In the Land of the Long White Cloud
Home again! Noosa seems like a dream.
I am afraid I didn’t follow my own advice on dealing with adversity, and was really down for a while. I loved living in Queensland. However we have now settled back into life in NZ and have even found NZ’s version of Sunshine Beach, albeit a lot colder and rockier!!
Luckily we hadn’t chucked out all of our warm clothes and blankets. We have already had to light a fire for warmth. Not used to that!
I don’t like the earthquakes . Our son felt his first one last night; he said “are you rocking the sofa Mum?” I said “no, I’m in the kitchen!!!!”
So, now I want to catch up on my reading. “Happier than God” by Neale Donald Walsch, is calling, followed by another Seth book which I have had for ages and haven’t read, so I will sign off for now.
Take care.
Moving across the Tasman AGAIN
Who would have believed it? We are returning to New Zealand in January! I guess we achieved our goal of moving to Queensland, even if we are moving back again!!
In 2001 the Australian Government changed the law so NZers immigrating to Oz are only temporary residents unless they are aged under 45 years (ooops, I am just past that) and have a skill that Australia wants e.g brain surgeon or good rugby player (I’m not on that list either).
This means that the boat people who are streaming into the country have more rights than us as they are granted permanent residency status.
Our 9 year old son is also affected by this law so we have decided that, for his sake, the best thing to do is move back to the “Shaky Isles” (so named because of all the earthquakes) and when he grows up (and becomes a brain surgeon) he can always return.
Sunshine Beach has been great and we’ve made some good friends, but it’s time to go. The universe obviously has more adventures in store for us!! I will keep you posted…
So Long, Time to Wrap Things Up
It has been a very long time since I updated this blog. Although we are STILL not quite financially free we are getting there! The principles we followed are still good but the GFC has affected our plans in a big way. So, I will not be posting regularly from now on.
My interests are now a lot more spiritual. We wouldn’t have got this far without a lot of divine guidance!!
Anyway, this is the story so far:
- I discovered Robert Kiyosaki and we read his books avidly. We bought the game “CashFlow 101″ which is brilliant
- We paid a top investor (with the same philosophies as Rich Dad) to mentor us for a year or so
- I became a Real Estate Salesperson. Rich Dad said “learn how to sell”
- We bought two cash flow positive properties in Auckland and added to our income stream by adding minor dwellings to both of them
- We built a motorhome company and ran it for several years
- We joined Kurek Ashley’s “Life Success Club” and listened to Success CD ‘s every night of the week
- We read many, many books on investing
- We attended lots of seminars on investing: Dolf de Roos, Robert Kiyosaki, Brad Sugars, ESC to name a few
- Finally we threw caution to the winds, sold everything and moved to Australia
- We bought several ‘pre-foreclosure’ properties in the USA for cash flow
We were fortunate that we could buy some cheap houses in the USA. These houses were purchased well below market value so provide passive income now, and will provide capital gain when we sell.
So, not quite, but nearly there!
Follow your dreams …at the end of the day, remember we were sent here to have fun!
All the best!
Change Your Perception; Change Your Life
Did you realise that you have the power to change your life by changing the way in which you view the world?
We view the world based on an internal map of rules that we have developed over the years. This is comprised of personal experience and beliefs we have gleaned from parents, friends, teachers etc.
Some of our rules are based on what society has determined is the correct way to behave, and are necessary to ensure we can all live and prosper together. This is our reality. We use this framework on which to base our decisions.
You can have two people with contrasting views, who both feel that they are right. This is because they have contrasting perceptions of reality. They see the world through different coloured lenses and they think their perception is ‘The Truth.’ However the term truth has no singular definition on which philosophers and scholars can agree.
Events, of themselves, are not good or bad; right or wrong, they just are. It’s the way we view them that makes the difference.
Because what we focus on expands, our perceptions of reality and thus our experience of reality, attracts more experiences that validate that perception. In other words, our thoughts lead to actions, which lead to results which cause us to prove ourselves right.
A life changing and empowering way to view any negative event is to ask yourself is, “what is good about this?” You may find this a hard question to answer at first and may not come up with anything positive, however keep asking yourself the question and your mind will give you the answer. The seeds of success are often hidden in adversity.
Learn to question your perceptions and assumptions. Become aware of the way in which you are seeing the world. Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. Changing your perception puts you on the path to deliberate creation of your life.
Fun photo by -RobW-
Is Reality an Illusion?
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
~Albert Einstein
The very first book I read on the subject of spirituality, many years ago now, was “It’s All in the Playing” by Shirley MacLaine. She expounded that the world is just a stage and we are the actors, playing out our lives.
I think this is true. What do you think? Is this life real or have we been fooled?
And what about the photo? (It was actually snapped at Madame Tussad’s Wax Works in London!!).
Many thanks to Cliff1066 who took it.
The Serenity Prayer (all of it)

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway
to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
I surrender to His will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
~Reinhold Niebuhr
Great photo by TroyMason
“Steps to Happiness” ~ Poem
Everybody Knows,
You can’t be all things to all people.
You can’t do all things at once.
You can’t do all things equally well.
You can’t do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.
So,
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others, because no one else is in the contest of “being you”.
Then,
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you’ll be a most vital mortal.
Believe,
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in all history event.
That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.
~Unknown

“Avoiding danger is no safer
” I am guided by Divine Intelligence

“There’s nothing I have to Have
