Live It Up eNews!

September 2009

Quick Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup grape seed oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 cup water
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease square pan, 9 x 9 x 2 inches. 
Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 1 minute on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter into pan. 
Bake until toothpick/skewer inserted in centre comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. 
Serve warm, with dusting of icing sugar and icecream, or break milk chocolate into small pieces and let melt over hot cake.  When melted, spread to cover cake and decorate with fresh slices of strawberries. 
NB: Do not use self-raising flour in this recipe.
Visit  www.cooks.com

Quote of the month

If I'd known I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself.  

Leon Eldred

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Dear Reader

The month has almost slipped away, and here is the newsletter, better late than never!

What have I been up to?

Got back from South Korea (marvellous place to visit and gorgeous countryside) late August, then flew to Sydney in September for the Australian Hypnotherapy Association's first National Conference.  It was fabulous, although I did miss Riverfire.  When Riverfire was on, I was cruising Sydney Harbour and enjoying the beautiful lights of Sydney from the water.

In October, I am flying to Melbourne to complete Hypnobirthing training (very excited), and the first stage of the Goulding SleepTalk Programme which teaches parents how to sleep-talk their child while asleep, with positive and powerful suggestions.  Also very exciting!

Remember to take care of you!

Until next month, Live Life 2 The Max!  Narelle

Procrastinate or

© Narelle Stratford 2009

Do you ever put things off, and off, and off.... and then wind up feeling down on yourself because you really wanted to get something done, and still find every excuse under the sun to not do it?

There can be several reasons for procrastination, one of which is depression.  When someone is depressed, they can find it extremely difficult to be motivated, or if they get motivated, then finding the energy to actually do something is another thing altogether.  

If you are depressed, then you may find that you are "ambivalent" which means that you make up your mind to do something and just as quickly decide not to, or can't decide anything at all.

Some may see this as procrastination when in fact it is a result of being depressed.

Another reason for procrastination is that you have conflicting beliefs and decisions you've made on something, and those conflicting beliefs don't allow you to do or 'not do' what you want.

For example, you want to lose weight and you've made a decision about this and no matter what you do, it's not working.  What if you had also made a decision at some time in your past that being big equated to feeling powerful and safe...  Yes, you would experience a conflict inside and not know why part of you just refuses or actually forgets to cooperate.

Many intelligent people procrastinate because there may be a fear of failure - so if they put it off, then they can't fail.

Or there could be a fear of success because if you are successful then others may expect you to be successful all the time and that's a big load of pressure to deal with, isn't it?

So, by now you can see, professional help is necessary.  Procrastination is not just about laziness, or lack of motivation, or inability to commit.  It can have many different reasons that create internal conflict and, really do require you to seek professional help.

 Master's Wisdom!

"Help!  I'm shedding fur and need reassurance that I'm still lovable."

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