Effort….

Hello Readers,

Hurrah for the much welcomed return of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and the ‘X Factory’…..
The Lulas and I are always glued to the telly every Saturday night watching all those brilliant contenders taking part because they are following their dreams…. These shows even have an effect on Hilda and Talullah, who are big fans of music and dancing and love nothing more than dressing up and giving us all a twirl….. lol!!

It takes guts and courage for anyone of us to step out of our comfort zone and make an effort to go that extra mile…..

Several years ago I had a particularly difficult time recovering after a knee operation…. it took me ages to walk properly again and even now I struggle at times…. but that does not stop me from walking The Lulas at least 3 times daily and going for good swim….. There was a time when I didn’t think I would ever be able to walk these distances again because of the pain factor, but…. I am no shrinking violet and I am not a quitter and I had to combat that pain barrier to get to the other side…. but I can assure you, it was not an easy process…..but there was never any question of giving up either, because failure simply isn’t an option in our household…

Someone once said something to me that created an uncomfortable feeling of irritation and disgust even….
This particular woman looked me in the eye and said…. ‘know your limitations, live within your limits’…… I stared back…. refused to respond and took one good hard look at this individual who was grossly overweight, lived on a diet of junk food and who was proud of bragging that she looked forward to doing as little as possible each and every day…..the highlight of her day was taking and lunchtime nap….waking up, lighting up a fag and coughing, choking and spluttering for the rest of the day……

You know…..We have to embrace these people….because they are our greatest teachers….they teach us how never to be….there is a lesson to be learnt in every situation if you look for the silver lining in each grey cloud…..
During the course of my working life, I am privileged to meet many people, who despite enduring dreadful injuries, illnesses and other vast setbacks, refuse to give up the fight to prove to both themselves and the world that miracles do happen and that all things are possible…..which means that ‘no thing’ ‘nothing’ is impossible….the secret is to believe in yourself and hold onto that dream…..

Just take a look at some of the contestants in ‘X Factor’, who suffered rejection at auditions previously, but return year after year with their strong inner belief that one day, somehow, someone will open that magic door and give them another chance….I have the utmost admiration for anyone who makes such a huge effort and commitment to succeed…..These people deserve a chance!!!

All professionals and performers make their work look easy…..but what goes on behind the scenes is a totally different story. To be the best you have to work extremely hard, make many, many sacrifices and refuse to listen to negative opinions and destructive comments….of which there are always plenty flying around….There is always someone who takes pleasure in thinking up new ways of dampening someone’s spirit…..we have all met them haven’t we?…..my advice is…ignore them…leave them to it…

So….be prepared to be a little bit brave every day….Why? Because if you don’t, you’ll grow stagnant and mouldy or curl up and whither. We all have a comfort zone where we feel safe and warm and dry. But every now and again we need to step outside and be challenged, be frightened….be stimulated. Its this way we stay young and feel good about ourselves….
Until next week,
Love and Light,
Linda and The Lulas xxx