I refrained from writing my blog at the weekend as I, like many, tried to digest and make sense of Friday’s terrible attack on Paris. Sadly, of course there is no sense in what has happened.

I am reminded of how my mother (who was brought up being very aware of prejudices) encouraged her children to look for the good in people. Not judge others by their religion, nationality or anything else which we may inadvertently feel makes them different to us.  Live and let live.

As my blog has always been to inspire mindfulness and being positive I believe that remains a priority. We must continue to carry on living our lives and following our dreams. I said as much to my own daughter yesterday.

We mustn’t allow any actions taken by a small minority to prevent us from going about our life or feel fearful. Remember to tell those we love that we love them..and often.

All our prayers and thoughts are with those who have been touched by what has happened and the difficult road of bereavement which lays ahead.

Nothing more interesting and amusing than watching children at play. I managed to catch  the second episode of ‘The Secret life of a four year old‘ which was a fascinating insight into their world and developing emotions.

There were some real stars in the group of children who were being filmed, seeing how their social skills, including the start of applying empathy was fascinating.

I did chuckle when one child gave his family list, ‘Daddy, my cat and my sister’ which just confirms how important the family pet is to our children.

One regret was I didn’t watch this type of documentary when my daughter was four…would have been a great help. Girls!!

I am a natural people watcher and stand accused of lovingly watching ‘the prince’ (a friend’s new baby boy.) Beautiful… at four months he already has a great character.

Both in my own experience as a parent and various projects work, studying etc., I can both marvel and be left in a quandary about ‘The secret mind of a teenager’ title of a forth coming project.

We know that for many years the mysteries surrounding the contents of a woman’s head and indeed her handbag are to be held in awe! Times that by infinity and you may be closer to understanding what your teenage son or daughter is thinking.

Being a parent is a rewarding role but holds us often left wondering… and often worrying far more than we need to. In a family each child is an individual and will deal with events in a completely different way to his or her siblings and this will come as a surprise to their parents who believe they know their child well…or not as the case may be.

We know from medical research that in terms of how they evaluate and react may be not the way we would wish and this is not based upon the hormones, stress levels but because the reasoning part of the brain is not fully developed until they are in their early twenties.

So do we give up the ‘perceived nagging’? Most definitely not, but be patient as hopefully they are growing, at their own speed, into rounded individuals in the majority of cases. They need time to catch up emotionally.

Mothers of boys don’t forget  some boys are not as willing to share ‘secrets’ with their parents and being quiet in approach may not necessarily be a bad thing…maybe your son just has his head really sorted out, knows where he is going and is calm. Now wouldn’t that be a good thing to know?

However, if we can encourage our children to share rather than keep their emotions bottled up it will help with their emotional intelligence. Sometimes it is easier to talk to somebody independent and several parent friends know their children can come to me as a befriender if this helps and at times it has.

So many pressures exist on teenagers these days and the added peer and media activities can sometimes be a negative influence. As parents it is hard sometimes to gauge how to be supportive without prying and encouraging without pushing.

What we need to do though is be aware of the type of pressures they are facing however shocking they may be. Remember we are living in fast pace times with temptations that we never had to endure ourselves as teenagers and ‘apparently having everything’ doesn’t mean that your child won’t lose their way and possibly disappoint you.

Remain the adult and show them love..that’s their security.

The cure for Monday blues is to do something fun and think positive. I say this after a rather late start, lazy bath (where I do most of my planning and scheming).

Being self-employed we work such long and strange hours and rarely switch off completely at weekends either. So opting to seemingly avoid the grumpy morning can work really well.

Monday is often a day I meet with my fab life coach pal where we talk through our projects, aims and objectives over lunch. We both find this really motivates us both for the week and makes Mondays easier to digest.

So Mondays?? We either fight it or make it a positive start to the week. Off to be inspired now!

Happy Friday to any other mature students out there who may be studying holistic courses. Alongside my NLP course I have kept a reflective journal which is very personal.

Yesterday I had a light bulb moment and realised what I should do is make another journal from key posts from my blog during the period of my NLP course.

Having read back the past months posts -I was right my blog is more often or not indicative of my reflective moods and reactions to what is relative to my course assignments, what is happening in the world and in my own life.

So my tip for the day is to other writers and mature students to get writing a blog, what better way to collate material to use and re-use?

If we are really lucky we will have a few good friends along the way that genuinely care about us and will listen when we are sad and join in our joy when we are happy.

At a recent event the speaker was saying how shocked he was when asking a former audience just how few were actually able to say they had friends that would help them if they were in trouble, visit them if they were in hospital and really listen to their problems.

There is no secret to friendship it just has to be a two-way thing. The message is to be that friend that you want to have. The rewards are returned beyond infinity.

I count my blessings that I am fortunate to have some wonderful friends that I can trust and share with. I will listen to them and they will listen to me..but moreover we genuinely care.

What more do we need in life? Forget the lottery we are millionaires of life!

Today’s blog is dedicated to a very special lady…you know who you are!

 

‘Matches and Married Men’  ebook by Evelyn King as featured in ‘Writers News’. **Available from Amazon.

Thought provoking works giving a voice to anonymous ladies.

The joys of falling in love and getting one’s fingers burnt!

Cover provided by Paul Manning Graphic Designer.

Hi bloggers and followers, so busy recommending the exciting and interesting publications of other brilliant writers I am guilty of forgetting to mention my own! Classic marketing error!

Do you know the value of communication and utilising business intelligence?

‘The Circle of Success’ is a thirty minute easy to read Kindle publication giving practical and positive tips on customer care and engagement with clients. Available from Amazon.

Including: database management, telemarketing, telephone techniques, quality projects, outsourcing and benefits of working together as a team and valuing corporate identity. Includes references to:- PCG the Voice of Freelancing and Website Engagement (ASI Europe-NFP Technology).  Cover visual provided by Paul Manning Graphic Designer.
Please visit :  www.p-manning.com

‘The Circle of Success’ Kindle by Annie Manning is an ideal book for anyone who wants to increase their business potential. Whether you are a first-timer or someone who has been in business for a long time, there is something for everyone in this book and all drawn from the author’s own experience of what works and most importantly what doesn’t.’ Deborah Durbin Author and Journalist.

How often do we hear friends and family talk about the moment at which they decide to re-evaluate their lives? More often than not it may be after recovering from serious illness or the loss of a family member or somebody close.

Whenever it happens, the crisis may give us a clearer understanding of what and who matter in our lives. The time of reflection may make us suddenly aware of the simple things around us that in our search for success and living the dream we may have taken for granted.

At last week’s retreat our speaker Kripamoya Das shared some wonderful stories and furnished us with brilliant quotes. Already this week I have been making use of his wise words of wisdom for life lessons with clients and friends.

Maybe the moment of crisis belongs to somebody else and it comes at a time to prompt us and remember what our long term objectives are and how we will stop putting them off and start to follow our dream.

Today I am working on an advice article for students writing their personal statement. I will be making ultimate use of quotes from another great man; Mahatma Gandhi :

Action speaks the priority: ‘If the goal in our life is very important and we are not taking any step to complete or fulfill that goal then we need to reassess our priorities.’