Don’t sacrifice the HERE and NOW

My favourite lines from a John Lennon song are, 

“Life is just what happens to you,

While you’re busy making other plans.”

How true is that? How sad it is that many of us spend all our time chasing and making plans for the future and don’t appreciate the here and now.  The lyrics are from the song Beautiful Boy from the Double Fantasy album, probably one of the most influential albums of my teenage life, along with Legend by Bob Marley. 

Today (Friday) was icy and cold in Leeds, sadly no snow. The boys were in good form and lively – rare on a morning but we all love Friday!! Lucas had his class assembly to perform. The sky was clear blue with the rising sun reflecting on the pink candy floss clouds.  It was truly stunning and put me in a great, positive mood.

Meniere’s has taught me to really appreciate the simple things in life and there is nothing simpler than the nature around us. Anyway, I was sitting in the school hall waiting for the assembly to start when Lucas’ Dad arrived. He sat next to me and started moaning about life, the weather, etc., etc. I couldn’t help myself. I interrupted him with something along the lines of ‘just once it would be nice for you to greet me with a really positive thought. Yes, it’s cold but it is also beautiful and sunny.’ He pulled the usual face. During the awkward silence, I sat, actually really pleased with myself. I knew then the exact reason why we never lasted, that and his short fuse!!

I like my positive outlook. Don’t get me wrong even I have doubting days or ‘Eeyore’ days but our philosophy is don’t moan about it, do something about it!! So, get to it…

RIP David Bowie and RIP Alan Rickman

Honestly, it has been a sad week with the loss of two iconic men, iconic for very different reasons. Some of David Bowie’s early work was a bit too ‘far out’ for me and I was a bit young! Now I appreciate it more. However, during the 1980s Bowie’s music and videos had a huge influence on me. I will never forget the video to ‘Let’s Dance’ and his performance on Live Aid. I loved his creativity and his bravery to be who he wanted to be.  There are very few people who won’t sell their beliefs for fame. He NEVER did.

Alan Rickman was, and always will be, my favourite British actor, although Shaun Evans is a very close second. I first saw Alan Rickman in Truly, Madly, Deeply and I fell in love with him. He had an amazing talent to captivate the audience. My favourite line was when he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Prince of Thieves. ‘Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings and call off Christmas.’ His delivery was truly unique.

When he played Snape in Harry Potter, my emotions were torn. It was hard to hate a man being portrayed by someone you love watching. He was simply brilliant at each role he played and he will be sorely missed.

  Beyond the Past

Have you had the chance to read it yet? Would you like to review it for me?

Read the first three chapters FREE on my website
Available from:
Pegasus Publishers
Amazon UK
Kindle
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Or you can order from your local bookshop. The ISBN number is : 978-1-84386-789-0 

 

This week

It has been a really busy week.  I’ve been researching and putting the final touches to my PhD proposal. That’s my work for this weekend too. I need to be kinder to myself and stop setting such tight deadlines!

I have been ruthlessly editing Beyond the Lies whilst coming to terms with a new training routine, which has definitely been challenging. I never realized how organised I was until the plans changed. Flexibility only works if your brain can cope with it. A few weeks in and I won’t remember the last routine…I hope.

Please, if you have time, take a moment to vote for my blog in the UK Blog Awards. Your support really does mean a lot to me.

Lifestyle  & Arts and Culture Category

Voting is today until 9pm 25th January 2016. You can both on both categories once a day every day until the closing date.

Have a fabulous weekend and don’t forget to pause to appreciate what and who you have around you.

Much love