Furniture Rejuvenation

At the risk of sounding completely conceited... the truth is, I'm a really creative person!

Witnessing transformation appeals to me... working with my hands and getting to actually see the rewards of my labour is what feeds me. What transformation am I working on now, you ask?

Furniture Rejuvenation!

Take a look at some before and after photos of my wood talent...

BEFORE and AFTER

My strength is taking a piece of furniture with an existing finish that is in decent structural shape but looks worn and tired… then making it come alive in colour and sheen again!

Without stripping your furniture I can rejuvenate it using tested touch-up techniques, stains and finishes… making the scuffs and tiredness virtually disappear.

Most of my jobs can be completed within a few to several hours, making it more affordable than the expensive job of completely stripping and refinishing it.

Here's a few more before and after photographs of my work...

BEFORE and AFTER

If you live locally (on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast) and have a piece of furniture with “good bones” but looks dull or scuffed and is in need of some tender loving care, I can help with your transformation.

Carolyn at 604-885-8885

Share Your Goodness

I have always felt that it is an easy and rewarding experience to help make other people's lives better by sharing some of my positivity, care and attention. I get to feel uplifted by sharing my greatness, AND get to watch how my attention literally transforms another person's day. And, you know what...

... WE ALL have that ability!

I love the following quotation, for it really expresses what I personally aspire to in my own life.

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."

Quote by Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Missionary and Nobel Peace Prize winner

(What a great photo of her, hey!)

Those in business ought to really understand this principle, for it can be the difference between their business succeeding or failing. Good customer care professionals are like diamonds... they make everything around them glitter and uplift feelings.

It's as simple as aligning in attitude and extending a little kindness to others... a gesture of help, a non-intrusive conversation, a helping hand, a compliment, whatever! Offered with sincerity, it certainly will be noticed!

In this season of giving, offer your authentic Self, for it is the kindest gift. Go on... make a difference!

Warmly, Carolyn

P.S. If you are hunting for a perfect gift for a friend, co-worker or relative needing increased Work and Life Balance, the "Becoming the BEST YOU Possible" eBook and companion bonuses and Relaxation meditation MP3 is it!

$27... go to www.life-balance-success.com

A New Roof Equals Peace of Mind

With a wonderful sigh of relief, our new roof job is complete!

Who would ever imagine that having a new roof installed on our home could instill a sense of peace and relief? It certainly has for me! Perhaps it's simply because the incessant week-long pounding noise has stopped, I don't know, but an inner peace and quiet has now come over me.

If you're like me and enjoy 'before' and 'after' photos, have a look at our recent transformation...

Pretty sweet, hey... a metal shingle roof that will likely last longer than the actual house itself!

Huge thanks to 'Dan' and his awesome, enthusiastic work crew, including an incredibly brave female roofer! If you are a homeowner on the westcoast British Columbia looking for a great roofing company, we highly recommend the work of Papco Building Supply at 604-320-1527.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not recommending that the answer to finding peace of mind is to have your home re-roofed... smile. There are certainly less troublesome and less expensive ways of getting there, believe me! For me, peace came as a sweet and unexpected after-experience.

Until I return, stay well.

Warmly, Carolyn

http://www.life-balance-success.com/

There's No Place Like Home!

Welcome!

I don't know about you but I LOVE experiencing and seeing my creativity in action!

It's been a blazing hot day and I am happy to have given myself the entire day to work around the outside of our home and in the garden. There have been numerous incomplete projects pulling at me for up to two years, but today they got crossed off the "to-do list." They are now complete.

This day has been a most energetic one of progress in action. The paintbrush came out and within a few hours our deck railing had a fresh coat of forest green paint. What a great difference!

The driveway garden that has been barren for 16 years (!) now has Shasta Daisies planted the whole length of it... topped off with a decorative layer of bark mulch. What an amazing difference!

The planter box at the side of the house, which always looks sweet in spring but blah throughout the summer, now has a mixture of colourful perrenials in its palette for all the summers ahead.

These projects have given me tremendous joy today. Working steadily to improve certain parts of our home that have been lacking has refreshed my feeling about our home, and also affirmed my thrill at seeing my creativity unleashed.

2006(C) Photo by Carolyn Clarke, all rights reserved

Much of my career work is administrative in nature, looking after the operation of our business... an important role but not always a creative one. This I know about myself... I personally love to see the results of my work, but it isn't always apparent how many phone calls and paper sorting tasks I've accomplished at the end of the usual business day. Working with my hands on a tangible project, as I did today, gives me the opportunity to see my efforts and progress from start to finish... witnessing a transformation right before my eyes.

I don't know about you but I really NEED to indulge my creativity in various types of projects and see tangible results at the end of my day.

There are still a few other projects I want to work on before the summer merges into fall and it's time to come indoors again.

How about you? Are you like me and need to express that inner artist of yours working on projects around your home. Even if I could afford to hire these projects out, I wouldn't because they help me fulfil parts of my nature that need expression!

My task list is getting shorter and home is looking more refreshed than it has in a few years.
There is no place like home! I hope your home is a blessed santuary for you, too.



Warmly, Carolyn
your Personal Change Consultant
Inner Fitness(R) Programs
www.innerfitness.ca

Crossroads For Life Change

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less traveled by...
and that has made all the difference.”

Quote by Robert Frost

It takes great courage to live a conscious life, especially these days with so many stresses, temptations and distractions to sway us from course.

This human journey presents many crossroads to consider, some arrive with much fanfare and clarity, while others are subtle little paths that seem obscure and perhaps not worth considering. But every fork in the road is yet another opportunity that we can either see as an invitation and embrace, or can be seem as a dangerous or insignificant diversion instead.

Thanks to Jerry Horbert/Dreamstime for the perfect photograph!

I have faced numerous crossroads in my lifetime that blantantly presented themselves into my life, but there is one road that opened that I chose to accept... a life-changing road that stands out in my memory... and will forever.

I'd decided to enroll in a "Positive Thinking and Self Hypnosis" seminar (now 26 years ago) but was undecided as to whether I would take it at the Night School Program close by, or at the local college a little further away. It was the very same course being offered, but taught by different teachers... I did not know either of them.

Until I walked out the front door of my home that evening, I still hadn't decided which one I would attend. But letting my instinct guide me, I found myself walking to the Night School Program... and to this day, I am so glad I trusted the road I chose, for it led me to meet Richard, my now sweetheart husband! He was the instructor of that program (yes, I fell in love with my teacher)... and needless to say, THAT fork in my road was instinctively the best crossroad I ever listened to!

Crossroads arrive to offer us options, new choices, expansions on who we are being in life... and offer us ways to expand our horizons. But it is only the "listeners" that will recognize the crossroads before them and be open to the potentials they have to offer. With intrigue and courage, we can dare to open ourselves to the newness that life has to offer. And when we choose to recognize these crossroad opportunities that place themselves before us, we are then empowered to make conscious committment to the magnificent life journey that is ours to claim.
If you are seriously seeking to better your life (and aren't we all!?), let your "Crossroad Radar" become quickened and invigorated... and watch the new life choices that will awaken before you.

May your crossroads be as sweetly transformational as mine.

Warmly, Carolyn
your Personal Change Consultant
www.innerfitness.ca