Sorry I’ve been away….I had the winter blues!

Posted on November 19, 2012 by jenp

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I wrote my blogs. All four of them were totally neglected in October and November. I just didn’t feel like I had anything inspiring to say. I had the blues – I don’t know why. Nothing bad had happened, but I was lacking my favourite feeling: enthusiasm.

Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose | Leave a comment

Have you really thought about what you’re eating?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by jenp

I’ve been thinking a lot about food recently and it all started with a man I met over breakfast at a conference. “You should give up refined sugar,” he told me, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from saying, “You should give up telling strangers what they should do!” I hate unsolicited advice. Who did he think he was? But I’m now eternally grateful to him…

Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose | Leave a comment

How much of your life are you living on automatic pilot?

Posted on October 3, 2012 by jenp

 

This is my route home from work: the M62. As motorways go, it’s beautiful, cutting  through Saddleworth Moor. But often I arrive home and I can’t really remember how I got there. I’ve driven on automatic pilot, my mind not really tuned in to what I’m doing as I mull over the day or listen to the radio. And now I’m wondering: how much of my life do I live on automatic pilot?

Continue reading →

Posted in Relationships, Resolutions and good habits, The Happiness Project, Things to Do, Time | Leave a comment

Finding inspiration after a period of feeling very uninspired!

Posted on September 26, 2012 by jenp

As I wrote in my last post, I’ve felt particularly uninspired recently. All my projects, that usually fill me with enthusiasm, have left me feeling uninspired and rather empty. The result: I’ve been a bit of a couch potato, watching far too much TV. Usually a bit of a waste of time in my opinion. But one of those programmes, came made me feel inspired again. Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose | 1 Comment

How do I find my inspiration again? What should I do when I simply don’t feel inspired?

Posted on September 21, 2012 by jenp

There’s been very few blog posts recently. Reasons? 1. I’m ill. 2. I’m busy at work. 3. I simply don’t feel inspired. I’m not sure why: perhaps the approaching winter or the fact there’s not been much sunshine recently? So I’m wondering, “How do I find my inspiration again?” I can think of three possible ideas – but I’d love to know your thoughts? Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose, Resolutions and good habits | 1 Comment

Time, time, time – where does it go? Why do I never have enough?

Posted on August 30, 2012 by jenp

OK, you might have noticed a distinct lack of blog posts recently and that’s down to one thing: time. I never seem to have enough. I don’t have time to tidy my bedroom which, quite frankly, looks like it belongs to a teenager, not a forty something woman. My daily runs have become weekly runs. My latest book sits unproof-read on my computer. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things I’d like to do. So an article about time management in an old church magazine caught my attention recently…

Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose, Time | Leave a comment

Safe haven for the lost

Posted on August 20, 2012 by jenp

Another story from Daniel O’Leary’s book, Unmasking God.  On a dangerous stretch of coast where shipwrecks often occurred, there was once a small lifeboat station. It consisted of just one hut, one boat, a makeshift lighthouse and a few devoted members who kept a constant watch over the sea. Many lives were saved.

Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose | Leave a comment

Another update on my list of 100 Dreams….

Posted on August 18, 2012 by jenp

When I started Inspired! nearly two years ago, one of my first posts was about Laura Vanderkam’s book 168 Hours and how it had inspired me to write a list of 100 Dreams. I only posted 93 of my dreams online – about 7 of them were too personal to share with the whole world! You can see the whole list here: So have I managed any of them? Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiring Books, List of 100 Dreams, Resolutions and good habits, Retreats | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

OK so it’s not Christmas but I love this story ….

Posted on August 17, 2012 by jenp

During a bit of cheating on silent retreat (I’m not supposed to read!), I read part of Daniel O’Leary’s book, Unmasking God. I particularly loved this story: Shock Waves of Bethlehem. OK, so it’s not Christmas right now but there’s only 133 shopping days to go…. And it’s a lovely story at any time of the year!

Continue reading →

Posted in Life goals & Purpose | Leave a comment

A little report on my recent silent retreat

Posted on August 13, 2012 by jenp

I want to tell you about my silent retreat at St Beunos, but I don’t know how to do it justice. I packed a mountain of stuff to take with me: clothes to wear, art projects, my running kit, a deckchair to sit in the sun, my computer and a few books. I also packed my problems. I brought the clothes, art, running kit, deckchair, computer and books home. I feel as if I left the problems there.

Continue reading →

Posted in Retreats | Tagged , | Leave a comment