Day 16 of Project 2015

Tomorrow is David’s dad’s birthday. We went over to his parents’ home to lend a helping hand with the set up for lunch tomorrow. We arrived early and hadn’t expected that we would achieve what we did so quickly.

We were able to help knock over a few other round-the-house and down-the-shops kind of jobs. We helped out as best we could. Sometimes we don’t even know if we are helping or are a hindrance.

Helping out in someone else’s house is always tricky. Everyone has their own way of doing things, spots where they keep things, and unless you know where things go or are… it feels like you spend half the time asking, “Where is this? Where does this go? What would you like me to do with this?”

Is that us worrying too much about getting it right? Who knows! Everyone reacts differently and we just do what feels right and comfortable with us. We have to keep in mind that it is about the intention not about the act in itself sometimes. (e.g. you think about buying a gift for someone’s birthday, you buy a gift but it’s not exactly what that person ended up wanting, don’t kick yourself over getting it wrong. Pat yourself on the back for getting it right with the intention).

We’ve learnt to let things go and so that is how we live every day. Today is just today. Tomorrow is another day.

Summary of January 16

Newbies

Le managed to finish a book in 2 days so that was quite a feat. David is in the midst of attacking his book too, so we will be well on target for our (“at-least”-2-a-month) target. 

Brighter/Different Perspective?

On previous family luncheons, we would have the dining table laid out in the kitchen eating area. Today, we suggested moving it into the formal dining area and extending it a little into the lounge area. It certainly was a different way to configure the room and the lunch seating and hopefully one that makes sense. Let’s see tomorrow how it all goes! 

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Day 9 of Project 2015

As we watched the 4th day of the Australia VS India Cricket test – we were listening to the commentators and likewise now as we watch Australia VS Kuwait in the Asian Cup opening game.

The commentators use overdramatic and harsh words and descriptions. It sounds so critical, competitive and discouraging which we find quite off-putting.

These sports people are human – they make mistakes and although it sucks, why is it such a BIG deal? There is almost the insinuation that these players have to be perfect. When if they seriously stopped for one second to think about what they said, these are 11 of the best that the country has to offer at that point in time.

Don’t they realise these sports people are trying their best? And isn’t that what we want to instil in people – that’s it is about trying the best we can NOT being THE BEST??

Just give the players a break! Everyone is allowed to have an off-moment, off-day or poor split-second judgement.  Everyone makes mistakes, that’s how we learn from them.

Summary of January 9

Newbies

We used a Thermomix today to make some risotto. How easy and quick it was! Definitely a time-saver, appliance saver and cookbook savers. 

Brighter/Different Perspective?

Before criticising someone’s ability or performance, focus on the times they have performed well. Don’t hold a few mistakes against people.

Day 8 of Project 2015

Success in making our days appear longer. For two days in a row, we have jam-packed our day with all sorts of things. Things we wouldn’t normally do and things that we do … and gosh, hasn’t it just made the days seem like forever?

Today, we played cricket, played boardgames, built Lego, had relatives visit, watched 2 movies on DVD, watched the 4th Cricket Test, went for a walk, spoke to the bank, got tickets for Les Miserables later in the year and then somewhere in between squeezed in three meals 🙂

Exhausted much? Kind of but not really.

Summary of January 8

Newbies

Woke up really early in the morning to make the most of our day – up by 5.30am to seize the day – and that we did! Thinking we could get use to having such a fulfilled day. 

Brighter/Different Perspective?

Our world experienced yet another act of violence today – seemingly more and more common these days. No one is in the right when they are hurting others… doesn’t matter which “side” you are on… Violence never equals anything good because there are always innocent people who suffer. 

What happened today in Paris brought a city together. Similar to what happened to Sydney at the Lindt Cafe. It brought a city of millions together. Maybe these acts of hatred are actually the catalysts that awaken the sense of community – even though it may be short-lived, everyone becomes connected with tragedy.  

Rather than living in this hustle-bustle life where it’s every man for himself, these events move society towards a time and place where we learn that nothing is greater than the human spirit and support of one another. We realise that coming together is what we need and what we are missing from this cyber-silo lives that we are becoming victims of. 

What is the nemesis of HATRED? That’s an easy one – we all know it’s LOVE 🙂 

Day 7 of Project 2015

We went to watch a movie this afternoon “The Imitation Game” – what a wonderful movie! We don’t want to write any spoilers but the movie really opened our eyes.

We had no idea about this side of World War II at all. We hadn’t even heard of Alan Turing. What a phenomenal mastermind he was and his sheer genius was the root of what we rely on so much today: computers.

While watching the movie, it dawned on us that we need to further broaden our horizons. We like to think that we know a little bit on a lot of things but there is still so much more to learn and discover. How can we do this? By reading more on an array of topics from different viewpoints. There is a world of information out there that could have been kept from us because we went through school during a time when certain things were still taboo.

What else don’t we know? Well.. we don’t know! So it’s up to us to keep exploring and reading is the KEY!

Is it true that the more we know the more we realise how much we don’t know?

Summary of January 7

Newbies

Since returning from the Camino, we have felt a slight void in our everyday. We just love talking and reliving moments however anyone who has walked the Camino, will understand what we mean when we say: that those who haven’t walked the Camino don’t truly get those who have walked it. 

We found a Camino Sydney group that get together every month and we decided to attend their meeting this evening. It took us immediately back to meeting other pilgrims on the Camino itself as everyone spoke of their experiences and challenges and joys. 

Brighter/Different Perspective

We found Twinkies in a convenience store in Sydney – we haven’t had one since we were in NYC back in 2010. We were so excited because we LOVED the taste of them so much, we just had to buy one! Well, it didn’t quiet twinkle our taste buds like we remember, showing us that sometimes we may remember something fondly but in fact maybe the memory has been enhanced and exaggerated by us. Us wanting to remember things how we want to remember rather than what really was. 

Day 1 of Project 2015

Happy New Year!!

Cannot believe we are at the start of another year – that means we are at the start of our “project”/”experiment” at looking at life from a brighter perspective.

This morning, as we sat at breakfast reflecting on 2014 and what lies ahead for us, we thought, there is so much more than just thinking about things from a brighter perspective – sometimes it’s looking at things from a different perspective.

So what is in store for us in the coming days, months and year ahead?

A lot of reflecting on our every day, on the little things, on the things that don’t look profound or memorable, on the things we may prefer to forget or on the things that let us down.

Our challenge for the year ahead to turn things around and see it all in a positive light or simply from a different angle. This fresh outlook can’t do any harm but if it can do some good – well, then that’s just darn brilliant.

Along with seeing things differently, we are setting ourselves some goals to try and “slow down” time. We want to see if it’s possible because we recently read that if we did different things all the time, our perception of time changes. So let’s see if that is also true. As part of this challenge, every day of the year, we are also going to try something new or do something differently. Out with routine and in with variety.

And this blog endeavours to capture how this year-long challenge/project/experiment/mindset goes. This time next year, we want to be writing how we had a year that lasted longer than 365 days (luckily it’s not a leap year) and that we really had more highs than lows. We want 2015 to be a year where nothing is going to get us down…. NOTHING!

Wish us luck and join us for the ride.

Here we are at Day 1! And what can we share….

Today to mark the beginning of something fantastic this year, we chose to sit down and write down some goals for 2015. Then we decided to spend it doing things that we wanted our year to be filled with… we played games, we ate good food, we laughed, we read, we exercised.

Summary for January 1

What new thing did we try? (We’ll call them “newbies” for future posts)

We made and tasted Strawberries and Cream Iced Tea. This was a Christmas gift from some very dear friends of ours. What a refreshing and delicious drink for a hot day like today. 

And for the brighter perspective?

On our evening walk today, we came across this: 

We felt this was so very symbolic of how we are going to change the way we see things. Instead of being down, we are going to pick ourselves right up again. 

And that is exactly what we did, we walked on over and fixed it as best we could. Making those bins stand upright again…. 

Off to a good start, may the positivity surround us for the next 364 days 🙂