The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be. – Anne Frank

Have you ever heard the phrase “stay in your own lane”? The illustration I’ve heard that accompanies that phrase is that of a swimming competition. As a swimmer the moment that your mind, your vision, your body starts veering over to another lane is the moment you’ve lost the race.

If you could choose one aspect of yourself to shape the rest of your life, which one would you choose? Probably not self-doubt.

Here we are again, third lockdown, this one more serious than the rest. I don’t know about you, but my anxiety was at its highest over the holidays and into January. What a relief we are now in February!

Once upon a time...ah, the start to our beloved fairy tales. Stories that teach us how to dream, how to be brave, how to persevere and what to build our houses with (bricks of course). But what about the stories we make up, the stories we create in our minds to make sense of the world? Sometimes created unconsciously, these stories can influence our actions and beliefs for years to come.

On an 80s movie binge a few months back, we rented the film Working Girl, a Cinderella tale of class and gender struggles in the cutthroat financial world of Wall Street. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I have to say that it surprised me.

I don’t know about you, but I’m impatient. I have trouble learning an instrument because I find it tedious to work on the basics. I want to get right in and start with a song. And I don’t want to play it poorly, I want to start at the level of a virtuoso, I want to be an instantaneous expert. It’s taken me a very long time to learn that it just doesn’t work that way.

So, if you can, claim some space and time today. Design it into your life. Get a little distance from the have-tos (they’re going to feel really pressing and you might think to yourself ….