Month: July 2016

Onwards and Upwards No. 35

Hello my healing team,

I hope this update finds you well.

This week I went to Perth to deliver my presentation to a fantastic group of work colleagues and friends.  The process has me on planes and in hotels and takes me away from home for a few days.  I reflect on why I leave home to deliver these presentations. Further, why do I write blogs, do podcasts and engage the way that I do??  In most of these undertakings, I am just talking about myself. But to what end??

You would be forgiven for suggesting that it was only to feed my own narcissistic needs. Whilst I certainly get a lot out of the experience, there is more to it than narcissism.  In sharing like I do, I choose to make myself vulnerable, so l don’t think it is just all about me.  I think I have experienced a lot, and especially of the past few years, I have learnt a lot.  On this basis, I think I have something to share.  I try hard not to push my ideas and ideals onto anyone else. More, I want to share what I’m learning because for the most part, I think it is worthwhile.  I share hoping that through my experiences, you may reflect on you, looking for an improved outcome.

When I write and present, I try to be honest and authentic. I make myself vulnerable to those who read and listen.  In doing so, I hope to target that vulnerable place in your heart. That place where all facades are dropped and all pretences are put aside. It is at that moment that you are listening to what I am saying, and honestly reflecting on things you can do to improve your life outcome for yourself and for those around you.  It is at that point, when we are both vulnerable, that the decision for real change can and will occur. It is at that point that the benefits for you, me and those around us will materialise.

There is a big upside to vulnerability. Embrace it with me.

Take care

Geoff

Onwards and Upwards No. 33

Hello my healing team,

I hope this update finds you well.

It has been a while since I posted my last update. The main reason for the gap is that I really haven’t had too much to report relating to my health and I haven’t felt inclined to update you just for the sake of it. I tend not to write unless I have something authentic to share. My last bone marrow biopsy was in May, and since this time, I am assuming that my cancer has been simmering away in the background, doing what it does, all the while I am getting on and doing what I do. To be honest, I don’t give a crap what the cancer is doing at the moment. I am too busy having fun.

My focus for the last month has been on living!! I have worked hard and I have played hard with some rest in between. Sarah, Riley, Georgia and I have taken a much deserved holiday. We have been lucky enough to come to Bali, sharing the experience with one of my high school buddies and his family. It has been an amazing cultural experience, and a very relaxing one too. We stayed in the busy town of Seminyak where the beach, bars, shops and markets are most prominent. Now we are enjoying Ubud, a slower more relaxed mountainous region where good food and pampering is a priority. Next is Nusa Lembongan where I understand that relaxation and beach activities will be on the cards. They have a dive spot there where you dive with Manta Rays!! It’s a bucket list item ready to be struck off the list. What I have appreciated the most is that I have actually slowed to the point where I can stop and appreciate the look and smell of flowers. I am grateful to have the opportunity to stop, enjoy, appreciate and absorb the many fantastic sights, sounds, smells and experiences.

Whilst I am busy living life, I am proud to say that I have starved my cancer of my attention. Cancer will always be a voice in my mind, but recently I have banished it. Exiled to being a tiny little voice with little influence over my day to day contentment. I appreciate that as it grows, the voice may become more prominent, but for now, I am listening to the sweet music of my own voices playing in my mind as opposed to the a obnoxious beat of the cancer drum.

What are the voices playing in your mind? Are they obnoxious and stress building, or harmonious and mind expanding? You do have control over the voices that gain prominence in your head. You just have to choose which to listen to and act accordingly.

Take care

Geoff