Posted by lisallen on May 3, 2011 under Personal Development Blog | 
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly I can talk myself out of doing the chores and into a trip to the seaside! The amount of time does vary slightly, but on Saturday, it took all of 2 minutes to dispel any guilt involved and start the preparations for the short journey south to the beautiful Dorset coast. A couple of phone calls, a 60 mile drive and there I was, in sunny Poole, raring to go!
Now, I’m sure you’ve been in a situation where someone makes a chance remark, or you see something that triggers off a whole load of memories which have lain dormant for years. As human beings we store all our experiences in the mind/body complex – what we have difficulty with is recall, unless something triggers off the memories. Well, I thought I was taking a trip to Poole, but in fact it turned out to be a trip down memory lane for the most obscure reason.
I wandered into St Peter’s Church, Poole and there was my memory trigger – photos of Lord Baden Powell, founder of the Scouting movement! Apparently the first ever scouting expedition was held on Brownsea Island in Poole harbour in 1907 and Lord B.P’s connections with the town were cemented when he married his young bride (he was 54, she was 23!). Well, seeing his image brought back all sorts of childhood memories about my brothers going off to scout camp and doing good deeds to raise money in Bob-a-Job week (a bob = 5p these days ). I can remember them comparing notes and moaning about how some householders made them work much harder than others for the same amount of money!
However, putting aside the personal memories of the smelly kit bags and the bob a job stickers, it got me thinking about Lord B.P who was described as being a man of his time and a man before his time. Having recognised (during his serving career in the army) the importance of instilling good values in young people he then did something about it and went on to found the world’s largest peace movement and was considered to be the 13th most influential person of the 20th century. Wow! So what was/is the scouting movement teaching? Well, they refer to spiritual development (not religious) as being at the heart of the scouting activities and by that they list 7 ‘laws’, a code of conduct.
A scout is to:
• Be trusted
• Be loyal
• Be friendly and considerate
• Belong to a world-wide community
• Have courage in all difficulties
• Make good use of time and is careful of possessions and property
• Have self-respect and respect for others
Quite frankly, if I’d followed these all my life, I’d be in a VERY different place now!! However, of the above listed, the one that jumps out as having the most potential for creating long-lasting and far-reaching change for the world is the last one – having self-respect and respect for others. A teacher of mine once said that you can only respect others as much as you respect yourself, so there you have it. Start looking at ways in which you can increase your self-respect……..respect for others will then follow on naturally. ….hmmm……maybe I WILL recruit for the boy scouts after all!
Posted by lisallen on February 1, 2011 under Personal Development Blog |
It’s a bit of a standing joke in our family. Take me to the cinema and within five minutes of the film starting, I’m asleep. Well, I mean, comfortable, warm and dark = sleep as far as I’m concerned! So if I tell you that I’ve been to see the King’s Speech, not once but twice, and I DIDN’T FALL ASLEEP……good film!
The brilliant performances from the cast, great cinematography and the wonderful balance of humour and pathos in the script made it easy for me to say yes to going again. It has to be said that Colin Firth had something to do with my level of interest – still haven’t forgotten ‘Mr Darcy’ and don’t suppose you have, if you’re female and the right age!
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Posted by lisallen on January 21, 2011 under Personal Development Blog |
When you’ve finished reading this article, I suggest you go off and read a book, and I’m going to do the same. Not just any old book, but a book called ‘The Genius in All of Us’ by David Shenk.
Now I don’t normally recommend books which I haven’t read, but I’ve just read an article on the BBC website (see link below) which discusses its content. It seems pretty much in line with what I already know on the subject of genes, hereditary factors and environmental influences on human development. So, when you’ve read it (either the BBC article or the book) let me know what you think, and whether or not you’ve decided to become a genius!
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Posted by lisallen on November 3, 2010 under Personal Development Blog |
There’s one thing about having children which is indisputable; they push you out of your comfort zone and usually when you least expect it.
Let me explain. Most of the time I love being the mother of a daughter who is studying A level food technology at school. She cooks truly delicious dishes and I revel in the fact that I’m eating comfort food in my comfort zone and someone else has cooked it. Result, or what? Read more of this article »
Posted by lisallen on October 26, 2010 under Personal Development Blog, Self Improvement Ideas |
Just been out for a walk with ‘our’ dog – we don’t possess a dog but we look after the lovely Susy from time to time when her owner’s away on holiday – see photo on the newsletter . She’s a beautiful roan cocker spaniel and a really sweet-natured dog to have around.
I’m more dog-centric than usual at the moment because we’re out walking her and meeting all sorts of breeds of dogs and their owners, of course. I find myself thinking of those dog shows you get at village fetes, when the prize goes to the dog and owner who look most like each other – heaven help you if you own a Rottweiler and you win!
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Posted by lisallen on October 16, 2010 under Personal Development Blog, Self Improvement Ideas |
What is it about getting up early? Do you find it really hard when there’s work to do, or are you excited by the day ahead? If my mum were still alive she’d be AMAZED at the change in my getting-up behaviour – let’s just say I used to leave it to the very last possible minute!
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Posted by lisallen on October 9, 2010 under Personal Development Blog, Self Improvement Ideas |
G’day mate! How ya doin? I want you to imagine that I said that with an Aussie accent; I need to practice mine as I have a feeling I’ll be travelling to and from Australia a lot more in the future. This year I went to Australia (twice) for the first time in my 50 odd years, so why the sudden interest in going down under again? I’m married to an Aussie!
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Posted by lisallen on October 1, 2010 under Personal Development Blog, Self Improvement Ideas |
They say ‘a change is as good as a rest’. Last weekend I hopped on a train and went down to Torquay in Devon for a brief but busy visit – I came back feeling refreshed and inspired for a number of reasons.
First of all, we stayed in a lovely hotel where the service and attention to detail was first class – it’s so nice to be looked after once in a while by people who really care about how they earn their living. Perhaps there should be a hotel starring –system, for how much hoteliers care about their clientele. (Funnily enough I discovered that a hotel in Torquay was the inspiration for John Cleese and Connie Booth to create Fawlty Towers – certainly not the one we were staying in!).
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Posted by lisallen on September 24, 2010 under Personal Development Blog, Self Improvement Ideas |
The format of this blog is different from usual – variety is the spice of life and all that, so ‘spice up your life’ as ‘those’girls say! It’s still intended to be thought-provoking though, and if it’s to be of real use to you, first you need to watch the video clip of Sir Ken Robinson talking about how schools kill creativity. If you don’t know who he is, watch the clip, it all becomes clear. I’ve ’favourited’ it on my youtube channel – it lasts for 20 mins and is SO worth the time invested.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLisAllenTUBE?feature=mhum Read more of this article »
Posted by lisallen on September 17, 2010 under Personal Development Blog, Self Improvement Ideas |
I was invited to go to the theatre by one of my daughters the other evening. She offered to pay so I said yes very quickly, even before I knew what we were going to see! However, I would have gone in any case, because apart from the theatre’s beautiful setting (The Watermill, Newbury if you know it) the production sounded right up my street – ‘Spend Spend Spend’! My husband was a bit nervous in case I got any new ideas…..
The musical is based on the true story of a young Yorkshire couple – Viv and Keith -who won a fortune on the pools* back in the 60’s, and their subsequent journey from rags to riches and back to rags again. It had everything you could want by way of entertainment – good story, brilliant acting and great music and choreography. (As it was directed by Craig Revel-Horwood of Strictly Come Dancing fame, you’d expect that.) I think the rave reviews are totally justified and I’ll spend, spend, spend and go and see it again! (See, I really got into the swing of it!). Read more of this article »
