There's nothing like an episode of diy sos to help you put things things in perspective. It's also made me realise a couple of things. Firstly, I am a little bit in love with Charlie Luxton (sorry J :-) ) and secondly that since becoming a mother I can no longer watch emotive stories involving children without getting a little hysterical. Most importantly however is that fact that after watching such programmes, I suddenly realise how good I've got it. After all, I've got an amazing husband and daughter, brilliant family and friends, pretty good health, a warm roof over my head, food on the table, clean water and loads of other things that make me one of the most fortunate people on the planet.
Spend a little time thinking about all of the good things in your life. We can spend so much time focussing on all the things we want to be different that we forget to look at the great stuff.
Thursday, 28 August 2014
Monday, 25 August 2014
Love thy neighbour
J and I have owned our house for 7 years. Our house is only one of two on our street but being in an residential area, we have lots of other houses only a stone's throw away. Being part of a community has always been important to me but I have come to the realisation that I'm a bit crap at it. During the past seven years J and I have always been polite and considerate to those living around us. We say hello if our paths cross and try not to make too much noise if we have guests. We have gotten to know the family next door fairly well, but I couldn't tell you much about anyone else living in close proximity to us. That is until recently. ..
One of the things often on my mind is not only my desire to live in closer community but to try to be a person who is generous with my time, supporting, encouraging and showing love to those around me. I try to do this with my family and friends (although still have a way to go) but I have neglected those people that I see almost on a daily basis, living yards away from my front door.
The strange thing is that since we started thinking about putting the house on the market, opportunities to start building relationships in my community have presented themselves.
On the corner of our road is a house that is crumbling away. The paint has long peeled off the windows, there are large cracks in the walls and the garden is overgrown with weeds that are no longer being contained by the inadequate fencing. The house is owned by an elderly man who often stands outside his house watching the world go by. I have often said hello to him whilst walking past but a few weeks ago decided to stop and chat. It was a brilliant and heartbreaking experience all at the same time. In 20 minutes, I had learnt stories of this man's life, stories of this area in which he has lived for over 60 years and more importantly that he feels lonely. His wife has died, he lives away from family and is alone. The only break in his isolation is the daily visit from his carer. As we ended our conversation he thanked me for stopping to talk to him and I walked away with tears in my eyes.
Today we had an unexpected visit from a woman whose garden backs onto ours. She had noticed that our car had a flat tyre and knocked at the door to let us know. My husband invited her in for a cup of tea and 30 minutes later had been let into her world and found yet again that we live yards from someone who is desperately lonely.
There is a saying that one of the lonliest places to be is in a crowd but I am mortified to find that I have been part of that crowd. I have not yet figured out what I am going to do about this but I do feel challenged to do something.
I also want to challenge you. Do you know your neighbours? What part could you play in making someone's life less lonely? How could you encourage those around you? How can you show kindness to others? In a society that promotes independance (isolation), could you play a part in community building?
I'd love to hear your experiences and ideas!
One of the things often on my mind is not only my desire to live in closer community but to try to be a person who is generous with my time, supporting, encouraging and showing love to those around me. I try to do this with my family and friends (although still have a way to go) but I have neglected those people that I see almost on a daily basis, living yards away from my front door.
The strange thing is that since we started thinking about putting the house on the market, opportunities to start building relationships in my community have presented themselves.
On the corner of our road is a house that is crumbling away. The paint has long peeled off the windows, there are large cracks in the walls and the garden is overgrown with weeds that are no longer being contained by the inadequate fencing. The house is owned by an elderly man who often stands outside his house watching the world go by. I have often said hello to him whilst walking past but a few weeks ago decided to stop and chat. It was a brilliant and heartbreaking experience all at the same time. In 20 minutes, I had learnt stories of this man's life, stories of this area in which he has lived for over 60 years and more importantly that he feels lonely. His wife has died, he lives away from family and is alone. The only break in his isolation is the daily visit from his carer. As we ended our conversation he thanked me for stopping to talk to him and I walked away with tears in my eyes.
Today we had an unexpected visit from a woman whose garden backs onto ours. She had noticed that our car had a flat tyre and knocked at the door to let us know. My husband invited her in for a cup of tea and 30 minutes later had been let into her world and found yet again that we live yards from someone who is desperately lonely.
There is a saying that one of the lonliest places to be is in a crowd but I am mortified to find that I have been part of that crowd. I have not yet figured out what I am going to do about this but I do feel challenged to do something.
I also want to challenge you. Do you know your neighbours? What part could you play in making someone's life less lonely? How could you encourage those around you? How can you show kindness to others? In a society that promotes independance (isolation), could you play a part in community building?
I'd love to hear your experiences and ideas!
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Life in the fast lane
Hi there! Long time no see!
Things have been very busy here over the past few weeks. I haven't quite got through the woods yet but am making headway so I thought I'd update you all on some of what's been happening.
Big news is that I've been offered a new job! Hoorah! It's a super opportunity with a brilliant national charity and should give me a great work/life balance. I will hopefully be starting in the next few weeks :-)
J and I are also in the process of trying to sell our house. We've had lots of viewings but no offers yet. The whole thing is pretty stressful as it raises questions about finances, our priorities as a family, finding a house to meet our needs, as well as having keep the house constantly tidy incase a viewer needs to come round in 5 minutes. The desire to get our house sold has a bigger sense of urgency than in previous weeks as we've found somewhere we'd like to buy. I've already decorated bits of it in my head and will be really disappointed if we don't get it but I'll have to trust that if it's not meant to be ours it's because something better will be coming along.
Amidst the requirement for a permanently tidy house we did however find time to throw O her first birthday party! Argh she's a whole year old! Despite her not realising it was her birthday, it was a good excuse to see family and friends as well as bake and consume an AMAZING owl shaped chocolate birthday cake. We also took a trip to the park where O spent an enjoyable hour on the swings. This was followed by the quickest party tidy up ever as of course we had a viewer who could only see the house in an hours time...
Team all this stuff with lots of time with family and friends, a camping/caravanning break, picnics and 3 birthday parties and it's fair to say that there hasn't felt like much time to blog.
I promise not to leave it so long next time!
Things have been very busy here over the past few weeks. I haven't quite got through the woods yet but am making headway so I thought I'd update you all on some of what's been happening.
Big news is that I've been offered a new job! Hoorah! It's a super opportunity with a brilliant national charity and should give me a great work/life balance. I will hopefully be starting in the next few weeks :-)
J and I are also in the process of trying to sell our house. We've had lots of viewings but no offers yet. The whole thing is pretty stressful as it raises questions about finances, our priorities as a family, finding a house to meet our needs, as well as having keep the house constantly tidy incase a viewer needs to come round in 5 minutes. The desire to get our house sold has a bigger sense of urgency than in previous weeks as we've found somewhere we'd like to buy. I've already decorated bits of it in my head and will be really disappointed if we don't get it but I'll have to trust that if it's not meant to be ours it's because something better will be coming along.
Amidst the requirement for a permanently tidy house we did however find time to throw O her first birthday party! Argh she's a whole year old! Despite her not realising it was her birthday, it was a good excuse to see family and friends as well as bake and consume an AMAZING owl shaped chocolate birthday cake. We also took a trip to the park where O spent an enjoyable hour on the swings. This was followed by the quickest party tidy up ever as of course we had a viewer who could only see the house in an hours time...
Team all this stuff with lots of time with family and friends, a camping/caravanning break, picnics and 3 birthday parties and it's fair to say that there hasn't felt like much time to blog.
I promise not to leave it so long next time!
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Living the good life on as little money as possible
One of the scary things about resigning from your job without another to go to is the realisation that you will have a lot less money. Now there's something about this that appeals to me as I really dislike how money focussed society is but at the same time I'd like enough to get by whilst being able to have the occasional treat and beautiful shoes.
I also don't want O to grow up thinking that she needs lots of money or stuff to be happy. Even before making the decision to quit my job, I had very strong opinions that I don't want her to be surrounded with piles of toys. I want her to really appreciate and use what she has and be able to play imaginatively. I am so looking forward to us building tents out of bedsheets, making 'rose perfume' (those who did this know it's amazing!), making robot costumes out of boxes and reading fabulous stories from my childhood that I can't wait to share with her.
So I have decided to try and get better at being thrifty but still trying to make sure that life is full and exciting.
So far, so good.
I started my weekend with a trip to Lidl. I have heard mixed reviews but have some friends who use Aldi and Lidl regularly so decided to give it a go. I was very impressed with how much I got for my money. Just over £17 bought me...
Steak
2 packs butchers style sausages
Bacon lardons
2 cartons of peach juice
Potatoes
Peppers
Satsumas
Strawberries
Bread
Salad
Pretty good going I thought, and the thriftiness didn't stop there. We enjoyed some excellent free entertainment including a trip to the park, a walk to the beach (I love living by the sea) and seeing wonderful friends.
We were also very fortunate to be given some lovely gifts which will be enjoyed over the next few weeks. These included...
Home grown runner beans
Freshly foraged blackberries
Home made blackberry jam
A box of maltesers
A big bag of milky buttons
Locally pressed apple juice
A huge box of tic tacs (those who know me know that this is a particularly fitting gift)
We are so fortunate to have such brillianty generous people in our lives and I really much appreciate the variety of goodies we now have to tuck into!
So all in all, had a pretty low key and cheap weekend but one that felt very rich.
I also don't want O to grow up thinking that she needs lots of money or stuff to be happy. Even before making the decision to quit my job, I had very strong opinions that I don't want her to be surrounded with piles of toys. I want her to really appreciate and use what she has and be able to play imaginatively. I am so looking forward to us building tents out of bedsheets, making 'rose perfume' (those who did this know it's amazing!), making robot costumes out of boxes and reading fabulous stories from my childhood that I can't wait to share with her.
So I have decided to try and get better at being thrifty but still trying to make sure that life is full and exciting.
So far, so good.
I started my weekend with a trip to Lidl. I have heard mixed reviews but have some friends who use Aldi and Lidl regularly so decided to give it a go. I was very impressed with how much I got for my money. Just over £17 bought me...
Steak
2 packs butchers style sausages
Bacon lardons
2 cartons of peach juice
Potatoes
Peppers
Satsumas
Strawberries
Bread
Salad
Pretty good going I thought, and the thriftiness didn't stop there. We enjoyed some excellent free entertainment including a trip to the park, a walk to the beach (I love living by the sea) and seeing wonderful friends.
We were also very fortunate to be given some lovely gifts which will be enjoyed over the next few weeks. These included...
Home grown runner beans
Freshly foraged blackberries
Home made blackberry jam
A box of maltesers
A big bag of milky buttons
Locally pressed apple juice
A huge box of tic tacs (those who know me know that this is a particularly fitting gift)
We are so fortunate to have such brillianty generous people in our lives and I really much appreciate the variety of goodies we now have to tuck into!
So all in all, had a pretty low key and cheap weekend but one that felt very rich.
Saturday, 2 August 2014
New beginnings
I'm in one of those periods of life where it feels like everything is changing. Everything is feeling exciting but very unsettled and uncertain. It all feels needed though.
One of the biggest/most exciting/most terrifying things has happened is that I have handed my notice in at work. Since going back to work things have been extremely difficult for a variety of reasons but in essence I felt that my job was no longer tenable and I didn't want to spend my time feeling so worried/frustrated/stressed about it any more. So I took a leap of faith, resigned and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I have no idea what I am going to do now. I have applied for a few jobs and had what felt like a promising interview (I'll find out if I was successful next week) but I have absolutely no idea what is coming next. It feels exciting and scary at the same time. Luckily having a faith comes in pretty handy at this point although every part of my rational brain is urging me to freak out. I feel like I should be worrying about getting a new job, getting money etc but it doesn't worry me. I fully believe that my family and I will always have enough because my faith tells me not to worry. Please don't confuse this with a sense of entitlement or laziness because its not but I do feel a peace that we will have what we need. I have no idea what I am meant to be doing next. Maybe a job will come along, maybe I'll be a stay at home mum for a while but either way it feels like a chance to have a new fresh start, get rid of some of the negative things in my life and move onto something new.
I have talked previously about my want to live an abundant and exciting life and I felt like a difficult work situation was one of the things getting in the way. Whilst I know that sometimes there are things in life that we don't want to do, sometimes we also need to take charge of our lives and make a change.
Who knows what will happen?!
One of the biggest/most exciting/most terrifying things has happened is that I have handed my notice in at work. Since going back to work things have been extremely difficult for a variety of reasons but in essence I felt that my job was no longer tenable and I didn't want to spend my time feeling so worried/frustrated/stressed about it any more. So I took a leap of faith, resigned and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I have no idea what I am going to do now. I have applied for a few jobs and had what felt like a promising interview (I'll find out if I was successful next week) but I have absolutely no idea what is coming next. It feels exciting and scary at the same time. Luckily having a faith comes in pretty handy at this point although every part of my rational brain is urging me to freak out. I feel like I should be worrying about getting a new job, getting money etc but it doesn't worry me. I fully believe that my family and I will always have enough because my faith tells me not to worry. Please don't confuse this with a sense of entitlement or laziness because its not but I do feel a peace that we will have what we need. I have no idea what I am meant to be doing next. Maybe a job will come along, maybe I'll be a stay at home mum for a while but either way it feels like a chance to have a new fresh start, get rid of some of the negative things in my life and move onto something new.
I have talked previously about my want to live an abundant and exciting life and I felt like a difficult work situation was one of the things getting in the way. Whilst I know that sometimes there are things in life that we don't want to do, sometimes we also need to take charge of our lives and make a change.
Who knows what will happen?!
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