Tote Hose: When What You Say Meets What You Wear

It is said that knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom. That it’s the road map of a culture. To speak another language has been likened to possessing another soul. I try conjuring such heightened enlightenment, no doubt fought for by our ancestors, but it stealthily escapes me as we walk through the small medieval German town of Buttenheim. The cobblestones of the 16th century, born from an earlier Karl the Great decreed superhighway, tell the story of a bygone hustle of trafficking and trading,…

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21/04/2023

CONFIDENCE / Determination / Empowerment / LIFE RAMBLINGS / RAMBLINGS

CHANGING GEARS: A DETERMINED MIND AND MUSCLE POWER UP

“The way we see the problem is the problem.” ― Stephen R. Covey There’s a horizon called Easy. It’s unconsciously locked into most people’s dream destinations. You arrive there in comfort, with minimal dis-ease, hardly breaking a sweat or spitting a cuss. It’s the ‘Granny gear’ of all utopias, easy to reach after nominal peddling, pain and gear shifting. Life there is a freewheeling downhill ride. There’s a price to pay for riding ‘Granny gear’, where the bike chain sits in it’s lowest position. Alignment is incongruous, wear…

4 Comments

10/10/2020

community / CONFIDENCE / RAMBLINGS / STILL RAMBLING / wholeheartedness

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS – HOW MELBOURNE SABRE SAILORS ARE RIDING THE SECOND WAVE.

In a series of on again, off again COVID-19 restrictions since March, Melbourne Sabre sailors have found themselves stranded high and dry. Undeterred by the storm, the fleet has ‘re- written’ the sailing instructions; rigging up new strategies for community connection. The class’ renowned enthusiasm normally reserved for the rigging yards and racecourse, has rapidly switched tack to embrace online sailing development forums designed to share and foster skills growth, Sabrette Soirees creating a sense of connection and community across the female contingent and PR cross-State…

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22/09/2020

RAMBLINGS / TRAVEL RAMBLINGS

LESSONS FROM THE TRAIL: FRÄNKISCHE GEBIRGSWEG A UNIQUE CAMINO EXPERIENCE

“I can imagine lots of couples do something like that for their 25thwedding anniversary, why would you go to an exotic Island to relax when you can walk a 430km trail!” The response, sweating sarcasm, from my old sports teacher, at a chance meeting on a 25km training hike. Romantic, sand soaked, sun bathed, blue water- bliss 25-year wedding anniversary celebration options never appeared on our ‘trip advisor’ as we considered the challenge of a long- distance hike. Sifting through alternatives to the heavily trodden El…

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12/09/2020

LIFE RAMBLINGS / RAMBLINGS

CHASING THE COCOA BEAN – TIPS FOR THE MELTDOWN MALAISE

Hypoglycemia and chocolate are not friends. There is no specific warning on the packaging, no alarm bells activated with a mouthful, nor radioactive encounter after consumption. They do not meet in a happy place for an ever after, or friendly happy hour. An encounter causes metabolic havoc; an over production of insulin, a sometimes surreptitious or otherwise sudden 1-2-3-combo of shakiness, sleepiness and sweating. Hypoglycemia sufferers know better to stay away from the sirens of sweetness, and lure of the luscious. Rummaging through the pantry on…

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30/08/2020

CORONA COURAGE: A LENS FOR BUSINESS RISK MANAGEMENT

Calvin and Hobbes

BUSINESS RAMBLINGS / RAMBLINGS

CORONA COURAGE: A LENS FOR BUSINESS RISK MANAGEMENT

For the un-inducted, the recognition of life as we currently know it and its relationship to a business Safety Management plan may not be immediately apparent. For those of us familiar with this landscape, consciously or unconsciously, our days have been consumed by the ongoing assessment of, and response to, the COVID-19 blitzkrieg on our P&L’s and business plan’s perpetuity. Stepping up to a black belt in risk mitigation, I’ve been consumed by the flow chart of options, dead ends and dangerous by-ways presented by this…

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27/07/2020

LIFE RAMBLINGS / RAMBLINGS

REDHEADS ALLOWED – A LESSON ON COURAGE

Three, four, five, six - drop. Three, four, five, six, seven - ouch!Six seconds to burn the match, seven seconds to scald my finger.Eight, nine, ten – drop.Ten seconds and the blazing match plummets into the waters of the toilet bowl below. With five of us under ten years old, deploying matches as an ‘after business air freshener’, or ‘smoke after stools’ strategy, could promptly be critiqued as a mother’s giant leap of faith, trust in the Old Testament tenants of punishment where provoked, flippant folly,…

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04/07/2020

CONFIDENCE / Empowerment / inspiration / LIFE RAMBLINGS / positive thinking / RAMBLINGS / Resilience / Self help / Uncategorized / wholeheartedness

TERMINALLY UNIQUE – Cracking the Code on Self-Worth

Trying to write a piece on a topic that sounds like a disease is complicated. It’s not exactly a draw card, eye catching or essential reading; nor would it be a hit on the Top 10 Blog charts. When the phrase in focus, ‘Terminally Unique’, offers up an oxymoron, the reader is more likely to develop interest in a burnt piece of toast than sort out the conundrum of expression. But unlike charcoal toast, there is nutritional value in unpacking the paradox. For many of the…

6 Comments

20/06/2020

CONFIDENCE / Courage / Empowerment / LIFE RAMBLINGS / positive thinking / RAMBLINGS / Uncategorized

ALTERED TIME – Capacity in Crisis

The twentieth ‘virus funny’ for the morning pings on my phone. Armageddon emails jam my Inbox. Conversation circles like birds of prey on the down draft, evaluating the state of play, waiting for opportunity or hint of change. House bound vistas framed by an ever- lowering ceiling, declare the faithfulness of an oblivious green canopy. Goodness beyond the pane/pain, of the COVID vortex. Blindsided we batten down hatches as the very buttresses of capitalism are battered, the security of familiarity is struck a blow and…

4 Comments

22/04/2020

CONFIDENCE / Empowerment / LIFE RAMBLINGS / RAMBLINGS / Uncategorized

REDHEADS ALLOWED

Three, four, five, six - drop. Three, four, five, six, seven - ouch! Six seconds to burn the match, seven seconds to scald my finger. Eight, nine, ten – drop. Ten seconds and the blazing match plummets into the waters of the toilet bowl below. With five of us under ten years old, deploying matches as an ‘after business air freshener’, or ‘smoke after stools’ strategy, could promptly be critiqued as a mother’s giant leap of faith, trust in the Old Testament tenants of punishment where…

1 Comment

15/03/2020