Posted by ineta on Aug 29, 2010 in
How to,
Something to think about... 
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m fine. How about you?”
“I’m O.K.”
“Anything new in your life?”
“No. How about you?”
“The same old.”
Sounds familiar? Ooh, we are such a creatures of habit. We love our dull routines. We get so adjusted, that even we love to hate them. We LOVE comfort. We love familiar. We love what we know and we do what we can to stay in the comfort zone. What is unfamiliar is scary. What we often do not realize is that in unfamiliarity we can find freedom – freedom from conditioning, freedom from the past. Yes, ankles might shake from the fear of unknown, but in that unknown we’ll find something new to learn, something new and exciting to talk about, something new to experience.
What if we would take a new route home? What if we would visit a new place that we never been before? What if we would meet new people? What if we would stop comparing new people we meet with our exes and the past? How our life would look like if we would look at it from the new perspective? Would we come alive? We certainly would. Now, if we would find time to follow our passions? Schedule them, if we have to. Our lives would be so enriched. We are worth it! We are worth to live lives we desire. Our daily routines are just excuses to be in the comfort – in the known.
There is enriched life that is waiting for us if we are brave enough to cross the line and free ourselves from the comfort trap. The unknown is like a blank piece of paper – we can fill it with any colors we want, we can choose any words or it can become any shape in origami form. It is our source of creativity. What you choose your life to be?
Tags: changing life for better, comfort trap, fear, fear of unknown, inspiration, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, routines, uncertainty
Posted by ineta on Jun 30, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
We get a brilliant idea; our faces light up; we think of end result; we get excited; and then we let it go. Or, we start on the idea, and then we never finish. Or, we consult with others, and let others to put us down.
Why is it we let it go so easily? Why we give up? Why we do not go all the way?
There might be five main reasons:
1. We think of others first (responsibilities);
2. We listen to critics, including ourselves;
3. We are afraid of consequences (good or bad);
4. We have too much on our plate;
5. We procrastinate.
Would it be great if we would go for that brilliant idea? Would it be great to finish what we started? Here are solutions:
I know, responsibilities come first when we think of others. Did we ever thought that we are important, too? We are important and worth everything. So, if we wish to work on the idea, we got to learn how to say “no” to people or situations that get in the way.
We share our idea with somebody. That person starts to criticize. Do we listen to them and stop, or we persist on our idea? Also, we can be the worst self-critics. Our minds can kill any idea with “what ifs”: what if it is a bad idea and it would be a waste of time? what if…, etc. In any case, we should ignore critics and fire our self-critic and go for an idea, no matter what.
Third obstacle is fear. We might be afraid of consequences. It also comes with “what ifs”. Think about this… Would we rather make an idea work, or would rather let it be in our mind and do nothing about it? I would say, better to try it, then later regret the chances we did not take. Then we see that somebody came up with the same idea, and we beat ourselves down why we did not do anything about it. The fear also might be of success. It’s unfamiliar territory. We are afraid of what we do not know. We are worth of every success. We got to think of the end result, how much we can contribute not only to ourselves, but to others. That will keep us going.
Next, we might have too much on a plate. We multi-task, but do not achieve anything. We think of all these things to do; we get overwhelmed and end up not finishing anything. At these situations, we got to look at one project at the time, one step at the time. Do most important things or even the hardest things first. Look at most difficult jobs as challenges and go for them.
The last is procrastination. We think we’ll do it tomorrow, but when tomorrow rolls in, we focus on different things and we entirely forget our project. We got to focus on our target NOW and back it with ACTIONS. Do it right now – no ifs about it.
Tags: consquences, critics, drawing by Ineta, fear, how to finish what we started, multitasking, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, procrastination, responsibilities, self-critic, thinking of others, working on idea
Oh, it is so frustrating when we want to achieve something and things just don’t go fast enough or right enough. We get mad or depressed and sometimes even give up.
The key to these situations is to keep going and never give up:
1. Patience and persistence do pay off, if we only persist. I know, people keep telling us that, but how long can we stay patient? It’s a TEST.
2. Think of this. There is time for everything. There might be a lesson to be learned on the way or people to meet. Everything happens for a reason, at their own timing.
3. If one way does not work, there has to be another way. Be innovative, think outside the box, in multi-dimensional ways. Be creative. We can always find a solution if we persist.
Tags: being creative, finding a solution, innovation, inspiration, keep going, never give up, patience, persistence, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, right timing, test, think outside the box
On the way to the ranch, I saw unusual sight that warmed my heart. A horse was lovingly licking a newborn calf sleeping in the grass. That was so sweet.
Tags: friendship, horse licks calf, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland
Can you name a few? It could be our family, friends and even strangers. They are always there to help or some of them even will stop their lives and come unexpectedly for a rescue.
I got a flat tire the other night. I put my “blinkers” on. In about 15 minutes to half an hour many cars passed, but nobody stopped. Even a cop car slowed down but did not stop to help. I thought, “Fine, I’ll try to change it myself.” I put “jack” under the car by feeling the “spot” with my fingers, and I started to lift it. Unfortunately, I was not strong enough to lift a car. All of the sudden, three young men (18 to early 20s) stopped and offered to help. They changed my tire in great teamwork. One was holding a cellphone as a flashlight, while I and other guy showed drivers to slow down. The side street was dark. To our surprise, one driver even sped up not paying any attention. A man at neighboring house where I stopped, closed curtains and peeked through the window, as my “heroes” finished changing the tire. They were such a young gentlemen, and I felt so blessed. I thanked them for their help and we parted our ways. I felt so grateful.
There are a few heroes that walk amongst us. It’s a part of their nature to help someone in need. While many people are oblivious to their surroundings, there are those who will do everything to help. As I was going home, I wished so hard that something really good would happen to these three young men, my heroes. The world is such a better place because of them.
Tags: angels in disguise, being thankful, flat tire, gentlemen, grateful, help, heroes, kindness, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, rescue, teamwork
We usually make excuses to sabotage ourselves. We think we are too young or too old to do anything. When we are the kids, we can’t wait to grow up, so we would be allowed to do something we wish. We can’t wait for that freedom.
Yet, when we grow up we completely forget what we were after. We get overwhelmed by everyday responsibilities, and at times we even forget who we really are. We do everything to pay the bills, take care of partner, kids, parents. We bury our dreams deep and we do not even have time to look at them.
Time flies so fast. We get in older years, and now we regret of not taking chances. We make now excuse that we are too old. We wasted our time. What we do not realize is that age does not really matter. We can achieve anything we wish regardless. All we have to do is to act on our dreams. Dreaming alone does not do anything. We got to back it up with actions.
Here are some inspiring videos from Britain’s Got Talent that shows that anything is possible, no matter how young or old you are:
Six year old angel that moved the world with her singing
80 year old singing sensation
Tags: achieving anything, act on dreams, actions, age does not matter, britain's got talent, burrying dreams, Connie Talbot, dreaming, dreams, excuses, freedom, grow up, inspiration, Janey Cutler, kids, overwhelmed, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, responsibilities, sabotage, taking chances, time flies, too old, too young, videos, wasting time
Today sun took my breath away. WOW! That was amazing phenomenon!
For more information about it, you can read here: Sun Halo
Tags: circle around the sun, out of this world, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, rainbow, Sun Halo, taking my breath away, wow
Silence… It seems so easy, yet for some of us it is almost unattainable. We are used to so much noise. When all of a sudden, power goes down, we realize how quiet actually feels, if only for one moment. There is so much man-made noise: refrigerator, faucet, washing machine, etc., etc. It is in our mind’s background, humming or dripping, but we’re so used to it, we do not even hear it. It is also usually overpowered by blaring TV or music. Some of us even fall asleep by TV. This way, we can block all the noise that is in our heads: recaps of the day, worries, what ifs, arguments. Even if we would shut off all the appliances, we still would hear the endless chatter of our minds.
What if we would shut all that noise down? Would that be possible? How that would feel?
The best way to do this is to go out into nature: could be a park, by the lake, pond, the beach – anywhere away from the busy city life. Leave all technology at home or in the car. Once there, enjoy the moment:
1) Take the shoes off (just watch out for fire ants, if you’re in the south 
) and feel every blade of grass or grain of sand under your feet.
2) If worrying thought crosses your mind – observe it and let it go for now – this moment is yours – free.
3) Feel the sun or breeze on your skin or in your hair.
4) Breathe.
5) Close your eyes for a moment. Then, open them and see every detail around you.
6) Try to pick up sense of smell – perhaps the blooming tree or flower nearby.
7) Listen – listen to the silence. Listen all around you.
Feel the moment with all your senses. Walk where your feelings tell you. Walk and listen.
You just got re-connected with nature. You got re-connected with essence of you. Your head is all clear of junk and noise. Silence… – Oh, so precious.
You feel totally refreshed and re-energized. Your head is clear. Once your mind is uncluttered, perhaps you can find a solution, an answer, get a brilliant idea. Most importantly, you feel totally alive and ready for anything.
Silence is brilliant. It is like an empty canvas ready to be filled with the brightest of colors. In silence, we can find wisdom…
Tags: answer, appliances, arguments, blaring TV, breathe, breeze, brilliant idea, canvas, chatter of our minds, colors, dripping, essence, feel, feeling alive, feelings, humming, junk, listen, music, nature, noise, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, quiet, re-connection, ready for anything, recaps, senses, shoes off, silence, silence is brilliant, solution, sun, unattainable, what ifs, wisdom, worries, you
Posted by ineta on May 13, 2010 in
How to,
Wonderocity-a-Day 
We all know someone who has all the luck in the world. It seems that they are born under lucky star. Anything they wish, they achieve. How do they do that? Is it possible to turn our luck around? What we do not realize is that we all make up our luck, either good or bad. So, how can we become lucky? I believe, the answer is this:
Three keys to good luck are:
1) intention
2) attitude
3) gratitude
First, we need to know what we really want, intend and focus on it no matter what. What we concentrate on, that’s what we attract. If we intend to achieve something and are open-minded and persistent, we’ll always see the new opportunities coming. Most importantly, we got to act upon those opportunities and not let doubt to set in. On other hand, if we do not know what we want, the opportunity might be under our nose, but we are not going to see it.
Next, attitude is everything. If we concentrate on negative, all we are going to see is negative. If we concentrate on positive, we’ll see only positive things.
Third, gratitude is the most important. We can be grateful for things we often take for granted: our health, family, friends, each day we live that present us with new beginnings and opportunities. If we think what we’re grateful for each day, our attitude will instantly change from negative to positive. It will bring a positive intention for the next day. Thinking how grateful we are will make us think how really lucky we are to have things we never thought of. We are lucky to be alive, growing and learning.
Tags: achievement, attitude, focus, good luck, grateful, gratitude, how to have a better luck, intention, luck, lucky star, new beginnings, opportunities, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, wants
