Wilma on Stop the Interruptions!

Birds hate interruptions too. John will you leave them alone!

Your comments to this week’s post; ‘Interrupted thinking creates half-baked Me’ certainly deepened my thinking about this epidemic of constant daily interruptions.

I want to start by emphasizing that interruptions of themselves are not inherently bad, a modest amount of interruptions are great and a fact of life. This is not the issue at all. The issue is the constant stream of them and our lack of vigilance in recognizing the insidious consequences to our quality of life and quality thinking because of constant interruptions.

So what is the cost of lots of interruptions?

Interrupted thinking creates half-baked me.

The look of my current blissful uninterrupted life.

Ever opened the oven door and thus interrupted the baking?
Of course you have and so have I with dire consequences.

My interruptions have caused many potentially beautiful creations come to an early death. Before they had a chance to rise, many cakes have fallen flat on their face so to speak.

Okay, so I have ruined some baking, I can live with that.

But what if interruptions are being the death of my heart-centered creations?
What if interruptions are so plentiful in my life that my creative self never has a chance to fully express itself, that its thoughts never have a chance to rise?

Can I be so casual about that, can I live with that?

Hmmm.

Wilma on Fear of Losing Love

My daughters who do love me.

I so want to acknowledge all your sharing in the comments on this week’s post; My fearful pursuit of love and its pathetic results. Your comments are a beautiful example of our connectedness; how we all have fears and how we all are committed to moving beyond them.

I got to see how in talking about my fear of losing the love of my daughter by saying ‘no’ to her, it had many of you share similar fears. Jodi summed it up well;

the tug and pull of saying no vs. feeling you should say yes to validate your love but then deciding to say no and struggling with how to say no–gosh it’s all so frustrating.

While most of us have this fear in some form or other, the flow of comments made it clear to me that our fears are completely unfounded.

What happens when instead of an old fashioned partner I become a sponsor.

John being encouraged by Wilma.

In last week’s post I wrote; “Great base camps understand sponsorship.”

Bringing up that whole idea of sponsorship and making ’ME’ - base camp – a prosperous structure has unlocked something huge in me.
I never considered that any personal relationship could have a sponsorship theme as well.
If I look back, most relationships, be it with partners, relatives, friends or with works colleagues have been one of limited possibilities because of that.
As I went through life, I have learned to look after myself, not to expect too much, to keep score so I would not become a doormat or a victim and to compete for mostly everything from attention and love to promotion and opportunities.
Most of my adult life I have been going it alone, I relied on myself and in my previous marriage I never considered my needs.

Now when I look at sponsorship, I get a whole new view on how a relationship could be.
I could become the sponsored one as well as a sponsor AND have everyone in the relationship fly.

Accessing the wealth that has me BE a wealthy base camp.

John making me a wealthy base camp by lovingly making me a beautiful wooden kitchen bench.

I loved that the post, I am base camp resonated so strongly with so many of you who have read it.

And given the comments from some of you on your own reluctance to look after yourself, it certainly looks like I am not alone here.

Isn’t it amazing that when you look at yourself in a different light and see yourself as a structure, see yourself as base camp, how this reluctance just doesn’t make sense anymore?

It all of a sudden seems ludicrous NOT to look after yourself, NOT to keep base camp well maintained and prosperous, especially when you can see that the expedition called your life totally depends on it.

I can talk about the good life, spirituality and enjoying myself until the cows come home but that’s all just ‘hot air’ if I DON’T keep ME in great shape.

No matter what I have been told, I am NOT selfish, I AM base camp.

Growing up I always heard, ‘Don’t get too big for your boots, young lady’! ‘No, you are NOT the center of the Universe and you do not put yourself first. Don’t be selfish.’ And like everybody else, I too was constantly told what I could and could not do and nowhere was there any talk about ME looking after ME and finding out what I wanted. It actually was all about staying small and being told NOT to deviate from the behaviors I had been taught.

Now I am wised up, I demand breakfast in bed, wherever we are.

And I took all of it on board.

Sure why wouldn’t I have? It was dished out mostly by people who honestly loved me, so why would I not believe it.

But life is never that simple, is it?
A lot of what I’ve taken on board during my life is now showing up as extra ballast that is sinking the ‘ME’ in me.

Who Am I?

I’m traveling back to Ireland with my husband and daughter in a few weeks time to see my family. As the trip draws nearer I am thinking a lot about the impending reunion with my Mum, Dad and siblings. I haven’t seen them in a year and a half and while the length of time doesn’t seem that long so much has happened in my life since the last time I was home. I find myself asking the question “Will my family recognize me?” And I don’t mean my physical appearance, I am referring to the person that I am. Will they see ME?

With laptop in hand I am ready for my trip

I realize that they already have an opinion about me, one that they’ve probably had for years and years. ‘Bossy sister who thinks she knows it all’ is one that springs to mind.
I can hear past conversations now ‘Oh Ann-Marie you can’t start your own business, what do you know. Sounds like it would never work; typical you to get involved in something like this’

I was always easily influenced by what they said. I’d be immediately sucked in and begin to worry that they were right. Then I’d get defensive before finally being totally upset with the lot of them and feeling stupid for considering the opportunity in the first place.

My daughter, my heart and that little voice of mine.

My corporate daughter wants a dose of her Mom. She asked me to come visit her for a long weekend and then gave me an extensive list of what home cooked meals she wanted me to bring along. However after placing her food order she did stress that it was not all about filling up her empty freezer. I didn’t have to bring anything with me; just seeing me was really what she wanted. Oh, how that made my heart melt.

Another special time together, Halong Bay, Vietnam.

Just hearing ”Mom, I want to see you” made my heart leap up in the air and I immediately started to dream up what fun we could have.
Special mother/daughter times are so precious.