Being Me

Fifty Things to do before 50 I wrote this just after my 40 th birthday. I’ll do a separate blog about my progress. I have often pondered about what it would be like to do this or to do that. Now I’m thinking, why not? After all, we only have one life to live so why not live it to the max! Here’s a list of things I’d love to do before I get to the big 50. By the way, I’ve got under ten years to accomplish this.   Become a Secondary School Teacher Lose 5 stones Ride a bicycle Go on a Caribbean Cruise Fly to Australia Start a PHD programme Visit a tropical country at least three times a year Complete my autobiography and have it published Write an Anthology Improve my baking skills Sell my flat and buy a house Do some paid work abroad Learn Portuguese See the Northern Lights Do Afternoon Tea Visit Disney World Visit the Pyramids in Egypt Swim with Dolphins Visit St. Lucia Read 100 books in a year Write a will Go glamping Start to pa...

     After having another baby nearly four years ago, I decided I wanted to move from teaching in the Further Education field to teaching Secondary. I haven't yet asked myself why. I suppose this is a good sign so far.  Others have asked me why and my answer is:  As a child, my grandmother heavily influenced my development in English as a subject.  She encouraged me to read books until I was overly excited to visit the mobile library once per week to borrow different books. This along with what I was taught at school, consolidated my experience of English as a subject.        During my working years, I reflected on how best to utilise the attributes I possessed to develop others.  English was a favourite of mine and therefore, there was no doubt that I wanted to teach English. I also wanted to explore the boundaries and limitations of English and how this impacted on others’ development and experiences of the language. I've wor...

Jump Pass Our Past     The recent uproar sparked by the unjust way an American police officer fatally dealt with George Floyd, has led many to re-think the past. Our past have always and will always be just that - our past, our history. There is no doubt that we bear the mark of slavery and by 'we', I mean every race.       I was taken to the Caribbean as a child by my grandmother in the early 1980s. She was one of the many that arrived in Britain during the Windrush era to join her husband. Looking back at my childhood, I have no regrets that I was brought up in Jamaica. However, reflecting on the history I learnt during my secondary years at school, I cannot recall much about 'Black History'.  A lot was taught to us about European History. This subject was one of the least favourites of mine.  You would think that because we were living in a small island that was one of many severely impacted by the slave trade, that we would learn more about th...

Empathy          As humans, we're always taken on a roller-coaster of emotions. Some we like, some we find difficult and some pushes us to our limits. I've had many of these in my life-time and yet each time the feeling is different. I can't say that I've ever felt the same sadness or experienced the same level of gratitude. They are all just different.           When someone says to you 'I understand how you feel' or 'I sympathise with you', they can't possibly. Even if they think they've been through  the exact same experience or similar, how can you possibly know how I feel? What you can tolerate, I may not be able to. How my hormones react (and gosh have I got lots of those) is completely different from how yours does.           Empathy is a good word. It glorifies itself in trying to maintain a relationship between one who is experiencing and one who is being told of the experience. Yet, ...

Something I wrote nearly five years ago. Enjoy! Do you have the glow? Today as I sit here during my break at work I was led to write this.   Thanks be to God for giving me the grace, guidance and mercy.   Ephesians 4:2 reminds us that we need to be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. I would like to cover three points on humility in the form of having the spiritual glow.   So, what is the glow? Do we have a hidden glow?     What is the glow? When I think of the challenges of life and how people react to situations and circumstances based on how they feel that day, it makes me wonder why as Christians we forget the teachings of the bible, the guidance given to us by God in how we should present ourselves and our approach.     Glow can be defined as giving out a steady, radiant light; in other words a shine that is bright and visible by others.   How would we define our spiritual glow?   The ...

Friendship - Circles      They say there is such a thing as a friendship circle.  Hmm. Some say that you tend to change friends after 7 years, if you've made it past this then you have a friend for life. So what do I think?  I've had friends for over 7 years then it all went pear shaped.     On this whole circle business, having people in or out of your circle, I don't quite agree with that. You see, friendships aren't about what goes around comes around. There are moments when you place your friend on the outskirts then pull them back in so it's more of a tug-of-war concept. Sometimes the rope breaks and can't be mended.     Ideally, we'd all love to have a friend or friends for life. Someone who 'gets' you. I've had 'friends' who's abandoned me in my times of crisis and there were others who can only remember me when they were in need or want because I could help. If at the time I had considered them to be my inner circle friend the...

My Full Potential?                I've always found myself determined to reach my full potential. How do we know what our full potential is? In my opinion, it's like climbing stairs until your legs start to buckle, you know, what seems like a slight tingle, then a slow, creeping pain climbing it's own stairs on your legs. This is then followed by a sharp pain hitting the back of the calves until the dreaded knees screams out in agony and crumples.  While all this is happening, your eyes are focused on what is at the top of the stairs. Is it a door, a gate, a brick wall? Who knows, but that's your destination.         While you're maintaining a determination to reach upwards, obstacles such as your failing legs hinder you from progress. You decide to fight through the pain - from the lowest and moderate to the highest and most severe.  The strength you use to fight is what determines the level of your po...