...and then there was commercialised love!

But it doesn't matter because love is love and Valentine's Day, however commencialised it is, it wonderfully romantic when a bunch of flowers comes knocking on your door with a message of love.

All the past nagging about business making their money on people's emotions vapourises into thin air when roses lure you with their gorgous scent and beautiful, bobbing heads, lulling you with their innocence and fragile fragrance.

The special thought on a romantic day is all it takes to forget about the times apart, the moments of insecurity, the misunderstood words, the reasons, the waiting, the thoughts just disappear and drown in the sea of love and total understanding.

So - once more, the Monday blog has shifted into a blog of love but isn't that enthralling in itself. Love is not just for Valentine's Day, love is for the now and exists in the moment - even when I had a different thought in mind!

We can laugh, dance, sing and play! and all of these activities make us more susceptible to love and all it holds in store for us. The unconditional surrender to something that is a bit bigger than the 'bigger picture' we often try to fathom.

A Little Chocolate Love

The special instance between two people - the moment in time and space where none of these dimensions exist, soul mates, soul sisters, soul brothers...

That is all we are, souls among the myriads of quantum particles. Soul to soul.

Be love!

You may hurt sometimes but the multitude of pleasures completely outweigh any pain in any relationship - that is, of course, in my opinion. I never grow out of letting myself submerge in total surrender to love and to my 'one and only' because how can you talk about unconditional love if you cannot embrace it yourself.

Besides, any hurt is only created by the reasons, meaning, drama and stories we make up to justify being 'wronged', the thought of 'I'll NEVER open my heart again' or 'I won't let go fully because then I have nothing more to give' or other really (in my opinion) STUPID ways of holding back on something so precious to share.

No tip or trick or trap this week just a warm and unconditional wish of all the most wonderful things in life for you and you loved ones!

Be alive in life - and love will grow.
...or love and you will be alive in life!
Love really is all there is. Honestly!

Rock, paper, scissors?

There is a story to this picture...

In a world where achievements and hard work still measure high on the scale of success it can be hard to be a single parent. There are so many tasks to juggle and a household to manage all alone and things may seem to pile up to unimaginable hights where it is all about work, work, work whether in the workplace or at home, socialising or shopping.

[eeerrrrkkkk] That is a brake sound btw...

You are absolutely right if you think that is not Lotte's words! I rarely use negative words and when I do, it is only to make a point - which is approaching...

Here we go!

Yes, it can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be tough and hard! And, yes, I have been through all the words in the dictionary describing the challenges and negatives of being all aloneeeeeee.

Stop for a moment if you are indulging in the downside of being a single mum or single dad or just single, and think about all the positives! You may need to search your mind or you may be reminded the minute you read the words - STOP! and think.

This blog post does not only relate to single parents but also to people who feel lonely being without a partner or for any other reason feel lonely.

The only place there is loneliness is in our own minds and it is driven by our egos and the should-be's and should-have's!

You may think that is a bit harsh but just try and chew on it for a moment and really indulge and taste what it actually means to you. Then imagine if you had it all there, companionship and everything you dream of, then there would be no sense of feeling lost and lonely.

Guess what!? It really is right there, in yourself, when you let your ego along with how things should be in order for you to feel complete and not so alone - then, in that space, you are complete!

We are totally complete in ourselves.

It doesn't mean there won't be challenges and things to get through, but finding the peace inside is what makes everything else doable, achievable and overcomeable. There is ALWAYS a choice.

Sometimes other people will try and get the better of you but when you know your own strength and your inner place of peace then these people will slowly become fewer and you will surround yourself with like-minded people. Hold on to the hardship and I guarantee you that you will have a crowd of followers who are ready to support you in how tough it is!

Lots of people say to me something like 'it's easy for you because you're always so happy' - - - - - oh, really? I'll repeat myself: There is ALWAYS a choice!

Being a mum by myself with wonderful friends who know about love and passion as well as going the extra mile is fantastic.

They have positive outlooks and we help and share whatever needs sorting - and I feel blessed that I have such amazing support, I hope they know it works both ways.

Furthermore, I run my own business and that is a huge blessing in terms of flexibility to accommodate young peoples' self-centered needs and requirements (said in the most loving of ways) and I know that this is not an option for all single-ists but for me it is a true blessing and a choice I made a long time ago. However, there is more to it than just being flexible when you run a business.

This is not an attempt to glorify myself, all I'm saying is that there are choices of how we are in our lives - whether we are running everything on our own or have a partner to share it with. And of course some of us are blessed with uplifting relationships, love and a supportive family but loneliness is not always about being alone.

It is all about resourcefulness and knowing there is something more important at stake - that it is not always and not only about you! Keep looking at yourself and it's all you will ever see. Step away from the mirror or hardship or impossibilities and...

So what will it be? Rock, paper, scissors?

Unicorns are real!

There are few things better than stepping into the sunlight after a good night's sleep, knowing it is a day off to wander about and re-discover the world...

...that was how Sunday started.

It is about letting bewonderment touch our lives and I will make it a short one today - with a smile on my face when thinking about the hidden (or hiding) wonders.

When we stop believing in new days, adventure and magic we stop believing in our dreams and our childhood heroes, present visions and aspirations.

Looking at the rainbow and wondering if this one actually has an end and if there is a leprechaun there with a pot of gold and miracles - well, even if you think I am away with the faeries, you have to admit that it is fun to play with what was true in childhood.

We even tell these stories to our children - that is why they live on - and that is why they are real!

Unicorns, fairies, rainbows, leprechauns, and love at first sight - perhaps they are not visible to the naked eye but they are all real in the world of positive.

Whenever we make a shooting star wish, when we turn the coin the right side for the next person to get a bit of luck, when we wish for the best for everyone - that's our little bit of magic which makes all other fairytales true.

I am not saying to live in a dream world, but merely to strive for the best and most magical in every moment. Imagination and feet firmly on the ground along with a positive attitude can move mountains and build castles. I believe it is important to maintain a playfulness that allows us to imagine our world as we want it to be because that is the path to making a difference.

Perhaps your unicorns are called something else in your life but let's face it our actions sprinkled with a a little hope, joy, perseverance and love is a receipe for miracles in real life.

You feel it when you live it - the moment, the magical now where life happens!

May the wisdom of thousands and thousands of years of mystery guide your footsteps now and forever.

Love.

Keys, phone, purse.

Super Carla from 1960s Denmark

Mostly being an extraordinary person with superpowers such as laughter, compassion, joy, love and fun sets me free and releases me from fears and worries.

However, when the snow arrived I discovered that even I  am just a normal person - what a revelation and relief .

I dropped my keys in the snow when it had only just fallen and was lovely, white and fluffy. The irony of it is that I dropped when somewhere on my driveway and you would think that the quest to find them would be quite simple, e.g. bend down and pick up.

Nooo no no no no - it wasn't that simple at all. My keys had vanished when I dropped them in the pursuit of opening the gate while kicking away snow to allow the gate a few extra inches of movement. Perhaps I kicked the snow and pushed the gate too hard and my keys flew out of my hand.

Well, in any case I panicked after the short search in the natural perimeter and I spent a good hour searching, thinking of all the inconvenient things that would happen while I to wait for spring when the snow would melt away.

Panicking didn't help, breathe, breathe, breathe, left-over panick, breathe, breathe, breathe, discover keys in untouched snow, they had just slipped into the snow without leaving a mark - phew, was I happy to find them? Don't even ask!

It did make me think of my triggers for upsets. There aren't that many, honestly, and I can easily snap out of it very quickly.

Besides - what is the worst thing that could happen?

When you ask that question things fall into the proper perspective and life is in fact quite nice even with missing keys, the people in the phone will be there even when the phone is not, the content of the purse is merely symbolic plastic that can be replaced - so what is the big deal?!

Inconvenience is all it is - to me, that is.

I was reminded of my superpowers last week, when I received a message from my teenager. In  her English Litterature class they had been writing a small poem about a person that inspires them and along with her two friends they wrote a poem about me. A touching moment where I realised that there is so much more to be said for the impact each of us have on each other, and our families, friends, peers etc.

There is nothing you cannot overcome when you have superpowers for the good and graciousness of other people.  Being a Laughter Ambassador and Teacher is all about serving the highest good of other people and in this process set aside what is not important as well as be gentle with the self.

We live in a materialistic world but even this is on the change movement, more and more people are on a journey to discover what is truly important and I feel blessed, chuffed, touched, moved and inspired as well as grateful to be allowed onto your path!

We constantly rediscover laughter in so many places and although laughter may not be all in life,  laughter can certainly help enhacing our experience of the magical moments and miracles as we let our guards down and remove our worries, fears and inhibitions.

Thank you from a fairly normal extraordinary person to another!

Soulmates?

Soulmates - are they real? or are they merely figments of our imagination caused by that longing for something and someone special to complete us and in essence make love make sense?

And in all fairness, does it really matter when you meet the one you feel your life is incomplete without? It may happen many times because of striving for happiness in your mind instead of living in the moment with your heart on display. That fleeting moment of feeling happy before wanting more, losing sight of why we were together.

I don't know about you but any relationship I have ever entered into has always been with the thought that it would never end. I always believed that special person was exactly my opposite and therefore we were whole. However, sometimes things don't work out that way and people end up being a less great match than when they first met - people and relationships change. You may add 'sadly so', but is it in fact sad that people split to create a greater match?

Love was at Glastonbury Tor

Soulmates, then? What exactly defines a soulmate?

There are all sorts of spiritual definitions and in various books they exist and in some they don't but isn't a soulmate 'just' someone who connects with you on such a deep level that everything in relationships suddenly makes sense?

Or are we trying to define ourselves out of being happy in the relationship we have because 'it doesn't quite feel as if it's all there'...??? Then what? Does it even matter - when there is a level of satisfaction and happiness that keeps the bonds strong and firmly tied together?

Was the concept of 'soulmates' created by Coca Cola to lead us into another addiction - for perfection?

Not to worry - these are all just rhetorical questions, for me at least. I believe in love! I believe in soulmates! I believe in the beauty of all relationships based on true connection.

One area in life where you cannot fake it, fake it, until you make it.

I am a hopeless romantic and I firmly believe there is someone for each of us and that we, as human beings in this day and age, are not meant to spend our life alone.

However, so much truth in Robin Williams' words:

I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up alone, it's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people that make you feel alone.

So when you are with the one that gives meaning to all that didn't stack up before it is great to be together. Perhaps you have felt it more than once and maybe there is more than one soulmate in each of our lives, soulmates, soulsisters, soulbrothers - they all make sense those close ones.

Just my opinion, though, and I am lucky to have experienced so many different facets of love to know that the one I have in my life is real, and he is lucky, too.

I salute you lovers and soulmates who made it the first time! And I salute the rest of us for being persistent enough to never stop believing!

With love always!

The Frozen Coffee Experience

Frappucino, iced coffee, orange mamba latte, creamy island coffee, cappuchino on the rocks, coffee cooler, mocha smoothie and so on...

Paying dollars, euros, pounds and pennies for frozen drinks when all you need to do is turn your heating system off and let the environment do the rest. It is surprising how fast a coffee cools down when the heat is off in winter.

Coming back from a week of amazing training of the Laughter Yoga Teacher Training programme. A journey through the un-noticed corners of the self and a space for allowing the personal development realm to unfold. Wow, you may think it's all about Laughter Yoga - and it is!

But it is s.o m.u.c.h m.o.r.e.

The 5-day Laughter Yoga Teacher Training is more than just three days longer than the 2-day Laughter Yoga Leader Training - you could almost say it is a lifetime longer!

On a total high of endorphins and other great chemical reactions coming back to a stone-cold house with no heating or hot water. One can argue that a scream of dismay would be a great reaction but with laughter bubbling inside and memories still warm and fuzzy it is not the first choice of outburst on the radar. However, the challenge of no heat in the British winter is one to sort no matter the frame of mind...and preferrably most urgently!

Typing on the keyboard with gloves on, wearing coat, hat and boots is an idea for spending the day but in all fairness, the less favourite one in my book.

Now, after having warmth develop into the coldness of the house I can sit back and think about the freezing experience, that ended on Saturday afternoon, and start a heart-warming exploration of the many blessings the thought brings up.

All the things I often take for granted are in essence great and magical things in life that not all inhabitants of this Earth can experience on a daily basis, not even on a regularity that for me seems natural in my world.

I my heart and mind I wish for my blessings in life to extend and reach out to those who are in need and could do with some of them - perhaps even more than me.

Warming my hands of a nice hot cuppa this Monday morning I feel a deep sense of thankfulness and gratitude towards life and all its wonders.

Thank you!

Lollipops!

They come in all sizes, shapes and flavours, don't they?

Smiley Lollipop by 'Nightingales' in Bourne

My favourite lollipop provides me with the flavoursome opportunity of smiling! It rests on my window sill for me to smile at everytime I look out the window which I do when I contemplate things, ideas as well as philosophise a bit on life, the Universe and everything - as if to find inspiration from the world outside.

'Find inspiration from the world outside'? Isn't that where it comes from - sometimes?

Except sometimes inspiration strikes from within whether you meditate or don't meditate. A thought is all it takes, a moment of stillness is all it takes, a reflection or a view - inspiration comes in all sizes, shapes and flavours, as well a feelings, emotions and breaths.

• Inspire - breathe in - mind processing...
• Expire - breathe out - world processing...

Expire in this context (or in my mind) does not mean 'coming to the end of the lifetime'. In this line of thought it is about sharing the inspired moment, the in-breath, with the world, expressing the idea and bringing it to life outside the personal mind.

So, lollipops, eh? Great to accompany thinking.

I like the lemon flavours but I don't dislike the other flavours, and isn't that what life is also about?

Not disliking things because they don't comply with your taste, but instead being open-minded about the possibility of someone else being compatible with that personally-disliked-object/subject-of-your-attention...

I believe it is but it is easy to judge instead of seeing what's possible and available through experiencing something different.

Yeah, lollipops takes you around a lot of thinking thoughts in their many sizes, shapes and flavours...

Just like ideas and people!