Costa Women Blogs

Decision-making can be stressful. The stress is worse when you try to make decisions based on what everyone else wants you to do. The best kinds of decisions are the ones that you make that lead you to the happiness and success you deserve!   Input from your family and friends can be vital to helping you make big decisions, but you are the one who has to live with the outcome. Those decisions should be the right decisions for you above all else. But how do you make those decisions? Here are three questions to ask when you’re facing important choices.   Whose Idea Is It?   Consider the source of the ideas on the table. Are they yours, or are they from family and friends? Accepting someone else’s solution without your input may lead to a decision that you’ll regret later. If you aren’t sure what you really want, stop and figure that out before you make the decision.   You’re the master of your own destiny, and input from others is no substitute for your own feelings about the issue. Others may have your best interests at heart, but those people aren’t you. They don’t know everything about your situation. And only you really know what’s best for you.   Who Will Suffer the Consequences of a Bad Decision?   When you get conflicting options form other people about a decision, think about how each option will affect you. It’s easy to advise others when you’re not the one who’ll suffer the consequences of a bad choice. Take control of your destiny by choosing the results you deserve.   Consider how each option affects your heart, mind, and spirit. How will the choice affect your happiness and peace? It’s important to consider others, but not at the expense of your needs and feelings.   Also, what are the long-term consequences of your options? Some choices may have an instant payoff that evaporates quickly. Strive to make decisions that have positive outcomes in both the short and long term.   How Does the Decision Feel to You?   Once you’ve come to a final decision, reflect on the path you’ve chosen. Does it make you feel peaceful inside, or does it cause you to struggle with feelings of doubt and uncertainty? Decisions that bring you peace are often the best choice.   Instead of making decisions that only bring physical happiness or instant gratification, look for options that provide the greatest fulfillment for the longest amount of time.   These decisions should:   Give you joy instead of only temporary pleasure Make you happy for the long term Be worth working for Resonate with your spirit Feel like you’re doing the right thing Cause no harm to others   If any option you’re considering fails to meet all of these criteria, it probably falls short of the ideal choice for you. What you choose is up to you, but your decisions will ultimately affect both you and others. So it’s important to mull over your options carefully.   Consider the opinions of others, but ultimately listen to your heart and make choices that resonate with your spirit. If you do, you’ll make the right decision for you and experience the happiness you deserve. http://www.inspiration4life.es

Who ate all the Pies ? I love celebrating food in all it’s glory, and any excuse to research a dish, or prepare a dish is good for me. So with the U.K celebrating ‘National Pie Week’ I thought well I maybe up a mountain, at La Rosilla in the deepest Axarquia of Andalucia, but I have roots man and you can’t deny your roots. And who can’t love a Pie, sweet or savory, that home baked smell of goodness has to tempt even the die hard no Carb, low cal enthusiast – and pull them off their wagon.   I opted for my Gran’s ‘Herb and mince pie’, a dish that we were served in a traditional manner, sat around the large dining table, hands in lap, waiting for our slice of warm comforting pie, that my Grandad would masterfully cut, portions decided on age, not appetite. Impatiently sat waiting for the silent nod, we could start. Always served with minted peas fresh from her garden, and a rich gravy. Yum.   I also have a cherished pie plate – a Le Creuset Heart , I’m crazy about hearts. I just knew this would be the perfect plate for my Pie – I also decorated it with 5  hearts one for each member of the Family – Aaahhh bless !   For Shortcrust Pie pastry. 500 grams of Plain Flour 250 grams of fat – I used marg. Large pinch of Salt.   Easiest way, is to whiz up the ingredients in a Food processor, or if not mix Flour and fat until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add ice cold water, until it forms a ball of pastry dough.   Then cut into 2, wrap in film, and place in fridge for 20 mins to chill and rest.   For the filling. 800 grams of good quality mince beef. 1 large onion, chopped 2 sticks celery chopped 3 carrots chopped 1 tbsp of mixed dried herbs – or I used Hierbabuena in Spain. Plenty of Salt of pepper. 1 beef stock cube. A small glass of water. A slug of Worcestershire sauce.   Saute the veg, in a little hot oil in a large frying pan, to soften for a bout 5 mins. Add the beef to brown. Crumble in the stock cube, and add the water. Add the herbs and stir. Add the Worc. Sauce and stir. Season well, and let simmer away stirring occasionally. For about 25 mins. Roll out the tow balls of pastry to about ½ cm thickness. Line a cake tin, pie plate or baking dish, that has been buttered to prevent sticking, with one of the rounds of pastry. Then pile in the filling. Then cover with the remaining rolled out pastry. Pinch around the edges, and decorate the top, with any left over pastry. Then brush with a beaten egg to give the pie a deep golden brown. Bake in the oven, for 25 mins at 180 degrees. Serve with peas, fluffy mash and gravy…..Filling, delicious & comforting.   Have a read of my recent other blogs –Peas in a pot ! and Alfresco can’t wait !      

Clear blue skies and temperatures mild, exlporing , den making perfect days for a child.   Sun shining, time to sit with my book, Inspired to alfresco Paella to cook.   With tasty leftovers in hand, a day at the beach picnic on the sand.   Return to La Rosilla with rosie cheeks and smiles on our face. Memories created, of our special place. As temperatures drop fire gets made, time for yet more logs to be laid.   A loud crack, and flash lights the sky as rain starts to fall, in my bed I cant lie,   chilled to the core the world has gone mad Wait a minute is that snow ?   Oh my goodness a week of all weathers we’ve had ! Warmth, sun, lightening, rain now snow   Remind me where I live and what month its is, Cos’ one thing for sure my body and mind’s in a tis.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.   Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep. –Rumi   Ever had those moments in the middle of the night when you get an excellent idea, or the solution to a problem.  Because you are relaxed an idea can spring to mind at the strangest times. Also a great time to plant what you really want into your mind and let it take root whilst you are sleeping. There is a moment when you push against something and realise you couldn’t stop it, even if you wanted to. But the moment just before that realisation everything is completely calm; that’s when the breeze whispers its secrets so be ready!  The secrets the breeze has to tell you will help you learn and grow. The door to a better future is open and ready for you to go through just push… Ali x

I needed to go food shopping, restock, fill the cupboards, so when I opened them they would be full of inspiration, bursting with goodies, little gems, just waiting to be created into something yummy. But today was not the day to go shopping, well I’m mean I couldn’t, logistics, chores, lack of enthusiasm were all upon me.       So I knew this meant, concoct, dream up and devise from the ingredients I had, normally more than I imagine, always one to like a full larder and all that. A ‘bit of this and a bit of that ‘ supper…or as I like to call it, to the moans and groans of my family…   A pot full of goodness !   This generally consists of vegetables, herbs, stock, maybe a little left over meat from a roast, if I’m lucky and rich earthy lentils …That’s the part that brings on the moans and the groans.   So today was no different, and I’d like to share my pot full of goodness with you, feel free to amend, add, substitute anything , I’m sure you have your own pot full of goodness anyway..Go on share it !         Ingredients & Method   Any veg lurking in the fridge, chopped small. I used – Carrots, celery, onion and garlic & sweet potato.   Pan fry in a large saucepan or casserole to make a sofrito, in a little olive oil.   Add your chosen cooked meat, for me the last remants of my christmas jamon, rich and tasty.   Then stir in Green Lentils (puy) or Lentejas Pardina in Spain, usually I put in, a cup per person and one for luck. Stir till they’re all coated with oil.   Add garden herbs, rosemary, thyme, sage all good. Then add enough veg stock to cover.   I like to tuck in the old rind of a parmesan, add the bottom which adds a cramy richness.   Let bubble away, enjoy the aromas..   Then serve, in warm bowls, with hunks of bread, a drizzle of Olive Oil, and a prinkle of herbs.   Enjoy the quietness that preavils, as everyone, even the little protesters absorb the goodness.   For more food & Lifestyle from La Rosilla click here        

Living in another country can be a cherished experience, but new research suggests it might also help expand minds. This research, published by the American Psychological Association, is the first of its kind to look at the link between living abroad and creativity. “Gaining experience in foreign cultures has long been a classic prescription for artists interested in stimulating their imaginations or honing their crafts. But does living abroad actually make people more creative?” asks the study’s lead author, William Maddux, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and a former visiting assistant professor and post-doctoral fellow at the Kellogg School. “It’s a longstanding question that we feel we’ve been able to begin answering through this research” Maddux and Adam Galinsky, the Morris and Alice Kaplan Professor of Ethics and Decision in Management at the Kellogg School, conducted five studies to test the idea that living abroad and creativity are linked. The findings appear in the May issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association. In one study, MBA students at the Kellogg School were asked to solve the Duncker candle problem, a classic test of creative insight. In this problem, individuals are presented with three objects on a table placed next to a cardboard wall: a candle, a pack of matches and a box of tacks. The task is to attach the candle to the wall so that the candle burns properly and does not drip wax on the table or the floor. The correct solution involves using the box of tacks as a candleholder — one should empty the box of tacks and then tack it to the wall placing the candle inside. The solution is considered a measure of creative insight because it involves the ability to see objects as performing different functions from what is typical (i.e., the box is not just for the tacks but can also be used as a stand). The results showed that the longer students had spent living abroad, the more likely they were to come up with the creative solution. In another study, also involving Kellogg School students, the researchers used a mock negotiation test involving the sale of a gas station. In this negotiation, a deal based solely on sale price was impossible because the minimum price the seller was willing to accept was higher than the buyer’s maximum. However, because the two parties’ underlying interests were compatible, a deal could be reached only through a creative agreement that satisfied both parties’ interests. Here again, negotiators with experience living abroad were more likely to reach a deal that demanded creative insight. In both studies, time spent traveling abroad did not matter; only living abroad was related to creativity. Maddux and Galinsky then ran a follow-up study to see why living abroad was related to creativity. With a group of MBA students at INSEAD in France, they found that the more students had adapted themselves to the foreign cultures when they lived abroad, the more likely they were to solve the Duncker candle task. “This shows us that there is some sort of psychological transformation that needs to occur when people are living in a foreign country in order to enhance creativity. This may happen when people work to adapt themselves to a new culture,” said Galinsky. Although these studies show a strong relationship between living abroad and creativity, they do not prove that living abroad and adapting to a new culture actually cause people to be more creative. “We just couldn’t randomly assign people to live abroad while others stay in their own country,” said Maddux. To help get at this question of what causes someone to be creative, the authors tried a technique called “priming.” In two experiments, they asked groups of undergraduate students at the Sorbonne in Paris to recall and write about a time they had lived abroad or adapted to a new culture; other groups were asked to write about other experiences, such as going to the supermarket, learning a new sport or simply observing but not adapting to a new culture. The results showed that priming students to mentally recreate their past experiences living abroad or adapting to a new culture caused students, at least temporarily, to be more creative. For example, these students drew space aliens and solved word games more creatively than students primed to recall other experiences. “This research may have something to say about the increasing impact of globalization on the world, a fact that has been hammered home by the recent financial crisis,” said Maddux. “Knowing that experiences abroad are critical for creative output makes study abroad programs and job assignments in other countries that much more important, especially for people and companies that put a premium on creativity and innovation to stay competitive.” BASED ON THE RESEARCH OF WILLIAM MADDUX AND ADAM D. GALINSKY