One's Mindset... It IS A Powerful Force

John Easterling and Olivia Newton-John, August 2020

This week, whilst looking online on Youtube, I discovered a very interesting interview of the late Olivia Newton-John alongside her husband, John Easterling. 

It is an interview that occurred in August 2020. During the interview, they both share and talk about the power and role of mindset when it comes to one's health and well-being; particularly when dealing with challenging and hard health journeys. 

It was an incredibly interesting interview to watch. I am glad it was something that turned up on my personal Youtube newsfeed recommendation list this past week. 

Olivia Newton-John sadly recently passed away at the age of 73. This 2020 interview video was about her and her personal challenging health journey with cancer, and how she and her family have chosen to deal with it.

Olivia Newton-John was clearly a person that approached the challenging trials life sent her health-wise, in a very admirable and inspiring way. She chose to journey through those very trials in a way that possibly few people automatically choose.... she chose to stay upbeat and positive, no matter what, as best she could.

Mindset is a very powerful force. 

The greatest battle we each personally experience in life is clearly in the mind. Our thoughts totally matter.

I remember reading Joyce Meyer's book, "The Battlefield of the Mind" many years ago. It is a book that is worth having a copy of and it is worth reading again, every so often, to give your thought life and mindset a bit of an occasional self audit. It is a book I personally recommend reading.

What you think, what mindset you uphold and hold fast to, truly affects your day to day experience. Your mindset, be it positive or negative, fixed or open, most definitely does affect your health both in the short term and the long term.  

The human body is truly both a mysterious and wonderful thing. What goes on within the mind also affects and even manifests in the body. We need to be very mindful of our mind and what is is minding!

What you think can affect you mood wise. What you think can affect you chemically. What you think can determine your overall well-being and health. We need to keep checking what is going on with our thinking and therefore the level of calm and peace we are experiencing, both literally and figuratively. 

Worry and concern, anxiety and stress seed as thoughts. They originate and begin within the mind. They go on to literally trigger our focus shifting to fight or flight mechanisms, and those thoughts soon manifest as actual literal chemicals and hormones travelling through our physical body. When those chemicals and hormones become highly concentrated, when they become a source of literal bodily imbalance, they become very unhelpful. They become very detrimental and even toxic on the literal health and well-being front.

Our mindset is incredibly significant and incredibly important on the health and well-being front. We really cannot ignore the connection that exists between our mind, as well as our emotions, and our actual literal physical well-being. One's mindset, one's thought life, is a very powerful force.

I found watching this interview today very worthwhile. It was a source of encouragement, inspiration and most thought provoking information. Here is the link to the video if you would like to watch it also:  John Easterling & Olivia Newton-John Interview, August 2020.

Your mindset. It is a powerful force. It clearly makes a difference what you think and therefore what you tell your body...... because as is shared in the interview, your body is always listening to your mind and thoughts. 

Olivia Newton-John has left a legacy, about the relationship between mindset and well-being, that I personally have learnt so much from this past week. May she truly rest in peace.

Homeschooling: Taking Time-out to Recharge

Motivating, inspiring and guiding little ones everyday through their homeschool journey is wonderful, I wouldn't change my daily experience at all. However, one of the greatest challenges as a full-time home educator and stay at home parent is achieving some time-out.

Being able to step back, disengage and therefore re-energize is very, very challenging. It takes a conscious effort to make it happen and see it happen. Being on-call 24/7 to those that are dependent on me, as both parent and teacher, really is draining, even thought it is a role that I am happy to be in.

It is part of the course, that I experience tiredness and a sense of being drained. It is normal to feel this way, as so many others in a similar position will attest also. We are juggling our own needs against the needs of others, and sometimes we deny ourselves for the greater good. Yet to do so for too long creates such an imbalance, that in the end we are not only doing ourselves a disservice, but those we sacrificed for also.

It is essential to have time-out as a home educator. How an individual achieves this, is something that needs to be negotiated and discussed right from the get go. It is simply not going to work well to have the primary educator burning out to the point that everything falls over.

Time-out to recharge can be achieved in many different ways. For me, I have been thinking more and more lately about how I can achieve a greater balance with this. Reading a book at present tends to make me fall asleep (perhaps the result of sitting still for too long and finally resting!). The thing that actually really energizes me, 'fills the bucket' so to speak, is doing art and craft. So I have made a recent decision to consciously get back into doing some papercrafting and scrapbooking, rather than continually putting it off and saying to myself, "One day I will get back to scrapbooking, etc..."

It is going to take some conscious planning on my part. Even some discipline. I need to apply some discipline and remind myself how important it actually is, to make some regular time to do some papercrafting for my own well-being, and not get continually distracted by everything else that is always demanding my attention.

I need to see my time with scissors, glitter and paper as being just as valuable for the sake of my household as doing regular laundry. I need to keep up self -care and show some greater kindness to myself, by planning in some necessary time-out and distraction; in order to disengage, chill out and re-charge.

Thankfully my other half is very supportive, and sees the need for me to chill out and have time-out time also. A happy wife equals a happy life, is surely true in many a household!

So last evening I took myself off to hunt for some papercrafting and scrapbooking supplies. It was great to simply wander around the stationery aisles at The Warehouse Store and focus on having a really good look at what paper and crafting supplies I could perhaps purchase and use.

On coming home, I set up a container which is going to house all my Christmas themed embellishments, washi tape, ribbons and other glittery and fun scrapbooking supplies. I am excited about being able to enjoy playing with some crafting supplies again!

Time-out to recharge is essential for balance and health. Before the 'silly season' of December kicks in, taking time to re-evaluate just how we are balancing self-care against caring for others is a wise idea.

I am looking forward to having a little glitter and sparkle from pretty paper and ribbons serving my household well.