it's nearly December!

I love December. I like the Christmas lights that people display in and around their houses. I love the Christmas break having time to rest and reflect on the year that is so nearly past.
I love making the cake and pudding and decorating the tree. I don't get caught up in the commercial side.
I love the cosy nights in and the walks in the crisp cool air.
Every season has its joys and taking time to appreciate the things that change around you is very beneficial. I really love writing in the winter, sitting indoors cosy and warm listening to the wind whistling outside as I type.
A lot of people have the chance to meet up with friends and family in December. It is also a great time of year to curl up with a good book!

Spreading our message.

There are far more good people than bad. I see evidence of this everywhere I go. When violent atrocities occur it can be difficult to remember this. I had my book launch yesterday. It was a lovely experience for me to be surrounded by wonderful friends and many bought copies of my book. One ex pupil even bought a copy to give to his English teacher on Monday!
Later in the evening my 95 year old Gran phoned to say how happy she is that I dedicated the book to her and she is getting all her Bridge friends to buy copies 👍
This has made me realise what we do and say really affects other people. We are not powerless. We all have an enormous capacity to do good and make a positive difference in the world.The small things are really the big things and love and kindness will always win through over hate and intolerance.💐

Book Launch!

I have just come back from Hythe Tea Rooms where I held my book launch for '100 Free Ways To Happier Days!' It was so lovely to see friends and colleagues there and we all had fun.
I am in the process of writing 3 more books which I am going to publish freely here on this blog.
One book will be for parents/carers, another for teenagers and the other for teachers as I would like to be able to encourage as many people to follow their dreams as possible because that is how we are meant to live!
My current book is available visa Balboa Press and amazon and some excerpts from this book have been published on this blog.
If you know anyone who you think may benefit from trying new ways to achieve happiness please encourage them to pop by and have a look at the blog. Thanks for your help!

Karl Pilkington, Greg James, Radio 1 and happiness.

I drove home listening to Greg James on Radio 1 and to my delight Karl Pilkington dropped in. He always makes me laugh and his quotes are classic.
Today's was so true, "Would you be happy if it all ended tomorrow? I think that everybody should think about that now if you are driving in your car. Are you happy? have you enjoyed your lot? If you haven't, stop whingeing and do something about it.''

Wise words indeed!

http://bbc.in/1OtIUTL

A lovely rainbow and a beautiful moon!

I saw a wonderful rainbow today. The photo doesn't do justice to it. I love rainbows. I take them as a positive sign.
I drove home from work in the dark and couldn't fail to notice a beautiful, huge moon set low in the sky.
I got home and took Ollie out for a walk and the stars were twinkling.
As I walked past the lake the birds were making all sorts of fabulous noises.
What a great day.

Everything is amazing!

Ok I know we sometimes mess things up as a species but look at the things we can do. I was driving home and was suddenly struck by how incredible the car is. For less than £1,000 I bought a car which now transports me miles every day.
I drove a bit further and my thoughts turned to roads. Our roads may have some potholes but designing, creating and maintaining the road system is quite a remarkable feat too.
 I got home, walked my dog in the dark and looked up at the sky and suddenly thought of all the rockets that have gone into space. Wow!
We can fly planes, dive deep into the ocean and can even  perform intricate operations using key-hole surgery.
We can send a text and in seconds and our message can be reached thousands of miles away.
If I want to read a Facebook message that is written in another language I hit the translate button.
There are so many incredible people who have had ideas and stuck with those ideas, never giving up until their dreams became reality.
The radio, is amazing, light-bulbs are amazing. The list is virtually endless.
Here's to all those brilliant innovative minds, the ones we know about, the ones we don't know about and those who we are yet to learn about!

back to my writing

I have my book launch for '100 Free ways To Happier Days!' on Saturday and I am really looking forward to it.
I am very happy with the positive reviews that I have been receiving and now it is time for me to sit down in earnest and get writing my next piece.
I am currently working on '100 Free ways...for parents' and '100 Free Ways for teens.'
I will be posting them on this blog and it is my aim that they are accessible to as many people as possible so I will not be charging for them.
I will be relying on my family, friends and readers of this blog to let people know of the posts if they feel that they are helpful.
Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement that you have given me so far!