24 hours without heating

Having your heater break down during a Melbourne winter is not much fun – especially when you are working from home. I’d put on as many layers of clothing as I could and still be able to move my arms and fingers to do my work on my computer. And I was still cold.

Very late in the afternoon, I managed to track down a plumber who knew our system and said he could help – the next day.

“I don’t suppose there’s anything I could say that would make you be able to come tonight?” I asked. Apologetically, he explained he had to go out that evening, but assured me he’d arrive by 11 am the next day.

Suddenly I realized how pathetic my plea must have sounded.

Then I found my inner voice saying ‘Good Grief Sandi – get a grip! If you feel cold, just think of the homeless people, for goodness sake!’

And so that’s what I did. Yes, I retired to bed early that night. But I did have a lovely warm doona to snuggle under, a comfortable bed to lie on, and my soul mate lying next to me. How blessed was I?

Life is all about perspective. And I believe if we find ourselves in what we feel is a bad, challenging and/or less-than-ideal situation, it is worthwhile to pause and think about our response to this – and consider how our situation might look from another, less fortunate perspective.

It can make for a great reality check …

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Are you living your full potential?

In my work, I frequently speak with people who are disenchanted with their lives.

“I feel so frustrated … I’ve been doing the same thing at work for years and I just can’t seem to get ahead.”

“I feel lost. I know I am capable of doing more but have no idea how to achieve what I really want to do.”

“Maybe I’m just not meant to do anything else. I mean, who am I to want more?”

I find this very sad.

Why we've got to stop talking about "Work/Life Balance"!

Work/Life Balance doesn't exist - and while we continue to strive to achieve it, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Why?

The phrase itself suggests a couple things that are inherent in the problem:

What does it take to achieve Work/Life Balance? (is it even possible?)

Frankly, no. It's not possible - and we are causing ourselves untold frustration and disappointment while we keep trying to achieve it!

Why do I say this?

Well, think for a minute about the phrase itself -

The Secret to handling ‘Difficult’ People

(WARNING: Your life as you know it is about to change)

“How can I handle difficult people?”

Answer – you can’t.

“Wait – what? You mean I’m stuck with them in my life?”

Answer – it all depends on how you look at it.

Your Good-Enough List (A critical Sanity-Saving Tool)

I recently attended a three-day women’s festival that I attended for the first time in 2016. It’s never the same the second, third or umpteenth time around is it? First of all, there’s that ‘first time newness’ that we can only get once. “Wow! Look at that!” “Goodness, that’s amazing!” And so on … because we are seeing things through fresh, first-time eyes.

In our subsequent visits, while we look for that same magic, but logically know it will be different than our beloved ‘first-time’. We then start to notice what’s not there that we liked the previous year(s), and lament “But I really liked that!”

So this year, I decided to focus instead on what was new, different and intriguing. And that’s how I came across The Release Tree.