Are you happy with your current work?

Its all still too new, even after almost a year, to say that I am happy. So much changes in recent months have all made it a bit hard to digest, but its all for the best , I believe

Its all still in the making. the transition from hired employee to freelancer is  not simple.

In many ways I am still a hired employee. I go to the office and need to deliver at certain times, but I no longer have the salary rather I need to submit an invoice.

The disadvantages:

I have more than one client, so I have more than one boss.

Everything in the business depends on me, so if I am sick, I do not get paid and the work does not get done.

I am limited as to how much work I can take on, the business is not yet stable enough to take on an employee.

The advantages:

I work mostly from home and my hours are more flexible.

I can be near my kids and not in a remote office all day.

I get some tax benefits because I now submit invoices (e.g. deduct home expenses to some extent).

I can raise my hourly wage.

I can work from anywhere! A laptop, Wifi Internet and a power extension is all I need.



I am still at the beginning of a log road. Its a wide wide way...

Ofra

Circles of plenty

Like a hand full of currents, I have many blessings in life. the currants are like little circles, circles of plenty...

The original prompt was: "What are you missing in your life today? "

Considering that its 01.18 at night here, I am probably missing sleep.

I could also use a few more hours a day to get everything I want done finished.

I miss more time with my kids.

I miss flexibility in time management, I juggle kids, school, work and its just exhausting!

I miss having free time - a mother an a wife rarely has time to herself.

I miss my friends, its been ages since I had the opportunity to get together.

I guess a larger income can never hurt.

But why dwell on what i am missing in life, when I can count my blessings?

For an enhanced quality of life, well-being and happiness, I am trying to stay positive. Its not always an easy lesson to learn for a grumbler like myself... But as I demand my son to always think positive, about what he has gained and not the TV hours he has not had the time to watch... I remind myself that I too, should dwell on what is plentiful in my life. Its just a happier state of mind! It really works!

so here we go again..."circles of plenty" approach this time...

Considering that its 01.18 at night here, I am probably missing sleep.

YES, BUT I ENJOY THIS WRITING EXERCISE, SO TS WAS WORTH STAYING UP

I could also use a few more hours a day to get everything I want done finished.

TRUE, BUT SOME THINGS CAN WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW. ITS JUST WORK OR HOUSEWORK, NO NUCLEAR BOMB GOING OFF OR ANYTHING SO DESPERATELY URGENT!

I miss more time with my kids.

YES, BUT ITS JUST GREAT TO HAVE THEM AROUND.

I miss flexibility in time management, I juggle kids, school, work and its just exhausting!

YES, BUT I AM NEVER BOARD.

I miss having free time - a mother an a wife rarely has time to herself.

YEH, EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF ME...COULD NOT HELP THIS ONE BEING A BIT N THE GRUMBLE SIDE, BUT HEY, THINK WHAT A COMPLIMENT THAT IS...

I miss my friends, its been ages since I had the opportunity to get together.

TRUE, BUT I TALKED TO TWO OF THEM ON THE PHONE THIS WEEK AND WE SMS ALWAYS, MODERN TECHNOLOGY GOES A LONG WAY TO KEEP US BUSY BUSY BEES IN TOUCH.

I guess a larger income can never hurt.

YUP! BUT I AM NOT STARVING EITHER , THANK GOD!

All is well in my world and writing this has just made my smile a bit bigger - its really works! proportion in good for the soul.

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite...

Ofra

Describe your bedroom. What makes it special? What would you like to change/add?

This is the post that got me to aggregate my prompt responses also to a blog format.
I realized that is some random way, I am writing my personal experiences, opinions and feelings  = that means I am writing my memoirs. So I wanted this to be on an online diary format I can access at any time...for posterity...for my kids...

-----
Describe your bedroom. What makes it special? What would you like to change/add?

(actually this is NOT my bedroom...)

My bedroom is not so special. Like many such rooms, it contains a double bed for my husband and myself, a cupboard fr our clothes, divided into "his" and "hers" and two counters on both sides of the bed - but the counters are not matching.

What makes it special is that the bed is actually  constricted from two skeletons of single beds (actually my childhood bed and that of my sister) with extensions - an improvisation that has enabled me to move the bed from one apartment to another with ease. They just do not make them this way anymore..the materials are good and the structure strong, so I saw no reason to change. the mattress is new of course...

Another interesting feature is that the room leads to a balcony, which I enjoy using in the spring and summer months. Last year my son started sharing this joy and announced that the balcony makes him feel like he is on a summer holiday/vacation. The sunset is nice from the balcony.

The two bed-side counter do not match. One is made of two Ikea stools piled one on top of another - to get the right height but keep stable. The other counter is a relic from my teen years, a set of drawers I repainted since.

On the wall there are a few pictures of the family - its been growing as the family grows. A thank you card we got during the 2nd Lebanon war from a family we let stay in our home after they could not stay in theirs on the border, and an African carpet. But the featured pictures are two portraits of myself, from my molding years, drawn by an anonymous American Painter.

Every night, as my children prefer to fall asleep in my bed, "because ts warm and large and we can all cuddle together" says my son, then my bedroom becomes extra special.

That is, until I move the kids to their own beds, so that I to can get some sleep.

Good night


Ofra

Who's one person you want to be more like? Why?

Love thyself!

I want to be more self assured like my mother

I want to be more loving like my son

I want to be more knowledgeable like my brother

I want to be able to take it easy with a touch of escapism like my husband

I want to have more positive energy like my daughter

I want to be more successful like my elder sister

I want to be diligent like my twin sister

I want to be more calm like my father

I want to be a better

I want to work at my hobby like my good friend the DJ  and my good freind the municipal council member

There are many people I admire, but mostly my family and close friends, from each of whom I can learn to become a better and more complete person.

However, I am not so bad as I am :-)

Happy holiday

Ofra

----
This one is my second featured response, in just 2 weeks of writing to prompts
I guess I have the talent...:-)

Talk about your motivation these days. High? Low? Where's most of your energy being directed these days?

Starting an independant business is a p rocess that takes up a lot of energy.

If until now all I had to do is get up and got to work (after getting the kids rady for school), now I have to get up and think about what task needs to be taken care of today, which clients to talk to and what are the tasks that can be postponed, and then to when to push them.

But on top of all that I need to think what kind of a business I am trying ot put together, what are my goals and what steps I hve to take to get there. the thinking an dplanning of this business is the hard part.

Afterall, task management is something that I also did when I was a hired employee. And I did sometimes begin to organize my day before I got to the office. The thing is, that I has a clear separation between working time and free or familt time and now those barriers have become fuzzy.

With the freedom to mange  my own hours and the natural tentency towards taking care of  the quick and mundane tasks, comes the challenge of truely manging my own time in the most efficient way, so that I do not find myself pushing work into the hours that should be dedicated to my family, just because a client called and I just have to get things done.

This reorganisation and developing time management habits, combined with the thinking process of planning a new business of m y own is taking up my energy and motivation. But its a rich man;s problem, I have set to help myself, so the universe will help me and I am sure that my business will happen!

Good luck to all the self employed people, and happy holidays

Ofra

Talk about your thoughts on climate change.

Climate change evangelists are worried about the poles and ice melting, I am just hot and sweating here...on the tip of desert land.

The climate here is not changing...its always hot and humid.

Actually it is changing, for the worse. I do not recall it being this hot and humid when I was a child...

Winter starts later (only in December these days) than when I was a child (then the drop in temperature came in November)

There are only 2.5 months of Winter here and the its Spring, during which, one could say that the temperature is relatively pleasant because the sun is shining and one is not sweating so much.

But in May the heat is on and one starts to sweat.

From July to September, the weather is intolerable, its not the tropics here, but it sure feel like it... As a child I do not recall it being this bad and it only lasted until August.

Climate change and global warming are real! I feel it every year as the days get warmer and more humid and my shirt sticks to my back and there is nothing I can do about it as long as I am outside.

I thin every person should do their little bit to help slow down global warming. Save energy, recycle, whatever opportunity knocks, we should take it!

Baby steps is the key! if everyone does something small in their daily routine, the impact can be great. Its like the motion of a butterfly's wings which can cause a hurricane... Just do something, that fits nicely into your life so that you can adopt it as a habit. this will guarantee that you continue to contribute to this effort in the long run.

Protect mother earth

Ofra

Who's the most "successful" person you know?

Successful is such a word full of...success.

Its easy to measure success with money, but I do not think its just that. Its about happiness and self satisfaction. Success is about feeling successful, its about believing in yourself and in doing something that is meaningful to you in your life. something that is also meaningful to others. Success is about being loved and appreciated both professionally and in one's private and family life.

This reminds me of a film I saw in high-school as part of a psychology course I took. A couple of elderly people were sitting and when death came along, they receive it with open arms and smiles, because they have led a fulfilling life and now accept that its time to move on.

So in light of all that I have written, I think the most successful person i now is my mother. I know she is financially well off, I know she is happy with herself and her lot in life, I know she has done some meaningful things in her professional life and that she is satisfied with her achievements. I know she has a loving family and that all her children are self sufficient and no one is in trouble... I know that she loves herself and is self assured and happy.

I can only wish that all these positive achievements and feelings will continue in her and that they will sustain her for many years to come.

I  love you mommy,

Ofra