Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

This made me laugh. And nod. A lot. And exclaim "Oh God, that's amazing" in a high-pitched voice. Not sure why that last bit was important but hey, I felt like tellin' the world... A photo posted by Kristin Chenoweth (@kchenoweth) on Apr 15, 2015 at 10:25pm PDT

The Tunnel of Change | Nimavenl This photo of a wall, some grass and a few trees was taken coming out of a tunnel. It's a tunnel I walk or bike through several times a week, a tunnel that always makes me smile as coming out of it (on either side) provides one with an amazing view of the world. On one side is a very Dutch polderscape - water, a bridge, a mill and a beautiful view of nature. On the other side is city life - a train station, buses and cars, flats and houses and people rushing around living their lives. For me, going through this tunnel signifies change, which is probably why the setting inspired me to write the following words: It may be dark, you may be going through a tunnel or a valley. Your life may be changing in ways you can't imagine and never thought possible. Whatever you're going through, whatever's happening in your life, whatever changes you're facing - Remember to stop every once in a while, to smile and cherish the journey life is t...

These words were written thousands of years ago, in a book known and read by millions upon millions over the years - possible the most well-known book in the entire world. This knowledge is not something we only figured out yesterday, so to speak. How sad that humanity still doesn't seem to get this basic truth. “Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath . . .” — Ecclesiastes 3:19 (A Quote from the Bible / Tanakh) The heartbreaking effects that humans have on our planet | Mashable Providing a little more context: I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all c...

Be who you want to be, not what other people want to see. — Success Motivation (@successins) May 22, 2015

I loved this quote when I read it! “Only a female could be as calculating and have the foresight that destiny requires,' the gypsy explained. 'Now fate is a man,' he went on, 'no planning, just go with the flow and see what tomorrow brings.” ― Traci Harding, The Dragon Queens

"Remind yourself that you don't have to do what everyone else is doing." pic.twitter.com/pZRMsitIBb — banksy (@thereaIbanksy) January 28, 2015

Being grateful. Sometimes it sounds very easy, at other times it sounds quite hard. When life seems to be going well, being grateful feels easy. We love our job, enjoy spending time with friends, attend interesting courses, we're fit and healthy - whatever makes us feel happy, satisfied and content, those are all things to feel grateful for. When life throws you curve balls and making ends meet or staying sane feels impossible, being grateful can seem pointless or futile. Life sucks - why should I be grateful for that? Yet even in the face of disappointment, curve balls, stress, grief, loss or hardship, we are alive and able to think about whatever may be happening in our lives. We are able to examine our lives, to look at what is happening and to find ways to get through whatever it is we're going through. One of the many perks of the way our minds work! Focusing only (or mostly) on negative thoughts, feelings and emotions like Life sucks / I'm a failure / Nobody love...

I keep promising myself that I'll write more blog posts. Really, I do. Actually intend to write, and even think of stuff to write about. Thing is, when I'm not working, eating, sporting, playing Scrabble and Restaurant City on Facebook or spending time with friends and family, I'm asleep. Yes - really. Turns out working full-time again is really amazing, however it also means I suddenly have about 50ish hours less a week to just blah and think of crazy stuff to write about. I pretty much always want stuff I write to be profound and meaningful and all "I'm making a statement here"-ish, and when my writing is not like that it tends to be filled with really long sentences, and lots of "so yeah"s and expressions like that. The way this post is - if you know what I mean!  The words don't flow as easily as they used to. Might be 'coz I don't speak English on a daily basis anymore. Might be 'coz I think in Dutch when I'm at work...

With my new Twitter account going and people deciding to "follow" me every day, I figured there might be a chance some of these people actually read what I have to say. I "follow" 200+ people, and I certainly can't read everything written by everyone, so I don't expect others to read everything written by me, however if some people read what I write and enjoy it, then that would be awesome! I tried to find a quote I liked to use for today's update. Something about how life is a train and we should enjoy not only the journey but also the destination. Or maybe something about how every cloud has a silver lining and how after rain there will be sunshine (Dutch saying). As I couldn't find a quote on any of those subjects I decided to go with something slightly different: "I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." ~Arthur Rubinstein Also true, and also a reflection of how I'm feeling today. As I'm still tr...

I love listening to music. I love re-discovering a song that I've known for years, that I've heard so many times, and then reading the lyrics properly and seeing the song in a whole new light. I love the way a song brings back memories of good times, of bad times, of fun times, of sad times, of people and of situations. I've got songs I associate with people, songs I associate with experiences, songs I just love because they brought me comfort or joy at one point in my life and listening to those songs reminds me of the tough times or the happy times and the fact that I lived through those experiences and survived -That I  came out stronger and more sure of myself, with new knowledge and experiences to add to the story of my life. One of my friends loves finding songs and song lyrics online that express her feelings. Whether she's been through a break-up, she's happy, she's sad - anything, she finds a song that matches her mood. I love that about her an...