Paying it forward

It's Christmas, a festival that means many different things to different people. Although I personally do not celebrate Christmas, I love getting into the festive spirit. More than the food, the decorations, the presents...what always gets me about the season is how easily people give.

This video beautifully portrays the feeling I am talking about :)

So the next time someone does something nice for you, don't worry about paying it back.....just pay it forward ....to a total stranger...and it will ALWAYS come back to you. I say that with so much conviction, because I have had it happen to me :)

Merry Christmas everyone and hope you have a brilliant New Years.

Note: Inspired by this video I just saw on TED, I am going to be on a month-long generosity experiment. The task is to say "yes"for 30 days to every request for help. Be it the dodgy guy on the street that doesn't really need the money to buy a bus ticket... or the neighbour next door that wants to share a cup of tea....I am going to say YES.

I promise to report back to you in 30 days time with the results.

If Plant's could talk

I am sure this is exactly what they will say. I am sure my little potted plant that is lying neglected in my room will be saying it for sure....

Haha, found here

Being Compassionate to yourself

From a very young age, I was brought up with the notion that if stuff went wrong (sometimes terribly wrong)- looking backward, particularly towards a time of difficulty and pain is both a failure of will and a waste of time. This idea stemmed largely from the sentiment "What's done is done" and that lamenting over a situation we cannot change is a waste of time and energy. 


That was until I watched this fabulous TED talk on Arati's blog. 





I love how Kathyrn Shulz says "The point isn't to live without any regrets, the point is to not hate ourselves for having them… We need to learn to love the flawed, imperfect things that we create, and to forgive ourselves for creating them. Regret doesn't remind us that we did badly — it reminds us that we know we can do better.”


Ah. Being compassionate to ourselves. One of the hardest things to achieve. 

Being Productive

I recently blogged about shortening the distance between I am going to start working and I am working. Its a hard task to do and with the ample distractions we often surround ourselves with, switching off to concentrate on any given task can seem like a mammoth effort.

Or so I thought....

Until I saw this cute video.



Next time you come across a distraction, trap it quickly!!

Hero of my own story

I have never been the kind of girl that has ever dreamed of getting a tattoo, despite an increasing number of my friends having one. That was until I saw this....

It reads " I am the hero of this story, I don't need to be saved" .

How Incredibly powerful. If I ever did get one...this would be it!

Camping

I am planning on going camping for New years and have just been on the hunt for some camping gear. Lo and behold, I stumble upon this:

Ho totally awesome are these tents??Hat tip to Fieldcandy for making them. Need to hide my credit card just so that I do not splurge and get one!!

Anonymous Extraordinaries

Apologies for the hiatus between the last post and this one. Moving homes, thunder storms, destroyed internet connections, flash mobs and organising a poetry slam has what has kept me away from writing and hopefully inspiring the few readers that I have.

Today's post is inspired this extra ordinary video I saw on TED.Natalie Warne is an 18 year old who helped begin and run a national movement to recognise and do something about children being forced to become soldiers in Africa.  Her conviction, courage and dedication to the cause is something we could all learn a thing or two from

The talk is absolutely inspiring...but what really caught my attention was Natalie's term "anonymous extraordinaries". It is a term she uses to refer to the many people that try and do extra-ordinary things around us.....these extraordinaries are not necessarily featured on TED or on Oprah, but they still pursue an extraordinary cause with dedication and perseverance. 

Here is to being an anonymous extraordinary every single day.