Fast forward a few years and you’ll find me in a loving relationship. Owning my own sweet home which I love and take care of. My daughter is doing well and our relationship is blossoming. I quit working for “the man” and pursued self employment once again. Everything was going swimmingly
Red, red, wiiine - you sang it in your head didn't you? No? Just me then. Right. Red wine has become my "go-to" choice of alcoholic beverage. When I was younger I didn't drink a lot. I went through the usual stage of sugary flavoured vodka drinks in my late teens/ early 20s, but not a lot in volume because I hated the feeling of being intoxicated. My friends would make fun of me going to a party with 2 Raspberry Vodka Cruisers - which would easily last me all night - if I even got through them both. I could drive home, had no hangovers, didn't waste money on booze or do reckless things that everyone else was doing. In my mind, it was brilliant. But then, as it does for many, In my early 20's I found myself in very stressful situations and life started to wear me down with ongoing family issues. Surrounded by people who were big drinkers, I entered a "beer phase" in my mid-20s and then I gave that up and found wine somewhere along the line.
What is a thought? It’s nothing, and it’s everything. It’s intangible, you can’t hold it in your hand, you can’t touch it, you can’t see it, you can’t show it to anyone. But, your thoughts are the entire system you operate on. Every single thing you have, every situation you find yourself in, every action, behaviour or emotion is triggered by the way you think. So, where do our thoughts come from? We spend the longest stint of time dependant on our parents, more than any other species. Human babies are entirely unable to care for themselves. We are not born with the same level of instincts available to us that other living beings are. Our thoughts are sold to us as beliefs from other peoples thinking. The thoughts of our parents, siblings, extended family, friends, teachers etc
We were in for a big Christmas this year, 13 people in total. Some of whom I hadn't yet met. I was given months worth of warning to prepare myself and I did all of the regular things to avoid an overwhelming rush of anxiety come D Day. The plan was that we were headed to a Xmas Eve party with family, which is an hours drive from our house, then to stay in a hotel the night, then to arrive back in the morning for present opening and Xmas lunch.
This is the very last instruction from the Dalai Lama. They are such great rules to live by and there are certainly many different perspectives on how to apply them in real life.
One of my biggest achievements, recently, was being able to run 2.4km in 12.27.Yes, I was racing to make 12.15 to join the NZ police and yes I was 7 seconds too slow but when I first decided I would train for this, almost a year earlier, my very first runtime was 2.4km in 22 mins. I am not joking. I had only quit smoking about a year prior and I had been smoking for approx 15 years on and off. I was about 5kg overweight and had never run a day in my life. The challenge was HUGE. Really huge.