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My cloud came when I found myself sitting in the waiting room of the eye department at Dunedin Public Hospital on the 27th March, 1997. I couldn't have imagined then the life I am living now. Talk about being blind! In this article I share with you how I went from that day to the celebrations of my 10 years blind party.

When I went blind, I discovered I had a story to tell. At first I thought I was boring everyone to death but I soon gained confidence as people started to give me positive feedback. Telling my story involved not speaking from notes but speaking from the heart, as my notes I could no longer access, but my heart I could. The more I interacted with my audience and my heart the better my story became! There is a story in all of us - what is yours?

Read all about my strategies for taking a rest over the upcoming christmas break. These include looking back at the year you've had, considering the benefits of an "at-home" holiday and taking the time to connect with yourself. Start 2011 with renewed optimism by creating a context for the upcoming year!

Public speaking and leadership roles can be daunting assignments for a blind person, but in taking on the leadership of her local BNI networking chapter, Dunedin blind woman Julie Woods discovered that the blind can lead the sighted - particularly when it comes to building strong relationships.

Julie gets asked loads of questions about cooking as a blind person. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions, along with her answers.

The most important part to finishing a half marathon is to start it! You have to be in to win so start today by being in for the next half marathon in your local area. Make their date your date and start moving towards a great achievement. Here are seven ways to keep you motivated to finish:

When I went blind, I HAD to give up my notes. This was a shock to my public speaking system which had previously relied on reading. Following are the four things I recommend you do before any public speaking engagement to ensure your heart and head are in sync. Don't worry; going blind isn't one of them.

Do you have a book that's bursting to come out? Have you started writing stuff down in a private file somewhere but you're too scared to make it public? Well, if you've started writing your book and would like to get it ready for viewing then pull up a pew and read these nine tips on how to write your book.

When I was writing my book How to Make a Silver Lining – I got stuck! Time was eluding me with work, parenting and managing a household taking my valuable attention. So when the opportunity arose to work on my book with my coach I snapped it up!

I decided to chuck my fear of rejection out the window and ask Jo Seagar to write the forword for my book. Jo was a NZ tv cooking icon who gained her reputation in the 90's with a cooking show with a liking for the "easy peazy" approach. My book had a cooking bent with how I mastered "cooking without looking" as well as a recipe for my infamous truffles at the back of the book so - when I thought of who in the cooking industry I would like to write my forword she was my first choice.

Sebastian should be reading quarter of an hour a day said his teacher across the desk at his school interview...