Life patterns

What do you feel when you hear the words, life is a journey, life is full of lessons, we must learn from our mistakes?

Throughout my book I have looked back at my own life and have identified some of my own life patterns, journey, lessons and mistakes that I have made.  So today, instead of looking at my life and what I have learned, I want you look at your life, so that you can become more aware of some of the patterns that have occurred in your life.

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if it just came with a user manual which you could look up a problem in the index and work out how to fix it quickly?  Unfortunately, there is no such manual and yes all of the above clichés do come back to haunt us.  So let’s take a look at some of these sayings and see if you can see any evidence of them in your own life.

Life is a journey!

Yes I think we can all safely agree that life is a journey and it begins from the minute that we are born.  However, we are often all so worried about the destination that we forget to enjoy the ride. 

 

~ Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. ~ Greg Anderson

I love this quote because so often we spend so much time looking at the past hoping to find answers there, then we worry about the future and we just forget to live in the only moment; which is right now, in the "present".   

Here’s another quote to help you think about this point.

~ Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery, but today is a gift.  That’s why it’s called the present. ~

Author unknown

I admit that I have spent the majority of my life, living in the past or worrying about the future.  I  remind myself daily that “now” is the only moment that I have, so accept it and enjoy it .   When we focus on the “moment” our thoughts become still and at peace.  This is the only place to be!

Life is full of lessons!

"Ah ha"

It is true that life is full of lessons.  These lessons are repeated over and over again until we learn them.  Often we don’t notice that the same lesson is occurring, but disguised in a different situation.  Life is very creative and tries to create a new experience from a different angle so that our subconscious minds might be more open to learning the lesson.  This continues endlessly until we learn the lesson.  These lessons are very subtle and you may not even notice the signs unless you are looking for them.  These signs or patterns only become evident when we stop thinking and quiet our minds.  When this occurs you will reach a new awareness.  It’s what is known as an “Ah ha” moment.  This is similar to a “light bulb” switching on in our minds.  Everything just becomes clear, all of a sudden you know what you know.  

It is only after this “moment” that you can move forward into the future.  When this occurs you take ownership of your life.  You take responsibility of your own actions and you no longer blame the past for your current situation.  It is a very powerful moment that impacts the rest of your life.  This is when you give yourself the best present of all; the ability to change.  

This next quote by Abraham Maslow wraps this thought up perfectly.  

"What is necessary to change a person is to change their awareness of themselves"

We must learn from our mistakes!

 

I know that we all have made mistakes, but who says they are mistakes?  When we shift our thinking to realise that there are no mistakes in life and our lives are always in perfect order, then real change can occur.  

Until next time!  Joy  :)

Joy Makepeace life at a glance with photo's

Today I am going to give you a quick glance at my life in a photographic time-line, which should prepare you for the journey that I will take you on in my book, without letting out all of the secrets.

I was born in 1972 in a little country town called Wee Waa in Northern New South Wales.  In my birth family I am the 9^th child of 12 children, which is made up of 7 boys and 5 girls.  

In my adoptive family I am the baby of the family and have 1 older sister and 2 older brothers.  Kate, Fenwick and Robert.   


I have met most of my birth siblings at least once, but am still searching for 2 older brothers, whom I have never met. 

April 1972 - Became a Ward of the State 

Me and my adoptive famil

August 1972 - Was fostered to the Makepeace family This is one of the first photo's that I have of me and my adoptive family.  As you can see my brothers and sister were quite a bit older than me.  I was the baby of the Makepeace family and was never short of being loved.













August 1981 - Birth mum passed away.
  

My birth mum - Joan West

1982 - Was adopted to the Makepeace family

Me and my brothers and sister

This is my brothers and sister that I grew up with.  In this above photo I was 10 years old and didn't have a worry in the world. 
 

1983 - Met triplets

L-R:  Ben, Geordie, Joy and Olive

I vaguely remember this day that I first met the triplets (who are the youngest children of my birth family).  We were in Tamworth (NSW) and I don't think that any of us really knew that we were actually brothers and sisters.  I treasure this photo now.

 1984 - Moved to Queensland

This is a photo of Dad and me on our 100 acre block of land in Queensland.  My Dad was a carpenter and built this log cabin style home from what was known as hog-backs.   We had no electricity or running water.  We had a huge veggie patch and I had a horse and motorbike.  I had some of the best times of my life at this place.  Lots of fond memories.  I was 12 years old here.

1987 - Adoptive parents separated and divorced

1987 - Moved to South Australia 
1989 - Finished High School
1990 - Went to University and graduated 

• 1995 - Got married                                 2000 - Got divorced    

 1996 - Travelled overseas

1996 - Had 1^st child – Jordan 

Jordan - Nov 1996 - 2 days old

Jordan was born in November 

1996.  This took me on a journey 

that I share in great depth in my

book.  

2004 - Settled back down

2004 - Had 2^nd child - Jai                                        2005 - Had 3^rd child - Violet

Violet - Born June 2006

Jai - Born October 2004

2008 - Completed post-graduate studies

 Joy's Masters in Social Science Counselling

2010 - Joy Makepeace - Author of the forthcoming book, "Finding the joy within"