Pink Apple » More Than A Bite Enewsletter

How's Your Christmas Shaping Up?

admin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:56:54 +0000

A public edition of More Than A Bite, the Pink Apple e-newsletter.

Today’s More Than A Bite
(Pink Apple’s Enewsletter) is sliding in on a Christmas Sleigh straight to your
Inbox. So it has

an
estimated reading
time of 2-3 mins
these goodies
- Save Our Christmas Sanity Messages
- Secrets to Successful Relationship Article Links
- Apple Tart Article links (Chris’ eclectic mix of interesting
  morsels)

We’re still breathless after last
week’s whirlwind of our son’s wedding over at Casa Pink Apple, so my message to
you is brief.

By the way, may I just offer a warm welcome to all the new
subscribers to this edition. Glad you could join us.

Save our Christmas
Sanity Messages

When you first saw the Christmas
stuff appearing this year, did you have a little mental skip of excitement, or
a sinking feeling (could it be dread?) about all the work ahead?

Well if you get that sinking feeling
it suggests you’re a Christmas Stress sufferer. If that’s the case you
can get the Tips for
Christmas Calm by taking a Quick
Christmas Stress Test online. This 2-3 minute test has been prepared
by myself and my co-author Karen Wallace.

This year the Owen/Wallace Christmas
e-book has become
a published A5-size carry-around to get you through the season.

So now we offer Save Our Sanity:The
Christmas Calm Manual.

There are plenty of tips to be found
in magazines and online and SOS has plenty of ways to help you solve the
regular problems of Christmas. They focus on budgeting, shopping,
cleaning, decorating, relationships and self-care.

But SOS
is designed to divert the causes of your stress as much as help you solve the
simple problems. We get you looking at your traditions, your perspectives
and making choices that set you up for positive and joy-filled Christmases from
HERE ON!

We have a shove-it-in-your-handbag book,
a downladable version
but we are also offering a WORKSHOP in Melbourne next week!

On top of that, Premium
Christmas Coaching services are another and more
individualised way to get all the help you need to shed your DREAD!

All purchasers of book and coaching
gain access to the password protected area of our new site where extra
resources are available.

On the Save
Our Christmas Sanity site are also articles about:

Secrets to Successful
Relationship Articles

At Take a Bite you’ll find thoughts
on:

Apple Tart Articles

On Apple Tart, I’ve
been encouraging readers to take up Karen Wallace’s new online magazine The
Calm Space. It even looks serene!!!!

Not only do you get lots of
thought-provoking hints from my favourite Queen of Calm, but you also get the
contributions of several terrific women writers (I even include myself -
modestly – in that!)

The Calm Space is a FREE magazine
and Karen describes it as a virtual day-spa for the senses where you can visit
for a minute or 10 and get a dose of calm in the process. She has monthly
prizes for all readers and is also currently offering readers the gift of her
e-book How
to Find the Pause Button for Your Life.

Well that about sums up this More
Than A Bite.

See you next time, and don’t forget to pass
this newsletter on and help me unveil those secrets!

Warm regards

How's Your Christmas Shaping Up?

admin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:53:00 +0000

A public edition of More Than A Bite, the Pink Apple e-newsletter.

Today’s More Than A Bite
(Pink Apple’s Enewsletter) is sliding in on a Christmas Sleigh straight to your
Inbox. So it has

an
estimated reading
time of 2-3 mins
these goodies
- Save Our Christmas Sanity Messages
- Secrets to Successful Relationship Article Links
- Apple Tart Article links (Chris’ eclectic mix of interesting
  morsels)

We’re still breathless after last
week’s whirlwind of our son’s wedding over at Casa Pink Apple, so my message to
you is brief.

By the way, may I just offer a warm welcome to all the new
subscribers to this edition. Glad you could join us.

Save our Christmas
Sanity Messages

When you first saw the Christmas
stuff appearing this year, did you have a little mental skip of excitement, or
a sinking feeling (could it be dread?) about all the work ahead?

This year the Owen/Wallace Christmas
e-book has become
a published A5-size carry-around to get you through the season.

So now we offer Save Our Sanity:The
Christmas Calm Manual.

We have a shove-it-in-your-handbag book,
a downladable version
but we are also offering a WORKSHOP in Melbourne next week!

On top of that, Premium
Christmas Coaching services are another and more
individualised way to get all the help you need to shed your DREAD!

All purchasers of book and coaching
gain access to the password protected area of our new site where extra
resources are available.

On the Save
Our Christmas Sanity site are also articles about:

Secrets to Successful
Relationship Articles

At Take a Bite you’ll find thoughts
on:

Apple Tart Articles

On Apple Tart, I’ve
been encouraging readers to take up Karen Wallace’s new online magazine The
Calm Space. It even looks serene!!!!

Well that about sums up this More
Than A Bite.

See you next time, and don’t forget to pass
this newsletter on and help me unveil those secrets!

Warm regards

More Than A Bite Enewsletter -A Flying Visit

admin — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:28:00 +0000

from Chris Owen

Relationship Advisor

www.pinkapple.com.au

Today’s More Than A Bite
(Pink Apple’s Enewsletter) is paying a FLYING Visit.

So it
has

an
estimated reading
time of 2-3 mins
these goodies
- Secrets to Successful Relationship Article Links
- Apple Tart Article links (Chris’ eclectic mix of interesting
  morsels)
NO Theme or
Feature Article as
Chris and SweetP are taking a week to recharge their batteries.

It’s always good to talk to you, but
let’s make it a quick visit.

Secrets to Successful
Relationship Articles

Over at Pink Apple’s article bank on
Take A Bite we’ve been exploring how
much Respect
and Goodwill we demonstrate in our relationships.

What turns that head-over-heels love
into a belief that Your Adored One is always "out to get you"?
What would make you think that a nasty attack is the best form of
defence? Where has that mean spirit come from and how long do you want to
live with it? [more]

We’ve
also been looking at how
useful Curiosity can be in a relationship. No I don’t
mean prying or nagging, I mean curiosity. That’s more like exercising
fascination and wonderment at the life of your love. Curiosity – Might
Have Killed the Cat, but How can it Help YOU?

There’s lots you DON’T KNOW about
your partner and what goes on inside his/her head.

There’s also lots you
ASSUME you KNOW about the mysteries inside there as well.

Why not be curious and
find out more? [more]

As part of the Secrets to Starting
Out Together, we’ve also been exploring how
your Values can impact on the creation of your new wonderful relationship
together in Values:Are
they Worth It?

But how much do you really know
about your own or your partner’s values? The guiding principles?
The elements of life that steer his/her course and unconsciously influence
her/his decisions? Without sufficient activities and decisions that meet
with your values, life becomes hollow, dissatisfying and eventually
soul-destroying.

Assuming that’s NOT what
you want for yourself, your partner, or your relationship, then it’s time to
take a look at values. [more]

When you decide to commit to your
special relationship either with a marriage or some other significant change to
its current state, there
needs to be ROOM for your love, in your life. We explore
this one more in Is
There Room in Your Life?

But how is it now going to BE
different?

How are you going to make room for him/her EMOTIONALLY, ENVIRONMENTALLY,
and in your DAILY ACTIVITIES and PRIORITIES?

How is she/he going to see that your priorities have shifted to put him/her top
of the list? What will be the clear, totally unambiguous signs?
(You ARE making this person top of your priorities list aren’t you? If
you’re not, then are you deluding yourself, or your partner, about the
significance of the relationship?) [more]

Apple Tart Articles

Amongst the Apple Tart articles were
various yummy little
morsels.

You might recall that recently I
wrote about getting out of my big muddle. To do that, I had help from my
friend Angela at
Creating Order from Chaos. For Melbourne-based readers, Angela is running some workshops
and I thought my readers might like to know. Order Can Be Yours
- and Oh the Peace.

There was also a link to an hysterical little video
about Memories
- Especially for the Boomers.

Of course there’s also the story of the secret blunder I nearly
made. I bare
my soul in Where Tarts Should
Fear to Tread.

Recently I’ve been preparing my
article for Bad Mothers Club’s monthly magazine You! For those of you who like reading Chris Owen articles,
then this next one is a doozy. I’m talking about that difficult relationship, the one
between mothers and daughters. You can find out more at Have You Read …

I said it’d be short and as Peter
on the ABC Gardening show would say "That’s your bloomin’ lot."

See you next time, and don’t forget to pass
this newsletter on and help me unveil those secrets of successful relationships!

Warm regards

More Than A Bite Enewsletter -Action Woman Rides Again

admin — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:56:00 +0000

Once my newsletter is broadcast to my lovely database of readers, I have been putting the edition up on Take A Bite as a an article.

With Take A Bite now exclusively Relationships-focused Apple Tart will be the new holder of newsletters.

So here’s the latest edition.

Theme: Action Woman Rides Again!

My
BAG
The
New Blog
Take
a Bite of Exclusively Relationships
Sharing
the Celebrations With YOU

By my reckoning, this should be about a 3-5min read.

Thanks to the new subscribers for
opening the door. And I’m even more grateful to the vast numbers of you who
remain constant
readers of this newsletter. (I try my hardest not to take your loyalty for granted.)

Last newsletter, I was thinking about a lot of change.

"Change starts when
someone sees the next step." (William Drayton) So,
writing in the last newsletter, about the Ghosts of Changes
Past, Present, and Future, allowed me to start seeing the next steps. So Action has been the
"happening thing" for me since we last spoke.

And have I been on a roll!

My BAG

No, NOT an exotic leather number -
those gorgeous holders of all things feminine/business/vanity/useful. If I’d
bought one of those, I certainly wouldn’t be publicly confessing to another
indulgence on that front.

No, the BAG
is the Big Audacious
Goal for Pink Apple! (You’d have thought I’d have got that all sewn up long
ago!)

So let’s get it out on the screen!

I want to spend my
time making sure that Successful Relationships don’t have secrets.
Being successful at connecting with others takes enthusiasm and commitment, but
has some serious benefits
as well.

Happiness.
Contentment. Peace. Reassurance. Positive Self-Esteem.
Connection. Growth.

Overall, that’s not
too bad a list of things for someone to want to help others to get.
I’ve seen some more materialistic, but less inspiring aspirations, in the
glossies; but I’m OK with that.

So I’m going to be loud
and proud about sharing
those secrets and seeing to it they stay secret for as little time as
possible.

So Pink
Apple now has a new "tag" or descriptive line.

Pink Apple "… Sharing
the Secrets of Successful Relationships"

The New Blog

Thanks to my friend and marketing
advisor Richard Beaumont,
I have realised that the messages
on my blog were all mixed up together. (Yeah I know, Duh!)

You poor things! I was making it too hard
for you to get the information you were after! To find information about
Relationships you had to plough
through a myriad of other things that, in my enthusiasm, I
wanted to share with people. (Excuse
me, while I just wipe a bit more of that egg off my face!)

So the time had come to take some serious
action, and divide and conquer. To do that, I needed to separate the more eclectic (all-over-the-place) topics into one personal blog
and leave Take A Bite
to be exclusively about Relationships.

With the brainstormin’ partnership of Karen
Wallace from The Clearing Space
I came up with Apple Tart for the name of my new
blog. It was launched
on July 4th. The Americans amongst my readers will
probably tell me that’s a good omen.

Articles there include an introduction to the blog
(Like A Bit of Tart?) as well as the story of my Clayton’s "make over" - the one of my face that is! Keep reading till you find the Botox!

So please, grab a
coffee and pop
in and taste Apple Tart.

You can subscribe to
receive the articles by email. Or, I will also be including links to articles
on Apple Tart in this newsletter!

That’s why the newsletter has a new name
- More Than a Bite.

Told you I’d been on a roll!

Take A Bite of
Exclusively Relationships

Take A Bite has
now got two regular
articles appearing each week.

The Secrets to Staying Together and
The Secrets to Starting Out Together.

In Deserving, we
explored how one
person’s secret belief that they didn’t deserve a good relationship
was poisoning any
chance of achieving that very thing.

In Believing, we
explored how important it is to believe
that your relationship will last for the "forever"
you vowed, as much as believing
in your ability to create a healthy relationship.

Starting-Out
Together has looked at how our Parents’ relationships
can influence our own. Before adopting their techniques, it can pay
dividends to analyse
how effective their relationship was/is.

That was followed by an exploration of How to Turn Fantasy into Something
Real. That explores what kinds of fantasies we have about what being
married or committed to someone will look like and feel like.

There are several other new
ways Pink Apple will be unveiling the Secrets of Successful
Relationships, so stay
tuned.

But a sneak peek at
the first addition reveals that it will be interviews with people in relationships of all kinds.
I want to dig down into what
makes successful relationships – life partnerships,
professional and business relationships, family relationships, and
friendships. All have things
to teach about being successful.

So if there’s a
relationship you admire and you would like to see these people interviewed,
email me and I’ll approach
your mentors and invite them to share their secrets with all of us.

Well I think my 3
minutes is up!

See you next time, and don’t forget to pass
this newsletter on and help me unveil those secrets!

Warm regards

Chris

IS a Change as Good as a Holiday?

admin — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:39:37 +0000

We’re really experiencing WINTER here. It’s unusual because it feels like we’ve had fairly mild winters for the last couple of years. But this year it’s got COLD. There’s rain, though our water catchments need SO much more to counter the long and torrid drought. There’re fogs, and frost on the grass in the mornings. The wind is biting and it’s "no fun going outside".

Thank heavens it’s warm in here, because we certainly know it’s winter out there in the Australian "outdoors". The shift from a long, late balmy autumn, to winter, seems to have hit so abruptly and forcefully. It’s got me thinking about change. Whether a change is as good as a holiday is impossible to asses at the moment because all Pink Apple’s had happening is Change – no holidays on this horizon! (yeah I know, the crowd was bitterly disappointed – NOT)

The endlessly immovable force that all humans face is that change is normal.

So the latest Take A Bite newsletter focuses on change.

I’d love your answers to some of the questions I pose at the end of this article.

Accepting Change

Every day in my business, I am an instrument of change in attitudes, motivations, perspectives, and behaviours. But like many people, I have my little tussles with accepting change myself, at times.

As I often remind my clients, we can always look back to successful changes we’ve accomplished before, to keep us focused on how capable we are of adapting to change!

Empty Nesting – The Ghosts of Changes Past

This year has seen much change at Casa Pink Apple.

As an aging babyboomer you’d think I’d be used to change, wouldn’t you? But it was difficult to adjust to having just two mouths to feed, and purchase groceries for, when our nest finally emptied.

That’s instead of the five (plus mates, plus various girlfriends) we used to be.
Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to be just us, after 32 years of marriage, but the change needs to be taken in baby steps and even then the last step can feel like a leap into the unknown.

The next change was the loss to Perth of the pooch who’s been part of our life for seven years. Suka the husky has gone with Wild Boy to have some new adventures with his master.

Suka was another change I tussled with, in the beginning. No dog lover back then, there were serious reservations about such a BIG dog. But he was only an 8-week puppy when he came to live with all of us. He GREW all right, but he also grew on me!

Once he and I were the only ones sharing the house during the day (home based business remember!), we became inseparable. So losing him from my daily life has been far harder than I could have imagined, and deeply ironic for all the friends whose dogs I had ignored/feared over the years!

The Big Clean-up – The Ghost of Changes Present

Recent change has been in my own little office. It’s taken me weeks to rid the office, not to mention my desk and head, of too much information. As a life-long learner I value all information that comes my way. But sometimes I can be reluctant to sift the information and retain only what’s needed for the here and now.

A little like the compulsive hoarder’s back room, the Pink Apple office was being squeezed into inaction by too much stuff! And so it went!

The relief and freedom to create and do has been massive. The recycle bin’s been pretty massive too!
And there’s still more decor-type "improvements" on the planning list. Read a recent blog post here about the wonderful help I had from Angela Esnouf from Creating order From Chaos.

Plans for Pink Apple’s Blog – The Ghosts of Changes Future

In shedding the load I now can start implementing some of my new ideas.

I suspect that the Pink Apple blog will take on a new style and with that will come the separation of musings from Chris Owen, outrageous extrovert, and Pink Apple, Relationship Specialist armed with advice, challenges, and tips.

If I can find an appropriate name, we might even change the title of the Blog, though Our Newsletter will remain Take A Bite.

With a wedding in the family later in the year, I have become acutely aware of what young couples approaching marriage are facing. And contrary to general thinking it’s not just Bridezilla and Groomzilla.

So there’ll also be a Pink Apple focus on Preparing for The Marriage not JUST The Wedding. No! Lovable Geek and Miss GeeGee I’m NOT suggesting that either of you fit that description! But you’ve been out there, you’ve seen what I mean!

So that’s my change, what about yours?

Things to Think About

Just to get you focusing on YOU here’s some questions about change that might be right for you?

* If change is inevitable, what changes have YOU been confronting lately?
* How are you coping with change in your life?
* Do you resist it, kicking and screaming and hanging on with all 10 fingernails?
* Does that resistance take up more energy than acceptance?
* So is that the best use of your energy?
* Have you worked out yet how to make change possible, and still honour your feelings of fear and inadequacy, as well as excitement and wonder?

Our Quote

"It is not easy for us to change. But it is possible. And it is our glory as human beings." M Scott Peck

Enjoy the little changes you see in your world and take a deep breath before the big ones!

Warm Regards
Chris

By the way, if this article might be relevant for someone you know, please pass it forward.

Loaded Down But Bouncing Up

admin — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:44:40 +0000

May 8 Newsletter sent to subscribers.
(If you subscribe to Take A Bite – STOP and read no more, because you’ve seen this already!)

Thanks for welcoming me into your Inbox this fortnight. I must say you’ve got a very comfy, cosy, little spot here. If you don’t mind, I’ll just sit here and chat with you for a couple of minutes. You can catch up on Take a Bite and I can steal a few minutes break in MY day as well.

Managing
How do you manage in those times when life seems to be storming by and your weeks seem full to overflowing?

That’s what’s been happening for me recently. I went away for a week and boy did I pay!

Not only did my time away create work but so did my empty office back home create work. It felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Techniques
I’m sure your techniques are like mine when that overwhelmed feeling comes washing in, like those awful tidal waves, or even worse those tsunamis!

At first, it’s complete paralysis, then it’s the "I wanna run away!" wail, then it’s tempting to just put your head under the doona and pretend it ‘ain’t happenin’.

After that, the desire to survive and manage starts to kick in and the list-writing happens! At least from there you can make some choices of which bits of the impossible you’ll attempt to superman/superwoman your way through!

Even better, then you can decide what can conveniently drop off the list and quietly settle into the rubbish bin or the never-get-done file!

All that is, of course, is managing. Hanging in there. Coping!

Breakthrough (well kind of)
But I’m proud to say last weekend I took action. Knowing I had a zillion things to do and that there was plenty I could do to catch up, I decided not to venture over the doorstep of the office. (Now when your office is opposite your bedroom door, that’s not easy! It sees you every time you walk past and yells pitifully for your attention. It even squeals at you in frustration that you’re not listening!)

But when you’ve spent the weekend ignoring the squeals and instead did nurturing, relaxing, unwinding things, Monday morning’s to-do list is a whole lot easier to face, manage, and strip back to the essentials.

What About YOU?
So as you manage the constant juggle of too many tasks in your life, what are you going to allow to slip into the never-get-done file? How will you let go of anxiety about doing that?

What active steps have you taken recently to just be? To just look after you? How did they feel?
What? You haven’t done that recently? So WHEN WILL you?

Why on earth haven’t you? What destructive voice in your head is telling you that you MUST do ___ or ___? Who gave that voice such authority? Who can take the authority away?

Aha! YOU can! So when will you?

I’m glad to hear it!

Lately on Pink Apple’s Take A Bite Blog
If you haven’t visited Take A Bite’s blog recently then you missed:

Pink Apple musing about being distant from home and love.
Some Rapid Fire learning in April where Pink Apple made some discoveries. Discoveries about plunging in, how negative comparisons are all relative and how sometimes you can forget to breathe (see above).
And finally there was a report of the Energy Boosters for Your Success Zing-By-Phone call!

Watch out for notice of the next call, coming soon.

In the meantime, our quote for your contemplation:

"There is no pleasure in having nothing to do;
the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it." Mary Wilson Little

Thanks for offering me such a comfy seat and a cosy chat in your Inbox.

See you soon. Chris

(If you’d like to receive something like this in your Inbox each fortnight. then go to the top right corner of this site and sign up. In thanks you’ll receive, a bonus Tips Page.)

Pink Apple » More Than A Bite Enewsletter

How's Your Christmas Shaping Up?

How's Your Christmas Shaping Up?

More Than A Bite Enewsletter -A Flying Visit

More Than A Bite Enewsletter -Action Woman Rides Again

My BAG

The New Blog

Take A Bite of Exclusively Relationships

IS a Change as Good as a Holiday?

Loaded Down But Bouncing Up

Take A Bite of
Exclusively Relationships