What would YOU like to do before your next birthday?

DAY 7 and 8....22 days to go until I am 30!! 

Today's question: What would YOU like to do before your next birthday?

The last two days have been fun and blessings! So much happened that I can't even begin to share it with you. Got it all documented on film,  so once I figure out how to  transfer the content from James' camera, you'll be able to see it!
I also finished one of my books today (I hardly finish a book...I start several, but never actually read it from start to finish). But this one I did" The Power of NOW". Wow!Wow!Wow! I still owe you a story that changed my life. It is a story about this book that connected random people at random times in the last 6 months...But today I'd like to share something else with you...
 

What would YOU like to do before your next birthday?

In the last 10 years or so every year on my birthday I wrote a list of things that I wanted to do before my next birthday!

So when I was 28, I set 28 challenges that I wanted to do before I turned 29.  When I was 29, I wrote down 29 things that I wanted to accomplish before becoming 30 and so on. I shared this idea with a lot of my friends and we have been having heaps of fun on the way! We inspire each other with our lists! We swap ideas, we do things together, we do things separately! We laugh, we learn, we explore things about ourselves and about our friendships!

Would you like to join us?
I would LOVE you to say “YES”!

If this is something that excites you, forget the reasons why you wouldn’t do it now and TELL me the reasons why YOU would!
You can do it on your own, but trust me things are more fun when done collectively!

We are all different people, different ages with different backgrounds and goals.Yet, we are all the SAME! 

We all want to be accepted, loved! We have desires and dreams! We all want to live a Happier Life!

I really do believe that LISTS like this (if done with our hearts and not with our egos) can bring positive change into our lives when we need direction. Reading my friends lists has opened my horizons about other people’s priorities at different stage in their lives....

And EVERY list that I read was PERFECT and UNIQUE, because it was about WHO YOU ARE! About WHAT you want!

So stay connected and start your list today and share it with me!

There are some unwritten rules about THE LIST, which I learned in the last 10 years that I’d like to share with you:

1. REALISTIC GOALS: Goals are important, HOWEVER what is MORE important that they are realistic and achievable…No point putting pressure on yourself. After all it is all about the journey, not about the destination.

2. FUN GOALS: Set some FUN goals! Play and laugh! In life nothing is so serious that you can’t laugh about it!

3.  CHANGE/ SWAP/ SHARE/ POSTPONE!

If you change your mind about your list for whatever reason, just do it. It is YOUR list!
If someone else’ idea seems more exciting just DO theirs.
If your list and your friend list has similar challenges just DO IT TOGETHER and share it!
If you couldn’t TICK all the things you have planned, just take it to your next year's birthday list, or just be happy for the ones you have done!

4. NO LIST/ HELP! If you started a list and half way through you realise that you are not a LIST person, that’s ok too! It is ALL about doing what is BEST FOR YOU! Maybe you can help someone else to do theirs.

WITH or WITHOUT lists - enjoy YOUR JOURNEY!

5. LET’S DO IT NOW:

For those of you who would like to do this, this is what I propose:

STEP 1.  Take a look at my list for some ideas and inspiration.

STEP 2. I’d like you to take 10 minutes and write down what would YOU like to do and either post it to THIS blog or e-mail it to me with your and birthday date to tekla@teklasimo.co.uk

STEP 3: I will post ALL lists and we can start sharing, swapping, commenting and doing things together!

We could follow one another’s progress! Support each other when we feel less motivated! We can learn and explore! 

We can become MORE CONNECTED! 

Tekla x

A few ideas from my "27 things that I would love to do before I am 28" list:

1. Celebrate New Year in Madrid (done)

2. Get a payrise (done)

3. Be kind to yourself and others (tried hard)

4. Do something for charity ( done )

5. Make love on the beach (done)

6. Give up chocolate for a month (done)

7. Tell my loved ones how much I care about them ( not often enough)

8. Be more spontaneous ( I have been- still a lot to learn)

9. Dance in the middle of a shopping centre ( done 2 x)

10. Go to 6 gigs ( 4 gigs)

11. Get a  bike (done and now stolen)

12. Find LOVE! (did and I lost it)

13. Make people happy! ( ongoing)

14. Meditate regularly! (done)

15. Learn to cook 5 new dishes ( I guess....)

16. Say "yes" all day for  a day! (yes, yes, yes)

and the list goes on......xx

Day 5 and 6 /30 - 21-22 February 2011, Liverpool

200 hours before flying to Thailand!!! Yuppee!!!

Distance between:

Manchester and Bangkok: 6000 miles (15 hours by plane)
Earth and Moon: 240 miles  (13.5 hours on a space shuttle)

Head and Heart: 18 inches ( For some it takes a lifetime) 

Today I am at peace. I thought nothing really special happened to me  in the last 2 days that is worth sharing as part of my 30 in 30 journey (by special I mean” exciting, stimulating" something that would keep you drawn in to read on...because this is written as much for me as it is for you). Than I realised that not every day has to be special. Sometimes the quiet, "boring" moments are the real special ones and they are equally part of the 30 in 30.

Why would you always live on a high? Why would I want to live a life where everything is controlled by me? Where there is always somewhere to go....something to do..someone to meet...Where I know exactly what happens and how? 

Why not just be?

I traveled very little in my life, yet I consider myself a traveler. I have not traveled around the world, yet I have traveled the world within myself. I do believe that the biggest journey of One’s life is the journey within! 

Mine started  nearly 16 years ago, when I picked up a pen and wrote the first page of my journal. Since then I have never stopped. Hundreds of pages that hold all my habits, dramas, thoughts and joys...love stories...struggles...evolving, growing and loving!

My journey from head to heart

I found and lost myself through LOVE again and again and again...  mum use to tell me: "Tekla, some people wait for a lifetime and not find the love you have found with your partners". So on those days when I don't know what to write to you I will share my love stories. The ones that made me feel alive and lost at the same time...the ones that life is worth living....

Reaction button. I set up a new reaction button under each post. Please take a moment and click on it and let me know whether you found my post:

1. interesting 2. cool 3. funny (these were the only options) or just leave any comment or your own strory as I am excited to hear you.....thank you x

DAY 3 & 4/30

19^th-20^th February - Saturday and Sunday

Eskimos never gamble!

The weekend was perfect. 
I have not laughed this much in my entire life!  Chester has a new comedy club! Mhairi an Giles invited us and I am so glad we went: Nick, Louise and I. The stalker, the public transport’s agony was all forgotten in seconds.  The night was world class! Highly recommend it - remarkable comedians, amateur bartenders and dishy bouncers. 

We ended up in Cruise and after 10 Moscow Mules, a nap between dances – a cheeky McDonalds and a short sleep, I felt more alive and more happy than I have been for a while.

I met a French director. 
His appetite for passion made my skin fizz….his eyes followed me everywhere….I enjoyed it!

I danced a lot this weekend…in bed, on the streets, in Cruise... I fell in love again with Louis Armstrong and Gipsy King…..their music moved my body and soul in different ways! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEB6bX35aHk

I had a dream about two avalanches. I was scared looking at the meaning of the dream. I knew it will be something negative. Yet I overcame my fear and went into Waterstones after the cinema and read the dream dictionary.

Avalanche: Good fortune of an astonishing nature will soon befall you.

I could feel it. My time is coming! A new door is opening! The thought made me shout out loud: “ Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! “ -  in the middle of Waterstones. Nobody looked! Nobody cared! Yet I was happy!  I know it was only a dream, but it was my dream and I believed in it!

Full Moon

2 days ago I went for  a midnight walk. It was me and the Full Moon.

In less than a month I will be having another midnight walk. Me, the full Moon and another 20,000 people from all around the world at the Full Moon Beach Party in Thailand.

It will be one day after my birthday!
One day after my Smaller Earth volunteering project ends and one day after 30 in 3o journey!

What a fab way to celebrate my 30 in 30 ride! x

 

DAY 2/30

POOL AND BOYS!
18^th February - 29 days until I am 30 years old.

I woke up in an empty bed with an empty heart in someone else’s house. I missed my bed. I missed the morning whisper in my ears. I missed home.

I missed my piano. (My 1940’s Seeger, which was a Christmas gift from James a few years ago. I remember thinking “I am either getting a ring or a car”.  I didn’t get a car or a ring, but James knew exactly what my soul needed: music! )

I miss my piano……
Oh, I love just stepping out of bed…half naked…half asleep….still dizzy from dreams....and letting my fingers find the music….music to find my heart.

I miss the things that I own, the things that I know.

Sometimes the unknown frightens me!

I need to get out! Out from the house! Out from my thoughts! Dress up!  Close the door behind me and go for a run.
Just me and the wind....

I still find mornings hard.
I usually have EO (Emotional Overflow) for breakfast with a cup of hot milk. Tears come down my face. Thoughts form the past! Plastic poisoned passion pierced with paralysed pity. Purged by pride! Predictably possessive & perfectly pretty.

I started running.....I found myself in a park with 7 goal posts…. and I knew that I have arrived ….I started jumping form one goal post to the other. It took me a while until I could just hang and sway….Slightly embarrassed,  but too excited to care, I found myself doing cartwheels on an empty road….Oh, I felt wonderful and free! My prayers were heard! Joy embraced me!

Today is about me.Today is about you!

I am not selfish. I am self loving. It is a huge difference and luckily I recognised it.  I knew I wanted to write my blog, but had no energy for it. 

I knew that I had two parties to attend, but the first one turned out so good, that I never went to the other one. In life we make choices. Make them with your heart, not with your head.

The sun kissed the fool moon. The night was glowing...I was glowing! I really wanted to play pool. I was happy to go on my own, yet everyone was happy to join me…so we all went. I love games! I am competitive, but its more about the game then winning. It really is. (Yes Steve, it is).

I played for hours with Mike, Steve, Jack, Kevin ( a guy from Austria) than Achim and Dino (two guys from Algeria, who lived in Paris and now live in Liverpool). I had an amazing time. I felt happy, sexy, free. No make up. A pair of jeans, converse, a cotton top....my favourite leather bracelet and my pearl necklace and my new found "playful me" that I thought I have lost. 

I felt 4 minutes guilt for not attending the other party. I felt 3 minutes guilt of not doing my blog. I felt 5 hours of pleasure finally doing what I wanted in the moment. Play!

Do the things you love. Choose with your heart! x

DAY 1/30

17th February 2011, Liverpool

1.37 am

I am excited about what today brings!

I had some plans on how I would like to "structure" each day. Than after hours of struggle,hundreds of words that are nothing else but signpost,  I gave up and LET GO of how things should be!

Yes, I'd love to (and I will) share techniques,books, music, meditations, people and stories that I have been absorbing in the last few months when my heart collapsed and I felt lost....

But what is the point? Right now I have to listen to my heart and body and so do you! Just listen to what feels right! The message is so clear if you listen carefully!

How can we enjoy the journey of NOW, if all we are doing in the present is planning the next steps in the future? 

This IS the journey...and I cannot wait to wake up in the morning and start living it...until than I will be the dream! x

Around lunch time:

I few weeks ago I asked my mother to describe me in 3 words when I was 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years old. Than I asked her the question for which I did not want to hear the answer. "Mum! How would you describe me now that I am getting closer to 30?" Her words crushed me, not only because they were true, but because I felt like I failed...

She said I was LOST, BROKEN, BURNT OUT! 

I knew I had 30 days to change that! To accept it and slowly move on.  Each day is a journey with challenges and blessings. Right now I am still pretty low and vulnerable without direction! So all I can do is not force things and take a leap into the unknown...And LOOK what I have found...

Smaller Earth Office 

17.25

Just reared the lines above....ha ha...Structure structure structure and contradictions....Why do we do that? Surround ourselves with walls? Same routines day after day, so we can feel safe. From what? The amazing unknown?  I don't want to feel safe. Right now I just want to be at the bottom of the ocean where is darkness.....and I want to find the pearls....I want to look for them, search with fear and excitement not knowing what I find....

I want to be a child again! I feel like growing up too fast. I just want to be silly and STOP putting pressure on myself! I want to run with arms wide open against the wind. I want to make no sense( i think I am scoring high on that right now:)

If you feel the same, stop now! No more lists, no more goals! Just BE for a while, cause this IS it!

Today I met another amazing woman through Kim Laycock! 

She was one of today's gifts. She was there all this time, but I was only ready to open "her" now.  Her exhibition is called " OPEN to CHANGE". How very fitting.

I smiled and opened the door to someone's journey... "Mmmm....Others are searching too :) "

SIGNS...
BE PROUD!

There is a palm tree in the "Open to Change" exhibition with stones underneath it from "Buddha Land, Lake Districts". Each stone has a word on it. I closed my eyes and I chose one: FREEDOM.

I wanted to pick another one, so I closed my eyes again : PROUD. 

Than I wanted another one, so I asked Kim to pick one for me! 

She closed her eyes and picked one: PROUD! And another one: PROUD!!! Again:)

Hundreds of stones to choose from, yet my word was obvious. The sign was very clear: PROUD!

Be proud of who you are!

Be proud of you soul!

Be proud of your mind and body!

Not over confident, not arrogant, just healthily proud!

GRATITUDE JOURNAL:

Thank you Joe Green for sharing your story about your charity cycle trip in Goa and Vietnam! Thank you for lending me your camera and for sharing your music and for transferring my stuff. Thank you for making today's small challenges into effortless blessings.

Thank you Mike Peters for making my hot water!

Thank you for Naomi "Splash" Turner for reminding me of that summer camp. I think i would love to go there!

Thank you Jo Heuston for the pen drive!

Thank you for Sandi for filming what meant to be a 5 minutes video and ended up 46 minutes.

Thank you Kim Ryan for listening and sharing! Thank you for the  knowledge and acceptance...Thank you for making me smile...

Thank you Kim Laycock for introducing me to such wonderful souls....Thank you for wanting to take me to Buddha Land!

Thank you for just being there and listening!

Ps. I woke up disturbed! Did 2 meditations! My heart was heavy! I booked my flight to Thailand! Finished most paperwork! The days is almost over. It is full moon shortly and right now i am happy. I am doing exactly what I want. Life is funny! Nothing can be so bad that we cannot laugh!

What are your blessings today?

OPEN TO CHANGE
This exhibition is the result of some hard work and determination in a quest to live a happier life! Its content has been created by members of Mary Seacole House, a multi-cultural mental health day center based in Liverpool.

Guided and inspired by Kim Ryan, an artists and holistic therapist, the group began a creative journey through various activities using methods and techniques specifically designed to help change the mindset, such as art, aromatherapy, meditation, crafts, creative writing and photography....

Many of the group overcame their mental obstacles and issues, feelings they carried with them all day, every day such as" I can't, I can't be bothered, I am not good enough, I have nothing to say....and went on to create the work you see on the expedition...

30 in 30

30 days until I am 30

The purpose of this journey is the journey itself, not the destination! 

Day 1:     Starts on the 17th February 2011, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Day 30:   Ends on the 18th March 2011 , Ao Luk, Thailand

I will travel lightly with only a few goals, which I will share or might even change on the way.....I am excited about letting go of my fears, habits, egotism and open up the gifts of NOW without expectations!

PS. I'd really love you to join me on this spiritual journey and be my travel partner for a day, a week or for the whole 30 days!

LET'S MAKE TIME TO DREAM, EXPLORE, LOVE, LIVE AND LAUGH TOGETHER! 

Tekla x