It’s no different in New York City, where among the hustle  and the bustle of this thriving City sits Central Park in full bloom – in all her glory.

Take a moment to enjoy these photos of Central Park in Spring.  It will lift your spirits in 3 minutes flat – guaranteed!

Did everyone have fun? You bet – and there was something for everyone from sailor bands, jab-jab, red-devils, and other traditional ole mass portrayals. And last but not least thousand of masqueraders joined their favorite bands and played themselves to the fullest.

Sweet, sweet T & T!

Have a look at some highlights from our 2010 Parade of the Bands in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Click here to see highlights of the 2010 Kiddies Carnival

This year, on February 15 & 16 we celebrate Carnival in Trinidad & Tobago.  It’s the Greatest Show on Earth!

Explaining just a little of our history will help to explain the true multicultural nature of our society and the origins of Carnival.

Trinidad & Tobago were colonies of both Spain and England during our history. But it was under the British rule that the French settled in Trinidad bringing their African slaves, customs and culture. The wealthy French plantation owners would hold fancy balls, wearing masks, wigs and beautiful dresses while partying throughout the night. The slaves, mocking their French masters would have their own private Carnivals which were really a mix of their African culture, traditions and folklore and the costuming of their French masters. When slavery was abolished, the freed Africans started to have their own carnival celebrations in the streets that became more and more elaborate, and soon became more popular than the French balls.

Today Carnival has evolved into what is often referred to as “The Greatest Show on Earth” and has spawned similar celebrations throughout the word including those in Toronto, Miami, Brooklyn, Nottingham and several other Caribbean islands.

So What’s Trinidad Carnival Like?

During Carnival the entire country shuts down so that everyone has a chance to celebrate. My best description of Carnival would be an explosion of music, color, creativity and revelry. Preparations for this annual festival begin just before Christmas and culminate in a gigantic 2 day costumed street party with masqueraders dancing to the pulsing rhythms of our own soca music. It’s a party that’s open to everyone.

Carnival is color

Our Carnival celebration has been referred to as a mirror that reflects the faces of the many immigrants that have made Trinidad their home, including Europeans, African, East Indians and Chinese – we truly are a multicultural society and a rainbow people.

Have a look at Kiddies Carnival in Trinidad

Have a look at my YouTube video to get a glimpse of our children “playing mass” at the 2010 Kiddies Carnival Competition. I think you’ll be surprised at the level of sophistication and pageantry involved – AWESOME!
Carnival is just a whole lot of FUN.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Trinidad, come and participate in our Carnival celebrations. I think you’ll be blown away. Can having so much fun be legal??  Well it is in Trinidad. 

Stress!!

We’ve already identified what Stress is and discussed Effective stress Management Techniques. But how stressed are we really?

Check out this awesome Stress Test that I found on the Carole Spiers Goup website. Carole Spiers is an International Management & Employee Wellbeing Consultancy company.

Just choose the option that best describes how you feel:

How likely am I to suffer stress?

• I am not in control of the success or failure I make of my life.

1. I strongly disagree
2. To some extent
3. I strongly agree

• I accept that my work has and will change and welcome the opportunities this gives me.

1. I strongly agree
2. To some extent
3. I strongly disagree

• I have someone at work or outside it who I can confide in.

1. I can be totally honest with that person/those people
2. I have to be careful with what I say to that person/those people
3. I have no-one I can confide in

• If there’s a disagreement about work, I defer to other people’s judgement and abilities.

1. Rarely
2. Sometimes
3. Most of the time

• If a project I am working on fails

1. I learn from the experience and move on to the next job
2. I tend to brood over the failure for a long time
3. I blame myself whether it was my fault or not

How stressed am I?

• I spend so long at work that my outside relationships are suffering.

1. Not at all
2. Sometimes
3. Most of the time

• I’m so busy I find it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the job in front of me.

1. Rarely
2. Sometimes
3. Most of the time

• I always get a good night’s sleep without worrying about work

1. Most of the time
2. Sometimes
3. Rarely

• Recently I’ve found it more difficult to control my emotions.

1. Not at all
2. Sometimes
3. Most of the time

• I feel tired during the day:

1. Very rarely
2. Sometimes
3. Most of the time

Here are the instructions according to the Carole Spiers group: “Add up the numbers next to the statements you most agreed with for the first five questions, then do the same for the second five. The higher you score in the first half the more likely you are to suffer stress; the higher you score in the second half, the more stressed you feel. Scores over 10 in either half suggest that you are either prone to experience stress or are feeling stressed at the moment.”

Remember this is just a guide. If the numbers come up on the high side then it’s time to employ one of our Stress Management Techniques! Remember that stress is our own personal reaction to events. Leaning to control our stress levels is key. If we don’t, our overall health and well being may be adversely affected.

If you’re just catching up with this series on Affirmations, please visit our previous posts, Mind Wellness:  It’s a 3 Step Process and Mind Wellness:  Creating our Affirmations – Step 2 before continuing here.

So far, we’ve identified what areas in our life we would like to work on and affirm. From this large list of affirmations, we’ve selected the top 5 which we have been repeating out loud in front of our mirrors for 40 consecutive days.  These 5 affirmations should now be firmly rooted in our minds, our bodies and our souls – they are now part of us.

Building on our Affirmations

Now we are ready for the 3^rd and final step:  Building on our Affirmations. What this means is that we select the next group of affirmations that are the most important to us and repeat the entire process again.

This 3 step affirmation process ensures that we are in fact building our own storehouse of affirmations – building from within and building a powerful mindset to effect meaningful change in our lives – very cool indeed.  What’s absolutely fantastic is that these affirmations are personal to us – they weren’t written by someone else.

We can and should continue this Affirmation Building process indefinitely.  If you’re anything like me, there are many areas in my life that I need to improve.   So this has become an ongoing process for me.  Being able to manifest change in our lives is oh so powerful!