Loving Life - Day 30

Day 30 (Saturday 30th December 2017)

30 December 1986 was the day that the UK government finally ruled out the
use of canaries in coal mines to detect the presence of noxious gases. Canaries were
introduced into mines in 1911, due to their sensitivity to poison and in particular their
reaction to carbon monoxide. Mice were also used, but were less swift in their reactions.
There were 200 canaries still being relied upon by 12,000 miners British mines in 1986.
This is an early example of technology taking over a role - canaries were replaced by
hand-held gas detectors with digital readers.

This evening a small family group of us are going to visit Dennis Severs' House in Spitalfields, London. It is a time capsule - each room of the house depicts a period in the lives of a family of Huguenot silk-weavers from 1724 to the dawn of the 20th Century. I have been once before, but tonight will be even more magical - we will have a candlelit wander around - with the rooms to ourselves - before choosing a room to sit in with the curator, to ask questions about the museum and its artefacts, whilst sipping mulled wine and enjoying mince pies.

The post today is by a much-loved and regular contributor to the Advent Blogs series, Bina Briggs. It has become a tradition for Bina to fill us in on her year just gone, and this post will not disappoint. I'm sure Bina would love to hear from you- one of the easiest ways of contacting her is on Twitter, her handle is @PlainTalkingHR.  Bina runs her own business with the same name as she uses on Twitter, Plain Talking HR Ltd, which she took sole control of when her former business partner, Bronwen, retired on the 1st June. The business is just as described, and so is Bina's approach to HR. She is unfailingly polite and supportive, never the less, Bina is quite capable of getting her messages across and guiding people when necessary to change their ways. She is an excellent mentor and friend, probably because she is steered by her values. Her business provides advice and support to small to medium size businesses and the testimonials and the fact that she is a regular contributor to her local radio's business panel discussions give a flavour of how she is perceived. Judging by her social media comments, one might think that Bina spent most of the time travelling the globe - certainly she is a devoted supporter of her husband, who is a regular participant in cycling races around the world.

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So here I am, once again on a plane to Poland to visit my ‘Polish family’ and to deliver their Christmas presents. This has become a tradition and funny enough usually I travel across at the end of November when the writing of the advent blog takes place too. This year, my trip was delayed and so the post didn’t get written either and it's 1st December and I've just read the first Advent blog of 2017. I feel a bit like a naughty child, should have written my blog by now! 😊😊

Christmas is such a special time for most people, no matter what religion you follow or not as the case may be! The lights, the music, the festivities, being with the people we love and the presents! Each year, the months seem to go faster and we all get caught up in its fervour. Of course, we all say it every year that this year I’m not going to do as much, it’s so commercialised and that I’m not having any of it! Guess, what, come November, most of us get drawn into it once again and off we go! I just love it! But then there are so many of my friends and family who LOVE the festive season and counting the days when they can start getting ready for the BIG DAY without feeling weird about it.

I feel that I live in 2 worlds and I’m sure I’m not alone. There is that one world that is happening out there, it occupies news headlines in the media on an hourly, daily basis round the clock and then there is that world that is my own personal space.

The world out there at times seems to be getting darker and out of control, to the point that it’s surreal. When you think that you have seen everything and heard everything, surely, it cannot be happening, it cannot continue to happen, then, smack, a headline appears which is more bizarre than ever. Enough said about all that...

Last year was one of those years where we were moving on with life and travelling a lot and as I had said in my 2016 advent blog that hubby was looking forward to retiring which meant only one thing, more awesome cycling races.

Although 2017 started with a high, it was also a period of frustration, waiting for others to make up their minds, to action things that had direct impact on us and in general, trying out our patience. Isn't it amazing how some people make others'  lives so miserable by not doing what they are supposed to do, it's their job but they don't give a damn, or are incompetent or totally oblivious of the fall-out they are creating by their inactions!  For the first couple of months, it seemed as if we were in a retrograde motion.

For some of the earlier months, it has also been a dark year for some of our friends and family too, health wise and work wise. Their unhappiness of course affected us. It's natural when our loved ones suffer, we suffer too. In addition, I have lost a couple of my loved ones, nearby and in India. These losses are insurmountable, closing of chapters and just left with memories of wonderful, loving people, never to be in my life, in our lives again. Death is so final.

Hubby retired in February and hey presto, he found new lease of life. More bike races galore, he entered almost one a month in any part of the world he/we could travel to with ease! 

Last year was a pretty full year in travelling, however, I'm sure that once again we have set a new record this year!! There is a standing joke with my FB friends about our travelling. They often wonder if we ever spend any time at all at home. We love checking out new places and of course meeting new people, people who often become very much part of our lives.

The business also has grown wings this year and it's started to fly. People and the universe have been most kind and all in all, the year is ending on a very high for me, my family and friends. All is coming together by the grace of all those looking after us.

We can't wait for 2018 as we look forward to all the great things it's bringing to us.

So, here's wishing you all a very merry, peaceful and loving festive season.

Bina

Awesome

Day 36 (Thursday 5th January 2017)

36 top 40 hits - achieved by the singer George Michael during his lifetime. He died 

peacefully at his home in Goring on Christmas Day 2016. He was an iconic, quintessential

pop star of the 1980's. I had to ask him for help many years ago - I co-organised the

first charity ball in the Natural History Museum, London and he and his former school mate, 

Andrew Ridgeley, who together were the music duo "Wham!", came and helped raised funds, 

as well as behaving very badly on the night, which helped make the evening memorable. RIP.

Today's post is by the ever delightful Bina Briggs. She brightens many people's mornings with her cheery greetings, virtual hugs and smiles. You too can follow Bina on Twitter and benefit from her warmth and wisdom (her handle is @PlainTalkingHR).

Bina has become a regular contributor to the Advent Blogs series. After a medical set back in 2014, she pledged to spend more time with her husband and it is clear, from this year's post, that she remains true to her word. 

As I have got to know Bina socially, I have begun to meet members of her family. I can fully understand why she is so proud and close to them. Be it friends or family, Bina is extraordinarily supportive and she will always give strangers the benefit of the doubt. However, do not mistake her warmth for lack of commercial awareness or an understanding of life's hardships. Her encouraging and cheerful persona hides the struggles she has had to cope with over the years - from being a refugee, fleeing Uganda when Amin persecuted the Asian community in Kampala (not surprisingly, she was a close supported of the Connecting HR Initiative to Uganda in September) to caring for family and loved ones during severe illness. Whatever the task, she does it with willingness and a smile.


Bina is an experienced HR professional who, with Bronwen Philpott, founded and runs Plain Talking HR - a consultancy that provides down-to-earth advice and support. If you are part of a small business that cannot afford the luxury of full-time HR support, then Bina may be just the person you need.

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Awesome

Here I am again, wondering what to write for this year's blog on 'Heights, Hearts and Hollows'.  It is natural for most of us to reflect on the past 12 months as we prepare for and enjoy the festive season and most importantly look forward to 2017.

I'm smiling away quietly as I write this on my iPad on a flight to Poznan, Poland.  It is the 9th Of December and it is that time of the year to visit the family in Poland! On my iPad, I notice that the only time I have written something meaningful has been a blog, every year for the last 3 years! I ended my blog last year by saying" My family around the globe is getting closer by the day, thanks to Social Media and our zest to travel! So all in all, thank you 2015, you have been kind, generous and as a friend says 'awesome' in more ways than one, may that continue into next year and so here's looking forward to a diamond of a year in 2016! AWESOME! 😀 "

Well, the year has certainly been AWSOME awesome in many ways but most of all due to one person in my life. Hubby turned 65 this year in April and to celebrate it as the only way he knows, he entered the toughest series of bike races in the series called ”Red Hook Criterium” this year, racing in Brooklyn on 30^th April, 

London on 9^th July, 

Barcelona on 27^th August and 

Milan on 1^st October. 

He of course has his support team aka, me! 

When Ian rode a couple of these races last year, he knew that most of the riders were in their teens and in their twenties and they were power houses, but that didn’t deter Ian. So, when this year’s series was announced, he entered it straight away. 

As it turned out he was the oldest rider in the series this year. The whole experience of being there, participating, even though knowing that he wasn’t going to qualify to ride in the final session was still exciting for Ian. 

He didn’t crash or abandon any of his races which was a credit to him. Ian fell in love with NYC, so guess where we will be on his next birthday?! 

Each of the races had its specialism because they all brought the local ambience with them. We managed to do a little bit of sightseeing each time, not to mention the shopping. Ian’s zest for travelling and enthusiasm for cycling has brought many lovely people in our lives.

I thought our travelling this year wouldn’t be anywhere near last year’s but hey, I was wrong! We started the year by flying on New Year’s Day to Malaga and revisited it twice more in the year and of course the annual trip to see our “Polish Family” in December, in addition to the races! So, all in all, not bad at all.

This year has brought many “global hollows” for most of us, the uncertainties and the atrocities around the world.

On a personal front, things are changing all the time, I feel at peace with myself, my lot and the world. There are always challenges but in the main, I’m happy and looking forward to 2017. It’s bringing changes, especially as hubby will be retired in early 2017, which can only mean one thing, more bike races!!

Awesome Diamonds

Day 11 (Friday 11th December 2015)

11 foot (3.3 m) - the average length of a Siberian Tiger,
the world's largest cat. An typical tiger's tail is 1/3 of its total body length.
Siberian Tigers differ from other tigers because they have fewer, paler stripes and a mane.
An endangered species, due to illegal hunting for their fur and body parts
(used in traditional oriental medicine), they are found in Russia, China and North Korea.

I am delighted to introduce you to this wonderful post by Bina Briggs, a well known and much loved person on Social Media. You can follow Bina on Twitter (her handle is @PlainTalkingHR). Bina is an experienced HR professional who, with Bronwen Philpott, runs Plain Talking HR - a consultancy that provides pragmatic advice and assistance. In last year's Advent post Bina shared with us the things that matter most to her in life and pledged to spend more time with her husband, the most important person in her life. Having followed her over the past 12 months, I think that she has achieved her goal. This year's post is also personal...

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This year's theme of Comet Tail and Coal Dust had me perplexed to some degree as I can't say I'm a high flyer nor did I feel that my work this year has been of no worth. I really want to do justice to this theme and of course want to maintain the tradition of contributing to the Advent Blogs so here goes.

An interpretation given to me about the theme by our lovely Kate Griffiths-Lambeth was that " You can interpret it in many ways: comets are high fliers and shine, they inspire and fill people with awe. They are also made of hot air and dirty ice! Coal dust is created as a result of hard work, although it is often considered of little worth, it is made of the same stuff as diamonds and my mother uses it to light wonderful and warming fires. Coal is often found in lowly and dark places but it is able to create light and warmth."

I started thinking of 'The High Fliers' whom I've admired, the world has admired such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Dalai Lama to name a few. Each one had/has that quality of shining through their deeds and actions. However, some of them had those faults too that people knew, were publicly known and yet were somehow pushed aside as if they did not matter or almost as if they were not regarded as faults.

Personally, I have come across leaders or trail blazers who have shone and yet there was a cold mean streak in them which got them to the status they were at. 

However, there are a few people I've been fortunate to have known whom I have admired in my life who have made a difference in people's lives, the people they've led. Two stand out for me, a CEO and a HR Director. Both had difficult remits to fulfil and jobs to do in challenging circumstances. Both did that with compassion, humility and empathy. Suffice to say that in their current positions of leadership, both continue to have the respect of the people they lead.

In the past 12 months, more than ever, I have become very conscious of people around me, people I'm meeting or interacting through the various Social Media platforms. On the face of it, they are just normal people, getting on with their lives, however, take a closer look, listening to what they have to say or watching  what they have done or doing and suddenly the ordinary person has become extraordinary. So, for instance, there's my cousin's wife, my SiL in India who has become the Chief Executive of a very respected charity for Blind People. She had been with the Charity for a number of years, as the second in command. If you met her, you'd never know what extra ordinary work she has been carrying out for the last three decades, the countries that she has visited around the world and the number of lives she's been instrumental in changing.

Then there is another cousin who retired early from her Bank Manager's position in India, decided to take up Yoga and Nutrition as a full time study because she loved it so much, achieved  the highest marks in the University and yet, when you meet her, there is just humility and ordinariness in her being. I know that even before she has embarked on a second career , she has impacted others' lives.

There are diamonds in every organisation, every workplace and in every family. In every workplace, you know those individuals who come in day in and day out, do their work, no problems of any sort, nothing is too much of a problem, you know you can rely on them and yet they don't expect any more than their fair dues.

A Diamond crystal in Kimberlite

Having been lucky enough to know a number of HR personalities through the social media, I am in awe  of those who have achieved fantastic success in their careers through sheer hard work and yet they haven't lost the personal touch, the inclusiveness or the sense of fun! I am grateful for their support and guidance whenever I've asked them for it over the past couple of years, you know who you are.

When it comes to families, for me, the more I think of the lives my parents had led or my aunts and uncles, the stories that I keep hearing, every time I visit India, of the ordinariness of my elders and yet the extraordinary challenges they met to get themselves ahead, bring up their families and give their children opportunities that they never had, they are my diamonds. 

My Maternal grandmother brought up 10 children singlehanded when my grandfather passed away suddenly at a very early age; my grandmother was expecting my youngest aunt at the time! My uncle number 2 who passed away this year at the grand age of 90, and whom I was lucky enough to meet for the last time this February, looked after the younger ones, looked after them all his life, made sure that he never missed any of their important dates and that of their offspring! He was a free spirit and made sure that he instilled that freedom of spirit in everyone who was lucky enough to meet him and know him. His inclusiveness had no limits or boundaries.

So, looking back over the past 12 months, yes, I have had my challenges in work and personal life like most people have but I am also grateful for being able to fly to many sunny destinations too (my kind of high flying!). 

Bina at Malaga Airport

I have been fortunate enough to be part of some people's lives who have become friends and we have become closer than we were last year. I am also very grateful for the spiritual growth (once again, thanks to some of the people in my life),  I have  experienced this year; things have just fallen in place, it seems that I have woken up to a world I had no idea existed. I am learning more each day and to be honest it feels like I have just started a fantastic journey of exploration.

My family around the globe is getting closer by the day, thanks to Social Media and also to our zest to travel! So all in all, thank you 2015, you have been kind, generous and as a friend says 'awesome' in  more ways than one, may that continue into next year and so here's looking forward to a diamond of a year in 2016! 

AWESOME! ☺

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles

Precious People - Day 39

Day 39 (8th January 2015)

3 9 = Japanese internet slang for "Thank You" (3 is “san”and 9 is “kyu”)
Illustration is a velvet embroidered Fukusa c1860 - a traditional Japanese gift cloth, on it the
cranes and turtle represent longevity, so it was probably used as a cloth cover for a birth gift.Gifts were usually presented in a lacquer box placed on a tray of lacquer or wood.
A fukusa would be placed over this. The fukusa would be suitably
admired, and returned with the box and tray to the donor

Today's post is by Bina Briggs - one of the most encouraging and supportive individuals I know on social media. Bina is an experienced HR professional who, with Bronwen Philpott, runs Plain Talking HR - a consultancy that provides pragmatic advice and assistance. Bina has a wider selection of cheering photos, to celebrate birthdays or just to say hello, than any of my other contacts on Twitter/Facebook and she greets her friends each day with a virtual smile. You too can follow Bina on Twitter benefit from her warmth and wisdom (her handle is @PlainTalkingHR).

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I've been meaning to write this advent blog for the last three weeks and the time has just flown by. So today, I  have found the perfect time to reflect and write, on a Wizz Flight to Poznan to be with my dear Polish friends for the weekend. (Friday, 28th November). I took the trip to deliver a Minnie Mouse, that's another story!

Mickey delivering Minnie
from Plane Crazy, 1928 - debut appearance for both characters

When thinking about what paths I've taken and what ones I'm looking to take in the next few years, I feel amazed and grateful at what life has given me, the paths it has led me to and will carry on leading. I know that every time a door is closing, sure enough, another one has opened and time and time again, I have been looked after.  There haven't been that many times when I have made a conscious decision to take a specific path and yet, I have felt very strongly each time of being directed to a way ahead.

Taking the path that's offered

Like any young Indian girl in my young days, I had dreams of meeting my dark Indian handsome prince and marrying him, just like in the Bollywood films of the 60's.  Never in my wildest dreams had I thought of ever being in England, let alone marrying an Englishman! 

The Happy Couple

However, as I started to understand the ways of the world, the one path I was determined to take was that of freedom for my Mother, my sister and me. I still had no clue where that would be or even how, except that it had to be away from my Father.

Sure enough, a way opened up for us and the path led us to Britain, ( It could have been in a less drastic and dramatic way than arriving in the UK as refugees but, hey, that's life!).

Asian families arriving in Britain from Entebbe, Uganda
to escape persecution from Idi Amin in 1972 Photo: PA

Some 42 years since that day when I stepped on the British soil, I am flying across Europe to people I see as my other extended family members. Once again, I would have never ever thought this to have been possible. You see, I have never taken anything for granted although, like everyone, of course, I have my dreams for a better life. Often people have said to me when they hear my story that I've had a hard life but then, that's how life is, you just live it the best way you can. I actually think that I have been very lucky in many ways compared to a whole lot of people I've known in my life.

So, what has brought me here? In a nutshell, it is an instinct, a gut feeling each time which is such a strong, overwhelming, all consuming feeling that I know it is the right thing for me. The rest falls in place. Call it inspiration or divine intervention, the path opens up and off I go to making it happen. People have always played a major part in my life. It's so true that people come in your life for a reason, some stay and some are there just to fulfil a need. Most people who have been in my life have stayed the course. I'm truly blessed to have so many great people in my life.

I admire people, especially young people who know what they want and they pursue that path to achieve their goal. My young nephew from a very tender age of 5 knew exactly what he wanted out of life and he has been single-mindedly making it happen.

Since writing the above six paragraphs, ten days have gone by, life once again took a curved path and on my return from Poznan on Monday 1st of December, we were dealing with the aftermath of hubby's kidney stone attack of the previous three weeks. Wednesday the 3rd of December at 3 pm stands out in my mind as one of those defining moments in my life when nothing else mattered and sure enough, Divine Intervention took over. The Medical Receptionist whom I had called at the local hospital regarding my hubby's results told me casually that the next appointment that Hubby had been given was not urgent; it was arranged for early January. Everything else paled away into insignificance because for the past 3 days we were led to believe the contrary. I had to share it and so I tweeted, " It's a Great Day, that's all!"

Over the past few years, I, like a number of people left a corporate career to start afresh. It's often been because the face didn't fit, the company was not treating them well or the company was downsizing. I have met so many people in the recent years where the person has had to be innovative to get past that angst of leaving the security of a corporate career. The amazing thing here is that not many had wanted to and yet, they have all achieved success and a lifestyle that they don't want to go back to the previous lifestyle. So many stories, so many paths trodden and so many lives changed, in the main for the better.  This has also been my story for the past few years.

What lies ahead for me, you ask? What path am I looking to take for the next year and beyond. I would have given you very precise answers on my intentions of achieving much more success in my professional life and so on had you asked me before 3rd if December. Well, I still know that it will carry on happening just as it has in the past five and a half years.

However, a door has opened once again, a new path has been shown to me which more than ever, centres around the person who's stood by me for the last 34 years. That's my future, my everything. Xx

Frank Sinatra singing "I've Got You Under My Skin"

After a wonderful Festive Season, here's wishing everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous Future. May all your dreams come true. Xx