Yes it is true. Every cloud does have a silver lining. This is not only my favourite proverb, it could very well be the motto for my life.

Probably the most significant silver lining in my life has been the absolutely wonderful friendship I have with Russell which developed after I walked away from an unhealthy, disastrous marriage. I was in total mourning after the break up of my marriage when Russell, whom previously had been one of my ex husbands friends became my greatest friend and supporter. It really took me by surprise how easily we bonded and became close. Russell would have to be the most gracious gentleman I have ever met and I am just so lucky to have such a beautiful truly Christian man in my life. Russell is the type of person whom is always there for you and is polite and supportive. Yes, he is the complete package, attractive and genuinely caring and respectful. Unfortunately God only made one of Russell, be nice if he made a few more.

My beautiful angel lady Susanna is another example of a silver lining. We met at the same workplace, where we were both bullied. Susanna has been in my life for about 12 years, and is battling cancer. She is amazingly positive about life and the most beautiful, generous, gracious compassionate person I have ever met. Yes Susanna, you were the best social worker I have met, you definitely have empathy and that is such a rare quality

Susanna too loves Russell and the both of them have guided me over the past 8 months of a long term friendship ending, which had turned toxic for me.

The absolute blessing and silver lining there has been the two new friends I made during my recent hospital stay. Felicity and Pat. You both made my hospitalisation a pleasure. Felicity you are beautiful and genuinely have a wonderful sense of humour. You make me smile and laugh. Pat, you and I share a similar knowledge and interest in music and I hope one day we both get to interview Neil Finn. You guys are definitely my most recent example of a silver lining in my life.

As I look back over my childhood there are probably many examples of silver lining, but I think the biggest was getting to go to Strathmore Secondary College, where my love for writing was fostered and led me to tertiary study.

It has definitely been a silver lining to start writing ✍ a blog, as I feel I have finally found my voice and hope to do more writing for my blog on many varied interests

This silver lining is only the beginning………

Last week I spoke about being kind to yourself and not beat yourself up other things you can’t change. Sometimes I need to listen to my own advice. I am more blessed than I realise.

Yesterday I received some wonderful news that I am going to be a great Aunty for the first time. I am ecstatic and deliriously happy for my niece, but after a few hours I found myself lamenting the fact that I am childless and always will be. Most of the time I live quite peacefully with that fact. I married too old and then had fertility issues, making that impossible for me.

I am genuinely happy for my niece and know that I will ❤ love and cherish her child dearly. I am blessed that I have wonderful relationships with all my nephews and nieces.

I didn’t stay in my negative state very long, and am blessed with wonderful and supportive friends whom only think the best of me. I woke up to the fact that I was upset over factors I have no control over and realised yet again that I have been put on this earth to be a loving, empathic and compassionate person to those people God has brought into my life.

I am normally a happy person and nothing keeps me down for very long. If there is anything I have learned about myself it is that I am extremely resilient. I bounce back quickly. A few months ago I experienced a return of my mental health issues after a friendship had turned toxic. I was blessed in hospital because I made two new friends that have blossomed into wonderful relationships.

I know that I am on this earth for a reason, something about mental illness being better understood and to be positive, happy and loving.

In only a few hours I am feeling so much better. So what, if I don’t have a child of my own, my life is so rich and meaningful in other ways. My nieces and nephews have an Aunty whom adores them, and I have fulfilling friendships with a lot of people.

I have started to write my blog, to bring a positive voice in a world that is just too negative at times. To be honest I have much to be happy about and writing brings me pure pleasure. If I can bring a little pleasure or kindness to my readers then my blog has done its job.

I know one thing for sure. My nieces baby is going to grow up very loved by its great Aunty and I intend to be a positive and good one. To Grace and Chris, this is wonderful news and may God bless you, your child will be loved by all. I can’t wait to meet your special little human.I am so happy and this means good things ahead. God does exist, he brings little miracles into the world.

It I cant be a mother myself I will be a Great Aunty. Just you wait and see.

Today I feel guided to write this particularly after having a conversation with a friend I made during my recent time in a private hospital.

I have had mental health issues for the majority of my adult life and used my experience of mental health issues to work in a career where my focus was to help other’s whom also had such issues.

Admittedly I had to grow and learn a lot from life to then be able to help others. It took me on a journey, that has been windy, at times unexpected and ultimately very fulfilling. I have gained a lot of wisdom and a sense of self worth thriughout my journey and I certainly have met a lot of interesting people and had interesting experiences too.

The main lesson I have learned is that people whom experience a lot of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues are often suffering and don’t know how to be kind to themselves. I have met many people that I have counselled whom did not have the ability to be kind and gentle with themselves and would emotionally beat themselves up over things that were beyond their control.

I learned the hard way that if I wanted to be kind and empathic to others I first had to practice a little self love and be kind and empathic towards me first and foremost. This isn’t easy when the whole world seems to be telling you how bad and awful you are. It takes time and a lot of patience to learn to be kind to yourself. It took me about 5 years of having mental health issues for me to wake up to the fact that I could change the way I felt by believing I was a person whom had value and self worth and wanted to give back to the world the love some very special people had shown me. Maybe, just maybe I wasn’t such a bad person. Maybe just maybe if I show a little self belief, people would believe in me. Guess what? It worked.

By learning that I was a worthwhile person, and learning to think kindly of myself, my life began to grow and change and in time I was able to show my love and empathy to those around me who needed it. It’s not always easy. At times it is bloody hard, but it is at those most trying of times that we must stop and think and consciously change our thought patterns to be a little more kind and positive to ourselves.

This has the power to start healing and change our lives for the better. Bad thoughts begone. You ain’t going to get me down no more. Tell yourself you are a good worthwhile person of value and a little sunshine will come into your life.

I guarantee it works. Try it.

Lately throughout lockdown I have come to appreciate my little dog Lily even more than usual.

Lily gives me such wonderful unconditional love and I know I would be totally lost without her company during lockdown. I have had Lily for just under 5 years now and I would have to say she has brought me happiness beyond compare, even though at first it was challenging raising her from a puppy in my little unit.

Lily has grown into a happy, placid peaceful and affectionate little soul. She loves to show her love to me, by madly kicking my face, particularly if my face is cleansed and moistureised after my shower. She loves lying beside me, touching me in some way and is most at home sharing the couch with me.

I think I would be desperately lonely, living on my own throughout lockdown without Lily. She is unaware of any pandemic, she is just contented that Mummy is around so much. She gives me something good to focus on, and helps me spread a little positivity to the world..

I know in lockdown lots of people have become dog owners and my sincere hope is that all these dogs, continue to be loved family members, when lockdown ends. I worry that we will end up with a glut of rescue dogs, because owners no longer have the time for those dogs. A dog is a big lifetime commitment and responsibility.

Lily will always be loved by me in this life and the next. I think our loved dogs remind us, that God exists because God created these wonderful little creatures to be humankind’s best friend. Lily is definitely my little best friend and I cherish my time spent with her.

I hope all people whom own a dog can appreciate all that these canine creatures bring to our lives.

They truly are little gifts from God.

As I sit here and write this piece I have just watched a repeat episode of what has become my all time favourite television series The Recording Studio “. This very humble show produced by the ABC here in Australia, would have to be among the most heart-warming and positive shows ever made in this country.

Like many people I stumbled upon this show almost accidentally and was so enchanted by it that I watch it every time the ABC repeat it.

Featuring such luminaries of the Australian recording industry as producers Charles Fisher, Mark Opitz and others and the absolutely adorable and talented Scott Aplin as Music director the show is so definitely uplifting and yes, heart-warming to watch. The ABC has only produced one series of it so far, then covid landed on Australian shores, making producing another series of it, impossible for the time being. I live in hope and pray that some day soon it will be possible to make more episodes as that is what I believe we need at the moment. A program dedicated to ptoducing recordings of songs that are special to people to say I LOVE YOU or THANK YOU to the special people in our lives. I too, would like the opportunity to express my love and gratitude to a special friend and dream of being able to do so on this program. People whom have never recorded before given the chance to do so, with the creme de la creme of our recording industry. That is just mind blowing and so gracious all at once. Only in my very private dreams can I envision being given that sort of opportunity. This is massive.

I hope that I have sparked an interest in my readers whom have not heard of The Recording Studio to look it up on the ABC iview and start talking about it, and spread the word that maybe another series is just what jaded post covid Australia needs. A chance for everyday Australians to say I LOVE YOU or THANK YOU to the people we have come to treasure in our lives throughout this frustrating and emotionally draining pandemic. I feel blessed with one angel in my life and I know almost everyone could say that there are people that we have treasured throughout this global pandemic.

What a glorious way to mark the end of that, but with a joyous happy song as a tribute. Let’s hope we can sing it from the rooftops with the aid of the amazing talents of people like Scott Aplin and the many talented producers, engineers and musicians. Let’s make this happen and share in the goodwill it creates. .

Sounds good to me.

Whilst our world is currently butt silently desolately battling covid it can be hard to feel good.

But we must try to find a reason to smile. I live in Melbourne and we have definitely had our fair share of lockdown throughout this pandemic. It is very wearing and when I find myself feeling frustrated or fatigued with lockdown I always now try to think of myself as Lucky because there are very many people in worse circumstances than myself

I am not totally alone or isolated and I cheer myself up by sending positive messages to my loved one’s. My friends appreciate this and many have commented that I have beena ray of sunshine when lockdown has been bleak. I have a wonderful friend whom is battling cancer throughout this pandemic and she manages to be positive and generous of spirit if she can manage that then I can be a force for positivity.

I have long worked in welfare and know my life purpose is about spreading empathy, compassion and grace. Whenever I face my demons I now try to fight them, by generating goodwill. I genuinely believe in karma and believe that goodwill generates goodwill. Instead of bitching that we are in a long drawn out pandemic and blaming our leaders for the decisions they have made, we must try to find it in ourselves to be kind to our loved ones and share a little love and compassion. Yes we are struggling, but things will get better. And who knows maybe in time, we will look back at this moment in time of one where the people learned to share what we have, that this pandemic could be the end of selfishness and greed. If we learn to share and love our neighbour we also learn self love and self care.

This is what I hope will happen. I have faith that it will…..

If there is anything I have learned on my journey it is that karma exists. I was diagnosed with a mental illness at the age of 26 years old. My kind brother David told me at that time that whatever I did with my life from then on I needed to surround myself with good people. I took heed of David’s advice and was wise enough to know that if I wanted good people in my life, I needed to be good to the people who came into m y life. I did lose some friends around that time, but they were fair-weather friends, there for a good time, disappearing during more chsllenging times. I was hurt by losing those friends and it was part of my healing to be good to my true friends and bring a little positive cheer to the people who came into my life. As these good relationships grew, so did my faith in God, and I started to feel the benefits of good karma.

Sure I had some painful lessons to learn along the way, and I did have my heart broken a few times, but I did generate good karma by not being revengeful when these things happened. Instead I learned to wish these people well. I learned that everyone comes into our life for a reason, some only for a season and some forever more.

Goodwill generates goodwill. To generate some good karma for yourself, learn that you must only treat people with the best of intentions. If you treat someone badly understand that it will affect your karma, and you will receive back to you, what you have put out into the universe. Yes, it is hard to be nice to someone whom isn’t nice to you, but having only good attentions is a lot better for your well-being than being bitter and resentful.

Everything happens in God’s time and the results of good karma is not instantaneous. Be strong, have faith that days will get better. There is a lot of joy to be found in being positive and generous and it is far healthier than the negative alternative.

Good Karma generates good karma. Be kind to yourself on days that seem trying, and soon you will reap the benefits of being a kind thoughtful person. Life can be beautiful if you treat people with a little kindness.

If there is anything I have gained in this life, it is the knowing that there is always someone who is worse off than me.

I try to keep a positive outlook and see myself as a lucky person. I may not be wealthy financially, but I have good friends, support and love in abundance. I appreciate that immensely

As with a lot of people in today’s world I have lived the past 18 months in and out of lockdown. This has been challenging and when I am feeling frustrated I remember that there are literally thousands of millions of people doing it really tough in this time of covid.

My darling angel lady Susanna is battling cancer throughout these times and still faces life with a positive attitude and a smile and a witty comment. If she can still smile then I certainly can.

I have a faith in God and believe that we all can live in Gods grace by being grateful for what we have. God may give us challenges but if we can grow and see throughout these and acknowledge that we can always learn we can see God working through us. Throughout lockdown I have been watching the little self isolation videos that Sam Neill created to help those cope with the experience of lockdown. Whenever I feel a little negativity creeping in I watch these videos and find myself smiling.

I also have the company of a lovely little dog called Lily, whom is a little canine ray of sunshine. She is happy, peaceful and contented and she brightens my life in so many ways.

I may have mental health issues, but I have learned to live with it, and absolutely believe that my journey with mental health issues has lead to my life being enriched in so many ways. I live my life without regret and value all the good I have.

If ever you find yourself being negative or judgemental in your life remember God has plans for us all, and wants all to experience his grace. Try to help those less fortunate and be happy with what you have. The grace of God is abundant in our life if only we can see it.

I wish everyone happiness, peace and love and to know the Grace of God.

One day a few months after my dog Chloe had passed away I was sitting on a park bench in the local park thinking about her. My eyes had filled with tears thinking of my memories of her.

At that very instant I looked down between my legs. Instantly I was overcome with shock to see a little Maltese dog that looked exactly like Chloe sitting beneath the park bench, looking at me excitedly wagging it’s tail.

This dog had appeared out of nowhere and was definitely focused on me. In the distance I saw a lady approaching who was obviously walking this dog in the park. When the lady spoke to me she said that as soon as the little dog had entered the park, it instantly saw me and run making a beeline for me. It looked exactly like Chloe and it gave me comfort to think that little dog was letting me know that Chloe’s spirit was with me, letting me know through this little dog that she remains with me forever.

God bless all dogs for the unconditional love they have for us.