"FUIMUS - We Have Been"

"FUIMUS - We Have Been!" motto of Clan Bruce


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Sunday 20 November 2016

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Angel Luck and Blessings

http://www.bellakotak.com 
I have been pondering on luck a lot just recently and wondering what makes one person seemingly blessed with good luck and another seemingly cursed with bad luck?  I do believe that a lot of it is down to attitude, but the fact remains that bad things do happen to good people.  Take the recent tram crash in London - all those people were doing is heading off to work as usual when bad luck struck them down.  It is unfair and tragic and it makes us question the fragile fabric of life.  

For me luck is largely a matter of what you focus on the most. In the realm of magic, like attracts like, so if you concentrate on how unlucky you are then you are effectively magnetising misfortune your way.  Changing your thinking to a more positive mindset isn't always easy, because to begin with, you will still be dealing with the misfortune you have already attracted. It is hard to be optimistic in the face of ill-fortune and unlucky events but that is exactly how you turn things around.

I have always believed that I am protected and guided by a higher force; if something bad happens then it is designed to teach me something, or make me even stronger and more resilient.  I try to trust that my path will be smoothed out for me and that, so long as I put the effort in and work hard to reach my goals, I can achieve whatever I set my mind to.  This kind of methodical achievement is often referred to as luck and I do feel very fortunate to have ticked off so many life goals. 

But that doesn't mean that I don't have bad days, or that I have never felt let down - I do and I have.  Sometimes I wonder if my luck might run out, but deep down I believe that luck and blessings are not a finite resource.  There is always plenty to go around for all of us to share and enjoy. 

A lot of it is about recognising an opportunity and I must admit that in recent years, I haven't always been great at this.  People who have been betrayed in the past sometimes look for trickery where there is only opportunity and I have certainly been guilty of this myself!  I am trying to be more watchful for opportunities as they come about, so that I can grab them with both hands.

Sometimes it is our fears that get in the way of good luck.  A lucky chance might present itself to you, only to be turned away because it has triggered fear or anxiety.  How many young starlets have run away from opportunity when stage fright struck?  The idea of success can be just as fear inducing as the idea of failure, and both fears can block out the lucky breaks.  

I tend to keep the good fortune flowing into my life with a few witchy tricks.  When I feel weighed down, I do a bit of decluttering and have a clear out. When I feel misfortune is sweeping in I do a cleansing ritual in my home to banish negativity.  When it is my attitude that is becoming negative I re-read my favourite self-help books to boost my positivity.  I try to focus on all the good things in my life right now by writing out a gratitude list of five things each day.  Once I have made the changes I need to make personally and at home, then I cast my focus to the wider world.

I like to cast a quick lucky angel spell by lighting a tealight and saying a few words of blessing.  I do this daily. This activates the threefold law, which states what you send out you get back times three, so it is a great way to draw good fortune your way, at the same time as putting some much needed love and light out into the universe for those who need it most. Let the angels take your blessing where they will.  Then keep your eyes peeled for the threefold return to bring lucky blessings your way. 

Magic doesn't have to be complex to be effective.  Blessed be!

Wednesday 9 November 2016

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Study Fatigue

Just another few months to go...

It is a chilly morning and the first snow of winter is falling as I write.  I have a Yankee Snowflake Cookie candle burning, which is one of my favourites for this time of year.  I love its warm, sweet scent, like Christmas baking.  

I'm trying to shake off a chest infection and just lately it feels like I have had one bug after another, which has left me feeling drained and tired. Apparently Study Fatigue is a real thing and a lot of students do get it when they are coming to the end of a long period of learning.  The cure as always is 'plenty of rest' but that is a luxury I can't afford as I have too much to do for my course.

I have just 30 classes left, which sounds like a lot, but to me it feels surreal that in just a few months I will have finished all my academic training and I will be a Psychotherapist.  I will have a whole new profession as a back up to my writing and as another string to my writing bow.  I can't help wondering "How did I get here?" because it seems like no time at all since I embarked on a Level 1 taster course - and now I'm just 30 lectures from the finish line of qualification!

I have 6 essays to write this academic year too, so each holiday will be taken up with that.  Again, this means that I won't have any real down-time to rest, so the fatigue will only get worse, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and I just need to press ahead.

I am also coming to the end of my additional training course with Cruse Bereavement Care.  I have just one full day of training left on that and then I will have a grief counselling qualification too.  It has been a really interesting course and I'm very glad I did it. I know it will be a valuable life skill to have. 

Soldiers say that the training is always the hardest part of any mission and that they just want to get out there and get on with the job. I am starting to understand what they mean.  After years in the classroom learning, practising skills and writing essays on the theory of  psychotherapy and how to apply different counselling models etc,  I feel now that I just want to get out into the field and help my clients. I feel ready to start putting what I know to some practical use and to reaping the benefits of my training. 

So 30 classes to go - of course I'm counting them down! - and then I will be free of college and night classes and essays and portfolio building and presentations...all the hoops will have been jumped and all the boxes ticked off and 4 long years of training will have come to an end.  I will have my freedom again and be ready to spread my wings and fly forwards into my future as a practising counsellor and psychotherapy writer. It feels like a big future!