The Spiral of Life

It is broadly accepted that we, as human beings, can consolidate most of our experiences in life to three areas of priority: relationships, finance/career and health. Too often we’re told to find ‘balance’ between the three, but it just doesn’t work that way. Usually when one of these areas is going great guns, another area is lagging a little. This is perfectly normal and healthy and part of life’s perfect cycle. At different times during our life we focus on one of these three areas more than the other two. The trick is to not tip the scales so far that you do damage to one area while you’re madly improving the other e.g. throwing everything you have into work and leaving your loved ones wondering what you look like, or bending over backward for everyone in your life to the detriment of your health (yes moms this one is aimed at you).

Life is like an upward spiralling coil, the idea is to continue improving each area of our life so that the ‘bad’ times of each new phase are still better than the ‘good times’ of the phase before. Sometimes we drive forward madly and then it’s time for quietness, integration and just ‘being’. Learn to understand this process and work with it and you’ll begin to be much kinder to yourself. Which area are you focusing on right now and are you happy with how you’re maintaining the other two?

By Sabrina Holmes

TV or Not TV? - That is the Question

With all the modern technologies we have today, life has never been busier. In the 21st Century, we take on so much more, and are expected to achieve so much more with our day. Women especially are kept increasingly busy with a wide variety of tasks that can range from looking after the kids, climbing the corporate ladder, running a home based business, keeping fit and healthy, and the other million things we women know that we do.

So the question then is; how are you spending your quality time? If you really want to learn and grow, and live the life of your dreams, you need to devote some time and energy to focusing on what it is that you want, and cherishing your time with you. Sometimes that sounds impossible, but if it's important enough to you, you need to make the time for it. Here is one tip to regaining some lost time

Turn off the television! Nothing will sap your precious time more than this horrible box. In fact, here are some scary statistics for you:

- The average home now has more television sets than people, at 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and only 2.55 people
- The average person watches four hours, 35 minutes of television each day.
- In the average home, a television set is turned on for more than a third of the day — eight hours, 14 minutes (if you consider 8 hours sleep, and 8 hours work, this statistic is even more disturbing!)

This doesn't even count the hours spent on the computer, or surfing the internet!

So instead of turning the TV on, like so many people do on auto pilot, set some time aside for you. Write in your journal, call the friend you've been meaning to but haven't had the time, listen to your favourite album, look through some photo albums, give yourself a candlelit bath, create a vision board, meditate on your goals. Whatever it is, take some quality time for you... you deserve it!

Us & Them - Why You Should Always Dare to Dream

I remember as a child looking at the big houses and shiny, new cars in the street thinking “Wow! Those people are so lucky!”. As I grew up, I observed how much it seemed so normal to separate “us” – the middle class, from “them” – the wealthy. It never really occurred to me as a teenager to question this, but as an adult chasing my big, grandiose dreams, I have found myself eternally perplexed by the self separation that seems to happen amongst humans.

Why do so many people seem to ‘wish’ for the abundance of wealth that life offers, yet never truly believe that it’s in any way possible for them? My question is… Why not? The only way that wealth is ever going to happen is to first believe it is possible. The crazy thing is, it is SO MUCH MORE POSSIBLE than most people ever really know!!

I came from a middle class family, and we often (I mean really often!) struggled with money, but we always kept the dream alive. My father always had an entrepreneurial spirit and started many new business ventures, even though, unfortunately, the financial jackpot always eluded us. We had a better kind of wealth though – love and encouragement. You see, our parents always encouraged my sister and I with strong words like “You can be anything you want to be, if you want it bad enough”.

So now, at 31, I own a multi-million dollar property portfolio, I quit my job several years ago for a life of freedom, I’ve married the man of my dreams, I live abroad and I frequently travel the world. So what’s the difference between me and the other middle class people who didn’t realize their dreams? Only a belief that it was possible.

For instance, I would walk into a store and try on the most expensive pair of shoes I could find, even though I knew I didn’t have the money to buy them. I wanted to be comfortable with that kind of wealth, and I was also very aware of keeping my language, internal and external, positive and aligned with my dreams. Instead of looking at the shoes and immediately saying “I can’t afford those!”, I would say “I choose not to buy them, today”. Being wealthy starts with feeling wealthy. Consider all the people who didn’t feel wealthy and won the lottery… most of them squandered it all away, because even though they really wanted it, they never really felt worthy of having it.

So take the time to reflect on what you’re thinking, feeling and saying (both to yourself and out loud), and decide if it’s aligned with your goals and dreams. If not, consider finding a new approach… and be sure remove the phrase “I can’t afford it” from your vocabulary!

As for me, I’ve still got a long way to go, and I never want to stop growing and striving for more, (does that journey ever stop?), but these days I can see a $40 Million dollar mansion, or 180 ft Super yacht and comfortably say “that’s for me”, and know for sure that it is.