The Happiness Tag Challenge

Ok – so here we go! Thank you to Brilliance Within for nominating Team Sequoia Lifetree World to complete this ‘Happiness Tag’ challenge! It was SO fun to do!

The rules are simple; Write about 5 things that make me happy, 5 songs that make me happy and nominate 5 ‘happy’ bloggers to complete the tag too if they fancy sharing a bit of happiness!!

5 things that make me happy;

1: Sleep!!
Sleep makes me happy!
Why?? Because it’s so under appreciated!! Sleep is like being engulfed by a beautiful, big, cosy, snug bear! That moment my head hits the pillow (and I’m not gawping at some sort of social media post or some ridiculous online quiz that’s going to tell me what cereal type I was in a past life!!) The feeling that starts from the bottom of my feet and trickles up through my whole body to the top of my head! That magical relaxation you and I call…. Calm.
As everything stops and suddenly you feel yourself begin to drift off, everything feels so lovely and fuzzy 🙂 that is, until suddenly you do that falling thing!! The jolt!! You’re almost in an in between state of awake and the sleepy place and you suddenly think ‘Sh#t – I’m falling off the BED!!’ And you roll back to stop yourself waking in the process to realise it was just a prank!! Your cheeky little mind decided to trick you just before reaching dreamland!! Well that’s why sleep makes me happy because if my little boy isn’t keeping me from sleep, my husbands snoring is and if neither of these two are keeping me from sleep, my own BRAIN is so when it happens, it’s literally magic!!

2. Crisps!
I love crisps…. They make me happy. They don’t judge. They don’t tease. They just ARE.
Salt and Vinegar, Beef and Onion, maybe even a cheeky Prawn Cocktail. They don’t make you slim but neither do they rot your teeth like chocolate and Coke! That’s gotta be a winner!
The happiest moments in my crisp trance eating is when you get that one crisp which has been COATED in the flavour you’ve chosen SO much that you can’t sit and just munch it, you have to suck all those artificial flavours, chemicals and heart attack inducing salts off it until it’s nothing but a soggy potato! Mmmmmmmm!

3. Popping Zits!
This is a particular pass time of mine. If I see a big beautiful zit, I’ve just GOTTA get my fingers round it! There’s nothing more satisfying than a massive blackhead though! NOTHING! Especially those ones that shoot out like a perfectly formed bullet!! Awesome!
There’s a Dr in the USA called Dr. Zit Popper (or something like that). She has a YouTube channel! I am happy to shamelessly admit that I will watch those bad boys over and over! Even my four year old seems to have inherited my fascination with uber zits! He watches these videos with me!!
He’s become so accustomed to the process, and so used to watching me try and zap hubby’s back zits (which unfortunately are VERY rare and pretty disappointing) that if I’m exposing any skin on my back, HE starts having a go at any of the suckers that may have appeared!!!
Zit popping – it NEEDS to be made a national sport!

4. Ice Cream.
Doesn’t ice cream make EVERYONE happy?
Ice cream means it’s summer! This means HOT…. This means FUN times.
Ice cream also means movie time! A tub of Phish Food and I feel like I’ve finally discovered the meaning of life!!
Ice cream in the winter means I’m being rebellious! Going against the grain! Sticking my fingers up at the ‘conventional’ way of life! HA! Have that!! Yes it’s snowing! Yes it’s raining! Yes it’s DARK by 3pm but THIS Momma does NOT care!! I am DOING IT!!
Add in some sprinkles and it’s like a moment from childhood right there in that bowl!! A memory of once putting hundreds and thousands on my raspberry ripple ice cream and the lid coming off so it was impaled with all these little sugar pellets…. Then trying each time thereafter to make that lid come off again but it never did!!!
Ice cream makes me happy because it’s magic in a tub! (Or on a stick…. Or in a packet!)

5. Bedtime for my Little One!
This makes me happy because as much as NOTHING ELSE in this world REALLY makes me happier than time with my AWESOME little person (including Sleep, Crisps, Zit popping OR Ice Cream… ) bed time means I can be ME for a couple of hours. Just a couple but it means I can watch Geordie Shore on catch up or steam through Netflix with a glass of something bubbly in one hand (probably a Diet Coke) and a packet of crisps or a tub of ice cream in the other! I don’t have to share, I don’t have to pretend it’s ‘got alcohol in it’ and I don’t have to remember all the words to the SpongeBob SquarePants theme tune….. I can just….be…..me….. Until I realise I’ve been watching Paw Patrol for 45 minutes while ACTUALLY scrolling through Facebook and eating a few left over, soft chedders from little mans lunch! Then getting overly emotional about how much I ADORE my mini-me and how much I really wish I could go up there and scoop him up and snuggle him all night long!
Truth be told, I truly love bedtime with my little man because after all the madness of the day, all the rushing and routines, bedtime is when I finally get to hold him close. I get to read him his favourite Mr.Man book and sing him his favourite ‘You Are My Sunshine’ while stroking the side of his silky smooth cheek. X
He too loves his bedtime because he gets undivided and total attention as he listens to my words and allows his imagination to run wild with the story. He loves to ask for ‘lots of Sunshines please mummy’ to help lull him off to a place of calm while holding the hand that isn’t stroking his face X
Bedtime for my little person isn’t just for me to get some peace, it’s for us both to share our time and enjoy those cuddles which round the day off beautifully xx

Now, please pass me the remote 😉 xxx

5 Songs that make me happy:

Madonna;  La Isla Bonita! This reminds me of holidays when I was young with my family. We always went to the same villa complex, had such fantastic times, knew all the other families and had a blast.

Tom Jones; ALL of them, purely because he reminds me of my dad! He looked like him and even sang like him. Delilah was his favourite song and this is what makes me smile x

Cyndi Lauper; Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, of course! Lol x I used to listen to Cyndi when I was getting ready for a night on the town with my girlfriends  and it was also the song and music video I recorded on my Hen weekend!!

Michael Jackson; Thriller, loved that song, just reminds me of being an eighties chic and taking my youngest to a Michael Jackson tribute act a couple of years ago. Shania Twain, from this moment. Wedding song, from this moment, life has begun. It certainly did begin then too xx

Tears for Fears; Everybody Wants To Rule The World! I can’t really tell you why this makes me happy but the minute that first bar starts I get a lovely feeling inside and I just want to whack it up and dance like a mad woman in my lounge! My Epitome of music happiness! X

 

 

 

The Peak of Life

Mountain

Throughout life it’s fair to say that every one of us experiences events that we feel are insurmountable but just like any mountain with the right support and encouragement we find a way to clamber up until we stand at the top feeling proud of our accomplishment.

I guess this must start early on in childhood, although at the time maybe not quite so profound. From that very first step to our first leap from the couch to the sea of cushions on the floor (pretty sure we all did that as kids) we learn new abilities and skills. We seem to have an innocence as children that allows us to believe we can do or be anything we want, something that seems to decline the older we get when self-doubt creeps in.

As we move through the years, and particularly as we become teenagers we seem to start questioning and comparing ourselves to others, perhaps in the way we dress or the way we look. We start becoming more self-conscious and occasionally forget to go for what we want, worrying more about what our mates will think.

For me being a teenager brought with it probably the biggest challenge I will ever face……. Parenthood! Bam…. overnight my whole life changed, no more crawling in from the pub at some ungodly hour, no more shopping with my mates at the weekend ………instead I now had this teeny tiny person (my son was 3lb 6oz when he was born) and a huge responsibility to care for him to the best of my ability……. I won’t lie I was petrified! I got through it though, despite the ups and downs and even went on to have three more children who I all love dearly!

As much as I loved and was grateful for being able to be a stay at home mum financially I had to find a job when my second eldest started school. This was extremely daunting for me because at the time I had been at home for nearly 9 years! It’s fair to say my confidence was pretty low and the thought of attending an interview filled me with dread, but I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and went for a job at the local school. I was thrilled when I got offered the position and it renewed a spark in me and my self-belief!

Our circumstances however changed after welcoming our fourth child to the world which meant I wouldn’t be able to go back so I had to find something else that would fit. This is when I took the step to become a childminder and had to go back to school so to speak by completing coursework as a requirement to registration. Following on from this I had to be Ofsted inspected…….gulp……those four hours of being watched were perhaps the longest in my life but do you know what I got through it and I can safely say I was over the moon with the result! This was a pivotal point in my life because I suddenly realised I was capable and I was good at my job, and perhaps my darling children hadn’t quite sucked all my brains from me!

I now realise that I can achieve anything I set my mind too and I genuinely believe that because of my renewed confidence I have been pushing myself to learn new skills and abilities. Infact since joining a networking company I can now use Instagram, blog, tweet, create ads and help support my team. Maybe little things to some but to me this has truly opened my eyes to the fact the only box I am in is the one I create for myself. I believe that we have to embrace challenge and give it our all, for if we don’t we simply don’t learn what we are truly capable of.

 

Yours confidently

Emma

 

 

A (paper) WEIGHT OFF MY MIND

Word Prompt: Transformation

About 20 years ago my now husband was offered some casual work by a friend. He was asked if he would like to earn some money lifting bundles of newspapers onto lorries all through the night. At 17, the money glittered like a gem to a magpie so with his first pratt-mobile to buy and a wardrobe of chavtastic attire to purchase, he went for it.

SONY DSC

After a year or so, he was offered a permanent contract with this National Newspaper and a great salary for his age!
Back then, ‘the print’ paid well. Everyone bought a paper daily and the work was never ending.
Over the years, he was given more opportunities to progress through the company and worked in a number of different departments. When we met, 10 years ago, he was what they called a ‘Line Operator’. This meant that he spent all day, or all night (as this was a 24/7 plant) watching newspapers running on his line. His main excitement of the shift was when there was a ‘jam-up’ and he was able to get his hands dirty and get fixing the issue. Oh how the long Summer nights just FLEW by!!

Not long after we moved in together, he was offered the opportunity to move to a different department to train as a Supervisor!
We were over the moon and I was SO proud of him! By this point we were engaged too so the increased salary was really going to be useful in paying towards our wedding!

As he got into the swing of the role, he really started to grasp it and was receiving great feedback! He was working long 12 hour day shifts and working every other weekend but it was all going to be worth it. Then, out of nowhere, he was asked to move onto nights…… Permanently! It wasn’t much fun – for either of us really. We lived in a one bedroom flat so as he was getting into bed at 7am, I had to keep quiet or go out until he was awake (understandably).

It was ok but after almost a year, it started to get a little tense between us. I saw a transformation in my man which meant he was becoming quite grumpy, short tempered and generally a bit of a grot! Not only that, our lovely home wasn’t getting the TLC it deserved either because I couldn’t crack on with the things that needed doing for worrying that I’d wake him. Now, I know our other halves all have their moments but we were getting to the point where we didn’t have as many of the nice moments together as we used to. Not to mention that I worked Mon-Fri whereas he worked throughout the week and every other weekend. Our time together was limited.

It wasn’t a bed of roses anyway but regardless of the grumps, we still loved each other very much and knew that it wouldn’t be for ever…..

By this point we were married and after a couple of years of marriage, my Mr was moved back on to days! It was the BEST news I’d heard in a VERY long time!
We were so excited and realised that the gritting of our teeth had been worth it.

Not long after this, we discovered I was expecting our first baby. Everything was falling in to place and all we needed now was to move to a bigger home….. We managed to rent a little 2 bed Victorian Terrace just a couple of months before our little boy arrived.

We lived in our house for a year and a half before an opportunity arose for us to buy our dream home in a little village 25 miles from where we were. We LEAPT at the chance and could hardly believe it when we had the keys in our hand! It literally was like a dream come true (and let me just take a moment to remind you that dreams really can be a reality! You just have to keep believing and visualising your wish. The Universe will crack on with the rest for you.)

I think we had lived in our lovely little house for about six months when suddenly, we were given the news that Hubby was being given a forced promotion…… On to nights! No choice whatsoever! Take it, or clear off! So, new mortgage, a baby and we had no choice, he had to take it.

That was the worst situation we’ve been in.
The transformation of my Mr from happy, fun and pleasant to exhausted, unhappy and frustrated was almost instant.
It was like a merry go round and we passed like ships in the night. He left for work at 4pm, I got home at 6pm. He came home from work at 7:30am, I left for work at 8:15am! It was relentless.
Not only this but I’m a bit of a tyrant and after moving in, wanted nothing more than to put our stamp on our home but in the FOUR days we spent together a month, he was so tired or we were visiting family, that nothing got done!

We were in a rut! And we were being snappy with each other over the most insignificant things! I think one day we had an argument over a pair of shoes being left in the kitchen….. That was impressive! I’m sure my poor neighbours must have thought a fishwife had moved in next door!!
But still, regardless of all the strains, we kept going and remained a team.

This was actually one of the biggest reasons that I chose to join Team Sequoia in a network marketing venture. I wanted a second income stream to help get him out of his work and into something else but also to allow me to build a business that would give us more time together as a family! It was just the right time and an easy type of business to manage as all I need to do is buy my shopping through a different website to the norm! Nothing to sell and nothing taxing to take any of the precious time we had together, away! Perfect!!

 

Then last year, it all changed. We made the decision together that enough was enough and Hubby requested voluntary redundancy. After 20 years and far too many permanent nights, it was time for us to make a change and do what was right for us as a family!
Not only that, but the transformation of the newspaper market was a massive decline as everyone just read the news on their little hand held pieces of brilliance! The Internet was slowly finishing the newspaper industry and we wanted to be in control of when he left rather than having it sprung on us! So – he went for it!

By now he was the Publishing Manager of the night Shift and as such, it took 10 months from asking to leave until actually walking away!
It’s quite apt this evening that the word of the day is Transformation because I only posted a status on my personal Facebook account last night with the following:

“My new husband is just like the one I remember from a few years ago but with a few upgrades :)’

It’s fair to say, the transformation I have seen in my fella been astronomical and instant. He’s happy, relaxed, grateful and just, well, pretty perfect really ….(shhhhhhh, don’t tell him).

It’s fab having my husband back, it’s better than fab having company in the evening but with every gain must come some loss and my biggest sense of loss is the control I had over the remote! RIP Netflix – it’s been emotional xxx

Lots of Love,

Vicki

XxxxX

Awkward Account of a Coffee Shimmered, Crappy Crimped Childhood

Childhood…… Such a short but magical thing! Being a child must be awesome! I wouldn’t know though because I really can’t remember!!! You only get 12 years of life as a child…. At thirteen you reach your teenage years and after 6 years there you’re suddenly into adulthood! What happened??? Did I BLINK???? I already see it in my own child. He was only born yesterday but in September he starts school and I feel like I’ve missed so much. I know that with Lifetree World as my business venture, I will be able to stay at home more soon but his childhood really is flying before my very eyes!

One minute they’re babies then suddenly they’re classed as a toddler, then a child!! It’s strange though how clicking over to that next birthday year can make such huge and sudden changes! A friend recently told me that they went on holiday to Cyprus with their two adorable children. Their youngest had her second birthday while away on holiday. On the flight out there at a year and 11 1/2 months old she was able to sit on her mummy’s lap with a lap belt but on the way home, the cabin crew FLATLY refused to allow their now two year old to sit on the parents lap and she HAD to sit in her own seat. They stated that they would not be taking off until their little girl was sat and would stay sitting in the seat! How does the difference of a day or two into your second birthday suddenly make your child mature enough to understand the rules of air travel???? HellOOOOO?? Cue a minor melt down of a newly celebrated two year old and two very stressed parents who just wanted the flight to be over….. They should offer you vodka on an IV in situations like that!!

It’s crazy today though, because you see all these children who should be out enjoying their short and precious childhoods (before mortgages, council tax bills and petrol prices) on their bikes, playing Curby, football or manhunt (my personal fave) when instead they have their heads down facing a screen and reading about it all instead! I’m convinced we will move into an generation of adults with upper back deformities or troubles due to their posture. I’m also genuinely concerned that the return of rickets is probable….. But I’m just a woman who’s sitting at home looking at her smartphone screen and typing away about it with my thumbs which are probably heading for early arthritis as a result!

My point is, childhood is so short and the expectation we have on children as well as the pressure put on them via all the social media and media channels is a sad and vicious circle. You never see 12 year old girls with too much pink Barbie lipstick, blue mascara, a half up, half down crimped hairstyle and a really awful wardrobe anymore…. The awkwardness of that age is gone! They put me to shame! At 12, I was wearing my Coffee shimmer lippy, crimped my hair (badly), wore a (BADLY) co-ordinated shell suit and was CONVINCED my ‘Nicks’ trainers were Nikes!! I was the epitome of awkward! Nowadays, instead of making me feel better about my childhood blunders, all these little girls now look like perfectly pruned supermodels with a pout that Kate Moss would be proud of….. Even young lads with more brand names on their day to day clothing than I have owned in my whole life!!

Kids!! Be kids! Please!? Enjoy your childhood for what it is because you have forever to be an adult. Play knock-up-Ginger, pinch your mum’s favourite lippy for the under 18’s disco and for goodness sake, please go through an awkward stage! Your parents REALLY need some photographic evidence to embarrass you with on your 18th birthday (because believe it or not, that’s a standard life requirement) and I REALLY need to feel better about MY awkward 12 year old self!

Lots of love, Vicki XxxxX
Daily Post Prompt Challenge:  Childhood

The Sky is NOT the Limit!

Daily Post Prompt – Sky

How many times have you heard the phrase ‘The sky is the limit!’? My life is plagued with memories of people advising me on my life and finishing the conversation with ‘The sky’s the limit! Just go for it!’ Heck! I’ve even found myself saying it to other people!!! It’s like the ‘go-to’ piece of advice if you’re trying to encourage someone in their moment of uncertainty.

When I first heard the phrase I would have been quite small. Probably five or six. The sky, at that age seemed just a slight tree climb away. A mere reach out of my bedroom window. Anything must have been possible if you only had to aim for a little patch of blue…. (Or grey, going on recent ‘skies’) But suddenly I was a thirty something mum of one and the sky seemed so vast!

It’s not just the distance to which you need to reach either but the sheer enormity of the amount of sky!! Where do you start? It suddenly seems like such an open phrase. One of mocking and teasing. A bit like being five again with your older brother or sister holding your favourite toy way above their head. You jump, climb, clamber but no matter how hard you reach, that toy is just a mile away! That’s how this sky instantly felt!

When I was eight I decided my dream would be to become a Musical Theatre Performer. We had no extra money for me to attend any dance or theatre classes but back then, it didn’t matter! It was what I wanted and nothing was going to stop me! That sky was not even a leap away…. All I needed was a little more height and I would be able to grab it. I reckoned that about my 12 year old height ought to do it! As I started senior school I took part in all the shows and joined the after school drama club. I did everything and more that I could physically get involved in. There was nothing else I wanted in life by 16 than to either be on stage, or make it as a famous actor! I couldn’t imagine that any part of my future involved anything other than treading the boards! I worked hard on my GCSE’s and got great results but going onto A-Levels was a much bigger challenge. I tried for almost a school year to put my all into it but I just felt like I was being shoehorned into completing these exams to please everyone around me as opposed to doing what really made my soul sing!

I discovered my local college ran a recognised Performing Arts qualification and decided I HAD to get on that course. I auditioned and fortunately, as I already had my GCSE results, I got an unconditional acceptance. I was over the moon! The sky had just fallen into my hands! This was IT!

The course was two years and I LOVED it! Doing what I loved most gave me some purpose and being around people who had chosen the same course meant everyone wanted to be there as opposed to being at school and just sticking it out because your mates were there!

Once I finished my course though, I was a little lost. I didn’t know what to do next. We didn’t have the Internet at home then so I couldn’t search for advice or guidance from the World Wide Web! I had to rely on me!

I ended up doing a season as a holiday park entertainer. It was hard work and the people I worked with were really unkind and spiteful. I loved the rehearsing and performing side but the rest of the time I was just unhappy.

Suddenly the sky that was in the palm of my hands was being batted away by this group of people and their nasty ways and comments. My confidence was sapped and insecurities took it’s place.

Moving forward almost 15 years and apart from some Amateur Dramatic performances and way too much karaoke, I haven’t performed again.

It felt for some time that I had failed. I hadn’t reached the sky after all. What a let down! What a waster! All that opportunity and I blew it. Then one evening, (quite recently) I was letting the dog out before bed. While I waited for her, I looked up into the night sky. Something I have always loved to do. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and the universe was aglow in all it’s glory right above my head. My mind wandered and thoughts came and went when all of a sudden it hit me. I’d done it! I’d reached the sky! Right there in front of me was my very own little piece of sky – all mine! And the reason it suddenly felt that I had the sky back in the palm of my hands was because seeing the sky as my limit was so restricting! Spending all my life looking up to something that everyone and anyone could behold when right here, right now I have my own little piece of sky! Right here in my little home with my precious little family and our fluffy little fur-baby, my Lifetree World business and just our ‘things’ around us. I had never felt so fulfilled and it was no one else’s to take from me nor for them to aim for – all mine.

Suggesting to people that the sky is the limit isn’t a bad thing. It’s great to have aims, but often the biggest sense of achievement comes from knowing that actually, we already have our very own piece of sky right in the palm of our hands – it just happens that sometimes you have to go through a few things and wait a while until you can actually feel it xxx.

Happy Friday everyone. Life is a journey, not a destination – enjoy it xxxx

Love from, Vicki XxxxX

Fulfilling your Purpose

Daily Post Prompt Purpose

Ever wondered what your actual purpose on earth is? I mean do you feel like you’ve found your true calling in life? If you have, how long did it actually take you to find it?

I can honestly say after 42 years and much to-ing and fro-ing I finally think I have found my true purpose in life and will soon be in a good financial position to concentrate solely on that thanks to my Lifetree World business!

By 28 I was a single mum working 42 hours a weeks in a factory, standing facing a machine, printing around 5000 washing machine dials a day, going home, cleaning the mess my children had made after being spoilt by Grandma all day and, finally, when they were in bed, getting a well deserved shower and putting my feet up. I actually never thought I would get anywhere with anything or be in any position to help anyone. (Well apart from helping them control the temperature of their washes so the colour didn’t run).Days, weeks, months repeated over and over. Surely this was not what I was meant to do?

Fast forward a few years later and, after marrying and having a third daughter I unfortunately lost my Dad to the dreaded C. When you lose someone so close it surely does make you re-evaluate where you’re going in life. I thought long and hard and started training to be a teacher, that would be a fab career where I get to help others. Along the way I became a Special Needs Support Assistant to a very lovely little boy with autism. I loved that time of my life, I just knew I was doing what I was meant to be doing. He loved to have a laugh, he loved to act out plays with me, he loved to paint with me.

All good things come to an end though and he grew and went on to a primary school that had their own support assistants. Gutted is not the word, you develop such a strong bond with children when you work with them 1 to 1. I’m still in touch with his mum who sends me regular updates and he’s doing so well at primary, I feel so proud!

So that’s what I want to do, make a difference to children who need that extra support. I am a portrait artist and sell commissions alongside my day job teaching in a high school and my home business LTW. I am about to finish my degree in childcare and have become totally disillusioned with the education system due to finance and results being the main focus of our UK government, the children who  need us most are becoming lost in the system.

So what is it I want to do? My goal is to one day open up an art therapy group that is totally free for all children with extra needs. I know it WILL happen one day, my Dad will be proud of me, I will be proud of me and most of all, I will be fulfilling my purpose.

The future’s bright, it’s covered in paint!

Love Sharon xx

 

Faith Restored

Angry

ANGRY!!!……I wonder how many of you have felt like that today?!

 

ANGRY at the alarm clock rudely awakening you on the one day you can have a lay in!

ANGRY at the rubbish your teenage kids seem to leave scattered in their room, despite a bin being placed strategically next to their bed!

ANGRY at the fact the parcel you have been waiting all day for appears miraculously the next day……when you are OUT!

ANGRY at the driver who decides that the coolest place to now park is entirely on the pavement, blocking it completely and proving yet again that having a brain clearly isn’t a requirement these days!

ANGRY that you just sit down for a cuppa and slice of cake you have been looking forward to all day and the doorbell goes!

I think you get the drift!

I wonder how many of you let all these niggles build up slowly until you are like a volcano ready to erupt!!!!

Well not me! Not anymore! I choose to not let these things bother me anymore, after all most of it occurs due to this little thing called ‘SODS LAW!’

Since joining Lifetree World I have been learning a thing or two about positive thinking you see and I have a saying and that is ‘Everything happens for a reason’. So no matter what life throws at you there will be a greater reason for events then you yet realise.

Take my first mlm company for example I truly felt I had failed as I seemed to struggle with sales, with finding time that it needed, with chasing orders & money……I began to feel angry with myself for investing so much with little reward……. however, what I didn’t realise at the time was this path was actually leading me towards a job role that would be perfect!

You see because of my first mlm I crossed paths with my wonderful mentor Claire Dixon and when I noticed one of her posts mentioning a revolutionary network marketing company that involved no selling, time that I felt I could spare and no chasing orders or money I jumped at the chance! Finally, I could see that there was a reason for it all! Needless to say I joined Lifetree World and haven’t looked back since.

It really does just go to show that when you are feeling angry about something it could just be possible that something better is coming your way, you just need to have that faith!

All my love

Emma x

 

Lacking in Inspiration

Blank

How apt that the word of today should be blank.  Why is that you might say, well I usually have a lot to say for myself but when it comes to blogging I seem to draw a blank most of the time – even with help.

 

I wonder what it is about me that’s different and why I seem to struggle?  Other people I know can literally disappear for half an hour or so (Emma, Sharon, Vicki to name a few – consider yourself named and shamed but in a good way lol) and come back with a great piece that’s easy to read, interesting and funny at times yet here I am sat looking at my laptop quite literally drawing a blank again.

Is it because I don’t have a creative bone in my body. I wouldn’t consider myself creative in anyway shape or form really, well apart from being creative on the dancefloor :o) but not sure if that counts ….

They say if you’re drawing a blank or having a hard time to draw something it’s because you haven’t studied the subject enough …

Seems I must ‘study’ life a bit harder then maybe ?!

Lots of love

Jo xxx

Pictures courtesy of tukru.vampiresushi, Brainless Tales & Picture Quotes,

 

Keep Moving in an Orderly Fashion

Orderly

Never one to follow rules I have always been the rebel, the black sheep. I was always top of the class for knowledge at school but when it came to rules? By heck, I was constantly in bother.

I remember the lining up ritual in the playground, “Keep moving in an orderly fashion!” Mrs Hiley used to shout. (We used to call her Mrs Highly Dangerous because you really needed to avoid her blackboard rubber when she threw it at you!) Of course, me being me, I never walked in any sort of orderly fashion and my ear was usually found pinched between a teacher’s finger and thumb as they dragged me to line up.

Thing is though, is it necessarily a bad thing to not follow the crowd? Should we constantly be lemmings following leaders off the edge of cliffs to our demise? Or should we actually encourage people to think critically? To question things? I mean, what sort of world would we have if we all just went along with what we were told? Nothing would change and the ones who want to dictate would continue dictating while we nodded our consent.

Anyway, I am proud to do things that aren’t classed as the norm, to not follow the usual 9-5 grind, which is probably why I decided to become a network marketer with Lifetree World. I love doing my own thing and getting results MY way, nobody elses, mine!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a very ethical person and wouldn’t break rules just for the fun of it. I work well within my team as we all work to our own strengths but I’m not dictated to, I choose what I do, as do my team mates. We’re all equal, all different, yet all equal. That’s what makes for a great team, we all have something different to bring to the table!

So, am I ashamed of not moving along in an orderly fashion? Am I heck, I move in whichever way my heart takes me and enjoy every minute.

All my love,

Sharon x

(Featured image courtesy of techrepublic.com)

No U-TURNS allowed

Fork

Here I am again …. It seems that I have come to yet another fork in the road when it comes to my career – for my friends this probably won’t come as a surprise however I didn’t see this one coming quite so soon.

There is nothing that demoralises me more than feeling ineffective – in fact that’s why I left my last job. I was really excited about that job – I actually thought I could make a difference in the role I was in for a government agency because the job looked amazing …. on paper. The reality however was on the other end of the spectrum …. It went something like this – I was tasked, I investigated, I found evidence and put it forward for a team to ‘visit’. I would say 9 times out of 10 when it came down to it due to policies, laws and the system itself I didn’t actually make a damn difference at all …. I might have caused disruption – minimal at best. I just couldn’t see the point – I was paying nearly £4000 a year for a season ticket, being subjected to really stressful, unpredictable and jam-packed train journeys to achieve diddly squat.

The irony in all this for me was that on the day I was told that I was one of the top ‘performing’ officers and had received a bonus was the day that I handed my notice in.

So roll on a year later and here I am in my current role for a utility company – officially titled a Customer Liaison Officer however in reality I knock on people’s doors chasing money owed. The job itself is alright – I’m out and about all day, speaking to people, obviously everyone is not pleased to see me but on the whole …

So I found out on Thursday that the company is introducing a more secure payment line which in principle obviously is the way forward. I don’t want anybody’s card information to be vulnerable. Having now received the training and understanding the system, what it actually means for me is that I have effectively had my hands tied. I will no longer be in a position to bring money in for the company and help out our customers which is the crux of my job. You’re probably wondering what I mean by helping customers as in essence I’m chasing them for money – I don’t take the hard line with anybody even if they have a history of debt with the company. I’m there to help find a way forward for both them and the company. With this approach I have managed to form a working relationship with numerous customers who I have weekly and monthly arrangements with – I ring them as we have agreed and take the card payment. Now this may sound like molly coddling them however these customers are ones that have asked me for help as they struggle with managing their money and would rather be accountable to someone rather than be given a paypoint card which in their words would probably be shoved into a drawer and forgotten about. I even had one lady say to me just this week how our arrangement has reduced the amount of stress she feels as she knows it’s being taken care of. All this work has gone out the window now as I will no longer be able to process any of these regular card payments on behalf of my customers now due to the way the payment is actually processed. The responsibility is back on their shoulders and yes I know it should be as the should be bill payer … The reality is that they will be back in that cycle of not paying, amassing more debt and possible county court judgements being issued.

So here I am at yet another fork in my career path the burning question is what do I do now – do I jump aboard that rollercoaster ride of applying for jobs and interviews, focusing hours of my time on my cv and said applications or do I sit tight and concentrate on building up my multi-level-marketing business which is my ticket out of the daily grind….

Lots of love

Jo