"Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow." (Douglas Pagels)

Live your life now, not just on holiday

Holidays are great! They're an opportunity to try new experiences, wake up in a new environment, meet new people and to take a break from our everyday lives. 

On the dance holiday in Ibiza recently, I told a friend I forget the rest of the world when I dance. She pointed out she finds her true self when she dances. Our holiday experience is unique to us - we find our true selves when we go on holiday.

We are so good to ourselves on holiday. We listen to ourselves, we nurture our souls, our bodies. Even those people who go out partying all night, because they sleep late the next day and take their time to rest, to recover and recharge. They honour their bodies, and their own needs, which are individual to each of us.

What I loved about the Ibiza holiday was that it was all-inclusive, someone else provided the food and organised the dance classes and freestyles. For a week, all I had to do was turn up. And even though I was there as part of a large group, I was still able to carve out alone-time for myself for a little while every day, whether that was spending time on the beach or dozing by the pool.

Because everything was organised, I was able to really relax, and just go with the flow. I was able to listen to my instincts, to eat, sleep and do whatever felt right in that moment, even if that meant finishing off every single meal with a slice of watermelon. 

On her holiday in Grenada, my friend Zoe discovered she really likes essential oil burners with essence of Jasmine. She has recently bought these for herself, to incorporate them into her everyday life, so that she can recreate that holiday feeling.

This is the true joy of going on holiday - we come back with new eyes, new rituals for our everyday life and maybe even a new haircut!

And with time, we realise that we can't wait until our holidays to do that - because real life is every day!

How many times have we wanted to just be a tourist in our own home town?

Which colour of the rainbow will you slide down to today? 

Purlgirl

xx

“Sometimes when learning comes before experience it doesn't make sense right away.” Richard David Bach

Learning through teaching

Delegating and teaching new people - the best way to realise how much you know and to discover new and quicker ways of doing things. 

Those we instruct teach us as well. It's only when we show someone else how to do something that has become second nature that we realise how fast we do it, and realise that we aren't a beginner any more. 

Sometimes we are so focussed on catching up with the people who are ahead of us, that we don't realise how far we have come. It's only when we understand that we need to pause, and step back, to walk back and guide someone who is just starting the same journey that we can see the distance we have travelled. 

New people look at things differently; they see the same circumstances that we have become accustomed to through fresh eyes. Once we stand in their shoes, we can see the path from their point of view, and when we walk the path alongside them, we may see how we have been taking the long way round. If we are open to doing things differently, we may find that they can show us how we can do better. 

"While we teach, we learn" said the Roman philosopher, Seneca. While we teach, we realise what we need to learn through teaching. It goes both ways: the student teaches the master just as much as the master teaches the student. And everyone learns differently and at a different pace, so we can learn something new from each person we teach. This can open up a whole new perspective on our experiences. 

This is a wonderful idea and we should be open to hearing their thoughts, and listening to their ideas, because we never know what new insights we may gain. 

How can we learn if we don't open ourselves up? 

Purlgirl xx