“Aware of your surroundings”.  The environments that you allow yourself to be in will shape your thoughts and how you feel. If you continue to be in a supportive environment, you will become a supportive person, equally if you are regularly in a destructive environment, you will start to become destructive.

“I’m out of time”, we have all probably said this or heard others say it. Time is a resource that we decide on how to use it best. This being the case, why do we end up running out of it?

It’s only an illusion. You don’t need to go to a magic show to see an illusion, you just need to look at your phone or take a walk down the street. Daily our minds are filled with images that are filtered, touched up, or graphically imposed to make us think something else about what we believe and are actually seeing

Faster is not always better; We can become easily deceived by the notion that the main route to a destination is the fastest way to get to where we are going. Often it isn’t, because it is conditional on a lot of other factors like too much traffic, road works or bad weather. Life can feel the same sometimes.

Going from light to dark; In the moment that you walk from a well-lit room into the dark, there is a period where you will find it really hard to see anything, this is until your eyes start to adjust to the darkness. The longer you stay in the dark, the more your eyes will adjust to it. Living in uncertainty is the same.

A river carves a path of least resistance; The path of a river is determined by three things, slope, volume, and terrain. The slope decides how the water will flow; the  volume dictates how the terrain will yield to it. From this a river path is formed. In normal circumstances the river will flow in its created path but there will be times, like a heavy rain event, when it will put so much pressure on the river path, that it will alter the course and carve out new paths, so it can cope with the additional volume and flow of water.

Looking back to go forward; Ka mua, ka muri is a Māori proverb that expresses a great truth around a simple image. The image is of a person walking backwards into the future. It suggests that the past is clearly visible, but the future is not, that we have imperfect information for the road ahead, but also that this is a natural state of affairs. Let us look back for clues to the way forward, but also understand that the future is unwritten. The future comes out of the past but will not be identical to it. The only unchanging thing is change. (Patrick Reynolds)

“Out of time” is when the clock has run down and there is no longer an opportunity to complete what is needed to be completed. Once time has gone you can’t get it back.

“If you are under water, you can’t breathe, but the further down you go under water the harder it is for your body to cope, the weight of the water increases and starts to affect the function and response of the body and mind.

“No” is what is said in a moment of retreat, safety, or belief. Saying no can often be hard to do when you know it’s something you can help with or that you feel compelled to be a part of.

Curiosity killed the cat and satisfaction brought it back. This saying dates back to 1912 and implies that, while curiosity may harm you, the satisfaction of gaining knowledge and finding the truth is worth it. We all deserve the answers to our curiosity, but not at the expense of harm.

At our best is like hitting the sweet spot. This is a place on a tennis racket where when the ball hits it, the shot will be more controlled, powerful, and effective. A tennis player will always desire to ensure that this is the spot that they hit the ball from because it will have the greatest potential and effect.

Running from and running to. There are times in life when we do both. The tension sits with why. A good example would be running from danger and running to safety. Sometimes the context of these and how you apply them is determined by timing and reasoning.

Weather the storm means to deal with a difficult situation without being harmed or damaged too much. When a ship is likely to encounter a storm, it can do one of two things. It can take refuge in a sheltered bay, or it can move through the storm. In both cases the captain decides, based on understanding the ship and the crew’s resilience.

“Squeezed the life out of me.” There are times in life where we can get emotionally crushed, it feels like life has been squeezed out of us and that we have nothing more to give. Usually this will occur when we have a lot of issues to deal with.

We all have those times when those around us don’t have the answers we need. Reaching out to others can be the solution. This is a way to create an opportunity to learn more from other peoples perspectives and experiences.

Holding yourself to account is like putting up a fence and deciding what you want to let in and what you want to let out. The time you have in life can be filled with many things, so being clear about this is really important.

If you cant measure it you cant manage it. Measuring physical growth is an effective way to determine change in ourselves. To measure internal change, like character growth, we need other ways to determine this.

Words are easy to say, but following them up with actions can be difficult. Walking the talk is more than just words, its your truth in action. Become intentional about who you are and how you add value, because the real you will always show up.

When life is so busy and we don’t have space to rest, refuel and relax. We start to rob ourselves and others around us of a fulfilled and meaningful life.