Just a Thought

Monday is blog writing day. It's raining and the house is quiet. Heaven. Scrolling through topics without finding one that 'pops', I venture out between showers to walk the dog in the hope of finding inspiration. Sitting back down at my computer, all I can think about is food. Suddenly, a thought 'clocks' me right between the eyes. 'Write about that!' Yes. The power of thoughts. Pass the chocolate torte!

It's true, we follow the direction of our most dominate thoughts. In this case, my most dominate thought is food because I just exercised and it's nearly lunch time. One swift move over to Big Mama and it's remedied. (Big Mama is still doing a stella job keeping our vegetables crisp and our ice cream rock hard - BTW.)

If, for some reason things haven't worked out the way you expected, that's not to say they won't work out at all. The worst thing you can do is to allow negative thoughts to influence and dictate your decisions. Doubt is the biggest road block on the planet. A few episodes of Survivor and you're bound to see someone sowing little seeds of doubt into another player's mind, in the hope of unsettling them enough to gain the upper hand. I'm serious. Doubt and Fear are the insurgent twins. If you let them have free run of your mind, they'll leave you curled up in the foetal position (metaphorically speaking), firmly convinced you're a failure. Get up! You're not finished yet.

It's not a failure unless you concede defeat.

I once wrote a manuscript for a motivational book. It took an entire year of fitting in writing around raising two young children. It was the biggest project I'd undertaken and completed. It gave me a huge sense of satisfaction in finishing it but that's not where I saw it ending. I sent it away for appraisal and what came back was twelve pages of harsh and mostly unhelpful criticism. I read the scathing comments in three installments through tear-filled eyes, then dumped the whole manuscript in my desk drawer and forced myself to forget about it for two years. It seemed like a complete waste of my time.

We live and learn.

I thought that if I was determined enough it would happen. Nobody wanted that manuscript published more than me. What I didn't understand then, was that good things grow over time. Now, ten years later and ready to re-write the whole manuscript, I have a fresh excitement. It's a new era and I'm so glad I didn't try and force something to happen. That's not to say I stopped writing altogether. Taking the one, solid piece of good advice from the appraiser (minus all the emotion caused by his other comments), I pulled the manuscript out of the drawer in 2003 and selected nine quotes and made them into bookmarks. The light bulb moment that birthed a poem, that sparked the book, I made into fridge magnets.

A delay is okay.

During that development process I learned much about business, about life and about myself. All of that helped get me into a business course for mothers with a business idea, which empowered me to see it really could work. With a new support crew and a whole world of opportunity, new life has been breathed into a ten year old dream. So, where will your thoughts lead you? Is it possible, the best is yet to come? I think so!

copyright 2010 Philippa Vette

Worth the Wait

When the delivery man knocked on my door, my heart leaped. "It's here, it's here!" I hollered, zig zagging through the house. Even a quick status update on Facebook announced to the world something thrilling was about to happen.


Gingerly, the delivery guy and his mate, sweat pulsating from every pore, manoeuvered our beauty up the steps and through the house setting her down to rest next to the pantry. What a sight! All 700 litres of Big Mama side by side refrigerator. I almost had a 'moment' but our bonding was crudely interrupted by a barrage of questions about our old and somewhat dysfunctional and much smaller, refigerator. I glanced over my shoulder to see the 'old girl' being wheeled away and asked myself how I felt about our fridge of fifteen years disappearing out the door and on to another life as a beer fridge. The answer caught me by surprise.


'Don't look back!' I immediately turned back to what was in front of me and a ripple of excitement ricocheted through my body. Big Mama was gorgeous. At over a metre wide, adorned in shiny stainless steel, she was possibly big enough to fit the whole family on a really hot summer's day.

One thing was for sure, no more manual defrost, chipping away ice and letting the kids hurl chunks of it over the balcony, while the dog darted across to each piece to taste-lick it in case it contained anything that resembled food. I'd have to come up with a new pass-time.


With one good decision, a wad of cash and an on-time delivery my life just got a little bit easier. Not only was there room to store all our cold food groceries but I could save money by buying meat in bulk and pre-make entire meals for when I was home late. That sound you hear, is my frustration level plumeting.


Big Mama has taught me that there is no value in clinging onto old things simply because they are familar, whether it be a job, negative relationship or destructive old habits. It's time to turn around and look at what is in front of us, embrace it and move on into something better. No more mourning over the past, it only makes us set up residence back there and cause us to miss the joy of today and the hope and excitement of what tomorrow may bring. And it just goes to show that in this frantic, drive thru-paced life, some things are definitely worth the wait.

copyright 2010 Philippa Vette