Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Ocean Effect

We love the beach and the ocean in any way, so we took advantage of this long weekend and drove all the way to Barwon Heads, a beautiful beach and stunning views. We walked along the path clearing our minds, breathing fresh air, enjoying the breeze and a great company of friends. It was so good that we spontaneously decided about the next stops of the trip: we kept driving along the ocean to Point Lonsdale
which has a great pier – walking on it, feeling the wind. taking a deep breath each time a wave hits the pier.

We also had the opportunity to see a beautiful seal just hanging around in the water underneath us, having fun. It was an amazing sight. We couldn’t stopped smiling seeing this cute creature like that.

seal.

During all that time, none of us remembered their life, issues or problems. We were just enjoying the moment. Clearing our thoughts and relaxing.
We didn’t want that to end. Time flies when you have fun.

We could have stayed there forever, but we had to go…

The effect of that trip on our bodies and minds was so good, that the day after (Easter Monday), we decided to go for a bike ride along the beach, much closer this time but not less beautiful, finishing it at Half Moon Bay. The view is stunning. It just takes your breath away.IMG_7467When you go out  – Inhale the air, the view, have a good time with your family or friends, and don’t forget to ENJOY THE EFFECT OF THE OCEAN! 

Masquerade

Venetian Mask

Everyone loves to dress up.

Children can do it every day, or at least on a weekly basis. For us, “adults”, we usually have the opportunity to do it once a year (Halloween, Purim or other annual holidays – depending on your religion). When your kids are young you don’t have time to think about yourself. You dress your kids up and invest the time make their costume really stand out, but for you? you just grab some funny glasses from the $2 shop, wear them and TAADAAA –  you have a costume.

Nayyyy. That’s not how you should do it.

Well, now that my kids are a bit older, so I have the time and energy to make an extra effort for that special holiday. And I have to admit: I really like it. No one can refuse to an offer to be someone else for one day.

I would love to be someone else for just one day. On that day your face are going to hurt from laughter. it’s fun to see the people you know and their kids, all dress up in all sorts of funny or scary costumes.

I take advantage of that day, a day that I can masquerade, be more extrovert, laugh more (maybe a drink will help:) ) and the most important thing is I relish from my family’s joy and happiness on that day. I’m going to get the most out of it!

I recommend that you will do that too. You better collect memories – not things.

Spread the love around you

We are so busy in our day-to-day life that sometimes we don’t have the time to reflect or to look around. Most people won’t tell you how they really feel. What we have to do is very simple – look around us and see who needs a little bit more support, a smile, a nice gesture, a compliment or even a hug. Try to look in your friends’ eyes to know how they really feel. We are often too busy to notice the needs of a family member or a friend and try to help them. I decided to try and pay it forward, so each day I would try to do at least one thing for one person that would make their life better.

payitforward

I started to look for emotions in people. Those who are usually obscured behind a fake smile or just sunglasses. I try to pay attention to little things like the tone of their voice, their smile, their answers and pay attention to their needs. Sometime a smile only will make their day a lot better, sometimes a compliment will make them happy, and sometimes a hug is the single thing that will do the magic.

Yes, we all need it.

People say that hug uplifts energy. A hug can express what words can’t and the best part is that when you give one, you get one.

hug

Headspace

Hi there, yes it’s me, I’m here again. I know it’s been a while now…

Apparently, I was working too hard for too long,  without any time to think (I know it sounds horrible, although it wasn’t) But the minute I caught myself without any time or energy, sad instead of happy, I realised it’s time to stop that ASAP. I resigned my job.

live-511556_1280

So here I am again. Trying to live, change and fix the mess I did while working too hard. I think I lost track of time and part of myself, which shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But that’s part of who I am – I’m a giver.

I am so dedicated to whatever I’m doing, that I will give more than 100% of myself (that’s my advantage and disadvantage combined). Anyway, as part of getting my life back and making up to my family I brought home a little puppy to help my family tie the knots together, and add a bit more responsibility and maturity to my kids.

His name is Lucky. He is a very cute and adorable dog! We got him when he was 8 weeks old, and the magic of change, responsibility and maturity came with it. It was very smart thing to do. I look at my kids’ faces and I know I did the right thing.Lucky

If only I had the headspace before…

We should NEVER let our work take over our lives or our head space, because family is definitely more important.

 

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

(Dalai Lama)

Memories

photo-albumIn the digital age we normally don’t print photos. We travel a lot since we came to Australia and I realized the kids won’t remember all the experience they had been through, so I decided to print some photos. Not all of them because that would be too much… but rather some of the best photos of each place and attraction we went to. Apparently that’s a lot as well. That’s why I’m trying to print every 6 months or so (which comes out something around 600 photos).
I know it sounds crazy, but after organizing it in photo albums we opened them one weekend to see something, and we had such a great time remembering all these places and the experience we had. We were talking about every photo and experience for hours.
My son said: hey mum, we would have never remembered all of it without these photos.
We forget.
He was right.

 

A Very Proud Mum

tree

As a parent, you always want to know what your kids are up to at school. If they are talkers, they’ll tell you everything in details. But not my kids. My kids will summarize it as yes/no answers. So what can I do to know more?

Luckily, the school year is divided to terms. By the end of a term I see the reports and some art work my kids made in art class, projects they were working on for the whole term,  special clubs or classes they took part at, poems they wrote for competition I didn’t even know about or some stories they wrote.

Last week was the end of a term. I was very excited to see all of those.

I feel so proud.

Big smile takes place and left on my face for the day. My chest fills with pride.

Of course, the little artists get a huge hug and kiss that no words are able to explain.

And then I hang their work on the walls – probably swapping with previous terms’ art work.

That’s called Nachas! (a the Jewish word that means: very proud and fulfilled).

Here’s a poem my son wrote:

firstsIsn’t that amazing!? 🙂

My Birthday Thoughts

birthdaysoonI don’t really feel old but my body knows its age. Well, at least I can say I’m definitely wiser.
When I was talking to my mum and mentioned my birthday she was shocked to realize I am going to be 35… I think it was not because of my age but because of what it means about her age. Time flies.

I do understand her feelings.
I remember what I felt when my kids were born. I felt mature and ready (although you are never really prepared to that). Now, when I realize that my son is 10 years old – it says a lot about my age too. Not only he is getting bigger, but I am getting older.
The feeling is shocking. Where did the last 10 years go?! That’s life I guess when you are a parent …

Mentally you become wiser every day by each step you take, but physically your body knows it’s limits, you can’t do the same things it did when you were a child.

You are older now.

I don’t feel old. I just know from the experience and changes I’ve been through in my life that I got smarter.

“Life is a journey, not a destination”

I look around me and I see what I’ve achieved. I can tell you that: I am proud.
Proud for who became, proud of who I am, proud of what I did.

Happy with my errors and with my decisions. I chose the right way.
I don’t regret anything that I did.
I chose my way.

If you still haven’t read my eBook: “Only YOU Can Change Your Life”, click here to subscribe and get it for FREE!

 

Birthdays Season

birthday-268554_1920Soon it will be here. The birthdays season. My family members’ birthdays span a 4 months period, which basically means the whole family celebrates together.

It starts in June and ends up on September.
Since I chose to live on the other side of the globe, I need to think few steps ahead and send my greeting cards few weeks in advance.
I also need to be practical when sending presents.
I can’t send big presents, I can only send symbolic but meaningful ones and that makes me think really hard and think of really special gifts.

First comes my lovely sister.
Well planned ahead I found a very meaningful magnet that I know she’ll like, together with a greeting card.
Since we are connected nearly 24/7 I found it very important to send the card as a surprise. It always works. The surprising effect is bigger than the present itself.
The message is usually beyond words; wishing a happy birthday before the birthday date actually arrives is like the biggest surprise someone could get. It means you mean a lot to them, because it’s planned and given in advance.

Then comes my dearest mum’s birthday (which I won’t tell you about because I still need to keep it as a surprise).

My brother’s birthday comes a few days later and after that comes my birthday – we will talk about that closer to the date. Then comes my daughter’s birthday and my dad’s and my husband is closing the season. (Only my son is on a completely different date.)
I love to surprise each one of them. Separately. So each one will get his own attention from me.

Distance means so little when someone means so much.

Because when someone means a lot to you – you’ll do everything you can to show you love, even though it’s far away or in advance.

Everyone Has Their Own Issues

Everyone has their own issues. That’s true.

Some of them are big some of them small. Anyway, your issues they are yours, so naturally you’ll feel they are bigger and worse than everybody else’s.

The grass is always greener on the other side

People often say that,  but that’s not true. It just looks greener, but it’s not really greener.  It’s Fake.

Sometimes we tend to forget to be gratitude for all the good things in life instead of seeing the bad things only. Don’t search for what you’re missing in life, search for what you already have or achieved. Sometimes it’s not that easy.

Movie night

Movie nights in our house are usually on Sundays. The whole family sits and watches a family movie. We choose a movie that both adults and kids enjoy to watch together. Lately we saw the movie Annie. We loved it very much. If you didn’t see it yet, go and watch it.

The movie summary is this: A foster girl named Annie lives with her mean drunk foster mom. She sees her life changes when business tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks makes a thinly veiled campaign move and takes her in.

What the summary didn’t say is that this Annie is a very happy girl, who lives with other foster girls at a foster home and looks for her biological parents with no success. Until she runs into that rich guy who wanted to get elected for NY mayorship and (accidentally) saved her life and decided to be her foster home.

Sometimes we forget to say thank you for what we have. We have good health, loving family, home, food on the table, toys and games, cloths. Not everybody have these things. Even though Annie didn’t have, she was still happy with whatever she had.

We need to remember to be happy with what we have and appreciate it. Some people don’t have it.

Gratitude is very important. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Don’t forget that.

thank you

Mother’s Day Thoughts

Mother's Day

Being a mum is a lot of hard work for 364 days a year. Once a year we have an amazing day called Mother’s Day. Everyone wants to show their appreciation to their mums. So am I. And so are my kids.

As for me, my mum is a bit far away so I am sending my regards in Email / Skype / What’s App. In fact she is very updated with everything that’s going on (sometimes too much) because it’s so easy to be in touch online; and the kids are very much into sending love messages at any time of the day. I get the mental support from her even though we live far away, or should I say – the other side of the globe. For me it’s a must to show my appreciation to her and not take it for granted. She deserves it.

My kids are amazing. Their school runs a Mother’s Day stall every year. They can choose the best present they feel like their mum will love. I am a practical person. I love things I can use, so they will feel proud for the present they chose. This year, Mother’s Day stall was five days in advance, but my kids couldn’t keep the secrets so they came back from school and shared their love with me. They chose the best practical presents I would ever want. They know I LOVE coffee. So my son brought me an amazing silicone cup with a “Mum’s Drink” writing on it, which I was so happy of getting. And my daughter knew we keep losing our nail scissors which we use very often, so she brought a nail care kit in a little pink polka dot bag with a handle and with all the other accessories in it, that we can carry with us everywhere, and we won’t lose these items anymore.

And guess what I’ve got from my loving husband? a juicer I wanted for so long, in order to keep everyone healthy. That’s why I really like Mother’s Day.

Beside  the gifts, they all made beautiful cards that really show their love, affection and appreciation to what I do for them 365 days a year, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day.

As they are getting older they understand more what it takes to take care of them (I assume that’s because they need to help more with household tasks). Even though we have one day each year for Mum – what keeps us going is the fact that everybody knows we do our best for our families, and we truly care.

That’s why we deserve Mother’s Day.