minute we wake up until the time we fall asleep, we answer them.  Questions.

It often starts with…What shall I have for breakfast?  Do I even feel like having breakfast?

For me, a lot of the time, the answer is no.  Not yet anyway.  We are conditioned to have it every day because that is what society has taught us.  Breakfast.  Lunch.  Dinner.   How often do we listen to our bodies and just eat when we are actually hungry?

What else are we meant to do?  How else are we meant to feel?

So often we don’t give ourselves the time or permission to actually stop and let our inner voice tell us the answers to the questions that come up for us.  Society and those around us often tell us what we should and shouldn’t feel or do.

Yesterday, I asked myself  ‘What am I going to wear?’  and it led to many more questions, so I made sure that I allowed time for the answers to come.

Lately I have been so focussed on writing and editing my book that I’ve found it difficult to keep up with other aspects of my life.  I’ve been pulling regular 13 and 14 hour days, every day, with work and writing combined, so the amount of exercise that I usually do has dropped quite dramatically.  My head has been elsewhere.

What do you get when you combine sitting at your desk for extended periods with a drop in physical exercise?  Weight gain.  I’m currently heavier than I have ever been in my life.  But that’s okay!!   My book is nearly finished and soon I will restore the balance.  I will be back to my usual, very active self.

work-life-balance

My weight has been a huge issue in my life in the past.  An unhealthy obsession with it led me to be very ill  for 16 years.  No matter how small I was, I was never happy.  In contrast, I just happen to be the happiest I have ever been right now, as well as the heaviest.  Boy how things have changed!!

So what are those questions I was talking about?

While deciding what to wear to work and realising that not everything fits me at the moment, I asked myself…

Do I go and buy new clothes?  Should I feel bad because I’ve put on weight?  Am I only uncomfortable because some of my clothes don’t fit me?  Do I really care that I am heavier?  Do I stay the way that I am and understand that I am still a very healthy weight?  Do I allow myself to be ‘me’ and understand that that person is still fabulous no matter what size and shape she is in?

I was surprised at how comfortable I actually was with the new me.   You see, I realised that the only thing new about me is my attitude towards myself.  I am being gentle with myself.  I am being my own best friend.  I am allowing myself to be me.  It has nothing to do with the number on the scale.

What I realised is that the only thing I want to change is restoring the balance in to my world and getting back in to my exercise routine.  Not because of what I weigh, but because of how it makes me feel.  Being fit and healthy is a priority in my world.

scales

If the scales go down again and my clothes fit me better, then I’m okay with that.  If they don’t, I’m okay with buying new ones too.  I refuse to make being ‘smaller’ and ‘lighter’ a priority anymore.

It’s all about treating my body, mind and soul with love and care.

That’s what I am talking about.

Love & Light always,

Yvette xxx

Categories: Me, Words that inspire2 Comments

A Wink From The Universe

Yvette # #

Hi Lovelies,

Are you paying attention?

It’s those moments that feel like  a wink from the universe that let us know all is as it should be.

Synchronicity is the concept of ‘meaningful coincidence’.

From the moment I first became aware of it, the phenomenon has featured very strongly in my life.  It is a powerful reminder that we are in fact magnets.  Walking, talking, thinking, feeling magnets.

I for one have certainly noted the many times in my life when I felt like crap.  I focussed on it; got stuck in it and drew more of it to myself.  I didn’t mean to, but I wasn’t strong enough to be aware of my consciousness and stay in a place of gratitude.  I focussed on what I didn’t have rather than what I had.  I thought about what people did to me instead of what I could do for them.  The results were to be expected.  Crap, crap and more crap.

crap.jpg

On the other hand, I’ve observed myself feeling super wonderful and watched magic happen.  During those times, which I’m proud to say are now way more commonplace than the above, I’ve looked after myself better in body, mind and spirit.  My thoughts have been positive and I’ve been able to nip any pesky little negative thoughts in the bud, without even so much as a trip on a crooked footpath.  It’s been smooth sailing and full of surprises.  Of the good variety.

It’s fun to watch what happens when you allow yourself to think the best and only the best.  Let all of the other stuff go.

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For example, when I was eighteen years old, I told my beautiful Mum that I was going to win a car.  She said “You can’t say that!”  and I said “You watch!”  I believed it with every inch of my being.  I didn’t attach myself to the results by entering in to every single raffle I could get my hands on, I just trusted that it would happen when it was meant to.  It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen.

In 1998, I took out my first loan to buy a car.  In doing so, I automatically went in to the draw for a silver, limited edition, convertible Holden Barina.  When my loan advisor gave me the raffle ticket, I saw the number on it was ‘123400’.  I said to her “That’s the winning ticket” …and it was.  It cemented my belief in the power of the mind.

As you may be aware, I’m writing a book.  I’ve been madly editing it for months.  Yesterday was my husband and my twelve year wedding anniversary and I just happened to arrive at the page where I wrote about the day we got engaged.  How’s that for synchronicity?!

Later in the day, I had the privilege of working with the super lovely, best selling author, Rachael Johns.  While chatting away, she offered me the direct contact details of her publisher and is sending an introduction email for me first.  I was blown away.  But then again, I was kind of expecting something like that to happen.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my book launch.  It may be a fair way off at this point, but I’m allowed to be excited about it now.  I was working with another one of my amazing clients late last week and she very kindly offered me her stunning home as the venue for it.

My subconscious has asked, my heart has trusted and the universe is answering my wishes.

The world responds to the thoughts and feelings that we give attention to.

I have written on my bathroom mirror, ‘Wonderful things will happen for me today’, so I see it and recite it every single morning.  You should try it.  It’s kind of magic.

Until next time…

Love & Light always,

Yvette xxx

 

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You’re Only Human

Yvette # # #

Hi Lovelies,

Don’t you just love Anne Hathaway?  I do!  I think she is one of the most natural and real stars in Hollywood.  She tells it like it is and is totally relatable.  That’s what makes her so loveable.  She’s awesome.

If you haven’t seen her lip sync battle of the Miley Cyrus hit  ‘Wrecking Ball’,  you HAVE to see it.  I’ve made it easy for you because here’s a snippet…..Ta da!    You’re welcome 🙂

 

I stumbled across this quote of hers the other day and it inspired me.

annehathaway

It reminded me to give myself permission to NOT have to be perfect and it inspired me to write this post.

Trying to be perfect is something I think many of us, if not all, are guilty of and… well… it’ s not possible.  Why? Because it’s just not.  Perfection lies in the imperfect.  Imperfection IS perfection, but we seem to forget that most of the time.

It’s bazaar how we have one set of rules for ourselves and another set for everybody else.  We give those whom we love permission to not have it all together and remind them that it’s okay not to, but we say horrible things to ourselves when we don’t.  It’s nuts!

I know I’ve been guilty of this my whole life.  I am getting better though.  MUCH better.  But it takes effort.  Consistent effort.

Social media doesn’t help.  People only post what they want you to see and it’s not often they’ll show you when things aren’t going to plan.  That’s okay.  Personally, I don’t feel the need to share the bad stuff.  It just doesn’t need to be put out there in to your orbit.  It’s for me to deal with.  I might share it with my besties in conversation, but it doesn’t need to be made public knowledge.

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s okay to aim high and to want to be great at everything, but what I’m trying to say is,  you don’t HAVE to be.  In fact, we learn the most when we don’t get it right.

In reality, we never stop learning.

I see people telling themselves how dumb they are (or much worse) when something goes wrong, so I always say to them… there are no mistakes, because it’s ALL learning, so it’s all positive.  It really is.

In a video I watched recently, an amazing woman by the name of Kathryn Budig said  “No one can say anything worse to you than you’ve already told yourself.”   Wow.  How powerful is that?   It really hit home.

I see people making themselves sick trying to do and be it all.  You can never be all things to all people, so you need to be all things to yourself.  Be truthful.  Be honest.  Listen to what your body, mind and soul wants and needs and give yourself permission to do, be and have that.

You really DON’T have to have it all together all day, every day.  You’d tell your best friend that, so why not tell your self?

Personally, I don’t know anyone that has it all together, all of the time.

Well, maybe Beyonce…..but she’s got a whole team of people working for her, so that doesn’t count.

So, next time your ‘busting your gut’ (as my Dad says) trying to be perfect, remember that it’s ok if it’s not all falling in to place.  In all honesty, when it looks like things are falling apart, they’re actually coming together exactly as they should.  You’ll see the lesson in it, if you give yourself the time and permission to.

Until next time…

Love and Light always,

Yvette xxx

 

 

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Feather. Brick. Truck.

Yvette # # # #

Hi Lovelies,

It’s been one of those weeks.  You know the kind.  We ALL have them.

Have you heard of the ‘Feather.  Brick.  Truck’ concept?

First, you get a tickle from a ‘feather’.  This is usually a gentle reminder that something is not quite right and things need to change.  You may get two or three ‘feathers’.  

If you don’t stop for a moment and listen to what the universe is trying to tell you, you’ll find a ‘brick’ heading in your direction.  Yep.  Not so gentle.  It’s time to be conscious when this happens.  

If you STILL aren’t getting it, then you may find yourself getting run over by a truck.  Not literally I hope but… well… you get my drift.  It could be financial, emotional or even physical in the form of an illness.

It first came in to my orbit when I was reading a post written by the gorgeous Jemma Gawned from ‘Naked Treaties’.

http://www.nakedtreaties.com.au

I met Jemma back in 1997 and we got along famously.  It’s no wonder.  Our birthday falls on exactly the same day, so she is just as awesome as I am.  Wink.

She was writing about some experiences that  she was having and the post resonated with me on a deep level.  

It is SUCH a great analogy don’t you think?

I have since found out it is a ‘thing’.

In 2007 I had a ‘truck’ hit me in the form of pneumonia.  At the time, I wasn’t looking after myself very well.  It was the worst I’d ever felt in my life.  I knew I HAD to change my ways.  It took me a while to get there but now I’m happy to say that looking after my health is a priority.  Without it, you have nothing.

Okay.  About my week…

It started off swimmingly but then, I began receiving the signals.

Thank you to @rahuluw for allowing me to use your pic.
Thank you to @rahuluw for allowing me to use your pic.

The feather came first.  I was driving to work the other day, when a car came screaming past to overtake me.  He was doing about 90kmph in a 60kmph zone.  The speed made his car kick up a big piece of wood that was on the ground and it slammed in to the front of my car.  I’m sure I don’t need to tell you there was swearing!!  The noise was so loud it frightened the shit out of me.  I’m lucky the air bags didn’t go off.  Thank goodness there was no real damage to the car.

I was angry at the driver and didn’t even think for a minute that it was a sign telling ME to slow down.  I was too caught up in my reaction to notice.  Later in the day…I got it.

When I arrived at my makeup and hair gig that afternoon, I was still going like the clappers.  I’d been on turbo for a couple of days and bad things happen when I’m in that mode.  I set up my kit and turned my heated tong on, ready to curl my gorgeous clients’ hair.  I then picked up the tong from the wrong end and burnt my hand badly.  Yep, I had a brick thrown at me.  It hurt like hell.  Suddenly, I got it.  I needed to slow down or I was going to REALLY hurt myself.

I don’t need to go in to any more details but lets just say, a few other things happened this week that were also telling me the same thing.

It’s easy to get caught up in reacting to something you don’t think is about you.  In reality, life is a reflection of what is going on inside of us.  The universe is our mirror.  If you don’t stop for a minute to really look in to it, you’ll miss  the signs.  They lead us in the right direction.

Today is Friday.  I’m going to make sure I take it easy today.  It’s time to slow down and just breathe.

Happy Friday Lovelies.

Until next time…

Love and Light always,

Yvette xxx

Categories: Me2 Comments

Do you like to tszuj?

Yvette # # # # #

Hi Lovelies,

I’d been thinking of what to write about for a couple of days, when all of the sudden it hit me.  Why not write about one of my favourite words?!  After all, blogging is stringing a whole bunch of words together and… well… sometimes, they deserve a post all of their own, don’t they?   I think so.

The word is ‘Tszuj‘.  The action of which is ‘Tszujing‘.  I just love it.  Don’t you?

Some people spell it jooj or zhooj or joosh but apparently, the correct spelling is tszuj.

How amazing does it feel to say it?  It just rolls off the tongue!  How could it NOT be one of my favourite words?!

Tsuj

I have researched where it came from and what I found was very interesting.

Although it was introduced to mainstream culture by none other than the fabulous Carson Kressly, who famously used it on the hit TV show ‘Queer Eye For The Straight Guy’ in 2003, it has actually been around for much longer.

Carson himself said he picked it up while working for the famous fashion designer, Ralph Lauren.

Have you heard of ‘Polari’?  The word comes from the Italian word ‘parlare’ (or – to talk).  It is a form of ‘cant slang’ or ‘jargon’ used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, merchants, navy sailors, prostitutes and the gay subculture.  It was even heavily featured on BBC programs in the 60’s.

FYI – the word ‘bona’ is polari as well.  You’re welcome.

Polari was mostly used prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 and fell out of use in the 70’s but a few words stuck.  ‘Tszuj’ just happened to be one of them.  Yay!

The verbal language of Polari is no younger than 50 years old.  It may even be 150 years old.  It is difficult to say exactly, given that it was not picked up as a ‘thing’ until the 60’s.

Initially it was a reference for clothing and hair but now it can relate to just about anything.  We have taken the word and run like Forrest with it.  Now it relates to ‘make stylish’, ‘enliven’, ‘update’…the list goes on.

It can even be used when going to the beauty salon.  I’ve been known to say “I’d like my punani tszuj’d please” and the results were exactly what I was after.  Bikini wax.  CHECK!

You can tszuj (clean) your car.

You can tszuj (make up) or (shave) your face.

You can tszuj (decorate) your house.

You can tszuj (buy something new for) your wardrobe.

You can tszuj (add accessories to) your outfit.

You can tszuj (have a pedicure) or (clip) your toenails.

Would I like my glass tszuj’d? (filled up) Yes please!

Oh and I LOVE it when someone tszujs (deposits into) my bank account.

Heck, I even tszuj’d (spruced up) my blog.

I think you get the idea.

I hope you have enjoyed my ‘Tszuj’ obsession as much as I have enjoyed writing about it.  It is time for me to say goodbye for now.  I must go tszuj myself for my night out.

Until next time.  Keep tszujing!

Love and Light always,

Yvette xxx

 

Categories: Funny Words, Things I Love1 Comment