Sunday 30 December 2012

BFW Blogging - December 31st - Reflections and Beginnings


Reflect on 2012
Its ups and downs
What have you learned
What have you achieved
How do you feel about the year that passed.


THROW RESOLUTIONS OUT THE WINDOW
Set yourself small achievable goals for 2013 that will nurture and nourish you.
Consider your dreams and hopes for this year.
Is there anything you are not looking forward to?
What tools, strategies and skills do you have to bask in the sunshine and ride out the storms in the coming year?


Thursday 27 December 2012

BFW - Seasonal Blogging - December 27th

Post Christmas : Blues and Blessings

 
“Sadly this Christmas passes away,
so let us give thanks today,
as we prepare for the year anew" 
~ Unknown ~

Sunday 23 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 24th

We are on the Eve -
living in the time before something else.
What are you on the Eve of?
How does that feel?
How are you nurturing you on this Christmas Eve?


"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl.
But it warmed more than your body.
It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with melody that would last forever."
~ Bess Streeter Aldrich ~

BFW Advent Calendar - December 23rd

Christmas ways and traditions -
cringeworthy?
heart warming?
what do you do every Christmas?
Do you like it?
Do you wish you could change it?
Would you miss it if you did? ...


"I wish we could put some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month."
~ Harlan Miller ~

Saturday 22 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 22nd


WHERE IS YOUR INNER CHILD?

Unleash your inner child
let him or her do a happy dance,
pull excited faces,
make snow angels
and scream its Christmas!


"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
~ Author Unknown ~

Thursday 20 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 21st

Celebrating with Friends at Christmas Time
What do your friends mean to you?


"Friends are the family we choose for. ourselves."
~ Author Unknown ~

Wednesday 19 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 20th

SHARE THE LOVE
what makes you feel loved the most?
what costs nothing but means everything to you at Christmas?
at any time of the year?


"A hug is a great gift - one size fits all, and it's easy to exchange."
~Author Unknown ~

Tuesday 18 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 19th

The Chrismas List that Counts...
I and Me
 
At a time of year when we give away
what are you giving to yourself?
In the crazy flurry of Christmas what challenges are you facing -
what can you do and plan to do to care for YOU?
 
 
 
"You always need to have your best interest at heart.
That doesn't mean become a selfish bitch. It means putting yourself first."
~ Author Unknown ~

BFW Advent Calendar - December 18th

"THE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PLAY"
Whether nativity at Christmas
or some other random play
tell us...

"I WANNA BE MARY."
~ Flint Street Nativity Play ~

Sunday 16 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 17th

You and Santa
Share the memories
good, bad and ugly!


"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six.
Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph!"
~ Shirley Temple ~

Saturday 15 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 16th


Share your wisdom, musings and questions about surviving this Christmas.


Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves",
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions at the North Pole,
were alleged by the union, to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished without much propriety,
released to the wilds, by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear,
that Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid, 

were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

The runners had been removed from his beautiful sleigh, 

because the ruts were deemed dangerous by the EPA,
And millions of people were calling the Cops,
when they heard sled noises upon their roof tops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe, had his workers quite frightened,
and his fur trimmed red suit was called "unenlightened".

To show you the strangeness of today's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose.
He went to Geraldo, in front of the Nation,
demanding millions in over-due workers compensation.

So...half of the reindeer were gone, and his wife 

who suddenly said she'd had enough of this life,
joined a self help group, packed and left in a whiz,
demanding from now on that her title was Ms.

And as for gifts...why, he'd never had the notion
that making a choice could cause such commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur...
Which meant nothing for him or nothing for her.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot,
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls and nothing for just boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific,
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.

No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish upon the truth.
And fairy tales...while not yet forbidden,
were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden,
for they raised the hackles of those psychological,
who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.

No baseball, no football...someone might get hurt,
besides - playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist and should be passe.
and Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.

So Santa just stood there, disheveled and perplexed,
he just couldn't figure out what to do next?
He tried to be merry he tried to be gay,
but you must have to admit he was having a very bad day.
His sack was quite empty, it was flat on the ground,
nothing fully acceptable was anywhere to be found.

Something special was needed, a gift that he might,
give to us all, without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy - with no indecision,
each group of people in every religion.
Every race, every hue,
everyone, everywhere...even you!
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...


"MAY YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES, ENJOY PEACE ON EARTH"

~ Author Unknown~ 

Friday 14 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 15th


DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?
What do you find to be miraculous?




“I am realistic – I expect miracles.”
~ Wayne W Dyer ~

Thursday 13 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 14th


In the cold of winter, with all the crazy weather,
in the fear of storms and the crowds of people in the streets -
who, what is keeping you warm, safe, loved -
what is making you feel content?
what brings you peace?


"There are four questions of value in life... 
What is sacred? 
Of what is the spirit made? 
What is worth living for, 
and what is worth dying for? 
The answer to each is the same. 
Only love." 
~ Don Juan deMarco ~

Wednesday 12 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 13th

What does peace mean to you?

"Peace is not something you wish for;
It's something you make,
something you do,
something you are,
and something you give away."
~Robert Fulgham ~

Tuesday 11 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 12th

Today look inward
search out
recognise
and share
the light in your heart.


"Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame
Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart."
~ Hannah Senesh ~

Monday 10 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 11th

At a time of year that is bittersweet for many, what light can you see through any darkness?
What do you have to help you cope?
to remind you to care for you?
to help you to keep pushing forward?
what keeps you safe and warm?


"The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle."
~ Robert Altinger ~

Sunday 9 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 10th

"FAMILY"
There is not internet space enough to prompt you further on today's topic!
Respond as you feel drawn to!


"Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home!"
~ Carol Nelson ~

BFW Advent Calendar - December 9th

Do you believe?
(you determine what this means!)


"Just because something is unbelievable -
does not mean you shouldn't believe it.
Put another way, some things are worth believing in,
whether they're true or not."
~ Jeb Dickerson ~

Friday 7 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 8th

Candles are lit as darkness falls - what light shines in your darkest times?
On the first night of Hanukkah thanks is given for miracles, strength and sustenance -
what in your life is miraculous?
What are you thankful for?
What brings light to your world?


"May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind."
~ Unknown ~

Thursday 6 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 7th

What are you wrapped up in?
What's surrounds you?
Is your life decorated with bows or tied down?
What are you giving away?
What are you getting?
Do you let yourself receive?

"I love the Christmas-tide and yet,
I notice this, each year I live;
I always like the gifts I get,
But how I love the gifts I give!"
~ Carolyn Wells ~

Wednesday 5 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 6th


Can you remember writing to Santa/ Father Christmas?
Do you remember how it felt?
Do you ever have those feelings in life now?
What are you hoping for this Christmas?

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse:
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there..."
~ Clement Clarke Moore ~

Tuesday 4 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 5th

As the highstreets are ever more flooded with stressed out souls - is this part of Christmas?
Is there pressure or joy in Christmas/holiday shopping?
What is the shopping experience like for you?
Does the stress show on your face?
Or are you a picture of peace?
What is the perfect gift?
How do you know when you find it?

 
"Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy - forgiveness.
To an opponent - tolerance.
To a friend - your heart.
To a customer - your service.
To all - charity.
To every child - a good example.
To yourself - respect."
~ Oren Arnold ~

Monday 3 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 4th


The time of your life?
How do you experience time in this season?
Are you in control of your time? time as a whole?
or does time control you?
How do you relate to time?


"But what minutes!
Count them by sensation and not by calendars,
and each moment is a day."
~ Benjamin Disraeli ~

Sunday 2 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 3rd

WHAT DOES WINTER/ DECEMBER MEAN TO YOU?
Be as literal or philosophical as you choose!


"Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions,
a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends."
~ Margaret Thatcher ~
 
"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
~Albert Camus ~

Saturday 1 December 2012

BFW Advent Calendar - December 2nd

AS WE WRITE OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS -
DO WE DO IT WITH HABIT OR WITH HEART?
ARE WE SAYING THE WORDS WE NEED THOSE WE LOVE MOST TO KNOW,
OR ARE WE TO BUSY DOING WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US?



"It came without ribbons!
It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!...
The the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before
Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas.. perhaps.. means a little bit more!"
~ Dr Seuss~