Hi there lovely readers! My first post for 2018 was a nod to a few of the many positives of the year just gone – me negating the ‘2017 was a shit year wasn’t it’ mindset. On a roll with the feel goods (and a spot of stickybeaking) I conducted a straw poll with friends regarding their plans for the coming year – here’s a few of the many responses: ‘I want to forgive the sins of the past and move on’. ‘I’d like to exercise more tolerance’. ‘I’m planning to focus on my relationships with my partner, my kids, siblings, parents, grandparents, friends’. ‘I’ll be focused on enjoying what I have rather than yearning for what I haven’t’. I’m planning a trip to a foreign country to learn about their culture’. We’re taking weekends away to get into nature’ ‘I’m detoxing by turning off my devices every weekend’. ‘I’m starting a gratitude journal’. ‘I want to perform random acts of kindness’.’I want to do good deeds’. Talk about positivity!
Exercising tolerance? Performing random acts of kindness? Doing good deeds?
Not a single comment about working harder. Nada! Does that surprise you? Instead, forgiveness, tolerance, a focus on loved ones, gratefulness, learning about our global neighbours, device detoxes, reconnecting, being kind, doing good. My heart began to sing – I’d found my baby’s (the Blog) theme for 2018! A spot of sleuthing later and my reward to you? Ten ways to get your ‘do good feel goods’ on:
Ten ways to get your feel goods on:
- Donate blood – always needed, especially after the holiday season – doing good with a choc-chip bonus cookie. donateblood.com.au
- Perform random acts of kindness – a little food for the homeless man, coffee paid for the guy in the queue behind you, loading that elderly person’s groceries, you get the gist – warm fuzzies all round random acts of kindness
- Grab that latte from a cafe supporting Cafesmart – $1 from every coffee sold going to an initiative to help end homelessness http://streetsmartaustralia.org/cafesmart
- Say hello to the neighbours – a quick hello, a warm smile, a chat – particularly rewarding for the elderly and vulnerable http://neighbourday.org
- Shop local – source sustenance from farmers’ markets, local shops, food box schemes or grow your own – health personified shopping farmers markets
- Get composting – live on a chunk of land? get the kit from council, grow lovely worms for the vege patch or potplants – less landfill compost revolution
- Walk for a cause – so many to choose from, pick one that you hold dear and go for it fund raising events to participate in
- Crack a smile – it’s free and makes people either look at you with suspicion or smile back, either way, another warm fuzzy coming your way http://dayofhappiness.net
- Be kind on social media – call out cyberbullying by taking the opposite tact and adding to Australia’s reputation for using the most thumbs up and winking face emojis than any other country in the world – yes seriously! 🙂
- Exercise gratefulness – a wee note to yourself each morn or eve of the things that have made you grateful. A great little app you might like to try for this is ‘Momento’. It saves your social media shares and feel good moments in one snappy spot.
Now get out there and have fun embracing all those warm fuzzies including those you’ve already set for yourselves and I’ll do the same. Our tiny contribution to making the world a better place.
