Friday, July 8, 2011

Summer time and the living is easy...

Hello there - how is life treating you?
SO much for my once a week blog - you see I just get caught up in things, the time just flies by. How can it be quarter past July already?

Volunteers make a difference

School is finished and the summer holidays are well underway. Kirsten's leavers service was lovely, the Parents Association presented all the P7s with their new school tie, they sang their leavers song and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. The PA then organise a leavers disco for them all at night. The volunteers put such a lot of effort into making it a memorable event , it was lovely to see the kids in their finery and Kirsten all grown up in her little black dress. The volunteers feel good too - helping others really helps to take your mind off your own worries.

Summer fun

We had the first week of holidays at our caravan in St Andrews. It was great fun - first we had a friend of Kirsten's with us for a couple of days then my 3 lovely nieces joined us for the rest of the week. Thankfully we had great weather so lots of picnics, bbqs, sandcastles, in the water with clothes on, playing on the beach, trips to the park, picking strawberries and a lovely campfire evening with our wonderful friends the Berrys to finish it off.
I can honestly say this was a really happy holiday - probably the best one since Calum died. It was more like our old days, lots of laughs and full of fun. We did all miss him too though, there is still the feeling that he should be here leading the charge for the sea. Kirsten loved the company but it also highlighted her brother was missing. She had a few tears and was reluctant to have the campfire night as she wanted Calum to come home to be there. I know that sometimes when emotions are difficult that it seems easier to not do anything that will make it worse. I could have said ok - no campfire night but it wouldn't have changed the fact that Calum still wasn't with us. So I encouraged her with the Berrys would be there too (she loves them so much), so we had bbq, beans, strawberries dipped in melted choc and toasted marshmallows. We all wrote a wish on a sparkly bit of paper and put it into the fire to set it free. It was emotional we all shed a tear but it was a lovely, magical night. One that we will all remember for a very long time, and I am sure that Calum did join us he would never have missed a night like that!
It is these moments that count - the good memories are worth their weight in gold, they are the fire for the soul in times of darkness.

Facing fears

A few weeks ago I walked over hot coals and it wasn't the campfire. I did a firewalk with some friends and family to raise funds for Calum's tribute fund at the Meningitis Trust. It was a wonderful experience, Liesha Ross, the organiser has a lovely gentle way of getting you to face your fears and believe that anything is possible. I met Liesha when I trained in NLP and turned to her to help me to handle my grief a few months after Calum's death. I know that we all need the help of others at times and the time was now right for me to walk over the coals and take me on the next stage of my journey. I have found new strength to focus on sales/marketing for my business. If I can walk over hot coals then picking up the phone to talk to someone about training courses is nothing.

What is holding you back? Is it a fear or a belief that something bad will happen? Try challenging your thinking - even a real hot fire can be walked on with no burns or blisters. You might not get the chance to firewalk, so shift your perspective take a deep breath and go for it. Watch the video here.

The Good Girl is out now.
SInclair's 2nd novel is now available on Kindle and in paperback, he has started on book 3. What we need now is lots of sales and some recommendations. A great summer read for any crime fiction fans - please check it out.

Be a kid.
The summer holidays can be long, filling the days with things to do that don't cost the earth requires a little thought and planning. Think it's time to haul out the games, the candle making stuff, the sewing machine, the quilting books, the baking bowl, the books to read, films to watch and my new elastic jumping ropes that I bought last week! Then there are my legendary picnics! Well I'm going to have fun even if no one else does.

Why not try being a kid again - look at life from their point of view even for just a short time can make such a difference to your mood. Go for a walk and look at how wonderful the world is - use your imagination - a stick can be so many things (Calum had a favourite one). The cleaning can wait, the washing can pile up - the bills will still be there but for a few minutes you can just be young and carefree.

So I have had quite a few memories to add to my bag of happiness in the last month. I look forward to adding a few more over the summer, I hope that you will too.

My happiness levels are at 10. Happy summer folks.
Kim
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