Tag: dailyprompt

“Every time you make a commitment to your own self-care, self-love and self-respect and then follow through, you build trust in yourself.” Miranda J. Barrett

Self-care is a priority with me. I used to take care of everyone and forgot about me in the long run but these days I realize that self-care is one of the most important thing you can do for yourself and your well-being.

No matter what happens during the day, there is time set aside to take care of the inner me as well as my outer self. Selfish? Absolutely not. It is needed to show up for yourself. No one else is going to do it for you. It can be as simple as a walk in nature which costs nothing but gives so much in return. My mind clears up and I get an energy boost just by being out there taking in what nature has to offer and it is plenty.

Meditation is a go to for stress relief. I spend about 30 minutes a day meditating. Shutting down the mind is a must and in my case, it is an absolute must since mine jumps around like a monkey!

Beauty rituals are another must. The outside needs as much care as the inside so I set aside the weekend for the essentials, or rather what I call the essentials. Facials, skincare, peels, hair masks, and other things that make Chachi, the cat, cringe in disbelief. He thinks I look like the creature from the black lagoon and since he has lived nine lives and one of them being in Cleopatra’s close circle, he understands perfectly well where I’m coming from but still he shakes his head and looks away until I am back to being me sans the mud and stuff plastered on my face and body!

I have many rituals, I won’t go into all of them but self-care has always been a part of my life. I wouldn’t call it being vain but a necessity. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but there are many ways of taking care of yourself. Sometimes I do spend money but I feel that it is money well-spent.

Take care of yourself, put energy and effort into it, because nothing ever happens by itself and in the long run it will be well worth it.

Next question please…..

Daily writing prompt

How do you make time for self-care?

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This is a hard one for me. I’ve lived on three continents, not just for a short while but each of those places were “home” for a certain timespan. It was never that hard to adjust until I came to Germany.

I don’t know why but I had a really hard time with calling it home for some reason. Perhaps it was the closed society, the conservativeness, and most of all the fact that I didn’t speak the language well. I wanted my “FREEDOM” and I wanted to go back home. There it is again. I was feeling like I didn’t belong and “home” was far away from here. It felt like I was visiting but “home” was something else entirely.

Then I left for a short while and went back home. I realized that I was a stranger in my own land having been away for a long time. The trip was coming to an end and I wanted to go HOME! Guess where that was? Back to Germany and when I stepped off that plane and saw my ex waiting for me, I knew I was home! Strange?

I think home is where you feel comfortable, where your soul feels respite, and it is a place where your heart resides. This once strange land with its idiosyncrasies is home now. I don’t question it, I just accept the fact that this is why I lay my head at night, and when I get up in the mornings and stare out the window, I AM HOME!

Daily writing prompt

What’s a place you visited that felt like home?

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Fear has been my constant companion for as long as I can remember. I never make a decision without fear by my side. When I do make that decision whatever it is, you can be sure that fear had a hand in it.

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” Les Brown

This quote speaks to the heart of the matter where I’m concerned. Fear has stopped me from achieving so much more and even though it has kept me from danger, I should have given it a boot out the front door at a much earlier time in my life.

It is still here but it doesn’t have the power it used to have. I still listen when it speaks and I still tow the line before I step forward but these days I’m my own person and I make my own decisions.

“Living with fear stops us taking risks, and if you don’t go out on the branch, you’re never going to get the best fruit.” Sarah Parish

AND

“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” Louis E. Boone

Give fear the attention it deserves but DO NOT let it run your life!

Daily writing prompt

What’s one thing you wish you had started doing earlier in life?

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I really can’t think of any fictional animal to be my lifelong companion. The problem is I have a real companion and that little guy is more than I can handle!

He knows he is loved, cared for, and he also knows that I wouldn’t change him for all the money in the world. Chachi, my little love, is here to stay. So the way I see it, no other fantasy creature or fictional animal can take his place and that’s my answer to this question.

Hopefully tomorrow brings something out of the fictional range.

Daily writing prompt

If you could pick any fictional animal to be your lifelong companion (like a Pokémon or fantasy pet), what would it be?

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I have enough trouble being me so why would I want to switch lives with a fictional character for a week?

My answer to this question is, I choose no one! I’ll stay where I’m at working through what I need to work through without resorting to daydreaming again! The other thing is, it is too early in the morning and I am grumpy in the mornings before my first cup of coffee.

Sounds like a great escape if you need it but I’ll stay where I’m at and that is my answer. GRUMPUS? Blame it on a sleepless night, coffee should help to calm things down. Hoping anyway!

Next question please…..

Daily writing prompt

If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week, who would you choose?

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These two characters from Breaking Bad start out as heroes and transition into villains. However, they are both highly likeable.

Gustavo Fring is a fictional character who uses his chicken restaurants as a front to distribute drugs. He shows extreme professionalism and operates like a corporate executive and add benevolence to that persona and you’ve got a “hero” sort of guy. However, he transitions into the revenge mode when he is consumed by grief at losing a close friend and business partner killed by the cartel. He wages war against the Mexican cartel, but that is understandable. Grief makes you act in certain ways and sometimes revenge plays a part. I like his character even if at times he comes across as the bad guy.

Walter White starts out as a family man who is a cancer- stricken and an underpaid school teacher. Who doesn’t like a teacher? His heart is in the right place and all he wants is to secure financial freedom for his family. Lovable right?

As the series progresses, this mild-mannered man with a brilliant mind transitions into outsmarting ruthless drug lords. However, his ruthless and selfish actions are at times more than bothersome but he wants the best for his family and that makes him a villain worth liking!

Okay, done with this question. Can we make it simpler please? The questions I mean.

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever liked a villain more than the hero? Who and why?

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It is most definitely, The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough. I recall picking it up and when I saw how thick it was, I was ready to put it back down. I wanted easy reads at that time and no long drawn out ones. However, it turned out to be the best book I have ever read and still remains in my memory today.

The book has a total of 692 pages in standard printed editions but could vary between 530 and 708 pages depending on whether it is a paperback, hardcover, or a book edition. That’s a lot of pages but believe me when I say, I breezed through it and couldn’t put it down. I WANTED MORE!

It is a family saga with a love story woven in that will break your heart and it was right down my alley. I love stories especially ones that make you cry and this one did. The romance was doomed from the start and it will span three generations. Meggie, the only daughter, falls for and carries on a lifelong romance with Father Ralph de Bricassart. Heartbreak is the name of the game but diehard romantics, me included, couldn’t care less! It was and still is the best romance novel of all time, in my opinion.

It is also the longest book I’ve ever read but it didn’t seem that way at all. That in itself is a mark of a good book, one that was well-written and captures your imagination and keeps you captivated to the very end.

A great book and one of a kind.

Daily writing prompt

What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

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I learned this lesson the hard way and it took many years to get it right, although I haven’t perfected the art of letting go and especially “letting go” when there is no point in holding on.

Most of us are taught to persevere as if perseverance will get us better. All it does is to prolong the suffering and the heartbreak. I’ve learned that letting go without too much overthinking takes practice and a certain mindset. I have a tendency to hold on even when the ship has set sail and has moved out of sight and still I hold on hoping that it will go a certain distance and TURN BACK! Sometimes, it happens but it never stays for long. The problem is if something doesn’t serve you, it is not going to change no matter how much you want it to.

My best advice to someone younger than me would be to learn to let go gracefully. Don’t fight, don’t wrestle, don’t overthink, don’t wish and hope. If it is not to be, LET IT GO before it’s too late and walk away gracefully. If it’s meant to be, it will come back and if it doesn’t or if he or she doesn’t, it’s their loss.

Learn to perfect the art of letting go because you will learn that throughout life, you will have to let go of many things and to save you some pain and heartache, it is a necessity to do it right to minimize the damage and the hurt.

Daily writing prompt

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

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I grew up on an island and I loved being close to water, I still do. Unfortunately, the little village I call home now does not cater in that respect. It has everything else, peace, quiet, nature, beauty, AND streams but no big bodies of water.

It doesn’t have to be, just a small lake would do. Sometimes when I go walking, I picture a pool of water right there staring back at me but no chance. If I want to see water and spend time there, I would have to drive to the next village and there I will find a river. It is beautiful as it meanders through the village.

My biggest dream is to own a house by the sea. In my mind’s eye, I see a modest house with a white fence around it. I have a thing for fences! It has a small garden going down to the water’s edge and lazy afternoons could be spent there swinging in a hammock! Dreamy? It is to me.

Not a chance of that happening but there is an idiom that goes like this. “Never say never.”

Coming back to your question, yes a body of water would instantly improve the village, but that’s just my opinion.

Daily writing prompt

What’s one thing that would instantly improve your city?

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