2606, 2012

Pay the bucket list forward II

By |June 26th, 2012|Dare to Dream, Uncategorized|1 Comment

I love writing this blog as I at my core I love inspiring others. And in doing so I challenge and encourage myself to take control of my own life, to dream, to have the guts to follow those dreams and passions, to be authentic and purpose driven and to create the life I really want to live.

One of my most popular blogs has been when I wrote my bucket list. And it has inspired others to write theirs. Remember Ness’s – 30 things before 30 !!! And then Alicias bucket list. Well here’s another very incredible woman and her bucket list. I’ll let her tell you in her own words. Over to you Emma Mullings (connect with her at www.emmamullings.com).

“We have all heard of a bucket list – the things you want to do before you ‘kick the bucket’.  What a charming expression that is.

When Rollo first asked me last year if I had a bucket list I answered ‘yes’ very sheepishly, (and automatically regretted admitting to it). You see I did have a bucket list, which I had only recently created. I hadn’t told ANYONE about it because the bucket list was written out of a place of deep depression. It was literally a bucket list of things I wanted to try and do in the next few months, as I felt that was all I had left to live, my will and fight to overcome was at an all time low.  How someone can think like that is a whole different blog delving into the intricacies of depression. Ironically enough though as I started to do these things written on this ‘bucket list’ I started to get my joy back.

So here is my initial bucket list, keeping in mind I was thinking short term– written August/September last year (2011)

  • See a show at the Opera House – yes I went OPRAH but technically it was on the steps outside, I really wanted to see a show IN the Opera House.
  • Do an acting course – and be stretched as an actor
  • Act in a short film
  • Be the strongest and fittest I’ve ever been
  • Run a half marathon
  • Do a writing course
  • Start writing my book
  • Do an accent course
  • Sing more
  • Play my guitar more
  • Teach Hosannah and Jeremiah how to sing and dance (my kids, they were age 1 and 9 months at the time, I’m not really sure what I was thinking)
  • Box in a professional women’s competition

So in the next few months it’s safe to say I went wild with extra-curricular activities (as wild as 2 toddlers and a job will allow).  I saw India Arie at the Opera House; I did two acting courses and yes stretched myself to the point of nailing a screaming, crying scene.  I felt like I could have won an Academy Award for that effort.  I shot a short film and loved the character.  I did the American accent course, why? I’m still not sure, but practicing yelling at my husband “with heightened emotion” in an American accent was somehow quite entertaining for everyone.  I started writing my book, and in doing so was able to finally articulate the message I felt God has put on my heart for women.  I ran the City 2 Surf (14km), the 8km Classic, and am running a half marathon in September.  I am the strongest and fittest I’ve ever been in my life.  I officially have a six pack which I never thought was possible on my body, especially after being stretched with two babies.  I now try to always sing in the shower, something I’ve never done.  Still working on that one. My guitar still gets a bit lonely, but I’ve explained to it that my other two children require food, nurture and attention to live and it can wait until the next season.  I have taught Hosannah and Jeremiah freedom in music.  Sing anything, do any move, you are perfect just the way you are, you are FREE to enjoy creativity.  In wanting to be a good example of “Freedom” to my daughter, I can now shamelessly dance around out of time to any song in public without fear of what man thinks.  It’s awesome. I looked into the boxing comp but as I do a regular presenting segment on Channel 10, I couldn’t find a time where it was going to ok to potentially get my nose broken, so my outlet for that is doing a regular boxing class at the gym.  My husband is very relieved.  I did a writing course, which I loved, and then did an Advanced Diploma in Journalism via correspondence– something that was meant to take at least a year (I gave myself 2 years). I finished it in 4 months with straight A’s.

At the end of the day, putting things on paper is powerful, “write the vision and make it clear”; it works both ways, for the negative and positive.  I have always been a big believer in the power of words.  Our family home is decorated in declarations of Faith and Love.  Sometimes in the journey of life we have nothing “real” we can grasp, but we always have the power to put pen to paper and “write the vision”.  And we can write WHATEVER we want, no matter how wild and out of reach it may seem in the natural.  That in itself is powerful.   I can honestly say almost a year later I am in a better place mentally.  Ironically enough I found the joy in life again by completing a list I had written for my death.”

A Final Thought
Remember, who cares if tick off everything on your bucket list. It isn’t a shopping list !!!
It’s about the journey and what life you’ll lead as you look to do some of the things on your bucket list.
After all, remember, 20 years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you DIDN’T do than by the things you did !!!

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1906, 2012

Life lessons – Part III

By |June 19th, 2012|Life lessons, Miscellaneous|0 Comments

Do you remember two recent posts of mine that contained some wonderful life lessons
20 lessons from a mother to a son
If I should have a daughter, instead of mum, she’s going to call be Point B

Well in celebration of that, I thought I’d continue with that. After all wisdom is to highly valued and as my mum used to tell me “knowledge is no burden to carry !”. So here are 45 life lessons that Regina Brett wrote in celebration of her getting older. This is her most requested column ever.

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. Its OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. Its OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive but don’t forget.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.

42. The best is yet to come…

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

Here’s to living an amazing life – life to the full !

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1206, 2012

A Life That Counts

By |June 12th, 2012|A Life That Counts|3 Comments

I’m at an interesting juncture right now. I am leaving my current job after realising it was the antithesis of the organisation I want to work for and the culture that I thrive in. So much so that it was a big contributor to me ending up sick with glandular fever. But I digress :). So at moments like these I started to reflect as you often do. Am I heading in the right direction ? Is what I’m doing going to count for something ? Am I just doing what I’m doing because that is what I know and it is the easier and safer path ? Is this what I really want to do ? What do I want to do ? My future is in my own hands and is the result of the decisions that I will make today …  but what do I want it to look like ?

Well after some reflection and some proactive steps including catching up with a few of my mentors and an executive coach … a few things are clear … I do not have a crystal clear picture of what I want my future to look like – but I do have do a hazy one. And I have figured out over the years that that is just fine. My future path may not be absolutely straight and paved as I look ahead, but I am going to make sure I am certainly travelling in the right direction and making decisions that are getting me closer to where I want to go and to creating the mosaic of the life I dream.You see I know what I generally want my life to look like. I know what I want it to feel like. I know what I want to see around me. And I know that I want to make a difference – to do something significant – to avoid just going with the flow. To create something that outlives my life. To do something that engages my heart. To do something more than work my butt off to effectively push my companies share price up. To do something where the results are tangible and the testimonies are irrefutable.

So I think it is time to take a note out of my own book A Life That Counts. To continue to dream. To have the courage to follow my heart. To make plans and actively create the life I dream (without rules and other people’s expectations defining what it will look like). To be wise but not too sensible. To make the little decisions that will ad up to the big things. To believe that my future will look exactly like the vision board on my wall. To train my speech and my thoughts to support this and not to tear it down. To enjoy the journey for life is short and could end tomorrow. And to make a difference.

So Jeremy – note to self. You wrote a flipping book about this so make sure you are continuing to live by the very pages you wrote.

And for those of you who haven’t read my book ‘A Life That Counts’ – buy it here and always feel free to tell me to take a leaf out of my own book. After all I want to live an extraordinary life, with purpose and significance and along the way (like the quote at the top says) create a legacy that will live forever.

Fire up people ! … and fire me up along the way !

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2905, 2012

Controlling my wild mind and stopping the weeds from growing

By |May 29th, 2012|mental toughness, Uncategorized|0 Comments

It always amazes me how quickly our body and mind tend back to the old ways. It’s like a garden that you work hard on to get to look beautiful. You spend all that time and effort getting rid of the weeds and then the moment you leave it those damn weeds start to grow again and before long, if you leave it, you have a wild overgrown garden again.

For me that’s the same as my body and mind.

Over the years I have received lots of comments from people saying they wish they had half the will power, determination and dedication that I have. But when they say it, I know that that may be the case right then (say in the middle of training and preparing for the Olympics). But I know how easily I tend back to just like everyone else. Making excuses. Running through the list of why I should not do something – like “I’m too tired”, “I’ll just work extra hard tomorrow”, “I couldn’t be bothered”, “Eating this won’t effect me that much”, etc!  The weeds grow back pretty quickly !!!

Excuses are a human tendency. That little voice is always there. And it will never go away. No matter what people say or perceive or the comments that I’ve had – I know we’re all the same. Your mind is a wild animal unless you learn to control your thoughts. The weeds will always grow. So unfortunately there is no easy fix. You need to choose to overrule these thoughts.

Your mind can take you as far as you want to go in life or you can decided to limit your existence and waste all of your potential. You choose. To transform yourself inside and out is painful. Straight up. But the pain of change is only temporary, where the pain of staying where you are, drowning in unhappiness, lasts a lifetime.

So here’s some thoughts on controlling your wild mind and not letting the weeds grow !

1. You need a dream or goal – If you do not have something in life that you are working towards, you’re dead! So find that dream. Find that thing you want to do. You may have forgotten about it or considered it impossible. I have proof that if you decide to go after something with everything you’ve got, envisioning success in every moment, regardless of what you see or feel in the natural – you can achieve anything! After all , what is an Aussie boy who lives at Manly doing competing in the snow and ice in bobsleigh in the Olympics. And hopefully there is lots of inspiration throughout this blog to get you moving along this path.

2. It always starts with a decision – In the moment that you have the opportunity to either decide to do something that brings you closer to your goal or to decide to make 10,000 excuses why you should avoid the choice that you know you should make, tell yourself to shut up and win that moment. As you increase the moments that you win as opposed to giving in, eventually you will wake up a different person.

3. Become aware of your thinking – become aware of the excuses running through your brain and the self-talk inside your head.

4. One brick at a time – Once you’re aware of your thinking you can practice overruling them. You can’t just snap your fingers and change your way of thinking, you need to start small and practice on little things. Day by day. Decision by decision. Building up your mental toughness one brick at a time. It’s like doing a little bit of gardening every day !

4. Some practical tips – Here’s some tips from a past blog on HOW to conquer that little voice

So good luck. I believe in you!

Rollo

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2205, 2012

20 things a mother should tell her son

By |May 22nd, 2012|Life lessons, Miscellaneous|1 Comment

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1505, 2012

"If I should have a daughter, instead of Mum, she's gonna call me Point B … "

By |May 15th, 2012|Life lessons, Miscellaneous|0 Comments

Something a little different for your this week … spoken poetry – by Sarah Kay.

What I hear you say. Jeremy – you’ve changed ! Ah, but be careful not to judge a book by its cover – it is not everyone who gets a standing ovation when they give a TED talk !

So, enjoy and don’t forget the lessons here contained amongst the verse. May it challenge, inspire and encourage.

If I should have a daughter

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805, 2012

Pay the bucket list forward

By |May 8th, 2012|Dare to Dream|0 Comments

You might remember a recent post of mine that people enjoyed – my bucket list. Quite the list and quite revealing in many ways. Well, it is so exciting for me to know that that post inspired a few good friends to write theirs. So here is another blog to inspire, challenge and encourage you to write yours … to take control of your life, to dream, to be purpose driven, to think about the things you’d love to do or try and achieve, the things to do before you try.

Do you remember Ness’s – 30 things before 30 !!!

Well here’s another friends bucket list – the newly engaged Alicia Loveless’s bucket list. I’m proud of you and it is an honour to have you inspire others on my blog – http://thisbeachlife.com/2012/01/06/bucket-list/

My challenge

So write your list and post it either here or on your own blog. And in doing so you’ll be paying it forward by inspiring others to write theirs … over to you …

A Final Thought

Remember, who cares if tick off everything on your bucket list. It isn’t a shopping list !!! But what a ride you’ll have as you go about creating the mosaic of the life you dream of and doing the things you want. After all, remember, 20 years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you DIDN’T do than by the things you did !!!

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304, 2012

Stress – my new worst friend

By |April 3rd, 2012|Miscellaneous|0 Comments

I met someone new recently. Someone I didn’t expect to meet and someone I didn’t want to get to know. You see unfortunately they only bring the bad and never the good. They always hold you back rather than propel you forward. So who did I meet ? … stress.

For the first time in my life I’ve been properly stressed. That is I can feel it affecting my health. And that’s not good !And making it worse was that a wise mentor in my life told me the sad, honest news … “Jeremy if you don’t learn to deal with this now then you’ve got problems because I hate to tell you but it will get worse when you add kids, a mortgage, school fees, more responsibility at work and so on and so forth.”

So, I am determined to draw the line in the sand and for this not to be an influence on my life ongoing.  So here’s some thoughts on how I’m going to do this. Maybe they will help you !

Perspective
I live in Manly / in Sydney / in Australia. I catch the jetcat to and from work. I have great friends. I get paid well. I am healthy. I have a great family. Do I really have much to complain about ? From now I’m determined to actively remember those who are far worse off than me around the world and be grateful for my blessings when I start to stress about the small things. A bit more perspective might do me the world of good.

The buffer of sport / exercise
I’ve always taken this for granted as I’ve always been exercising. I’ve always had a goal. I’ve always had an avenue to take my stress out and turn my mind off. To have something to look forward to. Something to focus on. I may have retired recently and been enjoying a rest from so much exercise after 20 years, but I’m not sure I can afford to. I need that seratonin ! 🙂 It is a buffer between stress (in this case work stress) and me. (And it will make me eat better which will also help).

Pray more
I’m a christian and my creator Jesus says “be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and he will guard your heart and MIND.” About time I did this more I reckon.

Deep breathe
Most of our breathing is so shallow which is why when we concentrate on our breath in something like a yoga class, we feel so good. So I intend to take some deep breaths more when feeling stressful. Count from 10 to 0 with each deep breath.

NLP – Emotionally disconnect
This is the hard one when you’re my personality. When I’m into something, I’m into it so the theory of just switching off is way more easily said than done. But, I am a certified NLP practitioner so I propose to start to use it in this scenario. To associate work with some humour and with good thoughts and emotions. Work isn’t worth it. See this as a time when I am going to build up my capacity for future stress. So that when those things start to bug me I can actively and consciously not let it spiral me downwards. To accept the things I can’t change and change the things I can and to have the wisdom to know the difference.

Kiss more
I cant say I’ve ever been stressed in the middle of a kiss so this must do the trick pretty well. More kissing required I think ! 🙂

Any suggestions or thoughts. I’d be very keen to hear them !!!

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2501, 2012

Australia – the lucky country !

By |January 25th, 2012|Miscellaneous|0 Comments

Tomorrow is Australia Day and once again it is an honour to be an Australia Day Ambassador.

Here’s a link to my blog post last Australia Day

http://blog.jeremyrolleston.com/?p=232

I think representing Australia has made me a prouder Aussie than I was before, but that is not to say that I wasn’t proud before. Proud of the type of people Aussie’s are; proud of our peaceful, democratic country; and proud of everything that Australia is.

So Happy Australia Day – whether you came here 40,000 years ago or 4 years ago !

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2012, 2011

Silent night, holy night

By |December 20th, 2011|Miscellaneous, Uncategorized|0 Comments

So can you believe Christmas is nearly upon us again. I know I sound like my parents, but last year seems like yesterday. As we consider Christmas this year I thought I’d introduce my first song to the blog – my favourite Christmas carol – Silent Night.

For me though, this song is far more than a beautiful voice and great imagery. It speaks of a holy night long ago in Bethlehem when a young couple, May and Joseph, trusted their father in heaven and saw the fulfillment of what had been foretold and prophesied hundreds of years before. It speaks of the birth of a king in a stable. The rest of his life we know from history.

And that same baby, Jesus, is in fact what CHRISTmas is all about. And that same baby born in that manger changed my own life around nearly 25 years ago …

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