Present Moments
Thoughts
from Susie Ascott -
on living your Perfect Life
Welcome toAugust 2007 Issue of Present Moments !
Present
Moments includes tips for living your perfect life, an update on what I’ve been
up to and news of upcoming events.
If you would prefer not to receive these (infrequent!) newsletters,
then please let me know,
susie_coach@bigpond.com
In this issue:
Feature – It’s
the way you look at things
What’s
been happening?
The
major event since the last newsletter in April, was my
discovery and removal of a huge ovarian cyst.
The trial of the gluten free diet (mentioned in the last newsletter)
went well. Although we both missed our home made bread, we did feel lighter and
have more energy. However, I still didn’t feel 100% and finally made an
appointment to see the doctor. She discovered a cyst, 15cm x 12cm x 10cm. No
wonder I felt bloated! I had the op 3
weeks ago, the cyst was pronounced benign and I feel
Really Really Well. I am now the proud owner of a
flat (tho’ somewhat tender) abdomen and a splendid 6”
scar!
My
daughter, Nicki is enjoying her first year at UWA,
studying Exercise and Health Science. She spent one practical session skipping
rope and another cutting up a pig’s heart ! Our new car is proudly sporting L plates, so
watch out if you are in the Swanbourne area! Only kidding, she’s doing well.
We bought a new puppy, Rusty, a Staffy/Blue
Heeler cross. After months of saying
“No” I suddenly said “Yes” and 2 days later there he was. Amazing how a health scare can focus the
priorities. Having a bundle of Joy in the family seemed so much more important
than unscratched furniture, clean floors and un-ripped
trouser legs. Spike, our 12 year old Staffy/Bully
cross, has a new lease of life and is kept on his toes fending off his playful
new companion.
My son,
Martin,(19) has moved back in with us, having lived
with his Dad for a couple of years. It
would be nice to think he missed me, but I reckon it was the new puppy that did
it! Martin is at ECU studying Computer
Science and working in the Boatshed deli.
It’s fun
to have a full household again
My
clients have, once again, created some wonderful wins for themselves; and new
levels of peace and joy and energy. I
regularly ask my clients “If you could wave a magic wand and ask for one thing
to be different, what would it be.”
Recently, I notice that more and more frequently their answers are “Actually,
Nothing”, or “More of the Same” or “Hey, guess what? My life is pretty perfect
just as it is.” This fills me with Joy
and I feel privileged to be a part of their journeys.
The
Tuesday morning Yoga classes at
It’s not What
happens, so much as How you choose to see it.
An ordinary sort of a morning. I boot up my computer and download my mail, expecting to delete
the usual 5 or 10 spam emails and settle down to chat with my clients.
Woah! What’s this? 52 emails, strange messages from my Web Site Contact
Form, and a heaps of “Out
of Office” auto-replies from people I have never heard of, to whom, it seems, I
have sent messages.
My reaction is to quickly delete them all and empty
the trash can and get on with my original intention. i.e. “Take the “easy”
option, destroy the evidence and pretend it isn’t
happening”.
Surprise, surprise, messages continued to arrive
over the next hour or so. My next reaction is “Get Angry and Wish it wasn’t
happening”
Now I start to get irate replies from people, some
of them quite offensive. My next reaction is “Hurt and Fear and self doubt” Followed
swiftly by “Panic; and shout Help”
I call my web designer, and he cannot get on to my
web site as the password has changed from the last one I gave him. I call my web hosting site to ask for the password;
I get the answering machine. Abusive
messages continue to arrive in my inbox; I feel terrible.
After sleeping on it (i.e. tossing, turning and having bad dreams) I finally came to a place of
Acceptance, i.e. This is happening. Labelling
it “bad” is not helpful. I decided to
take responsibility, not blame, but response-ability, the ability to respond
What is Really
going on?
§
People do not hate me; they are frustrated and annoyed because they are
receiving heaps of spam.
§
I have not received “hate mail”; Others have taken the opportunity
to release their frustration and ”be heard”
§
I am not a VICTIM of a hacker; Some of my web site code needs to be
improved to make it more secure
§
I am not a “bad person”, I have not personally sent spam;
Once I had this change of attitude everything
changed for the better. I sent off emails of apology to everyone who had sent
me complaints. It felt better having taken the opportunity to say sorry and
explain, even though I knew that many people would not read my message. I was
delighted when I received replies to these apologies. Good wishes and kind
words. This made such a HUGE difference to the way I was feeling. One even asked for more information on
coaching!
I decided to try and log into my web site, and lo
and behold, I had saved the elusive web site password to my PC, so I was able
to give this to my web designer, and he swiftly made the necessary
amendments. When I asked for an invoice,
he said “no charge.” My web hosting site
returned my phone call, and provided useful advice. I advised bigpond
of what had happened without the usual interminable “hold the line
please.” Phew! I was not longer
considered a spammer.
So What
did I learn?
§
Ignoring an obvious problem does not make it go away; it allows the
problem to grow.
§
Stressing about a problem does not help. Accept “what is” for “what
it is”.
§
Focus on the solution, not on the problem. Take action to do what
you can and let go of worrying about what you cannot do.
§
Everybody needs the opportunity to be heard and understood
§
An unkind word or a kind word, even from someone you do not know,
can make a huge difference to someone’s day
§
We all need help. Building good business relationships is
paramount.
§
Take care of the details; ie document and
backup all the info you might need in an “emergency.”
I’d love to hear your feedback on
this. Will you drop me an email susie_coach@bgpond.com ?
Recommended
Books I have enjoyed reading over the last 3 months:
Frany and Zooey, and Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenters and
I first read these books in 1972 ! I decided to take them in to hospital as they
were physically thin and light ! What strange criteria
to make a reading decision ! It was wonderful to revisit these books and
re-discover that even at 19 years of age I was interested in what makes us all
tick, and what spiritual and metaphysical philosophies might have to offer.
(After all, I am a child of the Flower Power era!)
Franny and Zooey
is a 1961 pair
of stories, published together in book form, by J. D.
Salinger, the
author best known for The Catcher in the Rye. Both stories take place in November 1955. The pair of stories makes an excellent
companion to The Catcher in the Rye, as themes of angst and intellectual
insecurity are present in both. Together, the two books served to define a
generation in the 1960s, although Franny and Zooey has lost a
great deal of its status over the years and receded into the shadow of Catcher.
Franny Glass attempts to facilitate some kind of metaphysical escape from who
she is through the prayer she recites; upon discovering that she is locked into
her own state of being, she suffers a nervous breakdown. Her situation is
deeply symbolic of the adolescent situation on the whole, and its message
appealed to large audiences at the time.
Salinger's known interest in eastern religious
philosophy such as Zen
Buddhism and Hindu Vedanta are evident throughout the book,
particularly in a brief section in "Zooey" that includes quotations
from nonfictional spiritual texts. There's also a discussion of whether the
book is a "mystical story" or a "love story" in the opening
section of "Zooey," as speculated by the book's "narrator,"
Buddy Glass (who decides it's the latter). Gerald Rosen, in his short 1977 book
Zen in the Art of J. D. Salinger, observes that Franny and Zooey
could be interpreted as a modern Zen tale, with the main character, Franny,
progressing over the course of the novel from a state of ignorance to the deep
wisdom of enlightenment
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters was
originally published by The
New Yorker
magazine.
Like many of the other Glass family stories, Raise
High is narrated by Buddy
Glass, the
second of the Glass brothers, and describes Buddy's visit on Army leave (during
World War II, in 1942) to attend the wedding of his brother Seymour, and tells of the events that follow the
wedding's non-occurrence.
The eldest Glass brother, Seymour, is not the
protagonist of this story, as he is of many others (A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Seymour: An Introduction, Hapworth 16, 1924). Seymour is usually portrayed through
the eyes of his writer-brother Buddy, who purports to live in the shadow of his
brilliant brother.
Seymour: An Introduction was
also originally published in The New Yorker. As the title suggests, the
story represents an attempt by Buddy
Glass to
introduce the reader to his brother Seymour, who had committed suicide in 1948. Buddy reminisces from his secluded home.
This story, like others concerning the Glass family, touches upon Zen
Buddhism, haiku, and the Hindu philosophy of vedanta. The story is a stream of consciousness narrative, and reveals itself as semi-autobiographical.
A Short History of Nearly
Everything by Bill Bryson
I love this book because it is SO readable and
hilarious at times. It makes subjects such as particle physics and cosmology,
accessible to us all. If you’ve
struggled with “Elegant Universe” or turned brain dead trying to understand
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, I recommend you give this book a go. It would
be great to see this on the High School syllabus
In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
trekked the
Events calendar
Weekend Getaways
·
Beautiful
countryside – Fresh air, views, peace, approx 1 hour drive from Perth CBD
·
Your own
bedroom
·
Healthy
Gourmet meals
·
Your
chosen balance of solitude and company of a small group (max 12 places
available)
·
Plenty of
time to read, chat, draw, write, walk in the countryside, listen to music or just veg out!
·
Optional
facilitated activities
eg Yoga, Guided Relaxation, Creating a Vision Board, Group
Coaching Conversations around the Law of Attraction and Creating Your perfect
life
Dates: 6pm Fri Oct 12th –
Sunday Oct 14th .
Price $275 to
include all meals and own room
To register your interest and
receive updates on details, please drop me an email susie_coach@bigpond.com
Yoga
Classes
·
Hatha Yoga is
Relaxing and Rejuvenating
·
Classes
are suitable for all levels of yoga experience and fitness
·
Friends
in Yoga (FiNY) Qualified Instructor
·
Comfortable,
Air Conditioned Venue
Venue:
Dates: Tuesday
morning
Classes start on
Cost: $15 casual
class
$130 for 10 classes (to be
used within 10 weeks)
Can’t
make a Tuesday morning? If you would like me to come to your home or office (daytime or evening) then I
am happy to run a class for you and your friends or colleagues. Just give me a
call
susie_coach@bigpond.com 9383 2497 ; 0413 822 870
Oil
Painting for Fun
- my objective is not to teach you to paint, but to
- provide the opportunity, inspiration and
encouragement for you to discover or rediscover that you enjoy painting.
- I provide the environment, (easels, oil paints,
canvas etc) and some basic instruction to get you started.
Cost: $30 for 3 hour workshop (includes materials), bring your own materials and the cost is $15
Dates: Sat afternoons
or Sunday afternoons held every 4 to 6 weeks.
Next dates Sat 1st Sept and Sun 2nd
Sept from
Live
the Life You Really Want - Introductory Course
- Identify what really matters to you and enjoy your life more NOW
- Find ways to simplify your life and have more time and less stress
- Identify some new habits and achieve ongoing success
for yourself with less struggle
Cost: $120 * for 4 hour workshop
Law of Attraction – Introductory Course
- The Law of Attraction states that we attract people, situations and opportunities to us. At some level, we
are influencing the experiences and results of our lives
- Create your own plan to attract what you want into your life instead
of searching or struggling
- Learn how easy life is when you stop drifting or struggling upstream
and relax into
the flow.
Cost: $120* for 4 hour workshop
Creating
a Vision Board
- In this ½ day workshop you will create a visual picture of your
hearts desire using paint, crayon, collage
Cost: $30* for a ½ day of Fun and
Inspiration
*
I love
running these workshops and feedback has always been positive. Over the years I
have come to realise that I do not enjoy coordinating
people’s availability and venue availability. So, Here’s
the plan….
If you organise a group (minimum of 4 people, maximum of 8 people)
and a venue, then we can run the workshop for your group at a total cost of
$300 ($100 for the Dream Book workshop). The cost per person works out to
between $37.50 and $75.
Thanks for
Smiles, Susie