Stop the Traffik Fondue Party

We received the following email today from Stop The Traffik.com - if you haven't seen this site visit today... it will open your eyes to how children are suffering to bring us our daily fix of chocolate and how easily you can make a difference.

The World's Largest Chocolate Fondue Party
STOP THE TRAFFIK are calling people from all countries around the world to unite during last week of November 2008 to celebrate a mutual love for chocolate while at the same time joining together, sharing the message with friends, family and neighbours, calling for the end of child trafficking in the manufacture of our chocolate. Find out more at http://www.stopthetraffik.org/fondueparty
Together, let's STOP THE TRAFFIK!

Work from home - start your own relaxation practice

With all the uncertainty in the world these days it is nice to know that you are always in control of your own future if you have skills to offer in the marketplace and are not reliant on someone else to be your boss.

At Frangipani House we offer eBooks to help you on the way to establishing your own practice whether it be in a Relaxation Treatment, Hot Stone Massage, Reiki or even helping you along the way to writing your own eBooks to one day publish.

One of our best sellers is our Relaxation Healing Hands eBook. Similar to a Reiki treatment, however, there are no requirements for attunements; simply practice the hands on positions that are described in the eBook to assist in helping others to relax and unwind and thereby assisting in the body's innate healing mechanism.

Even if you don't wish to use your skills to make money, you will be able to help your own family to relax and unwind... and what a wonderful gift to be able to give in our world today.

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Que Sera Sera - Your imagination is your preview of life's attractions.

When I was growing up my mother used to play the Doris Day song Que Sera Sera... I am sure that song must have etched itself into my mind as it played over and over. 'What will be will be'. Well not really, you see your mind has a huge impact on what will be will be... just try it for a while... starting focussing on what you want to happen and then sit back and watch, just relax and let it come into you. Play for a while and experiment... even if it is just a small thing that you focus on... allow your imagination to play and then think of what you want. As Albert Einstein used to say... "Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions".

Are you constantly going to and paying far too much for clairvoyants to tell you your future? Really all you need do if you are wondering what is coming up in your future, is to watch what you are thinking - what you are worrying about, what you spend your time dwelling on, what you are fantasing about, what you are jealous about, what you love, what you admire, what you desire, what ever it is... it's all on it's way to you. The good news is you are in control of your mind... don't like what's showing up in your life? Simply switch your mind onto what you want and imagine again. What you focus on you get more of.

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Dont't Worry About The World Ending

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today,
It's already tomorrow in Australia.
Charles Schulz

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What is Love?

What Is Love?


A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4-to 8-year olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." (Rebecca - age 8 )

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
(Billy - age 4 )

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
(Karl - age 5 )

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
(Chrissy - age 6 )

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
(Terri - age 4 )

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
(Danny - age 7)

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss,"
(Emily - age 8)

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." (Bobby - age 7)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend whom you hate." (Nikka - age 6)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday." (Noelle - age 7)

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
(Tommy - age 6)

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." (Cindy - age 8)

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." (Clare - age 6)

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
(Elaine-age 5)

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
(Chris - age 7)

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." (Mary Ann - age 4)

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." (Lauren - age 4)

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
(Karen - age 7)

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." (Mark - age 6)

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
(Jessica - age 8)

And the final one to melt anybody's heart: Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next door neighbor
was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."


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How To Be Happy - Make Up Your Mind

As I was having my morning cuppa and checking my emails,
I noticed this one that I thought you may like to read...

How to Be Happy
=================

The 92-year-old petite, well-poised and proud lady,
who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock,
with her hair fashionably fixed and makeup perfectly applied
even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move
necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the
nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she manouvered her walker to the elevator,
I provided a visual description of her tiny room,
including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.
"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old
having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room... just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the
furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind."

"I've already decided to love it.
It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up.
I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that
no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones
that do.

Each day is a gift and as long as my eyes open,
I'll focus on the new day
and all the happy memories I've stored away
just for this time in my life."

"Old age is like a bank account.
You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness
in the bank account of memories."

"Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank.
I am still depositing."

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

~Author Unknown~

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Take time out

Take some time out to relax and unwind today.

"The cure for anything is salt water -
sweat, tears, or the sea." Isak Dinesen

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St Therese's Prayer

St Therese's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

---

Isn't this a beautiful prayer? It was by St Therese of Liseux. St Therese was known for her small acts. Seemingly small acts can make a huge difference in anther's life. The little flower a child brings to a parent, the offer being there to listen or simply letting someone in front of you at the checkout... You may never know what one small act of kindness can do for another.

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Do you like Chocolate? Then be an Angel...

I don't know about you, but I love Chocolate. However, only just recently I found out that thousands of people have been sold into slavery to produce it for me to eat. Now that kind of took the fun out of my Chocolate bar. Call me slow, but I didn't know. Now I am not really a betting kinda gal, but I sort of thought that if I didn't know that there are also lots and lots of other people out there who don't know either.

So I am asking you to do something... I am asking you to go to the www.stopthetraffik.org website to sign a petition that is going to the UNITED NATIONS to abolish the slave trade.

12,000 children - 12 thousand children have been traffiked into slavery to produce chocolate... 12 thousand children are working on Africa's Ivory Coast to produce cocoa beans to be made into chocolate... let's get together and stop this... write to your favourite Chocolate company and tell all the friends you can. You see once you find out this sort of thing, chocolate just doesn't taste the same any more. There is Chocolate you can buy that is slave free and it is certified under the Fair Trade logo... the Stop The Traffik site has a lists of stockists where you can buy them.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE... inform everyone you know about this from the stores where you buy chocolate to your local politican... get your emails working... lets work together. Be an Angel to those kids today.

Double Rainbow over Ballina

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. John Muir

Last night was one of those special evenings that you get once in a while... an evening where you feel that you have been aparty to something very, very special... To see these double rainbows last night was quite simply breath catching. The Northern Rivers are such a beautiful place to live and as the quote above says... are places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

This morning I read in my daily calendar... 'the first job God gave humans was to manage and take care of God's 'stuff' on earth'. Moments such as last night reinforce to me how our purpose as humans, is that of caretakers of our earth, and how important it is - that each one of us - take responsiblity to be stewards of this wonderful land we live in.

Daily Calendar Quote from The Purpose Driven Life Daily Calendar 2008

Listening

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk. Doug Larson

How good is it when someone listens to us, really gives us their full attention and actually looks as though they are interested in what we are saying. Especially at times when we really need someone to hear us. Times when we may be going through grief - if you know of someone who has lost another person recently, or not even another person, perhaps they have lost an animal that they held dear to them. Then I ask you to take some time and actually listen to their feelings... you don't actually have to DO anything... just let them know that you are there for them by paying attention, and be caring.

It can really shatter a person when they lose someone. I have read once - I think it was Virginnia Satir who said - that our family system can be likened to a mobile... one of those pretty things that hangs above a baby's cot or out on your veranda. Normally the mobile moves around in a balanced way moving in the wind... but if you were to take one of the pieces out... it sort of clunks around and bangs up against itself. Well our lives are like this... if you take one of the pieces out that makes up our lives, we clunk around a lot. Things can take a while to rebalance, to get used to life without a part. What friends and family can do is offer their support, and I don't mean saying to someone, 'here's 40cents ring lifeline tell someone who cares'.

Take time to sit with that person. Take time to listen. Take time to develop some skills in listening... who knows maybe one day you will need someone to listen to you and just maybe that person you took time to listen to will be there for you.

If you would like to learn some listening skills or have a session where you can talk over issues in your life you can do this at Frangipani House Click here

Painting - another way to keep a diary.

Pot with Indigenous Art by A.L Barlin

The pot in the picture above means a lot to me - it is a pot my father painted. My dad spent a lot of time in Darwin and New Guinea during WW2 and during his quiet times painted and sketched. This is the only piece of his art that I have and it is really precious to me. My dad's pot reflects the time he spent at Katherine Gorge. He told many stories of the min min lights and his time with the local people there. This piece of artwork reminds me of those stories. His words of advice when I wanted to start painting was; 'well do it... don't go to art class, just get some paints and paint'. So I did, and in the process have had lots of fun.

There is a quote by Picasso that says 'painting is just another way of keeping a diary'. I know that the artwork that I have painted reflects my journeys in recent years. I think buying artwork is another way of keeping a diary as well - a piece can really speak to our inner selves as we look at it. Even though it may mean something totally different the buyer than what the artist intended. My artwork shows pictures of homes and Hawaiian women, of prayers and food - I am always fascinated when I listen to what others see in it and how it shows me a glimmer of their inner life.

Art is a wonderful means of expressing yourself, and is a way of journalling too. At frangipani house we offer sessions using art to express yourself in a counselling or life coaching session. You don't need to have experience drawing or painting or doing a collage - you just need the desire to create and express yourself.

To find out more about this process click here

How to Guide: Frangipani House Relaxation Massage

Frangipani House is sharing some of it's secrets to giving a deeply relaxing massage treatment. This eBook shows you how to pamper your family and friends. Massage helps us to connect with one another on a deeply caring and loving basis. Time out helps people to unwind and help restore their inner balance.

To read about the Frangipani Relaxation Massage eBook:
Click Here

Friends - The Chitty Chat eBook

Our experiences with one another formed a patchwork of memories to keep our souls warm and feeling loved

While living in Port Macquarie I was so blessed to have the most wonderful group of friends. Every so often we would get together in one house or another and drink tea and make yummy things to eat and chitty chat. We had such a diverse range of conversations from Argentine Tango to Alcoholics Anonymous to how to Pray or how to create an artwork with your life.

We decided to write an ebook on our tea parties and share with you some of the things we talk about. Writing the ebook together was the most wonderful exercise... it brought us even deeper into our understanding of each other. My beautiful friends are coming up to visit me soon... can't wait for more tea parties and chitty chat.

Bead Angel

While my neice was visiting me last week, we took time to make an angel. We had a lovely time sitting and beading. I just found the angel today sitting on the bookcase and it reminded me of our time together.

Many years ago when I was in Samoa, I drove past some Samoan women in their fales making leis and singing together. I longed to join in with them. But in those days I didn't have the courage to go and ask. It was a longing I brought back with me to Australia and I decided to create a similar gathering with other women in my own life whenever I could.

We have a lot to learn from island culture in our western world.

Stone With Quartz Line

After practising Hot Stone Massage for many years, I learned to appreciate, seemingly ordinary stones, and now stones have never seemed the same. Stones now fascinate me. Stones I wouldn't have given a second glance, now stop me in my tracks. Now I take time to look and may be take a picture, and stand and wonder at them.

I saw the stone in the picture above on the beach at Byron Bay and took this picture. Now that I know how long it takes stones to form, I am amazed to think that just at this point in time it and I are in the same place. You may know how long stones take to form, if not I can tell you that they have been around for a very very long time. Traditions of the Hawaiians and the American Indians say that the stones may be our ancestors. They say that our bodies turn back to the earth once we have passed on and that the dust from the ancestors mix with the earth and become parts of stones like this one.

Does that make you think differently about stones? It made me think differently. As I look at stones now, I think of stories such as this...

How did the quartz get into the place it is right now in the stone?
Do you ever stop and wonder at the things in nature that may seem ordinary?

If you are interested in more information on stones and massage using stones have a look at the:Frangipani House Hot Stone Massage Guide eBook Click Here

Happy New Year - Hau`oli Makahiki Hou

Well it's 2008 - what a lovely rainy New Year we have here. My neice and I have been contemplating goals for 2008. We found some old goals from last year and as I have been working with needs based counselling for a while we decided to set our goals with the human needs as a guide. Humans all have common needs, however, where we differ is how important the individual needs are to each of us.
Here are some ideas...

Security
Food/Water/Clean Air/ Place to live
Variety - Excitement
Love - Relationships - Belonging
Spirituality
Wisdom and Growth
Contribution

What is most important to you at this stage of your life?
What types of goals would you write for each on the list above?

At Frangipani House we can help you clarify and define what it is you would like to create in your life Click Here