I’ve been on a Lent Social Media Detox & Nearly Relapsed

I’ve been on an Instagram Detox for 40 Days for Lent and it’s been WONDERFUL!

My intention with my Lent fast was to be more intentional about how I use my time and to redirect my focus inward. 

But just yesterday, I wrote a blog about The Four Agreements and it got pushed to Facebook. I panicked because I knew exactly what would happen. Next thing I was on my Facebook “just to check” and an hour later, I was still scrolling. 

I could have done so much in that hour, guys! I had so much to do. 

The other thing I realised is that I was being drawn into other people’s energy fields by engaging with their content. It wasn’t simply a matter of consuming “entertainment”, I was physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually getting entangled in the life of the mother of 4 who missed her bus from the Eastern Cape and had no money to buy another ticket.

“She’s a scam artist!” I started typing.

“She’s tried to scam me. ‘Can’t believe she’s doing the same thing 5 years later!”  

Photo by Josie Stephens

I caught myself just in time. Another test, another opportunity to grow. I chose the high road.

Delete

Delete

Delete

Today is a new day. I am back in the game. 

Intention: Avoid Distraction. Redirect Focus Inward.

If you are in the last stretch of Lent, I wish you a wonderful Holy Week and for those of you still in the early days of Ramadaan, you’ve got this. As for everyone else, if you are looking for a ways to:

• Increase Your Productivity

• Boost Your Vitality

• Improve Your Sleep

• Up Your Sense of Wellbeing

• Dull your Jealous Streak

• Elevate Your Self Esteem

and Mind your own damn business…then you should totally try 40 Days of no social/any media. It’s just so cool.

Aluta Continua as they say.

Happy Weekend, 

xoxo Lee 

Early to Bed, Early to Rise – Is this the secret to Health, Wealth & Wisdom

Early to bed

Early to rise 

Makes a (wo)man healthy, wealthy and wise 

Benjamin Franklin

This is exactly what our creator had in mind when they finalised my factory settings!  

Few things make me happier than going to bed early + waking up early. It has definitely made me healthier and since good health is our true wealth, I’ll be the first to say thank you for being able to check the “wealth” box too (while I wait for the billions in the bank).  

As for being “wise”, I guess being able to recognise what I have in this moment is the real measure of wisdom for me.  

Am I wise enough to know that I don’t know?

Am I wise enough to know that every breath is a gift, every second in this body precious?

Am I wise enough to ask for help, change course, learn, stretch, surrender to both pleasure & pain?

Am I wise enough to never call myself wise

And, most importantly, 

Am I wise enough to know when a carefully timed double shot of Espresso is required because life is not linear and mine is no boarding school?

I’m learning.

I encourage you to be you, to share you, to celebrate you. Imagine how dull life would be if we all loved our orange juice with salt?

Lee 

I just love this little doodle my 8 year old did of me! He sure knows how much his mom loves her some Ed Sheeran “Bad Habits” in those mom jeans. As for the cute eyes, well…what can I say?

Dear Barbara Streisand: “People who need people are indeed the luckiest people in the world”

What could go wrong on a morning when all the traffic lights are out?

Well, I packed some hot dog rolls into a Woolies shopping bag together with some cheese grillers and set off to gym. Stay with me – the hot dogs and gym visual is true.

The plan was to give the food away before it expired without my husband finding out. Long story…

I never quite made it to the gym (no surprises there) but I decided to sit down for some scrambled eggs instead. Just before I picked a spot, I saw someone I could give the food away to. The man sells Homeless Talk, a newspaper that I have seen a million times but never bought.

As I sat down at the cafe for my breakfast, I reached for my wallet to put the parking ticket in the spot where I always put my parking ticket and that’s when I realised that my wallet was in the black hot dog bag! The plan had been to stick the empty shopping bag into my gym bag, that’s how my purse ended up inside. Note to self: forget gym.

When I related the story to my children later that afternoon, sure I added some drama but essentially:

I had no cash to get out of the parking lot and had to make some decisions quickly.

So I asked the parking lady for a free pass. Sure, she said.

The cafe owner said that I come could totally have stayed for a free breakfast.

I opened my banking app to see if there had been any transactions. Cancel Cards/Not? Pause, I decided.

As I drove up the road towards the Homeless Talk seller, I saw him holding out the Mykonos blue purse with a look that said, “………..!”

The kids screamed “Nice hot dog lady!” but the man’s face really screamed “dumb blonde!” I was guilty as charged on both counts.

But here’s what this story is really about: people people, people.

We are all just people who need people. And that’s how we all get by. By needing people and by allowing people to need us. Barbara Streisand was right.

Lee

P.S. I couldn’t find much info online re Homeless Talk but the lovely guy selling his is at the garage near St Davids in Inanda close to Summer place:-) Didn’t catch his name. Don’t tell him you know me.

Loss of Smell because of Covid 19?

Hey Friends,

Here’s a fun fact for. you: I could not smell or taste for 2 years. Two whole years.

I wanted to write about this again, on this gorgeous self-care Saturday because I’ve been meeting so many people over the last few weeks who are feeling absolutely distraught about their loss of smell because of Covid19.

I understand their feelings of fear and anxiety.

Here’s an article published in a local magazine in South Africa, detailing my personal circumstances around this loss and how I coped with it: https://www.magzter.com/article/Lifestyle/Your-Family/I-Experienced-Life-In-A-New-Way?fbclid=IwAR0fyn4PosFdTJY0ZyT7uZKt4zjlcZ8k3yIkCg7wW1_3ExqdUs9iuqJv8mk

Perhaps you or someone you know needs to read it.

I’d love nothing more than to reinforce the FACT that, it is not the end of the world, that the tide does turn and that there is indeed light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

Besides, EQUILIBRIUM is the natural state of the universe.

xoxo

Lee

How I nearly MURDERED a Random Act of Kindness

A locksmith came to my house on this icy Monday morning.

Diagnosed a small problem

Fixed it

anddddd, wait for it, absolutely refused to accept payment for the call out.

“Consider it your lucky day” he said.

 

And you know what? Instead of letting Lady Luck give me feels, I immediately went into a mild panic.

How can I accept that?

His time?

His fuel?

Poor guy!

Look at his broken car! 

Whooooo does that?

Perhaps I can promote his business?

Maybe I’ll do a Facebook post?

I must pay it forward!

How much should I randomly donate?

Ah, maybe I’ll invent another few jobs for him? You know? Pay him double?

 

I know, right!? Gosh! Someone did something nice for me and I simply could not accept that RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS. I had to spoil the gesture with my own crap.

 

Yes, I am going THERE.  Because it’s the truth.

 

Bottom line is that I give so freely and it gives me so much pleasure. The wavelength of GIVING, really is my best. But, it would seem that I have a real problem with ACCEPTING things. Gifts, compliments, random acts of other people’s kindness. This, despite my knowledge of the fact that the vibrations of GIVING and RECEIVING are each other’s oxygen. They need each other in order to exist.

 

I know the theory. But, my actions tell that I haven’t quite learnt to walk the talk, so to speak.  

 

So, here I sit this Monday morning and,

It’s still icy

I’ve diagnosed the small problem

Now I need to do some more work in order to try and “fix” it 

And I absolutely DO consider it my lucky day!  

 

Because I’ve cracked yet another code about myself.  Isn’t that’s really why we are even here? To try and understand why we do the things we do?  This journey of Self-Mastery is hard work hey?

 

So, I guess all that’s left to say is Aluta Continua.  That, and, how very grateful I am today and every day for the little gifts along the way.   

 

In Gratitude,

Lee

 

 

Copyright Lee Mayimele – All Rights Reserved

Warning: Kindness is Dope

I met someone recently who thanked me for something I did for her 20 years ago.

I kid you not.

To be quite honest, I did not recall the detail or that act of apparent kindness at all. She tells me that it came at a time when she desperately needed a strong mother figure and that young-me stepped up.

I must say, our exchanges back then never did feel like “rescue” or “help” to me. In fact, I reckon I was the one who felt good. I was the one who felt useful. I was probably the one who felt high from the endorphins that make us drunk with purpose. That’s really all I remember about our interactions ~ how lovely I felt around her.

How cool?

Her testimony has since inspired me to write some random “Thank You” notes of my own. Because the stars know that there are plenty of people who have touched me over the years. And just like that, I’m part of an energy that keeps the magical vibration of GRATITUDE in motion.

Perhaps you feel inspired to hop on the train and thank someone today too? If so, I can tell you without a doubt that the wise ones were right: It is indeed GIVING that we RECEIVE.

Try it. Thank me (29 years later).

Lee Mayimele

Chief Storyteller

Looking for GOD? (A short “Soul Sunday” reflection)

 

Don’t look for me in holy books or so-called holy people.

That’s not where you’ll find ME.

 

Don’t hurriedly hunt me in secret places, special buildings, strings of beads, ancient scripts, in potions or in star alignments.

 

Get quiet!

 

Then,

Look at the fire coloured sun, rising and setting without you having to do a thing;
See the butterfly, the migrating birds pulsing to a vibration of pure precision;

Listen to the waves crashing, a choir singing, the cry of a newborn baby;

Smell the fresh earth after a thunderstorm;

Feel the high of a meditation, the warmth of a touch, the tears that run when the soft smell of a deceased loved one wafts through your home;

Tune in, and you’re getting close.

 

Don’t chase after me in holy water, special foods or men who claim to “know”.

 

NO,

I’m more likely to be in the eyes of your lover, a generous stranger, a homeless man;

I’m more likely to be the laughter of children, the gentle push of a teacher, your gran’s dusty kitchen floor;

I’m more likely to be in the tingle of strawberries, the soft rain playing jazzy tunes on your rooftop;

 

YES,

That’s more my style.

 

For I am GOD, my child,

The creator, narrator, the connector of the dots.

The beginning;

The end;

Foremost an artist! Second to none.

 

All light comes from me, and all light flows through you.

 

AND,

How will you know when you’ve found ME?

Ah, that’s the easy part: You’ll just know!

I designed you that way.

 

© Aluta continua, as they say.  A Heart Full of Stories, 2017

APOLOGY:

It seems there were some gremlins in yesterday’s post, trying to scramble text and give me more grey air. Luckily, we’ve now sorted them out.

 

 

 

Have you ever experienced PEACE? (A story about another’s faith)

The first time I heard the phrase “the peace that passes all understanding” I was sitting at the one end of a fabulous lunch table, casually popping a chunk of ice into my glass of Chardonnay. I had just lost my mom and someone asked me how I was coping.

 

Taking a big gulp of wine, I tried to explain to her that although I was utterly distraught about the void she had left with her sudden departure, I had this incredible sense of CALM that had come over me.  “At first I put it down to shock. You know? A kind of inertia that my BODY had gifted to me in order to cope with the loss. Isn’t the BODY amazing like that?” I said with a genuine appreciation for the hormones that I believed had carried me to that place of peace.

 

“That’s the holy spirit” she replied matter of factly as she slowly dipped her piece of bread into a mixture of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. “I guarantee you, that is ONLY the holy spirit who can do that!” 

 

Now, as the beneficiary of a lovely Catholic convent education (With a tonn of experience of telling fibs inside the Confessional. Judge not!), one would think that I would have been quick with something rather Bible-ly to say to her in return. Alas not.

 

The only thing I could manage was “I am so grateful!”

 

And truthfully, I still am.  Grateful for the wine, grateful for the peace, grateful for being in the presence of someone with such unwavering conviction.  God knows, that’s the kind of faith that moves mountains.

 

© Aluta continua, as they say.  A Heart Full of Stories, 2017

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Whilst we don’t know the origin of the pics used, all respect and due credit are hereby given where appropriate. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lee-Ann Mayimele and A Heart Full of Stories with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All media rights and copyright for the words reserved.

The Front Row II (A short reflection on CHANGE)

With another birthday approaching, I am naturally reflecting on all things CHANGE (and no, I am not only talking about the spread in the middle)

 

It always fascinates me how deciding who gets a front row seat in the movie that is our lives isn’t exactly as simple as ordering a large popcorn and Slush Puppie.

Friends change, lovers drift, egos inflate, eyes open, lust rattles, death knocks, jobs morph, travel calls, masks drop, strategies shift, needs flip, kids drift, hearts evolve. You know, life happens?

While we are certain that CHANGE is the law of the universe (with seasons changing, leaves falling, blossoms springing effortlessly before our very eyes) I have often wondered why we find it so difficult to just “flow” with these changes especially as they affect key relationships.

 

Then it hit me : We are uneasy with movement, with change itself.

 

The old moulds are more warm and familar than a onesie, clouded in words like “loyalty” and “history”. Deciding to actively drop leaves, sprout flowers and reassign those name tags on the prime VIP spots in our life, ruffling feathers and inviting scrutiny challenges our comfy paradigms. Crap ain’t easy.

But it must be done.

So, as I mascara another grey hair this morning and try not to overthink my Kombucha ambitions, do allow me to send you my best good vibes as you contemplate your own selections.  

• If you have to increase or decrease the number of seats, make that call.
• If you are blessed that no rearrangement is necessary, scream “thank you!”; such blessing is never to be taken lightly.

…BUT yes, that seating chart needs to be issued. (Or else some random weeds will fill those vacant spots and then your garden will really be sad).

Go on…Today is a good day to think about that front row again.  Aluta continua, as they say.

#gratitude #reflections #alutacontinua

© A Heart Full of Stories, 2017.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Whilst we don’t know the origin of the pic above, all respect and due credit are hereby given where appropriate. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lee-Ann Mayimele and A Heart Full of Stories with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All media rights and copyright for the words reserved.

 

Gratitude: A Short Reflection

I am messing up on so many fronts. But gosh, I am winning on so many others.

 

And so, I remain focused.

Focused on this very moment, I notice the morning light on my tomato tree, I hear the faint news of political turmoil and earth tremors. I notice the missing tooth on my girl’s perfect face. I feel the sun streaming onto my son’s dreads as I step into a puddle of spilled milk on the floor. I pick up some pretty ballet shoes, get a whiff of a sexy man’s perfume in the passage. I open a few emails, watch the the phone ringing endlessly.

And I know for sure, I am holding on to the little things.

Because let’s face it, those little things are the big things.

This is my life. And I only have one.

 

#gratitude #reflections #balance #thismoment #mindfullness #mylife

 

© A Heart Full of Stories, 2017

 

All Rights Reserved