FindmyFlis

 

 

                 "When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are". D onald Miller How do we treat people with respect and love them as we should when our expectations are through the roof? Moving to Italy, I have had a love hate relationship with my expectations. Comparing work, driving and just about everything you can imagine. I know in my heart that it doesn’t work and more to the point, it hasn’t helped and can be responsible for creating barriers and halting progress. Our expectations can come from our deeply engrained prejudices or ways of doing things. Sometimes we are so convinced we are right and that things must happen in a certain way, we refuse to budge or admit we were wrong rather than lose face or even attempt to save those relationships with people who actually cared. Wouldn’t it be great if from now onwards (and not just for Christmas or other special events) we realised that life is more mea...

  “Il tempo è spesso puntuale nel farci capire molte cose in ritardo” Guido Rojetti, Autore di racconti umoristici .  Foto di Felicity Zucchi Ho bisogno di più tempo… per fare un’altra scelta impossibile, per prendere un’altra decisione, per fare un’altra valigia, per prendere un altro aeroplano, per cercare un’altra strada… Mentre, nelle ore più buie della mattina, sto cercando la luce della cappa della cucina, sono ispirata a scrivere un altro articolo. Quale sarà il soggetto della prossima riflessione? Tempo. Mi è venuto mentre mi sono svegliata improvvisamente e rimanendo a letto senza riuscire a addormentarmi, pensavo alla parola… TEMPO …Ha un certo suono pungente…e sfortunatamente è sempre sulle labbra di tanta gente durante la situazione attuale con la guerra, il Covid e le altre realtà piuttosto crudeli che la vita spinge alla nostra porta. Il fischietto del bollitore è un sollecito penetrante che il tempo non aspetta nessuno. Si potrebbe essere la persona più ricca, l...

  “Truth will always be truth regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.”  W. Clement Stone Another series of events have brought an additional twist in my life road map. A short trip and drive through Europe become a time for reflection and an extended stay due to unforeseen circumstances. An only too frequent occurrence in life at the moment. Some things are apparently so obvious, like the pain of another, but how many times have we shut down and conveniently crossed the road to avoid looking at the ‘inconvenient’ things that would require some discomfort and soul searching? What will it take for us to live our best lives without pretence or excuses, without shielding ourselves from the tough truths and be determined to acknowledge the realities of those around us, freeing us all to be our authentic selves? A while back a person confided in me about a period of time when they would pass the brightly illuminated shop windows on the way back from work and wer...

  “Declutter your mind, your heart, your home. Let go of the heaviness that is weighing you down. Make your life simple, but significant.” Maria Defillo There are seasons to do different things; seasons to be active and times to chill out, seasons to sit still and periods of intense action, seasons to reduce the clutter in our homes and times to empty our minds, seasons for creativity and others where nothing comes at all. Sometimes our priorities and ability to progress can get mixed up and submerged by clutter and disorder, both physical and mental, and can halt all progress forward and hide much needed action. Layer upon layer of personal possessions often makes it nearly impossible to see the wood for the trees. If we are just able to reach the clearing with little around us, we will experience a deep transformation within us that radiates out into all we do. Decluttering a house is more complex than at first it may appear. There is the emotional baggage and attachment to objec...

  Immagine di Felicity Zucchi – Sant’Ilario Baganza, PR “Una vita è un’opera d’arte. Non c’è poesia più bella che vivere pienamente” George Clemenceau Una domenica pomeriggio, mentre sto camminando su una strada in campagna vicino casa nostra nel Nord d’Italia, sono colpita dalla pace che mi circonda mentre lascio il trambusto della città e le colline si estendono davanti a me. Una sensazione di libertà e unione con la natura mette un sorriso sul mio volto. È stata la scelta giusta  uscire in mezzo alla natura e lasciar alle spalle tutte le cose urgenti, almeno per qualche ora. All’improvviso, mi chiedo: perché ho dei sensi di colpa per aver preso un po’ di tempo libero? Chi crediamo ci stia addosso? Ogni giorno della nostra vita è un dono, una possibilità di fare qualcosa di nuovo, di sviluppare più profondamente le nostre passioni e i nostri talenti e di offrir qualcosa di noi stessi che possediamo unicamente noi. II canto spensierato del proprietario della caffetteria mentr...

  With faith, I know that everything will be taken care of. Even the difficult times become learning experiences to help make my faith stronger. Torrii Hunter (Baseball Player) A narrowly avoided front-on collision in the car at high speed; a van that refuses to move out of the way whilst I am running towards them on a country lane; or suddenly feeling like an Olympic swimmer in a race, when my husband and I are caught out by the speed of the tide coming in on one of the Greek Islands. How do we really cope when it is not a practice or a drill and the pressure is suddenly on, in an unexpected moment? We have all had those hair-raising moments that we would prefer to wipe from our minds but, as a friend wisely suggested, it is good to have got through them and hopefully we can still find something to learn from even the most horrific situation. The heat can test all of us. It is great to enjoy the rays of sun on your face at the beach or during a walk in the summer, but when it is c...

  "If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present." Roy T. Bennett When caught up in a web of tangled situations that seem to spread into all aspects of your everyday life, you might wonder whether it was an appropriate time to try to write an article on happiness. However, this is precisely the moment when it is needed. Until we realise that happiness is a way of life, and largely controlled by our reaction to events and not the actual physical circumstances themselves, we will never be satisfied or content. We need to be willing to fight for our happiness, to enjoy the steps we take to go forward. These include savouring every triumph no matter how small, and having the courage to set boundaries and creating a balance that satisfies our own desires and needs alongside those of the people who are important to us. Hitting 40, the pursuit of developing the way I live was somewhat magnified and the signific...

  "We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are." ​ Ana ï s Nin How many times have you taken a photograph in one way, only to realise that the angle taken by the person next to you seems to more effectively capture the essence of the panorama unfolding before you? Time and time again, you return and take the same photograph from your comfortable viewpoint and end up getting more or less the same result. When you eventually look back over all the collection of photographs you suddenly realise that they are practically all the same. None of them have actually achieved the atmosphere and angle you were hoping to obtain. So often, we go guns blazing with our black and white thinking. Could there not potentially be a splash of grey in our decidedly channelled vision of events? When faced with a situation or reaction from others that typically generates complacency, what would happen if we were to choose contemplation and a delay in our response rather than resorti...

“The real power of silence is to keep silent. The real power of silence is in the works of silence!” - Ernest Agyemang Yeboah The trumpet blowing tide has quickly been invading our shores, filling every nook and cranny with its brazen and unceremoniously impatient and peremptory assault. There is so much hype nowadays. Things have to be louder, more blasé and fast paced to coax us into seeing the situation or unfolding series of events in a set way and feeling specific emotions. Outspoken behaviour incites more curiosity and the display of wealth and throwing money at things so often gains respect. We are taught by society that loud, brashly confident and forceful behaviour works better, a winning combination. Anything that does not stay within the carefully designated confines of the social box is harshly discarded. Clearly by the number of people seeing psychologists, gaining their hits through drink, excessive gym sessions, extended credit cards and the increase in broken relationsh...

  John 3:16 You gave your life to give me mine. I am free, how can it be? Why do we often have to wait until the last hour to get our breakthrough? We go round and round seeking a solution and the horizon seems flat, stripped bare. We try to write about the issues, solutions and possibilities and the page is still blank, the places we normally go for inspiration are empty. So, what is going on? Look at the situation in the Ukraine, Russia and in so many places around the world. Everyone is waiting with baited breath for the next move, holding on, hoping and praying for something good to happen. Maybe we cannot change the events that are happening to us at the moment or are not even responsible for them, but we can alter our response to how we wait during the process. Our attitude towards those around us, ourselves, our choices, values and faith regarding the things that we can do are all fundamental points of leverage in starting our break through. In Auschwitz, the prisoners could...

  I need more time...to make another impossible choice, another decision, to pack another suitcase, to catch another plane, to find yet another way...As I hunt around in the dark, early hours of the morning for the light above the capper in the kitchen, I am drawn to write another article. What is the topic of this next entry? Time. It came to me as I woke up determinedly and lay wide awake reflecting on the word...TIME...It has a fairly poignant ring about it...and unfortunately on the lips of many in the current situation with the war, Covid and some pretty cruel realities of life thrust at our door. The whistling kettle is a harsh reminder that time waits for no one. You can be the richest person, the most intelligent individual, an incredible musician or athlete, wonderfully generous, living a happy, normal life, but time will eventually come calling. The thing is, we can waste it erring on the side of caution or we can face it straight on, head held high. What do you have to l...

  Chiacchieriamo con il proprietario del bar vicino che frequentiamo da almeno cinque anni e parliamo delle ultime notizie. Mentre stiamo andando al lavoro, in treno, iniziamo una conversazione con le persone che vediamo regolarmente sul binario e conosciamo un po' della loro vita. Al lavoro ci troviamo con i colleghi attorno alla macchina del caffè, confrontandoci sugli ultimi sviluppi degli avvenimenti. Più tardi, incontriamo per strada degli amici e iniziamo a parlare di quello che stavano facendo. Ancora di più dopo il Covid, il numero di persone che stanno affrontando le difficoltà vere è aumentato. Questo non include solo la povertà economica, ma anche la stanchezza emotiva e la separazione mentale. É scomodo fare la domanda, ma le persone a cui teniamo e con cui interagiamo stanno davvero bene e in caso contrario, cosa possiamo fare? Quanti di noi onestamente considerano di offrire aiuto ma poi si tirano indietro perché hanno già troppe responsabilità e cose urgenti da fare?...