TAKING CHARGE

I Am

I’m sitting here contemplating what my next post should be about, when I look up and I see my own reflection staring back at me in the window. It’s here and now I see – for the first time in a long while – someone that I feel at peace with, someone I am proud of being. I am the real me, or damn bloody close to being. I have had some turbulent periods in the past that had taken away the heart of who I am, and even though I have been improving with the support of the amazing people I have in my life – who back me in all of my endeavours – it’s been my new found self awareness that I feel truly thankful for. People who look in on my life from the outside would guess that I am generally a confident individual, and I suppose the majority of the time I was that way – apart from the fact it was all an illusion. Yes I was always up for a laugh and having fun, but inside I was lost, drifting around trying to fit in somewhere that I wasn’t supposed to be. I was trying so hard to please those around me that I forgot about my needs and what I wanted out of life, forgot about my own expectations. If you have read any of my past posts you’ll know that I believe we can become anything we truly want to be and that what our mind can conceive we can truly achieve. Well ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce myself, I am Mr. Geraint Rhys Benney and I am me. I am at peace with who I am and what life can offer me, as well as what I can offer life. I am aware of the responsibility I have for my own happiness, I am abundant with love for my fellow man and the planet we inhabit, I am at one with every particle of stardust in our universe. And I believe we are all I am. We can all be if we choose to be, all you need is to believe.

Positivity 

I’m often asked why I’m so bloody annoyingly positive all the time and my answer is quite simple really; “because I bloody well choose to be”. It’s not like my life is perfect, or that everything goes right for me, it’s simply that I don’t let things out of my control affect my mood or reactions. Yes I could easily have a gripe about a lot of things throughout my day, but where is it going to get me apart from in a negative mood or mind-set? How many of us let the actions of others ruin our day? How many of us let circumstances determine how happy or sad we become?By me choosing to live a life in positivity, I have full control of my feelings and moods. By me choosing to live a life of positivity, I hold the rains to my future. By me choosing to live a life of positivity, I take full responsibility for my actions and reactions. We are all capable of being whatever we want to be if we start believing in our own abilities and have positivity and belief.
Nobody ever achieved anything by believing that they couldn’t.

Reach For The Stars 

We all have dreams and aspirations, but the majority of the population gives up on them without even considering what they could have accomplished if they had followed them. We can’t rewind time and we have to be realistic about what it is we want to achieve. Amongst other things, I wanted to be a BMX champion and a combat field surgeon as a child, slightly out of reach today, but only due to my ever-increasing age – not my ability to achieve anything I truly want to achieve, I simply grew up and my dreams changed. I see people regularly who for one reason or another, have not only given up on their dreams, but also life. They are unhappy, plodding along and making excuses about what could have been, holding on to their facade of not caring whilst wishing things would change. I know I may sound a bit preachy and a little snobby when I talk about the ‘people’, but it’s not an ‘I’m better than them’ scenario. I talk about them as I truly feel for them; pity gets us nowhere, I have more of a desire to help these people achieve happiness and fulfilment in their lives. I want to help give these people the opportunity to have self-value and worth. I want to show people we are all equal no matter what our background is, regardless of gender or the colour of our skin, we are all made of the same thing, stardust! We all have a bit of magic and talent inside us, all we need do is let it out and let it show the world and universe what we have to offer.

We are never too old to try new things and take chances. Take for instance Eleanor Cunningham of Howes Cave, New York, who took up skydiving at the age of 90, or Smoky Dawson – an Australian country music performer who at the age 92 years and 156 days released a collection of original songs in an album entitled “Homestead of My Dreams” making him the oldest person to release a new album and win numerous new artist awards. If you truly believe in something, then fight: fight until you can’t walk then start crawling if you have to. Never take no for an answer if you feel inside that you have the ability to achieve your set goal then you truly can. We live in a negative world with people telling us to aim low, disappointed in our lives and being judged for our social circumstances, and sadly we take it all in like a sponge soaking up water. Well my friends I’m telling you now, each and every one of us is special and it’s time we stopped trying to fit in and started to stand out.

Life story 

We all have a story, a story we believe governs how we live our lives. Each and every day we plod along, following its plot line without question, just hoping it’s going to have a happy ending. But what if I was to say that your story was totally under your control, that nothing is predestined and that you could pick up a pencil and start a new chapter as of today? As I said in my last blog, I have recently opened a bistro and tearooms, which I can honestly say was not something that I was destined to do. If you haven’t already guessed, I strongly believe you can do or achieve anything you truly desire: we all have the ability to create an amazing life for ourselves with the power of belief. Opportunities come and go, leaving us sitting around wondering what could have been and considering the ‘what ifs’. I know nothing about running a bistro – nothing at all – but a took a chance. Yes I can cook, but – as the opening day proved – I’m not a cook and I found out quickly that this isn’t going to be easy. I was out of my depth. Having closed the door at the end of that day I wasn’t disheartened or disappointed in myself, in fact I’d never felt so alive. Something had woken my taste buds and I liked it. Putting myself in a position that made me not only uncomfortable, but almost vulnerable, I had to stand up and fight. Not only for an idea, but now a dream to make it a successful little enterprise.

I know where my strengths lie: I’m a front of house person. I love people and I enjoy building relationships with the customers, which I believe is just as important as good food. Talking about good food, I have found myself an amazing chef that shares my ambition, and together I truly believe we can turn this little bistro into something to be proud of. I have a lot to learn and I’m excited about the unknown; its a whole new world I’ve entered and I’m about to write the next chapter of my life within it – and I’m going to make sure that it has a happy ending. How am I going to do this? I’ll tell you how; by believing It will be.

We all have the power over our lives, and we can use this power to design our lives in whatever way we want. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.

Busy times

Hi everyone, I apologize for not being here to post my words of wisdom this week, life really is amazing at the moment and has been keeping me busy with opening my own bistro and tea rooms in the small town where I grew up. If someone had told me even a month ago that I’d be running my own eatery, I’d probably have thought they were talking crazy, but here I am sitting in my kitchen working out the menu ready to take on a new challenge! I am excited about what to come over the next few months.

Don’t believe the hype 

Don’t believe the hype

As you sit here reading this, your mind is probably telling you that you don’t need improvement: you are who you are and don’t go getting ideas above your station. It’s a part of our defensive mechanism, and is useful in keeping us safe from danger, but not so useful in helping us achieve our goals. In fact, it’s preventing us from doing so. We let our minds rule how we live. The constant chatter of total rubbish is defining who we are, and if we don’t take that control back then happiness and fulfillment will never truly be ours to experience. Take a step back and think of it this way: our person and our mind are two separate entities in one piece, and they can live in turmoil or in harmony, depending on how we react to them. I’m not saying that we are all schizophrenic, but I suppose it comes very close.

Our thoughts and feelings create the life we live, and by taking charge of our thoughts and feelings we can genuinely mould and sculpt a happier, more joyful, healthy future. But we have to really want it. We all have a story; a story we have made up to justify why we do things or why we don’t do things, a story that is usually full of excuses and self-pity, and we live it out accepting everything it says about our capabilities. But the story of our lives is just that – a story, and it can be rewritten anytime you want. It can take any shape, take any direction, because you are the writer and you have full control over what happens; all you need is the courage to believe in you, the courage to stand up to yourself and say ‘I can do that, I am more than this, I can achieve anything if I really want to’. We are the creators of our own destiny: it’s time we all woke up and started living.

Meditation 

I have been dipping in and out of the practice of meditation for a number of years, and have found it to be an amazing way of helping me take a step back and look at my life in a totally different way, opening my eyes and my soul. It’s helped me bring back clarity and peace to a very hectic, unhappy life that kept me from being myself. It’s been a long and difficult trek, let me tell you!

​Mindfulness of meditation didn’t come easily to me. I went to class after class trying my hardest to connect with my subconscious, but the harder I tried, the further away I was getting from my goal. You see; it took me a long time to realize that mediation was a deeply personal experience, and no one can teach us how our mind works. We have to find our own way forward. I’d spent goodness knows how much money on classes run by people who are only showing me how they found the way, and I believe that the only people getting any kind of benefit were the paid teachers. Paid for leading me in the wrong direction. I’m not saying don’t go to classes, as they are a good place to learn the basics and meet like-minded people, but don’t go wasting time and money going on someone else’s journey. We all have the ability to meditate: each and every one of us. I believe we have had it since the day we were born, it’s just been bred out of us with education and TV and the hectic lives we lead. We are all spiritual beings with a connection to the universe, we are made of star dust the same as everything in existence, and are capable of great and magical things. All we need do is believe in our own ability to live. There are lots of free videos and articles on the internet that can help you get started; the information is only a fingertip away from you. There is no right or wrong way of meditating, only your way.

Here is a short Meditation video that will help you along the way.