Monday Muse: Seven Inspirations for the Week
Having It All, Doing Good With Clear Outs, The Best Porridge Ever and Learning and Healing From The Study of ME
1/ The book I’ve been reading this week:
The book I’m going to tell you about today is an eBook that you can get on Amazon, I wish it was in printed form as I’m not a fan of reading books online, but this one I had to.
It’s called 7 Secrets to Have It All by Robert Acosta.
I was hooked from the first chapter which is all about taking back control of your life, including financial control. What he actually says is that we have always had this control, but have given it away, living a stressed out life, worried about all manner of things.
There are many helpful tips in this book that you can implement straight away. One at the end of chapter 2 is that we should think not from our circumstances but from what we want and love. Once we see ourselves as the person who has accomplished the goal we want, once we feel that, we are motivated to take action towards it.
In order to have a good attitude towards the world, you first need to have a good attitude toward yourself.
The above quote is exactly what I talk about in #5 below about what I’ve been studying. We have to know ourselves and be aware of our thoughts before we can achieve any sort of success. As Robert says, “Our environment is a mirror of our attitudes”.
It’s only a short book, but it’s full of actionable wisdom. I highly recommend you take some time to read it and think about what putting it into practice can do for you. Think of how you can use it to help you achieve your goals.
After all, who doesn’t want to have it all?!
2/ What I’m grateful for this week:
Since I moved back to France almost two years ago, I have had the house I live in all to myself. At one time it was a family home and all four of us lived here.
It has been such a blessing to be just me here as I have adjusted to my new life. It has meant that I can be free to have routines that support my healing and if I’ve wanted to spend the day crying in bed, I’ve been able to without worrying about anyone else, or anyone else worrying about me.
The downside of it all though is that it’s just me and I have all this space, plus a cellar and a garage. Now I love having the space but I realised last week that it has made me lazy in that I just keep things because there is always somewhere to put them.
I’ve always been a big fan of clearouts. It clears my mind and energy. But for a while now I haven’t bothered.
A few days ago though in a wonderfully serendipitous way, a video popped up on my YouTube channel about detachment.
In the video the guy explained how first of all keeping stuff we no longer need, even if it’s hidden away in a drawer can keep us stuck in the past.
Things hold energy, memories, clothes from a past self, mementoes of things that we are keeping for no particular reason.
So I decided to have a big clearout and stop using all the space I have as an excuse to hold onto things.
First was my desk. It has three drawers on each side and one long one across the middle. As I started to sort out each one, I realised how pointless it was to be keeping household bills and receipts from 2014, bank statements from an account I closed at least 10 years ago and business cards with not just one, but two phone numbers I no longer use!
I moved on to other places. A drawer under a bookshelf, an upstairs cupboard, under a spare bed, a drawer where I’d put clothes I didn’t wear anymore, didn’t even like anymore and different boxes and places where ‘stuff’ had accumulated.
I did it over two days and filled the back of my car with rubbish for the déchetterie and the rest to be taken to a charity shop. Some of which vanished when my youngest daughter took a look! There’s still plenty to drop off though.
I’m so grateful that the house feels lighter. I feel lighter. It was an excellent decision. Next on the list is the cellar and garage.
3/ My favourite quote this week:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
John Wesley
I came across this quote a while ago and was struck by its simplicity. If we lived a life like this, with this attitude, I imagine at the end of it we would feel rather fulfilled and satisfied.
Another way to say it would be, show all the love you can. If our motivation for what we do and say is love, we can’t go wrong. Everything else falls into place.
4/ My healthy tip of the week:
I think that I may just have invented the best porridge concoction ever this week!
I sometimes think it’s strange how much I like porridge considering how much I ate of it as a child.
Every morning my mother would make a huge pan of it and I hated it, but I wasn’t allowed out of the door to school until I’d eaten a bowl. It was quite the opposite of tasty, it was rather vile.
Now though, I love it and eat it most days.
I do it differently though. First I make it with mostly my homemade cashew milk or shop-bought almond milk. (I tried making almond milk but it took ages and was messy. Cashew milk though is super easy to make.) I also add some water.
That’s just the start though. It’s what I add to it that makes it not only delicious but a fabulously healthy meal. I usually have it for lunch. Yes, I know that’s a bit strange, but I make the rules in my house!
Here’s the recipe:
1 cup of oats
1 cup of cashew (or other) milk
1/2 (approx) water
Bring to the boil gently and allow to cook for a few minutes.
Use quite a big bowl so you have room for all the extras. You can choose the amounts according to your taste, but I usually add a tablespoon of the seeds and powders.
Add: Fresh blueberries (or other berries), cacao powder or nibs, shelled hemp seeds, goji berries, honey and some mushroom powder or ashwagandha powder. Only a teaspoon of these though as they have quite a strong taste.
That’s it! Let me know if you try it and if you add anything else to it.
5/ This is what I’ve been studying this week:
As you have probably realised from my past Monday Muses, I have a daily study routine. I study myself!
That may sound a bit strange, but one thing I realised quite soon after my marriage breakup was that I needed to know myself to be able to heal myself.
At first, I read and tried to apply self-help books and videos. That was ok, but the results were not what I wanted or needed.
Then I met my coach, Robert, and it all changed. Once I started studying with him, I started to see changes and I started to get to know myself in a way I never had before.
That’s when I developed a daily study habit.
This week I’ve been asking myself a lot of deep questions and I thought I’d share them with you here, with the idea that you may want to ask yourself the same questions. After a few days of doing this, I had some breakthroughs and answers.
The answers are always there, the hard task is to ask the right questions.
What is making me do what I’m doing? What is my why?
What am I not doing that would bring me closer to my goal? What don’t I like to do? What can I do that I’m not doing?
What new habits do I need to cultivate, that I can link to my purpose?
What thoughts do I have that aren’t serving me?
What am I wasting time on?
What do I need to do to be fully in the life I want?
I’m always seeking more, always looking for increase, just like nature does. Nature is always abundant, it always has more than it needs. The more I have, the more I can give. Energy, experience, money, knowledge.
6/ This is what I’ve been listening to on repeat:
This song is definitely one to listen to with headphones on. It was my sister that introduced me to this band.
I don’t know what it is, but listening to this song makes me recall happy memories.
I hope you enjoy it too.
7/ My favourite meditation this week:
I’ve got a different meditation for you this week. I came across this guy on YouTube a while ago and watched a couple of his videos.
He popped up again on my feed last week and I watched one of his newer videos, as I mentioned above. At the end, he linked a meditation that helps you manifest while you sleep.
I’m not usually drawn to meditations like this but ever since my divorce was final at the end of May I have had an issue with my sleep. Taking a long time to get to sleep and then waking up in the night.
My sleep had been so bad the previous week, I was ready to try anything. I had also gotten into a habit of waking up later than I wanted to. I like to be up nice and early, but just couldn’t seem to manage it.
I figured that it was worth 30 minutes of my time.
The first night I tried it was quite impressive. I fell asleep quite soon after. I’d set the intention to be up at 6 am. I never use an alarm unless I’m travelling, but 6 o’clock came around and I was wide awake and ready to get up. I felt happy, refreshed and ready to start the day.
I’ve been listening to it every night as he suggests and although I haven’t fallen asleep so fast, I am getting up earlier and feeling good when I wake.
Let me know if you try it!
You can also find my meditations on Insight Timer!
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Did you enjoy this week’s Monday Muse?! I hope you’ve found something here that inspired you.
I share what has helped me and made a difference in my life, so please let me know in the comments whether it has helped you too and which of the 7 you liked most.
See you next week!
Love Georgia xx
I love sharing with you what has helped me rebuild my life!
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P.S. Don’t miss Chapter 11 of my book The Synergy Game on Thursday!
This Monday Muse was chocked full of good stuff. Going to listen to the sleep meditation now. As you share your journey I recall my post divorce healing. I also lived alone for the first time in my life. It helped me learn my own rhythms because I had no kids or husband to attend to. First time I went grocery shopping for just me I filled my cart with gallons of milk, large bread loaves and things I always bought for my family. At the checkout I looked at the cart and froze. There was not a single thing in there for just ME. I asked clerk to please put everything back and went home and sobbed. In 24 years I had lost myself. From that moment on I also studied me. My therapist helped. The real gift was living alone. Even though I am happily remarried I still need "me time" to stay in balance. I enjoy your essays very much.
Georgia, Oh my goodness, this edition is so rich! I especially like your personal study questions.