It feels strange as the sun shines and the warmth comes through my window to believe that we are so near to the close of the year. I do hope that this newsletter finds you well.
Newlettter, November 2007
Only a few days ago I took a walk around the walled garden at Wallington Hall in Northumberland. I had the pleasure of spending some time with my sister, taking photographs and enjoying the wonderful autumn scenery. This is a picture I took walking through the woods. Aren't the colours amazing?
It will be a rather brief newsletter this month as I am off doing what I enjoy most - having an adventure, travelling to foreign places and spending time with people I am proud to call my American family. It made me think about what we consider our family to be. With that in mind, this month I am writing about family and how we value our own.
Until next month, stay well,
Pauline
Whose Family Is It Anyway?
There are so many concepts of what family means. For every person it will mean something different - and not always the best of associations. I really dislike when my own relatives talk about doing or saying something because "because it's family." It makes me feel as if I have an obligation based on duty rather than love or a duty rather than a choice. And because I see my family in a different way to others.
When we create lasting relationships with people, their family becomes part of our own. Friendships overlap and sometimes we feel the need to stress the emphasis on the importance of people in our lives by making them more than just a friend. How many people out there have "aunties" who were their mother's friends?
Being at ease within our own family is being at ease with ourselves. Whatever you consider your family to be, consider your place in it - the impact that you have on the lives of those you love and the impact they have on you. This is the place where we learn compassion, compromise and community. These are valuable assets to use in our contact with the outside world. The way we support each other within our family is reflected in how we interact with and contribute to the world at large.
Think about what you want to give and receive from the people closest to you. Then consider how that can be translated into making the world a better place. Start by being kind to yourself. Treat yourself the way you want other people to treat you. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Make sure that those you love know they are loved and then take that sense of caring into your community and let it spread from there.
How's Your Goal Setting?
How do you set goals? Are you one of many who have written quite clearly what your goal is and are you working towards achieving it, having worked out the steps you're going to take to get there? Or do you have a vague idea of what you want and feel guilty that you're not following the advice in so many self-help books.
One of the difficulties in goal setting is that your often being given advice from someone who is telling you what works for them. I have real difficulty in working to written goals. I like to change my mind, to experiment and find new ways of getting there or changing the destination. What about you? To find out more, click here
Events in November
We have THREE events taking place in November.
Work Life What?
If you want to discover how to take simple steps to start reclaiming your work - life balance, join us for a FREE 90 minute workshop on 21st November in South Shields
Introduction to Mindfulness
Following the success of the Mindfulness day for Coaches and Trainers, we are pleased to be able to offer further training for personal development, social care and health professionals on the benefits of Mindfulness for yourself and in your work with others. The next date for this training is 28th November
Professional Presentations
If you want to gain the confidence to give presentations to any audience - whether at work, with customers or anywhere, then this one day workshop is a must. Learn the tools and techniques used by professional speakers and performers and make your presentations unforgettable. This workshop will take place on 29th November.
We are also preparing our Spring programme and will keep you informed as new dates and events are added to the calendar.
For more information on these courses visit our events page
Thank you to all our readers
Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who has passed on comments about our newsletter. I am so pleased that you enjoy these artilces. PRF Solutions is a consulting and coaching business offering professional coaching to education and businesses in the UK. Our articles are refective of our ethos of empowering people to get the best from life, work and everything in between.