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Tag Archives: Present

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Posted by Irene Ephraim in Life, Thoughts in motion

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2019, 2020, belief, Better, Break, Coronavirus, Gift, History, opportunity, Overcome, Pandemic, Present, Rest, self love, Self-care, Utilise, Victory

bb2e38e2-24fb-43d6-a9e6-9fcca9f55e49Well that went left very quickly.

2019 was what I considered to be the year of the purge. It felt like we were going through a spiritual and physical transformation in preparation for the new decade, and I accepted that, however, I don’t think whatever that period was meant to teach us stuck, so here we are.

The universe has given us a clear indication of what is necessary and we should take heed. We are being called to take the best care we’ve ever taken of ourselves, of others and the earth we live in. It is time to chill.

Granted, the world is in a frenzy, but you don’t have to be. This period, should you choose to see it this way, can be a beautiful opportunity for you to regenerate, to bond, to develop, and ultimately alter the way you see and do things going forward, for the better.

My belief, albeit contrary to what is currently happening, is that 2020 is going to be an incredible year, as we will become 10 times the person we were before, we just have to do our bit.

Naturally, as with most things and considering the circumstances, there will be loss, sacrifice, heartbreak and hard times, but it won’t last and we will get through it as best as we can, like we always do.

So stay indoors, keep healthy, take the necessary precautions, check on your loved ones and neighbours, help out wherever possible and rest.

xo

Fumbling in the Dark

19 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Irene Ephraim in Experiences, Lessons Learnt

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Dark, experience, Future, life, lifestyle, Light, Preparation, Present, success, Trial, writer

Remember when you were a kid and you for the first time, entered a room you’d never been in. It was pitch black and although there was no real reason to be scared, you still were.
You don’t know where the light switch is, and you can hear your heart beating out of your chest. You don’t know what’s in the room, you don’t know if you’re ready for what ‘might’ be lurking in this dark place. You don’t want to be scared but your imagination is running wild.
You frantically place your hands on the wall, trying to find the switch but you can’t find it. You keep feeling your way around, moving carefully, in case you hit something that could hurt you. After a few more seconds you find the light switch and the brightness that comes next surprises you even though you expected it.

Your eyes slowly adjust and you take in what’s there. Some things you recognise as you’ve seen something similar before and some things you don’t.
As you’re now in the room you might as well get involved and get discovering. You’re still cautious because what you find could change things.

You make a plan of what you’re going to do based on your previous experience. You start looking at the things you know, with the goal of getting to what you don’t recognise uncertain of what you’ll learn. Will there be money? A toy? Something you’re not supposed to see or know? A letter? Hidden information about a family member?…

That’s life. Full of twists and turns, ups and downs, good times and not so good times, failures and successes, dark moments and brighter days and to thrive, you have to live through it.

You are not going to be able to have everything figured out all the time and this truthfully, is one of the most difficult challenges I have. I have to know everything. I need to know what and when the outcome will be and that’s thing, you cannot truly experience the best life has to offer by controlling everything. You have to free up the reigns a little bit (takes note), embrace what comes, and be present.

Xo

Don’t Miss This Moment

07 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by Irene Ephraim in Life, Thoughts in motion

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Future, lifestyle, memories, moment, Motivate, New week, Now, past, power, Present, relax, Sunday

Don’t you just love Sunday’s? I love them because I get to really relax, and the pace always seems slower so I enjoy things even more. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy, speaking of which, how are you enjoying your Sunday?

A lot of us spend way too much time looking forward to what’s next, forgetting that this present moment, we had once wished for it.

We’re wanting more, bigger, better, and whilst it’s good to have aspirations, we run the risk of not appreciating the now.

I remember being a university student and how I couldn’t wait to graduate, as I was not enjoying the experience. Flash forward a few years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reflected on those moments, and wished I had done it a little differently or that I could go back and do it again.

This has taught me that I don’t want to ignore my present in favour an already lived past or a imagined future. I want to relish my now irrespective of what may be happening, because there are always things to be grateful for, always.

So as you hopefully enjoy this beautiful day and you plan your week ahead, always remember #MyNow has treasures in and it matters just as much as the next moment.

Xo

Relish the moment before it’s too late.

25 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by Irene Ephraim in Life, More Action, Thoughts in motion

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Cherish, experience, Gift, Live, moment, Now, Present

I’m really trying to slide back into your dm’s but having fallen out of the routine, it’s a bit of a struggle to begin posting regularly again. Huff.

Anyway, I attended a one day course called ‘Building Resilience’, which was brilliant! I gained a lot, but my biggest take away was learning how crucial it is to be in the present moment.  

My problem is that I am never here. My mind, my presence is almost always somewhere else: I need to be at the next place, doing something else, being somewhere else, creating something and hardly ever giving great attention to what it is I am currently doing-This is not a way to exist.

So in a bid to be in the now, I have decided to make the moment big-GER! You make the moment bigger by expanding it. Break down what’s happening into little bits, more specifically bits of things to be thankful for.

  • Think about the things you have now but once wished and prayed for.
  • Think about the things you are learning and what this current period is preparing you for.
  • Think about what you have achieved already that once seemed impossible
  • Think about all the wonderful things happening around you, live in that moment and give it ALL of your attention, lest (I like this archaic word ‘lest’) you find yourself in the future reminiscing about this stage right here or even worse having not prepared for the future you want!

From doing this over past couple of days, I have experienced a new level of peace and certainty that I don’t usually have because I spend most of my time worrying about everything. It’s definitely refreshing to have that peace of mind.

Join me in resolving to relish the moment, be more compassionate towards yourself, and occasionally pat yourself on the back for how far you have come irrespective of the circumstances, as truth be told not everyone made it through to today…

XO  

Ps The featured picture is my friend (the celebrant) and I at her birthday.

Pps My birthday is coming up soon…eek!

Mindfulness: Live in the now. 

25 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by Irene Ephraim in Experiences, Life, Thoughts in motion

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blogger, Gratitute, happiness, joy, Live, mindfulness, Now, peace, Present, Rich, Speaker, Wealthy, writer

We have nurtured this habit of thinking about the next thing on the to do list, the next venue, the next job, the next bill, your partner, your house, the kids, job, your parents, world issues and the list is endless. If its not that, then you might be thinking of the past, the shoulda, woulda, coulda’s. What you would change, what you should have done, and how it could have been better.
With that said how well do you relish the present moment? Probably very little or hardly at all.

We’re often absent minded while doing things and not fully engaged. As a result, we tend to miss the little nuggets of richness, joy, and gratitude that we could be experiencing at that present time.

We think of ‘living life’ as this place out of the country, on a beach, with clear blue seas, white sand, and great weather and we clamour for that moment to have that release, that yes we have (albeit momentarily), arrived.

This ideology is a damning one, because assuming that is what we do, what happens to the reality that we inevitably return back to?

Why not consider making your everyday life a more enriching and pleasurable one by choosing to see the goodness in the things you are experiencing, be it good, bad or indifferent?

In other cases, people talk about when they get ‘there’ it will all be different, but how will it be different? It’ll be exactly the same if your mindset does not change on how you perceive things. If you cannot learn to be happy, grateful and feel rich with the small things, it’s unlikely you’ll feel that way with the big things.

It doesn’t matter what changes externally, if you do not shift your perspective and operate at a new level, that is not dependant on external factors, you will undoubtedly find yourself going around in circles looking for that peace of mind and happiness.

So rather than wait for that ‘time’ or that ‘place’, make a conscious effort to relish the very moment you’re having now. Take a deep breath, look at beautiful things, be attentive to your friends and family as they speak, think about what you’re doing, enjoy each bite of the meal that you were able to buy, be gratuitous to others, yourself and the things you have. Take stock of the great things happening around you, small and big and endeavour to completely connect and engage with it.

Be mindful, be grateful and definitely be present.

Ps I’d love to hear from you guys, you can contact me at info@lipstickandblackcoffee.co.uk , speak soon xo

Time Wasters

09 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Irene Ephraim in Life, Self-Development

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

life, Moments, Now, Paul Arden, Preparation, Present, Time, Waste, You

Let’s just get to it. I like many of you do not like my time being wasted, point, blank and the period!

I find little sense in turning a simple process into a drawn out blueprint of the empire state building, if you know what I mean. It’s unnecessary, a bore and more than that is thoroughly frustrating.

I’m sure we could name a few people off the top of our heads that are not very useful and have no problem wasting your time or theirs for that matter, ggrrrr to those people!

However, such people are not the focus of this post, they were the initial inspiration but this post is not about them, this message is for you and I.

It is impossible to control the actions of another person so it will be redundant to rant and rave about someone’s terrible behaviour and actions without introspection on our own part.

I had a recent incident that (for lack of a better expression) drove me up the wall! I spent some time being annoyed with a situation and in that moment felt stuck and unable to progress. I wanted them to take responsibility for their lives and manage their business properly…Fat chance -_-

After reflecting on this, I acknowledged that there was some part of it that I played in the whole situation, albeit a minute one. This minute part ironically impacted on me significantly. The breadth that I afforded it, was further contribution towards my aggravation.

Sometimes we spend a great amount of time complaining when things aren’t going well, holding that situation hostage and going over it, over and over again creating it to be much larger than it ever need be. We have now spent that time being irritable with the chain of events or lack thereof, that in its place could have been used to be industrious and beneficial for us. The same amount of time used focusing on a problem can be used to create a solution.

The time we have is OURS to use however we see fit and should not be wasted on ineffective things or people.

What you use your time to do determines the kind of life you live. Whatever you spend your time doing will reflect in your day-to-day life. I once read something that said “If you are broke this time next year you only have yourself to blame” and that has stuck with me. You + activity x time= results.

So if you are in a position that YOU were in last year then it is evidence as to what you did or did not do with your time.

Some people will say “I am waiting for the perfect time” and my response to that is, such a time does not exist-You have to create it to be that way. People make plans for what they will do in the future for what they can actually begin to do now.

For example, you want to build your own house do you a) Wait till to have enough money b) Hope, wish and pray for someone to give you a lifeline or c) Begin the ground work for building a house without the capital. The pragmatic thing to do is c, you should always prepare for something as if it is right in front of you. The more you work at it the more achievable it becomes. You can speak to architects, contact construction companies, find out if you require planning permission and so on whilst you are working on attaining the capital. There is a wealth of knowledge to be acquired during that time which immediately becomes applied knowledge once the money is available. There is nothing more regressive than finally having the money and realising that you haven’t got the slightest idea on how to go about building your house. What would eventually happen is that you’ll end up wasting resources trying to figure it out, which could have been averted, if the proper planning was executed. When you are prepared, opportunities are quickly to come.

Those minutes that seem miniscule in the grand scheme of things, are crucial in building up the right habits that will enhance your life. To form any habit be it good or bad, time must be spent investing. You may view 5 minutes or 10 minutes as not enough time but that’s EXACTLY what you need to create a habit. In fact the act of not doing something because you THINK you don’t have time IS a habit in itself, its called procrastination!

Living in the “I can’t do this” means you won’t ever do it or even worse you will be forced to give it attention. You might think 30 minutes exercise isn’t sufficient and therefore put it off till you have more “time”, tell that to your doctor who now says you have to lose weight or you’ll be at a higher risk of heart disease or I can’t commit to creating this invention right now as I need days and weeks and then watching Dragons Den and seeing someone with your same idea get the investments they need to make it a global brand-feel the burn…

So three things to remember:

  • Don’t be a time waster. You chose who, what, when and how it is used
  • Every minute is valuable (Think about the person who was a minute too late in saying goodbye to their loved one). Your life is a direct reflection of what you have been doing.
  • If you want something, start now, don’t put off till tomorrow what you can begin to do today.

I end with this quote “Don’t look for the next opportunity, the one you have in hand is the opportunity”-Paul Arden

PS  Time is To Impact (your) Maximum Existence

 

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