I’ve been doing a deep dive on Support lately and I see two kinds of support.

1. Transactional Support.

2. Unconditional (Goodwill) Support.

Arguably both kinds of support are necessary, but I want to lead with the thought that Unconditional Support works in everyone’s favour.

Transactional Support is when someone supports you only if you transact with them. In this instance you will only receive support after a transaction has been made, money changes hands, a referral is made, a post has been shared or you have signed up for a service. In simple terms you will only offer support when someone gives you something first.

Unconditional Support is demonstrating support to someone, or something without any transaction preceding it. You can do this verbally, emotionally, virtually, or spiritually. This kind of support is based on not receiving anything in return. Ultimately it may lead to a transaction in the future, but it’s based more on an energetic transfer based on goodwill that is wholehearted and genuine.

Generally unconditional support is aligned with our personal values. Those that we transact with, can have differing values to ourselves, whereas those we support unconditionally often have similar values. When we start to make decisions based on our values, versus our need to accumulate, we open ourselves up to a whole host of possibilities and a broader support base.

I’ve been around the block a few times and I see transactional support everywhere I go. I’ve also noticed when offering support for the sake of support I’ve been viewed with suspicion. The person thinks; “What does she want.”

It can be hard to support those people unconditionally if they are not open to it.

I’ve embraced unconditional support in recent years as I recognised that in supporting people unconditionally (and not expecting a transaction), I’m more likely to build a broader, more genuine, and wholehearted support base.

Of course, we need to eat, and we need to care for our family but if support is based on $$ than you will never feel fulfilled or satisfied.

And the biggest killer of Support is moaning about not getting Support.

Because if you are moaning about not getting support you are creating negative energy around you.

The best way to overcome feeling unsupported is:

1. Support yourself.

2. Support someone else.

Then the cycle of support will flow again.

In our modern life we expect followers, free support, endorsements, and goodies. We forget that anything worth doing, takes time, commitment, focus, learning and growing. It’s in this process that we can self-actualise and experience a true abundance mindset.

The Moral to the Story by Krissy Regan The Wellness Poet

Does Your life story have a moral?

As a child I remember clearly being asked, “What was the moral of the story?”

As I’ve got older, I see less books with morals and more books with malaise.

If I see another book with the word Poo on the cover I might throw up. I’m so bored of children’s books putting commercialism before meaningful content.

I’m a parent of young kids and the author of three children’s books. I’ve read my books to children all over North Queensland in the past few years and what is special about this is I get feedback and immediate reactions to my work. Kids are honest. My books are aimed at 4-12yrs old. I’ve had feedback from boys who are 12-years-old who gave me very specific examples of why they like my books, and I’ve had feedback from girls as young as three, who understand my stories and want to talk about them.

Connecting with children through stories is important to me. I grew up on a cattle station and in the evening after dinner storytelling would start around the table or the fire. TV, iPads and Netflix were not in my childhood but the connection with words to express yourself was something I learned from a young age. I used to make up stories and poems on my swings as a little girl and dream up ideas while I was riding my horse. I was completely connected to the world around me.

In hindsight, and as a mum I realise that children learn and shape their experiences of the world through tactile encounters as well as language. My eldest child learns best through rhythm and movement. Poetry is rhythm, and can convey movement, growth, changes, and knowledge.

I’m known as the Wellness Poet, and that started when I penned poems to improve my own wellbeing. I could express my deepest thoughts, feelings, and frustrations through poetry that I struggled to articulate verbally. I read my poems to my therapist who was very encouraging, and I started to publish my poems. I’ve published more than 50 poems in the past few years, including poems for children.

My second children’s book started as a poem for a children’s horse magazine, and we turned that into a book, working alongside two Townsville water colour artists. This book depicts life growing up with my horse Bobby. From Bobby I learned that love comes from animals as well as your family. I learned to trust him when he let me know there was danger. I looked after him and he looked after me and I was never afraid when I was with Bobby. I would ride him alone bare-back for many hours. Much like Lucky from the hit show on Netflix.

The moral to my books is, self-acceptance, self-love, trusting your instincts, following your heart, and overcoming significant events in our life. These are the stories I want to share with future generations as well as my own children.

It can be hard to truly power down after a hectic year. If you are a person that is used to getting a lot of stuff done, as soon as you have a bit of time on your hands, your natural tendency is to think; “OK what can I do now!”

I’m an expert at thinking of what to do next. I’m trying to be an expert at doing nothing… it’s pretty hard to do nothing, TBH!

BUT here is what I know for sure.

• When we are well rested things don’t seem like a chore. You get more done quicker, and you feel satisfied.

• Only when our mind is quiet, and our body is still, do we process and organise our thoughts and memories.

• Creative ideas form during moments of stillness.

• Problem-solving is a form of creativity. BUT it’s only helpful to move through a challenge. We don’t come up with brand new ideas in problem-solving mode.

• True joy is felt when we are fully present in the moment.

Over these holidays I plan to totally POWER down. Recharge, Reflect and Rest. In order to Power Down effectively and achieve my desire to feel rested, energised, and creative I’m going to do the following things.

1. Close off any loose ends that have been bugging me.

2. Tidy my home.

3. Put away my laptops and anything that looks like work (hide the filing tray).

4. Organise some social activities just for me.

5. Book a bucket list experience.

6. Buy new bedlinen.

7. Turn my bathroom into a hotel spa (clean and declutter with new towels and products).

8. Invite some friends for a dinner party.

9. Swim in fresh running water (creeks and waterfalls).

10. Go to bed early and get up early (see the sunrise).

11. Meet some new people and go to some places I’ve never been before.

12. Read some new books.

13. Stretch and meditate.

14. Go to the movies.

15. Schedule some digital detox time, playing games and doing activities outside with the kids.

OK I admit this sounds like a lot of stuff TO Do during my 2-week holiday BUT I’m working my way towards it with great enthusiasm. I’m proactively planning how I’m going to Power Down and what is going to Power me UP for the year to come.

I’ve ordered the bed linen, booked the bucket list experience, collected some new books, invited friends for a dinner party, and thought about how to get my family to help tidy my home…. I’ve been planting that seed for weeks. Every time they ask me what I want for Christmas, I tell them I would like a clean, tidy house… You never know, it might just work! I bought the new towels months ago and have given them to my husband to wrap for me for Christmas.

Between the 15th of December and 2nd January I will be POWERed Down and on Holidays. You have no idea how long it’s been since I was totally powered down with no expectations of getting stuff done. I’m like a little girl again looking forward to Christmas. I can feel my cells dancing with excitement at the prospect of powering down. Anything that does not get done will stay undone until early next year.

Except for the one thing that I said I would do before December 31st which is to run 1,500kms to raise funds for Ukrainian War Victims. I’m almost there, I’ve 60ks to go and I plan to complete the last 5ks on New Year’s Eve. I want to encourage as many people as I can to help me to bring much needed warmth to Ukrainians this Christmas. Coats, Blankets and so on. https://bit.ly/RunforUkraine

By all accounts next year is going to be even faster than this year and with more floods, droughts, food shortages and ongoing war, not to mention a recession in many parts of the world. Life will continue to get harder for many people and we may lose millions of more lives to winter and famine in the coming months. Which is why I’m so grateful to have the choice and chance to Power Down. One of the reasons I really want to Power Down for two weeks is so that I have more energy and more focus for what I would like to do in 2023.

I’m starting a new project on January 3rd and I plan to write a new book next year. But more importantly I want to find new and creative ways to help others that due to circumstances outside of their control can not help themselves. This is not about problem solving because we have many people that can strategise and problem-solve. BUT we need to think bigger about creating new ways to bring help to people quicker. We’ve all seen how delays in helping people prolongs unnecessary suffering and puts more people at risk.

Currently, I do not have the answer. But I’m pretty sure when I’m rested, in a moment of quiet an idea will spark, and this will give me the inspiration I need. After I’ve Powered Down, I will remind myself to enjoy this moment, be fully present in it. Not rush, be patient, be still, be joyful and be grateful.

Wishing you a delightfully SLOW, Warm and Peaceful Holiday.

Krissy x

How many people do you know who have a social conscience? 1, 2, 3, 10, 100? Depending on the circles you move in you may have more or less. For some people they are passionate about the environment, animals, domestic violence, world hunger, world poverty, homelessness, diseases, human rights, and so on. There is a very long list of social issues to care about.

If you met your friends for lunch, would you talk about these topics or would you spend time gossiping about old school friends? Do you consistently support any causes or share awareness of social issues?

It’s true that we have many commitments and obligations in our own life and unless we are affected or impacted by any of the above, we can live in a pretty safe and privileged bubble of ignorance. After all ignorance is bliss, and the burden of the world’s problems are too much for some to comprehend, let alone dealing with our own challenges.

As we move towards 2023, I would like to offer up some ideas and questions for fostering a social conscience and having your own personal CSR (Me-SR) Statement. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now an oldish term for businesses doing the right thing and giving back to the communities they use on their path to make money. A Me-SR Statement will enable you to create a personal legacy through giving.

I feel the need to write about Self-Denial. I find very little is written about this topic or spoken about it. But most mother’s I meet in need of help have been in a state of self-denial for a long period of time. The correlation between their health and well-being is glaringly obvious to me.

We talk about self-care, but we don’t teach self-care. We talk about self-love, but we don’t discuss self-love, and we do NOT discuss self-denial.

In this article for Kiddipedia I share some practical ways to move the dial from Feeling Meh to Magic!

The truth is not every day is our best day! There are just days when you wake up tired, burn-out, fed up and feeling blah! Maybe you feel Meh – an expression of indifference or boredom.

So, what do we do when we have a less than best day, when we feel helter-skelter, driven nuts by laundry, lunch boxes and socks? How do we quickly move the dial from fed up to freed up and centre ourselves when overwhelm sets in and the inbox is overflowing?

How do we move the Meh Dial? Here are my top 5 Tips for quickly moving the Meh Dial!

https://kiddipedia.com.au/from-meh-to-magic/

What Next? (Warning some F words used in this article!)

Earlier this year, I adopted the word “Faith” for 2022. Not faith in anything particular, but faith that things in the world would work out, and somehow, we would find a way to help those that have suffered these past few years, and the abusive bullies that lead our nations would disappear. Faith that we would elect wholehearted leaders with dignity and compassion, with real skills, to take action and look after people and the planet…. And then, a fucking war happened.

At the moment I feel like I’m living in the movie Don’t Look Up (link below). I’m screaming and shouting for people to take notice and no one is listening, as it’s easier to let billionaires and weak leaders make decisions about what’s real and what isn’t. As I sit at my dining table with the kids, I imagine the final scene of the movie and pray to “whoever” that those “experts” at NATO don’t fuck this up. I made the mistake of watching Brian Toon demonstrate in his TEDx Talk how any of the current nuclear weapons being boasted about could destroy us all (link below).

I’ve stood in Red Square in Moscow. I’ve stood in Freedom Square in Kharkiv. I’ve spent weeks of my time walking the streets of Kiev. I’ve worked in many cities in Ukraine, and had enjoyable and memorable experiences in all of them. I’ve met people my age in Ukraine, whose parents died of radiation poison after Chernobyl. I’ve stood in almost every major town square in Europe, Asia and Australia. I’m grateful for my knowledge of the towns, the infrastructure as well as people. I’m also grateful that I’ve some personal insights into the B.S. that goes on in major institutions and how toxic environments and cover-ups lead to chaos. Right now, we have major chaos! It looked bad before, but now it is literally exploding.

I became aware some years ago that I have a tendency towards “worst- case scenario thinking/bias”. Rather than see that as a flaw, I’m now grateful for it. It’s helped me in my life many times and allowed me to imagine the worst thing that could happen and take preventative actions ahead of time, both personally and professionally. I can’t see the future, but I can see all the possibilities that could go wrong and quickly make decisions and take actions. So, when I see dithering, inaction and B.S. I get pretty pissed off, pretty quickly.

We cannot turn a blind eye to suffering any longer. We cannot vote for toxic liars and expect anything other than chaos. We cannot ignore global warming, big pharma, energy giants and big banks exploiting entire nations and governments. Prior to the last Australian election Greenpeace made a documentary on Scott Morrison’s rise to power, who was in his team and funding him… It was all about Coal (link below).

This past year we see cries of foul play from those that recognise the Qld Premier and her father are linked to gene harvesting and pharma (links below). Why is this important? Because they control the narrative of what we see and what happens in our country, and they make a lot of money. Scott Morrison did not get better at his job after the Bush Fires. His PR team got better at covering his arse. Grace Tame's face said it all!

So, who will benefit from this War as so many nations have elections in 2022? Well, many nations are now going to reinvest in weapons and military equipment according to recent reports. This feels like another wave of industry rising to power. I wonder who will be their puppets?

Could we not divest in Coal, Divest in Chaos and Divest in Cover Ups? Perhaps Divesting instead of Investing is the way forward…

I’ve enjoyed air-conditioning this week while worrying about climate change. I’ve spoilt my kids with good food and toys, and as much of my time as possible as I’m compensating for all those mums who are stuck in bunkers or separated from their kids. I get annoyed at my kids for moaning about what I’ve made for dinner and having meltdowns about plastic pieces of rubbish they got in a party bag, while so many families have lost everything this week in war and flood. I’m hugging them extra tight and feeling so blessed to see their faces. Yet spending too much time on my laptop and telephone according to them. I’m a total fucking hypocrite. But, I’m a very self-conscious hypocrite.

I don’t have all, or even any of the answers, but when I hear the “build back better” slogan from the mouths of so many leaders who are part of the chaos, I start to feel very jittery… build WHAT back better? Inefficiency, inaction, inhumane conditions?

I’m totally fucked off, and not afraid to say it.

• I’m fucked off for all those who have been fucked over the past few years by poor management of a global pandemic.
• I’m fucked off about the small beautiful islands being lost to rising seas.
• I’m fucked off that the town I spent my university days in, Lismore, was completely under water this week.
• I’m fucked off about high costs of energy in every form, while the sun burns me to a crisp.
• I’m fucked off that we debate water security, build more dams that destroy ecosystems, but solar farms lay abandoned.
• I’m fucked off about the many victims of domestic violence and foetal alcohol syndrome which affects so many, but we sell so much alcohol so cheaply and joke about it.
• I’m fucked off that in the town where I currently live, homelessness is a real problem, but we should all be excited about our “growing” city.
• I’m fucked off that those bullies who lie, persecute and murder innocent people get away with it.

I guess I’m fucked off about everything, really. This feeling started about two months ago when schools could not return at the start of the year, but we could host an international tennis tournament and many other events around the country. But Novak was the villain!?! This did not feel right. Things are not feeling right…

We are about to have another global movement of refugees. Mostly white ones from Europe this time. I’m pretty sure they won’t be perishing at sea in make-shift boats and locked up for years unprocessed in appalling conditions. Europe’s largest human rights conference was blocked by Russia according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Does anyone really want peace, or is there too much to lose if we have peace?

I will not wait around to see what this #warinukraine might bring. I’ve already imagined the worst-case scenario, and I’m going to talk about it in the hope, and faith, that others will too. And as we look forward, we can take a breathe, consider our self-aware hypocrisy, and perhaps decide that those that make decision on our behalf, and invest our money, do so with integrity, compassion and genuine regard for humanity before it’s too late. Or else, What Next?

Links;

Don’t Look Up: https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81252357

I've studied nuclear war for 35 years - you should be worried. Brian Toon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7hOpT0lPGI

Dirty Power: Big Coal’s network of influence over the Australian coalition government: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDtKFbXoQ6Q

Anna and Pharma: https://www.uq.edu.au/.../premier-announces-queensland...

https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/.../uq-covid.../

https://tottnews.com/.../qld-premier-father-genetic-company/

More Weapons on the way:

https://www.ips-journal.eu/.../how-france-greenwashes.../

https://mondediplo.com/2021/12/07arms

https://www.ips-journal.eu/.../we-have-an-institution-to.../

#whatnext #warinukraine #nuclearwar #nato #CloseTheSky #peace

In this article for Kiddipedia I discuss ways we can overcome stagnation in our life.

I share my "Top 5 Tips to Aerate our Life," if we are stagnating in one or more areas.  

https://kiddipedia.com.au/overcoming-stagnation-in-our-life/

No-one is immune to suffering, set-backs, trauma, grief or pain. This is the reality of life, like Death and Taxes, they can’t be denied. Like most people I’ve had my fair share of each. I’ve also made unhealthy decisions, neglected my health, dismissed my well-being and wallowed in pain. A few short years ago I decided to get some new perspective on my hurts, trauma, pain and grief, and to shift the focus from anxiety to appreciation.

I decided to look at the blessings in my life and to appreciate all the lessons I’ve been given which has made me the person I am today. The person I am today is confident, fearless, grateful, hard-working, kind, compassionate and more peaceful. Of course, I have my moments of feeling fed up, frustrated and wishing life was more fun. But on the whole, I’ve made a deal with myself to embrace the highs and lows of life and to look at everything as an opportunity to grow and discover as much as I can about myself and others.

A friend of mine has an expression which says; “I wonder what will be placed upon my path today to bring me to a greater understanding of self and others.”. I’ve used his mantra in my life to rationalise difficult people and challenging situations.

Here some examples to flip from Grief to Gratitude, Anxiety to Appreciation and Thankless to Thankful.

1. As I grieve the loss of one of my babies I can be grateful that in her sacrifice her twin sister survived.

2. Uncertainty and Worry for what may happen leads to Anxiety. Instead of suffering with Worry, I choose Wonder. “I WONDER what will happen today!”

3. Childhood Trauma raises its head at some stage in our life. I’m thankful my childhood trauma has enabled me to be strong, independent and fearless.

4. Choosing to be grateful for good health and a safe place to sleep is a luxury that many people in the world do not have.

5. Financial worries and set backs are not so stressful when we recognise that help, support and assistance is available.

I choose to start and end each day with Gratitude. I wake in the morning and before I open my eyes I whisper to myself, “I’m grateful I can hear the birds singing; I have a comfortable bed to sleep in; clothes to wear; and I have coffee and food to eat.”

Before I fall asleep, I express gratitude for health and those that love me. “I’m grateful for a healthy body, loving heart and brilliant mind!”

Of course, there are days that my body is less healthy, my heart is sad, and my mind is busy and overwhelmed. BUT, expressing gratitude to myself helps me sleep better. And when I sleep, I rest, digest and repair myself ready to start a new day with Wonder.

It takes practise to accept Gratitude as a light that leads away from pain and anxiety. Life is so busy with so much uncertainty, and each day brings new challenges and life changing moments.

Embracing Uncertainty is central to this shift, and as I came to this realisation for myself I wrote a poem to express my new relationship with Anxiety (living in the future) and Depression (living in the past).

Our suffering often ends up being the gift that helps someone else. Next to our deepest pain lays our greatest gift. But we can’t use the gift if we don’t learn from the pain. That profound revelation has enabled me to use my pain to help others which is a gift that keeps on giving.

You can practise embracing your sufferings and being grateful for your lessons and connect with others who are doing the same. Nearby is someone just like you, and if you need some new perspective on your life then you can reach out for help and support.

Love and Health,

Krissy x

I was beyond delighted to have an article featured in Fierce Truths Magazine in January entitled; A Journey Home to Find Good Health. 

You can order a copy right here; https://www.fiercetruthsmagazine.com/issue-19

https://www.facebook.com/fiercetruthsmagazine