Aaah this time I know it’s the real thing

I can’t explain what I’m feeling

I’m lost for words… I’m in a daze…

Does anymore else remember a very young Danni Minogue singing that ditty in the early 90s?

or probably more well known are Michael Jackson’s This is it lyrics

This is it, Here I stand
I’m the light of the world
I feel grand
Got this love, I can feel
And I know, Yes for sure
it is real

Well, THIS IS IT!

A year later than planned , but boy what a year … my new personal development plan is launching today!

It has been a journey but I believe that the programme is stronger and better for it ( well so am I) .

Facebook Facebook has a lovely new feature that remains you of your statuses from a year or two years ago etc…

Mine today is  from a year ago was apologising to listeners for having top cancel my radio show that day because of personal reasons. Slight polite understatement there… my world seemed, to me at least, to be falling apart.

A year on and I am confidently launching my new programme and I am so excited.

To quote another great disco tune:

Never give up on a good thing

Please take some time and pop over and check out my new website and sign up!

Spark 2 sparkles

Just think what you could be doing this time next year…

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The full sparkling new website is under development but until then the most up to date information will be on my new Facebook page and via Twitter.

Spark 2 Sparkles on Facebook

Spark2Sparkles on Twitter: @Spark2Sparkles

On my Facebook page there’s also a link to my new promotional video which is also on YouTube.

Spark 2 Sparkles Trailer

More videos are planned so to make sure you get access to them as soon as they are loaded you can also subscribe to my new Spark2Sparkles channel.

It’s so exciting having not only a weekly radio show but a TV channel as well. Don’t you just love the internet?

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube have transformed our lives. Now we can share and promote our hobbies, interests and businesses. We can connect with old friends and make new “virtual” ones. And through websites and blogs,  just like this one, we can share out thoughts,  ideas and messages to the world!

The world is literally at your fingertips… how are you going to make it SPARKLE?

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Just shows how our perspective on things changes as we grow and mature. When we are at school most of us can’t wait to leave and once we have left most of us wish we could go back!

Of course some of us have terrible school experiences: bullying, isolation, bad teaching, etc… and only fully have the opportunity to blossom once we are out in the big world.

There is no mistakening it though, either way, that school is a major influence on our lives and attitudes for good or bad.

What are your school memories?

Were you a rebel? Did you hike up you skirts and smoke behind the bike shed or, were you like me, a real goody goody?

Oh I had my moments but I took life and school so seriously.

Not homework though, for some reason I never really felt the need to do that ….

But I was always on time, never bunked off and never broke any rules.

I look at my own kids now and see echos of my school life but things have changed a lot. The opportunities they have now. the range of subjects on offer at GCSE level and even the range of qualifications. I come from an age where girls were fighting to do woodwork and boys were unlikely cookery students but barriers were lifting; the world was changing.

Just as schools offer more options to children so life now offers more options to their parents. Unlike my mother’s generation we can have careers and we can choose to stay at home ( finances permitting) and we can equally choose to set up our own businesses.

The only real barriers today for us and for  our kids are in our minds.

So what perceptions are you holding? Is that really the truth?

Just like when you thought school was the “worst thing ever” – you now know that wasn’t the truth – just your preception.

Change your perceptions and you change everything.

Have a great summer hols everyone xxx

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I was surfing for inspiration for the video trailer for my exciting new training/coaching programme “Spark 2 Sparkles” and Firework by Katy Perry says it all really.

This video has some incredibly empowering images and the lyrics are extremely inspiring.

The essence of the Spark 2 Sparkles programme is captured within this song and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

More details coming soon – in the meantime watch and listen to Mrs Brand:

Firework – Katy Perry

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
drifting through the wind
wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
like a house of cards,
one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there’s still a chance for you
‘Cause there’s a spark in you

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

‘Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on, show ‘em what you’re worth
Make ‘em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ‘em go “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ‘em all in awe, awe, awe

You don’t have to feel like a waste of space
You’re original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you’re reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will GLOW
And when it’s time, you’ll know

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

‘Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on, show ‘em what you’re worth
Make ‘em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ‘em go “Oh, Oh, Oh”
You’re gonna leave ‘em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It’s always been inside of you, you, you
And now it’s time to let it through-ough-ough

‘Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on, show ‘em what you’re worth
Make ‘em go “Oh, Oh, Oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ‘em go “Oh, Oh, Oh”
You’re gonna leave ‘em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

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of Summer!!!

Yes, believe it or not this is the summer. Here in the UK we have been lashed with wind and rain and it’s a mite chilly.

This wonderful song by Nat Ling Cole ( see link ) is just so joyous and has been running around my head all day so I thought I would share.

Usually the overcasting clouds would dampen my mood but there are so many shiny, bright, sparkly things in my life right now – who needs the sun?

So what are the bright, sparkly things in your life today? Go and give them a little polish. Show them how grateful you are and , you know what? You will feel brighter – much, much brighter.

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer by Nat King Cole

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Fancy taking valuable time out and focussing on discovering and polishing your inner diamond?

Well, I am honoured to be amongst the glittering line up of guest speakers for an amazing event taking place in Winchester, Hampshire England .

Click below for the full details:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1903343953/gems/17424250903

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1903343953/gems/17424250903

I can’t wait to attend this awesome event inside the Planetarium – join me xxx

And don’t forget to chek out the Facebook page

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I am so excited to be back on the air with a new show format.

Spark 2 sparkles will be the perfect way to start your week.

Just 30 minutes over a Monday lunch hour – every week!

Lots of exciting stuff planned.

Celebrate the 4th of July with your own fireworks!

BTW Happy Independence Day to all my US friends.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spark2sparklesradio/2011/07/04/spark2sparkles

Radio Show : Spark 2 Sparkles

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And boy was I glad to see the end of last year!

No longer the “right” side of 45 this birthday was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

But on the positive I got lots of great birthday wishes and I’m so pumped about all the exciting projects that I am working on that I know, I positively KNOW, that things will be very, very different by my next birthday.

Soon I will be launching my new training/coaching brand Spark 2 Sparkles – please do check in and see all the fun things I have put together. This year has been hard for many of us for many reason and those experiences have helped me shape a powerful new programme that I know, I positively KNOW, will help all of you get your mojo rocking and take those little sparks and turn them into an enterprise that SPARKLES!

To get us all in the mood I am delighted to announce that I am re-launching my radio show.

I really missed chatting to my special guests and sharing top tips and motivational insights.

There’s a new date and time and the show is now a more comfortable 30 minutes so it won’t take too much time out of your busy days.

So Join me – every week from Monday 4th July for some real fireworks!

Get the Sparklers ready:

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I said that I had decided to not be a victim of my circumstances.

We all have that decision everyday.

Many of us are dealing with the “economic” situation – even if we have not been affected directly through redundancy or business loss we know someone who has, or at least we have read about it or seen it on the news. It’s easy when the message all around us is that there are no jobs, no opportunities, no hope to believe that includes us – but that’s our choice and our choice alone.

So, decide that you are sucessful and you are. Decide that you are wealthy and you are. Decide that you are happy and you are.

Last night I attended a webinar by my good friend Martine Brennan on Happiness (www.martinebrennan.com) and it got me to thinking about the areas of my life where, despite the obvious challenges I have so much to be happy or grateful for.

But being grateful is only half of the story. You have to decide to not only fully appreciate the great stuff in your world but to actively do something about the less so good stuff. Small decisions every day leading to small actions.

For me I have made some big decisons:

1) I have decided to reclaim my front room.
My Ex wanted control over the lounge. He had “okay” taste but now I have control and instead of bemoaning my new status as the sole adult responsible for the upkeep of the house (moan, moan , whinge, whinge) I have been down to the local interior design shop and picked up some great swatches. I’m going retro – Fifties style and the boot fair is full of great finds.

2) Mums Mean Business.
The sequeal to my book Mum Ultrapreneur has been on hold for over 6 months – not anymore I have redrafted the outline, requested case studies, reviewed the radio show interviews and written the Introduction and opening chapters. I have a deadline of the end of June and this time I will make it – because I have decided to. Watch this space for further details.

3) Dollies and Dandies!
and I have decided to because I want to do something completely different. Here and now I have decided to announce the birth of my new business – Dollies and Dandies!

I have long wanted to have a little shop so, to begin with, I will have a virtual one. I will be selling a very niche product and details will appear in this blog soon. You won’t be able to guess what it is ( though if you want to try post your ideas on my facebook page ) Facebook link but it is really firing up my mojo across all the areas of my life.

There have been lots of other minor decisions too – like pegging out the washing I mentioned in my last post. Small decisions lead to bigger one. As you develop more confidence in your ability to make good ones you will be able to make bigger ones.

So what decisions are you going to make today?

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Hello everyone,

It has been a long time bet you have all been wondering where I have been and what exciting adventures I have been on?

Well the truth is I haven’t been anywhere or done anything that the reasonable man in the street would call exciting. To be honest I look back over the past few months and see that practically I have acheived very little. Normally for me that would be a terrible waste of time, life and energy. I am always wanting to do things , find new adventures, fill my days with stuff!

Oh I know how to be lazy as well but nothing has come close to the lack of “activity” these past few months have seen.

There were times, many of them , when all I could do was hold my hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming as I cried so the kids wouldn’t hear my pain. But hear they did. Kids see everything.

I knew that separating from my husband of 23 years and learning how to be a capable single mum would be hard practically but I never expected it to be as difficult emotionally as it turns out to be.

Here I am the “inspiration guru” – the article, book and blog writer, whose skill lies in firing up your mojo so you can run a family and business and still feel empowered for yourself, and I was barely surviving.

Oh the face was painted on as required and all those years of training as an actress came in very useful. In fact most people I met marvelled at my strength and positivity. I believe in faking it till you make it but even faking it was getting harder and harder to do.

My agenda for 2011 just slipped away. Days of inefficiency grew into weeks and then months. My GP was concerned. I saw three different counsellors for assessment. The house became messier; my waistline expanded.

Not diagnosed with depression but severe anxiety and a very low mood their main conclusion was that I was reeling from an abusive relationship and should join a local group facilitated by Women’s Aid. Women’s Aid

Now I have worked in the past with Women’s Aid and know it to be a great organisation and , without going into the ins and outs of my marriage, yes I could see how I might fit in to the profile BUT I am not a VICTIM!

And I won’t behave like one.

So I went home and started just doing stuff. Small things at first like hanging out the washing.

Hanging out the washing? Yes, if you have ever been depressed you will understand . The simplest of jobs seem impossible. Much easier ( if less economical and environmentally poisonous) is to just use the dryer.

And the huge satisfaction I felt bringing in and folding the first breaths of spring time. REBIRTH!

The sun was glorious, the birds were singing and my gorgeous youngest daughter was delighted to help.

A simple decision. A simple act. One small step for womenkind but one giant step for me!

A few weeks later and I am feeling a lot more like, well… me. I am writing again. I am back on track with work. I am sorting the finances and exercising again; in short I am “normal”.

I am not quite firing on all rockets but at least the tank has been refuelled.

So why share with you this extremely personal tale?

Because, during this time, so many friends shared their stories with me.

During the past few months I received hugs – virtual and real from all over the world. Women who had been through a painful divorce , bereavement or separation whose words, support and inspiring messages gave me hope and told me not to give up.

Many of you will know that I am a huge fan of Donny Osmond. In his autobiography “Life is just what you make it” he talks candidly about his “lost” years. I was there. A devoted , love sick fan who stood beneath his hotel room window for hours a day to see him and offer him a hug. I was “lucky” in some ways because I witnessed his struggle to get back into the music industry. I saw his determination to succeed against all the advice of everyone around him – except his family, close friends and the small loyal group of followers I was part of.

Back then one couldn’t give his CDs away. Now he plays sell out stadium tours.

In his book he talks about the many long , lonely nights in his hotel room in London. This was in 1987. With him was a copy of Peter Gabriel’s “So” CD ( he was recording at Peter Gabriel’s recording studio at the time). The one song he played over and over and over again was Peter and Kate Bush’s “Don’t Give up”. Donny cites it as being a ray of hope in his dark existence and if you read the lyrics below it’s easy to see why.

We all have tough times. We all have periods of our lives when it feels like we will never, ever, see happiness again.

I am an optimistic person but recently I was pushed to my very limit. Without the support of family and friends… who knows…

If you are experiencing trouble at the moment here is my gift to you. A beautiful song – a powerful message.

We are here for you. we are your friends All you have to do is decide to move towards us.

Each day one more small step.

Don’t Give Up.

To view the video and listen to this haunting song click on the link:

Don’t give up.

Don\'t Give Up Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

Don’t Give Up Lyrics ( 1986)

In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I’ve changed my face, I’ve changed my name
But no-one wants you when you lose

Don’t give up
‘cos you have friends
Don’t give up
You’re not beaten yet
Don’t give up
I know you can make it good

Though I saw it all around
Never thought that I could be affected
Thought that we’d be last to go
It is so strange the way things turn

Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground

Don’t give up
You still have us
Don’t give up
We don’t need much of anything
Don’t give up
’cause somewhere there’s a place
Where we belong
Rest your head
You worry too much
It’s going to be alright
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Don’t give up
Please don’t give up

Got to walk out of here
I can’t take any more
Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That river’s flowing
That river’s flowing

Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no-one needs

Don’t give up
’cause you have friends
Don’t give up
You’re not the only one
Don’t give up
No reason to be ashamed
Don’t give up
You still have us
Don’t give up now
We’re proud of who you are
Don’t give up
You know its never been easy
Don’t give up
’cause I believe there’s a place
There’s a place where we belong.

Lyrics source: http://artists.letssingit.com/kate-bush-lyrics-dont-give-up-feat-peter-gabriel-qqqf9nw#ixzz1NMnmFJfI
LetsSingIt – Your favorite Music Community

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