(Can you see that little opening on the side of the ship?)

I had a very exciting time today… having green tea in a local shopping centre. There I was minding my own business when I noticed a man in a suit looking at me. Well at least I thought he was looking at me. I started doing that thing you do, you know where you look away and then back again? Did that a few times before I realised he was a security guard.

(There’s a car going in there!)

And that got me thinking about the job of a security guard. It didn’t take me long, I don’t know anything about the job of a security guard. But surely they have to stay alert to everything around them? There might be other stuff happening while he’s looking my way. He was still looking.

Then another man in a suit joined him. And they were both looking in my direction and talking animatedly….. The second man began walking towards me. I was starting to feel a little uneasy. Did I pay for the tea? He stopped before he got to me though, in front of a woman who was adding milk to her takeaway coffee and asked her to…. please return to the shop with me.

(Yep, we’re going in the side door! Sorry about strange angle, fear can do that to a person)

Maybe he was her boss and she was late getting back after her break? Maybe he was her son and she had the credit card to pay for his new clothes? Maybe….

Things are not always as they seem, Mairead.

(Container Patchwork)

We’re sitting in the comfy lounge on the 2.30pm ferry going home from Wales. Never been in the comfy lounge before. It is very comfy. The seats recline. There’s free coffee, tea (including green!), gluten-free cake, biscuits, soft drinks, little dishes of olives (really!), bags of crisps and all the wine you can drink. There’s also a magazine and newspaper rack. And the whole ship has free wifi. Just like home really. Except there’s lots of people in here we don’t know…….

(Coffee, tea and gluten-free cake)

So… everything worked out well in the end. The daughter is settling into her new home, sticking posters on the walls  and connecting to the world (aka the internet!) As parents we each did our thing. Her dad found a great mobile phone package that included some international connectivity, some local connectivity and a lot of internet connectivity. Her mother (me) got enough food to fill the fridge (even though she only has one shelf…) and a sizable cupboard.

(Fishguard Harbour)

I suppose that’s what parents have to do….. whatever they can.

I think I’ll try the olives, Mairead.

(Nice calming sky, by Ashleigh)

As I write it’s Sunday morning. We’re off to Wales today, by ferry, at 2.30pm from Rosslare. Just now, less than thirty minutes until we leave the house, I logged onto the ferry company website to confirm the sailing times. Funny thing… our ferry wasn’t on the list. There’s no ferry leaving at 2.30pm! I looked again at our e-ticket. Oops….

Nooooo! I have booked us onto the 2.30pm ferry from Fishguard (in Wales) not the 2.30pm to Fishguard….

(Nice calm water, very small boats….)

There was a moment’s silence before the adrenaline rushed in. Then, my heart started pumping and I grabbed a phone, found a number and paced as I listened to the holding-music. When a human answered I told him everything….. Daughter leaving home, we’re bringing all her stuff, just dropping her off, I made a mistake, no ferry, what’ll we do, what can we do? are there any other ferries? can you help? He asked, …and you are in Ireland? I took a deep breath, checked and replied, yes, yes I am in Ireland. When he understood what I had done he asked me to wait while he put the phone down (no music, only the soothing sound of his fast tapping on a keyboard) and changed my booking. He was calm and kind and he fixed everything. And there was no charge. (Three cheers for ferries!)

(Nice calming flowers)

We will be on that 2.30pm ferry from Fishguard, tomorrow. We will be on the 4.00pm ferry from Dublin today. Right now, we’re still in Ireland. Sometimes it’s useful to check where we are, right now……. because our thinking often takes us to where we will be tomorrow.

Thank you nice man in the Stena Line office in Dublin, Mairead.

(At three, coming to grips with the technical details of a mirror)

Today a van passed us, as we were on our way to buy a duvet for Ciara (our daughter) to take to Wales next week (she’s going to college). The name on the side of the van was…. Green Energy. And on the back of the van they were carrying a bicycle….. you know, to save energy? pedal power? green? Isn’t it nice when someone shows us what can be done?

(On reflection…)

It’s easy to tell other people what they should do. It’s easy to understand why they should do it. It’s obvious…… but it’s not really that useful.

(At nine, exploring Mr. Napkin-Head)

Fortunately, there’s a flip side to this. It’s much more useful for us to see what we can do when we notice what others have done. When we hear of the courageous efforts of a friend who gets on with her life after a painful experience. Or the relative who has touched the hearts of his neighbours with his simple generosity.

(As seen on birthday card…) Take my advice, I’m not using it, Mairead.

(Well, that certainly sounds nice…..)

I’m planning on being more organised. I’ve written everything down. I’ve added start times and end times. My plan is to put the important things in first and fit the less important things (like dinner…) later. It was going so well last week. Every morning I went off to a coffee place, set myself up with a tea and something sweet (might need to rethink that?) and began to write.

(What?)

Then on Friday evening as I was organising everything to attend my weekend course I realised that I had not sent in my latest assignment. I forgot to add it as a big thing in the beginning and it kept falling off the list at the end of each day until I remembered it on Friday. Then it was important and urgent and scary.

(Maybe I need to get different books?)

So I may need to tweak a few things before my new system is perfect. Like what are the things that I think are important? Do I have too many important things? Do I have too many unimportant things? (Why am I doing unimportant things?) Is dinner really necessary? 

I’ll keep you posted (if it’s important… or becomes urgent), Mairead.

(This is pretty little Willow)

I made a great Chilli con Carne today with organic beef. A friend was coming to dinner and I was delighted with myself, everything turned out so well, until…..  I realised she didn’t eat red meat. So, I had the chilli and she had tomatoes and cheese!

(There were four red peppers in my chilli)

There was a moment before I put the meat into the vegetables, when everything was smelling and looking lovely, that I wondered if she was a vegetarian. In that moment I had a number of possibilities open to me…. 1) Put the meat in, of course she eats meat. 2) Don’t put the meat in, even if she eats meat. 3) Have one pot with meat and one without, so she can choose. 4) Ring and ask!

(… and she had cheese….)

There are always possibilities open to us, we don’t always see them. But sometimes we do and we ignore them.

Explore the possibilities, Mairead.

PS The September Success Team is beginning next week. A group of people are about to uncover what it is they really want. After that they’ll realise they have the support of everyone around the table to get it. Then they’ll take the first tiny, little step in the direction of the life they want to be living. Then they’ll find out that they can be grumpy or angry or fed up and still take that step. Then they’ll take that step. I’ve set up a new website called www.irishsuccessteams.com with the stories and the details. In eight weeks time there will be more stories. Some will be about people who, today, don’t even know what they want. Do you want to read all about it or do you want to be in it?

(Newly cut trees from near Liam and Kate’s house)

Since I lost my server and therefore my site recently, I’ve been temporarily using the tumblir system. It’s a blogging tool. But the interesting thing about it is that you get to see other people’s blogs. I never read other people’s blogs….. but with this tumblir other people’s blogs pop up in front of me daily.

(Big cat in Berlin Zoo)

Anyway, I was reading a blog that said some people are poisonous to our well-being. Perfectly nice people, but somehow we’re allergic to them. How do we know who we’re allergic to? Well, if you spend some time with someone and afterwards you feel lethargic or exhausted, its a clue there may be poison there. If on the other hand you feel energized after being with them, then no poison……

Stop taking the poison, people! Mairead.

(Evening in Greystones)

Sitting here in another cafe… Powerscourt House, in Enniskerry. From my seat I can lift my head and see the gardens and beyond the Sugar Loaf mountain, the big one? I have a perfect americano in front of me and I can smell the  scone I’m going to eat after I have finished writing. Just one small challenge….

(Rainy chairs in Powerscourt)

The room is empty except for two women of a similar age (youngish then…) and similar interests to me sitting at one of the windows. No problem there. The problem is their conversation…. it’s very interesting! Making it a little difficult to write. Recently I purchased a €3.99 piece of software that clears the screen, silences all beeps from the computer and plays very meditative music. So I have it up to its loudest and I can only hear a snippet of their interesting conversation. I think I’ll be fine.

(The shops are behind bars in Powerscourt) 

Every cloud has a silver lining though, they have (even without giving away their secrets) provided food for thought. I am distracted by many things in my ordinary day. Things that need to be done, things that other people need to do, conversations I fall into, conversations I jump into, reading I am distracted by, reading I distract myself with….

It’s not going to be easy to get the things I want…… unless…. I remain very focused about what I want, because there’s lots of other very interesting nuggets trying to distract me.

Ommmm, Mairead.

(A top secret and very pretty road at Powerscourt)

Yesterday I was talking about asking for what you want. That’s only the half of it, the second half of it. Before I ask for what I want I really have to know what it is. Right? So, in yesterday’s example, I wanted two hours writing. Simple, take the two hours, go off by yourself, come back when the time’s up, no need to ask for anything. Right? Well…

(The rock of Powerscourt)

In order to know that I wanted two hours writing (and then go off and get it) I had to own up to wanting it. When I was fourteen I liked a boy who was twelve. I kept it a secret from everyone. No self-respecting fourteen year old girl could want a twelve year-old for a boyfriend! The very idea! I couldn’t own up to wanting that!

Well… unless we own up to wanting what we want (no matter what anyone else thinks!)….. we’ll never get it. We’ll never voice it. We’ll never consider it. We’ll never ask for it. And throwing tantrums will be normal for us.

(Another old out-building)

Somewhere deep inside I seem to think that everyone thinks, wanting two hours of writing is silly and selfish and crazy and stupid and childish and wrong. No self-respecting adult would waste their time wanting such a thing. So I don’t own up to wanting it. Because of that I don’t even know I want it until I throw a tantrum to get it.

Is that what you want? Mairead.