GRATITUDE + CONSCIOUS LIVING Page 7 of 26

It’s never too late to do what you love

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This week has been a very sad one for us, as one of Mr K’s oldest friends lost his fight for life after a long illness. He had been waiting for a liver transplant but didn’t get one in time and passed away a few days ago. He was one of life’s really good people – a loyal friend, a ray of sunshine, a great husband and father – and he will be desperately missed.

In the days afterwards I felt like I had to DO something, anything. And so I joined the organ donor register so perhaps I can save someone else’s friends and family similar pain in the future after I am gone. Did you know one person’s donated organs can save the lives of up to EIGHT people? That’s amazing. If you live in a country where organ donation is on an opt-in basis as it is here, I’d really encourage you to consider registering as a donor too. It only takes a minute and it could literally save someone’s life. You can sign up here : UK / USA / Australia / Google for other countries!

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This week has also reminded us that life is short, and precious. And so we have dedicated the coming month of May on the blog we are celebrating the wisdom of age, and the truth that it is never too old to do what you love.

We will be sharing interviews with some really inspiring older people who have made major shifts in their life at a later age, including a 70 year old first-time author! There are lots of obstacles to doing what you love, but age should not be one. We’ll prove that to you over the coming month, so keep an eye out on the blog for more throughout May!

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And lastly this week, I’d like to introduce you to Bailey May, the latest addition to the Do What You Love family… We have dreamt of road trips in our very own VW camper van for many years, and after everything that has happened this week we decided to just go for it. I have a feeling this might be the best investment we have made in a while. I look forward to sharing stories from the open road…

And with that, I’m off to the station to catch a train to begin my 5,400 mile journey to Costa Rica, to work on my book.

This week I challenge you to ignore the clock and follow the sun!

Beth

 

An Update From Do What You Love HQ – April ’16

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I sat down to write this month’s update and whilst considering what to tell you about – I’ll get to that soon – I glanced at my calendar. It read April 16. Three years ago to the day since I started with Do What You Love.

I had just returned from my honeymoon and the magic and romance of Tuscany was fast being replaced by one very real and overriding thought:

“Was it really a good idea to give up 12 years of a good career… especially now?”

Not only was the world trying to come to terms with the worst global recession in recent history, we were about to start our new life as a family. Is there a bigger adventure? And the main security we had, I had discarded without remorse. The reality now was that our immediate future was a complete unknown and our family’s wellbeing was in the hands of a fairly whimsical concept – Do What You Love.

Had I been completely selfish, foolish and irresponsible?

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Why it’s worth caring about fragments of handwritten memory

I have been spending a lot of time up in the attic lately, going through old journals and letters, finding snippets of memories caught in real time, in crinkled pages, on blue airmail paper, via postcards with exotic postmarks.

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A couple of the letters were from an old friend from university, who was editor of the uni newspaper and has gone on to produce ‘Today’, the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme. I used my very modern iphone to send him photos of the handwritten letters he sent to me when I was a student in Kyoto, Japan, aged 19, half a lifetime ago. It was a fascinating snapshot of student life – the things we cared about, the things we spent our time on, the people we fancied, the embarrassing and often hilarious capers we got up to. True to the career he would follow, he had sent detailed dispatches from Durham, letting me know the goings on of college life in full colour.

I remember when those student days, when I spent a year abroad in a very foreign land. The anticipation of coming home to my homestay family’s house after school, and looking on the bottom step of their winding wooden staircase to see if there was a letter for me from home. And often there was – I received and sent over 100 letters and postcards that year, in the days before email.

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What I learnt from two actual superheroes (and it’s not what you think)

What I learnt from two actual superheroes (and it’s not what you think) DWYL BLOG TUNEINCHILLOUT 650X250PX LR

The other day I went on a double date with Mr K and my older brother and sister-in-law to see the new film ‘Batman vs Superman’. The film choice wasn’t mine, but I have enjoyed some of the superhero films in recent years, and I was just happy to have some time out on the town.

We settled in with popcorn and wine (oh how classy cinemas are these days), and I was looking forward to a good story. Although the film was beautifully shot, after half an hour I was still looking for the story. After an hour I was bored. After 90 minutes I was actually getting really annoyed that I was sat there spending our rare night out watching gratuitous violence. I started asking myself why, when all day long I search for pockets of quiet time, have I filled my night off with guns and explosions?

And then I walked out.

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Do What You Love interview – Henrik Dahle

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Writer, artist, director of theatre and film, anxty environmentalist and social engineer, Henrik Dahle is passionate about doing what he loves. Always on the case with a project and forever thinking up new ideas, he spends his days rewriting scripts, lugging art to galleries, scrawling poems on tiny pieces of paper, editing digital images and making stories with them. Top of his list of priorities is protecting the natural world, and making the most of his time in it. This is what inspired his recent personal challenge: to climb a tree every day for a year.

tree 111aTree 111. Bay Tree. Chiavari, Italy. I bloody love this tree. Such beautiful shapes of intricate interwoven curls, pulsing out from the centre to gather the light. Image credit: Jacob Parish.

“365 days is a long-haul project and there’s discipline involved. There’s a scale to it – you have to persevere,” Henrik says. “Trees are the greatest lungs of the world. The largest single offering from the Earth. We take them for granted. We appreciate them if we take notice. We explore them as children, our bodies remembering the primal experience of climbing. It’s why hands were invented.” 

Henrik’s journey took him through ten different countries, and saw him meet everyone from belly dancers and actors to school children and professors. As well as taking photos from the trees he climbed, Henrik found himself conducting interviews among the branches and he is now writing a book to document his wild and wonderful escapades. We caught up with him to find out more about his life, loves and leafy adventures… ~ Rachel

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Reasons to be happy

Did you know yesterday was the International Day of Happiness? Where does your happiness come from? What are your sources of joy? Do you actively think about it, and prioritise those things in your life?

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Hanging out with my girls. This makes me happy.

Here are a few treasures from around the web to explore and ponder this week (After all, being happy is the whole point of doing what you love):

If you find any other great resources on happiness around the web please share them with us via Facebook or Twitter!

Have a happy week

Beth

 

Do What You Love interview – Oona McFarlane

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Imagine that fear was suddenly no longer a factor in your life. What would you do? What would you change, be, give or do? Those who create an extraordinary life and achieve their highest vision share one fundamental power: the capacity to turn their fears and limitations into positive focussed action.

One such person is the inspirational Oona McFarlane, a lady whose passion for self-development and growth motivated her to do a firewalk and go on to become a firewalk instructor and a trainer for firewalk instructors.

“When we choose to walk on fire, we give ourselves an opportunity to affirm our trust in our own power and our ability to use our fear for transformation,” Oona says. “We rekindle our passion for our visions of what could be and make a physical commitment to our chosen path and take that first courageous step forward towards it, knowing that – like anything in life – there are risks involved in making our dreams come true.”

Oona has been making magic with fire and feet for over a decade, at festivals and gatherings all over the world, as well as from Tir na nOg, her own holistic centre in Scotland, UK. We were excited to find out how firewalking has changed her life and how she combines it with her skills as a Master Practitioner of NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming), Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Reiki to make the experience so incredibly meaningful and transformative for others.

Oona MacFarlane is a Reiki master teacher and firewalk Instructor. She is based at the Tir na nOg holistic centre near Drymen. 19/10/09

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Huge news! On becoming a Hay House author (somebody pinch me!)

Huge news! On becoming a Hay House author (somebody pinch me!) dwylhq1

Some days are really big days, and I just had one of them. It was the day I signed a deal with Hay House, for them to publish my first book! It is a book about freedom, written for anyone who feels trapped, stuck, hemmed in—not in control of their own time, money, or destiny. It is for people who are afraid that life is passing them by, but feel powerless to do anything about it. It is a timely self-empowerment manifesto: an inspiring and practical manual that will enable people to recognise that freedom is a choice. I am busy writing it now and cannot wait for it to be released worldwide in Spring 2017!

Hang on a minute. Let’s just rewind. Did someone just say I’m going to be a Hay House author? Am I dreaming? It certainly feels that way right now, because this is not just something on my ‘Do Before I’m 40 Bucket List’, but something I have been dreaming of for many years.

In case you’re curious about how it came about, I’ll share the story here. I warn you, this is going to be a long post, because I want to share all the pieces of how this particular dream has unfolded. So get yourself a nice cup of tea and we’ll begin… (Note: I would love for you to help me bring this book to life. Right at the end of this post there’s some info on how to get involved!)

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Why reading is making me happy + download your own Happy List for FREE

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This is a post by our Senior Editor, Rachel Kempton

One of the (many!) great things I’ve resolved to do in 2016 is to spend more time doing things that make me happy – like reading. I love reading and my shelves are overflowing with books that are all begging to be read. So I’ve set myself a challenge: to read a book a week, every week, for a year. As well as increasing my knowledge, giving my brain a good daily work out and opening my mind to new thoughts and ideas, I hope that priorising my passion for books will inspire me to work on improving all aspects of my life. What’s more by 31 December I’ll have read 52 books – what a great feeling that will be!

I’m only a few weeks in and I’m already reaping the benefits of burying my head in a good book for half an hour a day:

  • I look forward to that little bit of me-time I carve out for myself each day
  • It feels like a really productive use of my time – unlike watching TV or surfing online
  • It helps me to switch off
  • Reading before bed is helping me to sleep better
  • Finishing a book is satisfying and that feeling of finishing things is motivating me to develop a habit of completion – in all other areas of my life
  • Deciding what to read next is fun
  • It’s a great way to learn more about my hobbies, interests, and passions
  • Now I’m in the flow of reading, I’m excited about stepping out of my comfort zone and trying other genres/styles

I love this image about the benefits of reading by designer Raphael Lysander which includes some fascinating statistics on how reading can help with stress relief, mental skill development, and forming relationships, etc.

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During January I was reading:

  • Finding Your Element by Ken Robinson: a great source of help, advice and motivation if you’re pushing through the daily grind, lack passion for what you do, or are wondering how you can start doing what you love.
  • Walking on Sunshine. 52 small steps to happiness by Rachel Kelly: inspired by Rachel’s own life experiences this little book is bursting with tips, tools and positive thoughts to help you better manage the pressures of everyday life.
  • The Artist’s Way for Parents: Raising Creative Children by Julia Cameron: this book is packed with practical advice and is a great reminder that by taking time (even little moments) to nurture our own creativity we cultivate joy in our  own lives, which we can then share with, and model for, our children.
  • F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way by John C. Parkin, who suggests that saying F**k It is the perfect Western expression of the Eastern spiritual concept of letting go, giving up, and finding real freedom by realising that things don’t matter so much (if at all).

What’s next? The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, which promises that I’m “about to discover how I can create the most extraordinary life I’ve ever imagined… right now.” Watch this space!

This month I’m especially grateful for these fascinating books which have taught me so much, and to the inspiring authors who wrote them. I’m also grateful to my husband who’s doing the book challenge too – keeping us both motivated – and to my sister, Lisa, who, on hearing about my challenge, sent me dozens of pictures of her bookcase and suggested we swap some books. All these things are on my Happy List.

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“Be grateful for what you have now. As you begin to think about all the things in your life you are grateful for, you will be amazed at the never ending thoughts that come back to you of more things to be grateful for. You have to make a start, and then the law of attraction will receive those grateful thoughts and give you more just like them.” ~ Rhonda Byrne, The Secret

What is on your Happy List this year?

If you want to take more notice of the things that make you happy in the months ahead, download our Happy List – it’s completely free, and it’s a simple interactive PDF which allows you to note one thing every day that you are grateful for. Thousands of people used it last year and really enjoyed noticing the small and big things, and having a record to look back on. You can get yours here.

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Download a low res version of The Happy List here.

Download a high res version of The Happy List here.