Riding through a calendar

I've just been to a family wedding. It was at the other end of the South Island, in Queenstown, a place I've been going to since I was a small child. It's a very different place from the early 60s, but the magic is still there!

The trip was like riding through a calendar - the Lewis Pass full of yellow flowering broom. And on a bike, you get the full deal - fragrance and all! The tussock landscape of the Mackenzie\Lindis, coloured with turqoise jewel lakes of Tekapo and Ohau. The trip home was just as spectacular - over the Crwon Range, with snow falling, and through the rain to Haast, with hundreds of waterfalls through to the West Coast.

It's easy to get busy, head down, forget what we've got around us. We live in paradise - but you only to get to see it by going there.

Summer's coming up. If there are places you want to see, go. Plan. Do. Enjoy.

Sometimes you just have to do it because it's the right thing to do

I've just watched a movie on the story of Bob Geldof and Live Aid. It's about how he first saw a news clip on the famine in Ethiopia, was so moved that he eventually got the Live Aid concerts on the stage in less than 6 months. Two concerts on both sides of the Atlantic, at the same time, beamed around the world to 1.5 billion people. I remember watching it, sleeping for a while, then getting up in the morning and watching again.

Money was raised for food for Ethiopia, but perhaps more importantly, awareness was raised of what was happening in other parts of the world.

The struggle to get that concert up and running was epic, totally epic. But Geldof never let go, because once he had been to Ethiopia, and seen with his own eyes, he could not turn away.

It's about doing the right thing, even when the personl cost is high.

But so are the rewards. Making music is a fine acheivement, but what this effort did for Geldof, is much more iimportant than the music. When we do the right thing, even if it is the hardest thing, we are the better for doing it.

There's something to be said for hanging in..

It's a pretty rare thing to have a bright idea, even an idea which would bring really good things to the planet...and have it take off - like a rocket when the fuse is lit.

Mostly, good things are acheived, because good people, with good ideas, quietly slug it out for months, years and even decades.

If it's worth achieving, it pays to remember that you might have to hang in there...

Connections

In the last few weeks, I've seen an amazing sequence of connections....It can summarised by what happened today.

I'm looking for someone with a particular skill set - I started looking for that person yesterday, and put the word out to a few people then.

This morning - bingo - one of those people come back with exactly the person I'm looking for and wouldn't you know it? It's someone I've already had contact with about other things....

They say that there are six degrees of separation between you and every other person on the planet. In a country like New Zealand there is often only one, sometimes two. That means, if you're looking for someone, just start asking around - you'll probably find the person you need really, really quickly.

Know what you want, and then go looking for the person who can help you make it happen. Just ask.....

Why don't we care about children?

I'm part of a group working on a seminar to learn more about how to safe-guard children and young people. It's not just the role of parents, or schools or agencies - we all have a part to play in keeping children and young people safe.

If you work with people, then chances are you will see things that show a family is under pressure, or that children are at high risk of harm. What do you do?

You start by doing someting - something useful - sharing the information with an appropriate agency is a good beginning - even if it is just to give them a call and say "I'm worried and I'm not even sure if I should be". Just because you make that call, doesn't mean to say that you will trigger a full investigation - it's not about that, it's about sharing information so the people who make those decisions have as much information as possible.

Don't go to bed worrying about whether you should have done something - call CYFS or the Police and ask to speak to a child protection officer - start by just discussing your concerns with them and showing children that we really do care about them.

Safe-guarding children and young people, and actually anyone who is vulnerable, is something we all should be doing.

Some things never change

I'm getting ready to present a seminar on managing stress. It's 22 years since I first taught a course - and the amazing thing is that the information I'll be presenting this afternoon is the same as what I presented in those first courses in 1989! There is little improved information available - how about that?

They're tried and true: exercise helps - a lot, nutrition is important, sleep is important, rest and having fun are important to managing stress. So is having a positive attitude - trying to see the best possible interpretation on what is happening in front of us will help us build resiliency.

Having good social connections helps - time with family and friends is vital in managing the pressures of life.

It's basic and simple stuff. And once again - I'll be suggesting changing one thing at a time to slowly change the shape of our lives in building a stress-reduced world around us.

Go for it!

When the trees lose their leaves...

When I was young, I thought trees looked their worst when they lost their leaves. I grew older and began to see the beauty of the leafless skeletal forms. Now I have something new - the secrets revealed when the leaves are lost.

The magnolia tree in our yard has lost all its leaves. And not until the leaves were gone did we see the summer's secret - a bird had made a nest in our magnolia tree. We watch that tree every day, feeding birds from our deck a metre away, and yet we never saw a single sign that there was a bird family right there.

If every day was full of blossom and green leaves, we'd never see the full picture.

I must remember that when I feel the pain of loss. Yes it hurts. But now I'm going to look for the secrets I would never have seen if the leaves hadn't fallen.

Back from the USA

I've been more than a little slack in keeping this blog going....just had some time in the USA and chose to spend time playing with family rather than the computer. It's always wonderful to go to another country, especially when you get to see family and friends again! It reminds me again of what is really important in life - it is people, it is people, it is people. Yes, it is wonderful to see some Frank Lloyd Wright and Dale Chihuly, but it will never top playing in the basement with the most georgeous 18 month old baby you ever saw, or kicking around a soccer ball with the most fabulous 10 year old! Life can get so busy, but for me, spending time with family and friends is what life is really all about.

New name for the clinic!

After 22 years of being Independent Nursing Practice, we asked the question - what do those words mean? And what do they say about us? Well - the result was that we thought our name was confusing people and stopping people from coming to us for doctor's appointments - after all - how would you know there were doctors at a nursing practice?
So - a name change...We've changed our name to INP (to keep the history of how we began), Medical (to show that we have doctors and nurses here) Clinic (to show that we work in a specialised field). We are mostly a woman's health clinic, but we are very happy to see men too.
So there we are: INP Medical Clinic - working in sexual and reproductive health for men and women, young and old!
And hopefully that name will serve us well for the next 22 years!