Category: life

Inspired by the lovely Georgina of Ruby Weddings, the following are 50 things that make me smile. (read Georgina’s 50 things that make her smile post here )

• Someone saying hello.
• High heels.
• Music.
• White dresses in summer.
• Real log fires.

• Bouncing on the trampoline.
• Watching a good film.
• Sunshine after rain.
• Finding cash in places you forgot.
• Invitations.

• Good feedback on a poem.
• A cup of tea, at anytime of the day.
• Snuggling under the duvet.
• My daughters.
• The sound of rain on canvas.

• Sunday Dinner
• A massage.
• Shooting stars.
• Sunrise.
• Tweeting

• Exploring new places.
• Giving people gifts.
• A walk on a sunny day.
• Looking out over the sea.
• Visiting my family.

• Old photographs.
• Learning something new.
• Unexpected letters.
• Singing.
• Percy Pigs.

• Finding shapes in fluffy clouds.
• Deep, long baths.
• Thinking about someone, then bumping into them.
• Making cakes.
• Chatting about memories with those close to me.

• Daydreaming
• Days out with friends.
• Freshly mown lawns.
• Doctor Who
• Cerrutti 1881

• The scent of Davidoff coolwater & Joop on a chap.
• Rambling phonecalls.
• Pretty ribbons.
• Last-minute nights out.
• Crafting.

• 
• Sequin dresses.
• Sewing.
• Red lipstick.
• Swimming.
• Painted nails.

So, those are 50 things that make me smile. What makes you smile?

This is post 38 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Bad days! We all have them! But it is important to remember that a bad day doesn’t mean a bad forever. At midnight, even bad days come to an end; a chance to reset and come back out on top.


What do you do when you’re having a bad day?

Some cry it out. Some brood. Some people like to exercise. Some people find comfort in chocolate. Some like to journal it and process it on paper. Some lift their spirits with a brisk walk. Others dance it out.

It took me many years to realise that my mood seems to be directly linked to whether or not I have listened to music. A music free day does not a happy poet make!

That’s just an average day. But what about those days where life just seems to get on top of you? The days where the decision hasn’t gone your way, or something has happened, or even those ‘hormonal days’.

Again, for me, music is the cure-all! If my mood can’t be lifted by my favourite musicians, then it is REALLY bad!

What lifts your mood when you’re in a slump? How do you get yourself out of it?

This is post 27 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Growing up, I was always taught that if you have nothing nice to say, it is better to say nothing at all. That doesn’t seem to be such a rule to live by anymore.
If you ask most people their opinions on the sort of things said on the internet, you can guarantee it wouldn’t be long before the murky subject of nastiness and unpleasantness, anonymous or otherwise, was raised.

It is something definitely tied to internet culture. Perhaps people feel detached because they are behind a screen, but some of the things that are said online would never be said face-to-face in real life. Take twitter for example, people go out of their way to tag celebrities that they supposedly don’t like, saying truly vile things. I don’t know if they forget that there is a real live normal person on the receiving end of said tweets(who just happens to have a cool job), or that they genuinely get-off on upsetting people, but why do it?

I think we should all make a concerted effort to say nice things online instead. Hence the #SnowProject.

According to statistics, we are more likely to share a complaint than something positive. So if we are ticked off with a company, we’re more likely to tell 9 friends about it, whereas if we are happy with something, we only tell 4 people or even less.
We should strive to alter that balance I think. It makes no sense to promote the things you are not happy with, whilst staying quiet about the things that make you happy!

So, let the snow fall. If someone posts a nice picture or blog, tell them you like it. If someone says something that makes you smile, tell them it did and that you appreciate it.

If you get good service from a company, go out of your way to thank them and shout about them. It can make the world of difference to a small business if you publicly tell other people that you are happy with their services and products. I know I am always super pleased to receive unexpected testimonials and kind words for my personalised poetry service!

Perhaps the snow could fall further than just online. Be nicer on and offline. Pay a friend a compliment. Tell a shop assistance you’ve been happy with his or her help, or even seek out their manager and tell them! Do a stranger a favour; give them a smile and say hello!
I love the SNOW acronym: Speak Nicely. Online Warrior. or perhaps ‘speak nicely only & wow!’
Snow, when it falls, covers the world like a blanket of pretty. Beyonce recently asked what is pretty? I think showers of niceness,  gratitude and appreciation would be very pretty indeed!

There is no harm in being extra nice. In fact it can be contagious in a good way. Let’s see how far the niceness can spread! Whether just a light sprinkling of snow or a full on snowstorm, I’d love to see more nice things being said online and offline. Join in if you are on twitter, facebook, and youtube, and use the hashtag #SnowProject when you actively say something nice! Why not get started right away. Who could you say something nice to or about?

This is post 18 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Do you fancy the idea of being able to read back over your best bits? X Factor Style?
Then why not keep a diary.
And when I say keep a diary, I don’t mean in the standard way which usually goes something like this.

• Christmas: Get gifted a diary.
• Be excited about the year ahead and imagine all the things you are going to journal from the following January.
• Put diary in pile of stuff to be put away.
• Find the diary on January the 6th when you put the Christmas tree away.
• Write a “hello diary” entry and promise to start writing in it every week.
• One or two weeks later, write an entry apologising for not having written another entry since the 1st.
• Misplace diary.
• Find diary in October.
• Write a ‘I lost you but then I found you again’ diary entry.
• Write three days worth of diary entries in November. You’re on a roll.
• December 1st, write an entry about having to go Christmas shopping.
• December 20th, write another entry about really having to Christmas shop soon.
• Christmas. Get gifted a new diary. With a bonus calendar.
• Repeat.

That’s not the type of diary keeping we’re talking about here. Nuh-uh! Diary-keeping, journalling, scrapbooking; whatever you want to call it, we’re creating books crammed full of memories to be treasured and looked back on in years to come.

There are so many ways to keep a dairy these days. When I was young, you were stuck with basic lined pages, with a cover that didn’t necessarily inspire you to write inside. Now, you can journal online or via a blog, and there are millions of physical diaries and pretty notebooks to choose from if you prefer the traditional paper route! I like paper, I must admit.

So step one on your journey to keeping a diary would be to choose a journal that you like. I like a tactile book that feels nice and solid in your hands. It makes me smile just to write in it. And I find that this helps because you want to feel really connected to your diary. You are after all treating it to your emotions, and memories and secrets. Love your diary! My current favourite is a Paperblanks!

Then there is the subject of what to include. The devil is in the details. It is the little things that you want to remember in the future that you should highlight. So jot down the places you went, and the people you spoke to. Maybe snippets of conversations, or bits about how things made you feel, or things that made you laugh.If you are listening to particular songs, note those down. I say that because it’s surprising that no matter how much you love certain songs, sometimes their names will escape you a few years down the line. You’ll be able to sing bits of it still, or even hum the tune, but if you wanted to reference it to someone else, you’d be stuck. There is nothing quite so annoying as when you know the other person will have heard the song and you’re desperately trying to jog their memory, to no avail. So write it down and save yourself that trauma! #LifeTip

Perhaps you want to use your diary to jot down your hopes and dreams. Diaries are great because you can be completely honest with your diary, and not worry about it judging you. It won’t berate you for having dreams of being a writer, nor tell you to go and get a proper job. It won’t tell anyone about that particular dream you had………well, unless you leave it lying about of course!

So when to journal? Diaries work best when you commit to putting pen to paper regularly. They’re not such fun to read back through when you only make a handful of entries in a year, and you have to flick past acres of blank spaces where your memories should’ve been. But it is your diary. So set a loose schedule that suits you. It could be every day. It could be a few times a week, once a week, or once a month even. But if you do want to keep a diary, do make the effort to write in it because before you know it, years will pass by and those memories you always said you’d get round to jotting down, become hazy and sometimes even lost forever.

Diaries are lovely keepsakes. I like a diary to be full of a happiness and things I am grateful for. I don’t like to include sad stuff in my journals because the feelings live on to be re-awakened on re-reading. However, you might want to journal the less cheery things. And of course you can. Again, it is your diary! Write in it what you please!
You could always have a separate book for those things if you did want to document and process your low points in that way. Whatever works best for you.

I also have a separate book that I use to document my intentions and achievements. Noting these down really helps me focus on the things I want to do and the steps I need to take to make them happen. It’s great to be able to set intentions and then update them with completion dates when you have accomplished your goal. It’s a very satisfying feeling! You can use any book to do this, but if you would like one that has been specifically tailored to this purpose, please do feel free to purchase a copy of ‘my little book of intentions and achievements’, which you can find on amazon.

What else you put in your diary is completely up to you; poems, stories, song lyrics, things cut out of magazines and newspapers, photographs, train tickets, theatre tickets, gig flyers, beermats, snippets of fabric, motivational quotes, paint swatches. Everything can all have it’s own place in your diary for you to keep forever!

How do you keep your diary?

This is post 13 of 100 blogs in 100 days!

The things we say have incredible power. Sometimes we don’t even realise the implications of our words, until it is too late. By cutting some phrases and sayings out of our lives, we can instantly up our vibrations and be a whole lot more positive and proactive.

Here are a few things you need to stop saying:

Saying No. No is a shut down word. More opportunities have been lost to the word ‘No’ than to anything else! By saying no to things, you are denying yourself the chance to do something. Of course there are times where no is a very valid answer, but this is more for those times where the outcome could be great but something just stops you. Say yes more and see where it takes you.

I haven’t got time. If you want to do something but are using lack of time as an excuse, stop it! If you want something badly enough, you will make time. Whether you’re talking about writing or getting more exercise, the principal is the same.  Prioritize the things you want to accomplish and set aside just a little bit of time wherever you can. Even five minutes a day builds up to a considerable amount of time over the course of year.

It’s too hard. Most things worth going after are going to require quite a lot of effort. You can avoid all the hard stuff and stay as you are, or you can apply for yourself and do great things. Which would you prefer?

I can’t do this. If you tell yourself you can’t do something, you’ll probably be right. So why do it? Give yourself a fighting chance and say “Yes I Can!”

I’d like to but… The key part of the point here is the word ‘but’. You might think that it’s just giving you the chance to find a good reason why it is ok for you to ‘not to do the thing’, but what it actually does is gives you permission to stick an excuse on the end of a sentence. If what you said to start with were true, ie you would like to do whatever, then do it. Don’t let ‘but’ be your get-out clause.

It’s not fair. Whatever precedes this statement is generally a bit of begrudgery. She’s prettier than me. It’s not fair. He’s got a nicer car than me. It’s not fair. They’re considerably richer than me. It’s not fair. You get the gist. Anyway, there is no point begrudging anyone else anything. What other people have doesn’t affect what you have, and blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours shine any brighter. Think good karma. Be pleased for other folk to have good things and nice experiences. It’s just a nicer way to be.

I’m too old/young. Age is just a number. Everyday you are the oldest you have been so far, and the youngest you’ll ever be again. Don’t let your age define what you can or can’t do.

I’ll do it tomorrow. Never put something off when you can do it today. Tomorrow isn’t always guaranteed and

That will never happen to me. Such a self-limiting belief. Again, if you believe something won’t happen, you’re probably right.  So instead, believe it can and will happen for you, whatever it may be. Start imagining a world where things do go your way, and how good it feels. Then from there, start working towards your goals. Positive thinking pays but action brings even bigger rewards!

I’m not good enough. Yes you are.

So that’s my starter list. Can you think of any other things you need to stop saying?

This is post 9 of 100 for the 100 blogs in 100 days challenge.

There is a great power in positive thinking. It stands to reason that if you always assume the worst, then that is where your focus lies and so you could end up self-sabotaging. A more positive mindset opens up the possibilities. A negative mindset shuts them down.

As I plough my way through the 100 blogs in 100 days challenge, it is probably going to be quite important for me to think positive. It is quite a meaty challenge and one could easily decide to give up. I am only 5 days in but with a little bit of self belief, the whole thing should be a lot easier.

Here are a few positive quotes I am using to help me. You could use them as affirmations:

I can do this! – This is what I am telling myself every day is respect to the blog challenge. But it could be easily applied to anything you want to do!

I believe in me! Again, a little self belief can take you a long way!

I am happy! Have you noticed how much faster time seems to go if you are enjoying yourself and happy with what you are doing.

Persistence is the key. Got to keep going. No-one remembers the people who gave up as they never got to the point of declaring success. The ones who made it to the top never gave up!

It’s the little things! 100 blogs in 100 days is an epic challenge. Thinking about it as a whole has the potential to derail me; just the sheer magnitude. So by focusing on the little things, every day I get through turns into a little win!

So, what positive thoughts help you keep going?