I am having a love affair, with Dior Addict.
A little bit of luxury…
As part of learning to love myself, and because I believe that self-pampering is one of life’s necessities, I’m going to bring your attention to a business that has my attention at the moment: Body Thrills
I found Body Thrills along the way in my social media meanders and that being my passion and my work, they attracted my attention immediately. Having done all their marketing on social media alone (from what I can tell) and having done it really well (which is unusual in South Africa at the moment), I feel that it is my prerogative to give them a little punt on my blog. That and the fact that this blog post is an entry into a competition to win a nice big voucher for my pampering desires 🙂
Go check them out at www.bodythrills.co.za and have a look at their Winter Wonders specials
P.S. They have chocolate pudding bubble bath…have you ever? I will take it upon myself to try it out and let you know on a scale of one to orgasm how good it is. Watch this space.
Today I learnt…to just go with it
Having recently taken up horse riding, I’ve found that these animals like to teach us mere humans some lessons about ourselves along the way. Today I learnt how to just go with it.
Let me tell you the story:
Today’s horse riding lesson was about learning to trot. Once you have gotten the horse to move from a walk into a trot, you have to ‘post’, which is basically standing up and sitting down in the saddle to the rhythm of the horse’s trot. Sounds easy enough, but remember that you are sitting on a powerful moving animal, so keeping yourself in (and out of) the saddle requires some technique, some serious balance and core strength (while supposedly steering the horse in the right direction without pulling on the reigns).
Right, so once I get going with this whole new movement, Bella, my breathtakingly beautiful horse, decides that she likes where this is going and breaks out into a full canter. Now this was something new. Her body immediately moves in a completely different way (obviously while I am in the standing position in the saddle) and she puts foot on her internal accelerator, completely catching me off guard.
In that split second that my brain had to process what was going on, I had two choices:
A. Fumble around trying to figure out how to handle this and in the process likely fall on my head, or B. Sit tightly in the saddle, hold on and just go with it
I chose option B.
I just went with it. I just felt the rhythm of her movement and literally just went with the flow.
I did not fall on my head.
Do you see where I am going with this?
Sometimes we are faced with situations where we have no idea what to do. Life does not throw us only the problems that we know how to deal with.
Sometimes we are going to have to just hold on tight and go with it. Or we will likely fall on our heads.
‘Things my mother taught me’
I’m not sure who the author of this is, but I did have a little giggle!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there – I hope you feel special today after all that you have done for us.
“My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done – “If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside – I just finished cleaning!”
My mother taught me RELIGION – “You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL – “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
My mother taught me LOGIC – “Because I said so, that’s why.”
My mother taught me FORESIGHT- “Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”
My mother taught me IRONY – “Keep laughing and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS – “Shut your mouth and eat your supper!”
My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM – “Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck!”
My mother taught me about STAMINA – “You’ll sit there ’till all that spinach is finished.”
My mother taught me about WEATHER – “It looks as if a tornado swept through your room.”
My mother taught me how to solve PHYSICS PROBLEMS –
“If I yelled because I saw a meteor coming toward you; would you listen then?”
My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY – “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times – Don’t exaggerate!!!”
My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE – “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.”
My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION – “Stop acting like a two year old!”
My mother taught me about ENVY – “There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do!”
Horses helping people
I have recently fallen in love with horses. I had always wondered how people were so content covered in dust with their boots smelling like horse poo, but now I understand.
These animals are truly amazing. They are so intuitive and somehow manage to mirror a person’s emotions. They show us things inside of us that we have been hoping not to have to deal with.
People say that ‘the way of the horse’ is something therapeutic, but I failed to understand how. Until I got involved with these majestic creatures myself and got led to a phenomenal organisation called ‘Shumbashaba’.
With the mission of ‘Horses helping people’, Shumbashaba sets out to help and empower people with horses.
Huh? How? Let me tell you a story.
I attended a meet and greet open day for Shumbashaba on the weekend, where one of the therapy sessions offered was demonstrated. The disabled and cerebral palsied children were given a horse therapy session, where they are placed on a horse and walked around the arena.
Big deal? Indeed it is. These children cannot walk, some cannot sit upright and some have a severe form of cerebral palsy where they cannot control their continual muscular spasms. Time on a horse is like physiotherapy for them, which assists with balance, muscle tone, spinal movement and forces 3D movement of the body. This may not seem like much to you and I, but to these kids it is the world. 15 minutes on a horse is equivalent to 5-6 hours of regular physiotherapy. You can actually see how the muscular spasms calm down after a few minutes on a horse and how the children start to strengthen and engage their muscles in a way that they can’t on the ground.
Being able to move through a living, compassionate animal has a huge psychological benefit to them as well and the smiles on their faces after a session is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life before.
It touched my heart.
This is only one of the kinds of sessions that the centre offers and they are heavily involved in the local community and the disabled. I cannot begin to understand the full impact of the work that they do, but my heart goes out to people with such beautiful spirits.
If you’re keen on helping out, go visit their website or Facebook page and see what they offer. Also keep your eyes on my blog for details on more social media aspects to come (courtesy of Social Ideas). They are also always looking for volunteers, as the therapy I explained above requires three volunteers per child – one to lead the horse and two to hold the child.
Go spend time with a horse…if you get nothing else out of it, at least you can experience the magic feeling of a velvet nose 😉
Today I learnt… to just laugh
Twenty-eight. Twenty. Eight.
How the hell did that happen? Yesterday I was twenty-two, I’m sure?
My first birthday breakdown. I thought that only happened when you’re old?
My goodness gracious me, I’m being a ridiculous fool. The emphasis is on TWENTY, not eight.
Nonetheless, I did have a little wobbly at the thought. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. I may put it on the Internet, but you have thought that too – be honest.
It’s quite easy to criticise yourself for what you have not yet achieved in your life, I realise that now, but why on earth would we choose to do that to ourselves? You can’t have everything – where would you put it?
Life is precious. Every day. Even the bad ones.
All you can do is laugh…just laugh 🙂
Real laughter, not the LOL kind. The kind where someone walks into a sliding door and you’re watching it happen from the other side. Or when a child experiences brain freeze for the first time, after a milkshake. Or when you trip up the stairs in high school and your dress flies up above your head. That didn’t happen to me.
Just laugh.
A year of memories – what’s next? Help!
I started my photo-a-day project today a year ago where I committed to posting a photo a day for a year. Before I knew it, it was over and I’m feeling a little like I’m going though a break-up.
My Tumblog has been part of my life every day for the past year and now it’s over!
*Big crocodile tears*
But wow, what a lot of memories in one year – it’s been quite a ride…amazing what we experience every day of our lives…
Go have a look at my blog and reminisce with me – I’m sure some of you will be part of the memories captured in my photos and you can take a little walk down memory lane with me!
And most importantly, now that my little project is over, I need some ideas on what to do for my next one please. I know you guys are creative so please send some ideas my way. I’d like to do something similar, as I’m not ready to let go of capturing my everyday memories on the run, but with something a bit different this time.
I eagerly await your comments!
Reminiscent Deception
I recently got thrown into a day of past encounters and it has irked me a bit. Which means that you get to read about it.
It struck me how easily memories come flooding back and how they still feel so real. It kind of puts you in a twilight zone of reality that’s not reality.
What struck me even more was how all the good memories come back first, powerful feelings of reminiscence that seem to take over. Reminiscence seems to grab you by the neck and throw you down the rabbit hole of good memories and warm fluffy feelings. Intoxicated by this feeling, the poor victim wanders through Wonderland, wallowing in the fuzzy warmth.
And then it hits you – just one or two powerful blows that knock you out of the dream.
Reality. The bad stuff. The reasons you left it all behind.
We all have to make important decisions in our lives and at the same time we all make mistakes. It’s a difficult concept to deal with when you’re not sure if your decision was a good one or not. You can go round and round in circles in your own head forever!
I vote forward-facing. We have to trust ourselves and our gut, accept our decisions and keep moving forward.
Reminiscence is a deception. Be careful of this beast.