Looking after yourself: how to fill and empty cup

I wanted to start a new year positively with a kindness post a week. So here is to week 2! How fast has this last few weeks gone? Seriously?! 

This last week has been interesting work wise and exciting in my private life. 

I’ve been working on a couple of different archaeological sites this week. Plus I’ve helping another “new to the company” woman learn the ropes. Which has been both fulfilling and encouraging because I’m still relatively new myself so I find myself learning right along side this lovely lady. 

As for my personal life... well my boyfriend and I today celebrated the fact we survived 6 months together as a couple. Miracles happen. Lol. Whilst I make jokes, he has really looked after me and welcomed me into his family. I spent all of my time with him and his family over Christmas. They all welcomed me in with open arms which is nice because I was so far away from my own family. He has had to learn the hard way how to care for me when I’m not well and how to deal with me when I’m tired, grumpy and inevitably emotional. He’s also had to deal with my quirks and weird sense of humour. I really appreciate this man and his support and encouragement! Thanks G!

Kindness wise I’ve been doing all kinds of things. For instance I brought cheap (reduced to £0.05 per pack of 6) Fruit mince pies to work. I can’t eat them (they are neither Celiac friendly OR AIP friendly) but I thought they would bring a smile to the faces of my colleagues. It did. 

I’ve also smiled at people, complimented some, expressed gratitude for people and things that came my way, baked goodies to share, did a couple odd jobs for people, even made some much needed hot beverages for those I’ve spent time with. I even bought a mate a drink at the pub on Friday night. 

I also did some things to look after myself. Or alternatively put...Be Kind to myself!!!

I had a bath, Meditated (I love the Insight Timer App), Read a book (one of many I got for Christmas), Made a yummy meal and Baked yummy food even I can enjoy. 

I have a list now of things I like to do to help me improve my mood and be kind to myself. After all they do say you cannot give from an empty cup. 

Maybe you can take some “Sunday Ideas” from this list above. Or you could make your own! I keep this list in my journal which I have with me all the time.

What do you like doing that fills your cup up? 

What thing do you do that helps you to be kind to others? 

Wishing you all a great weekend. 

Love Daena x

Lent gifting day 13

I got to talk to my best friend today who has recently moved interstate. It was so lovely spending some time catching up via Skype. 

One of the things I found in my recent dejunk Session was about 200 postcards from around the world that I've bought and never used. I think I've mentioned them before. I've started sending them to my best friend. Every couple days I've written one to send which is fun and I hope makes her feel special. 

I love the way that receiving snail mail makes me feel better. It is a pretty simple kindness to do too. Sending an encouraging letter or postcard to someone makes them know you have been thinking of them. Plus in my case, it used postcards that would other wise go to waste. In Australia it costs $1 to send a postcard anywhere inside Australia. Of course it cost more to send stuff internationally but I often like to send nice bits and pieces to my friends overseas. 

Kindness doesn't have to be expensive. A one off postcard (you can make your own) to a friend or family member and the cost of postage can mean the world to someone. Getting a card to know you care can be something that lightens a day. 

Back to the Lent challenge. 

 

I recently wore this dress out as part of a Tinkerbell costume. To a Disney themed night at a city nightclub... it was so much fun!!!! I danced for hours and hours. So good. And I'm so glad I had flat shoes not heels like my friend in the picture next to the green legs (which happened to be my green legs). 

 

My friend, who is the other set of legs in this picture, went as the fantastically Mad Hatter! We also had Megara from Hercules, Esmeralda from the Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid (dressed as Ariel when she was voiceless and on two feet) and her prince, Eric! So much fun to sing loudly and dance to Disney Music. We also danced to other 90s music, a fun reminder of my childhood! :) 

Anyway... the dress. A friend had given me the dress a few months ago as part of a group of things to be gone through and then donated to charity. I pulled this out to keep in our costume box. Then I decided to do the Lent giving and I knew I was going to be donating this dress because I really didn't need to dress up as Tinkerbell any time soon... or so I thought. 

Then the Disney themed night club night happened so I decided to actually get one wear out of this before I would pass it on to someone who needs it. This one isn't actually going to go in the charity bag today but be given to a friend who needs it for another fairy themed event. I'm going to give it to her to keep if she wants or donate on to someone else who needs it in the future. It's a pretty good quality dress that was once longer and had been a bridesmaids dress. It makes a fantastic Tinkerbell costume. 

It was awesome giving this dress a last hurrah, for me at least. I will also have lots of fond memories to pass along with the dress. I won't forget the memories but I don't need to worry about keeping the dress. Plus someone gets something they need FOR FREE! Winning on all fronts! :) 

Here are some words on my favourite subject kindness... "My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who you are, to astonish a mean world with your kindness!" Maya Angelou. 

I hope you think of a whole range of simple kindness ideas you can do to astonish this world with Kindness. 

Love to you all, 

Daena x

30 years young and celebrating 6 years of kindness

Hi everyone,
So it turns out that the posts I have been putting up through the app have not been working for some reason. So sorry to have missed these posts. I will try and copy them and get them back up to date in the future. :)
You didn't even get to see my short hair (well in the picture below you might but not yet the one straight after the "Big Snip")! :( I will rectify this as soon as possible.

If you want to catch up with good news stories and Kindnesses alike on a daily basis, please check out the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/365daysOfKindness, my sister helps my update this regularly... well more regularly than here!

On Thursday I had my 30th Birthday. It was busy and involved kindness for others as well as the fact I got thoroughly spoiled. I am completely blessed with the friends, family, acquaintances and complete strangers who wished me a Happy Birthday in their own ways.

My birthday is always an anniversary of sorts. This is originally how this project got off the ground. I wanted people to do kind things (and i gave everyone a year to do it) for me & my birthday and then I would share it all. It didn't go to plan, but it was still beautiful.

6 years this project has been going. People have been doing kindnesses for others and themselves under the guise of this project. It means the world to me that people have taken Project 25 and 365days of kindness and run with them in their own lives. I like to think even though they may not blog about it, like it do, others are doing the 365days of kindness, or 52 weeks of kindness, or 26 fortnights of kindness or 12 months of kindness. Expressing kindness and sharing this journey with me.

I just want to wish you all a happy Anniversary. Kindness is still a priority for me. A daily one.

I do have to be honest, I have fallen off the wagon though... the recording wagon. I stopped writing the kindnesses down on a daily basis. Which is not what I had intended, however i have not stopped my kindnesses. They are so ingrained into my nature now, i do not think i could stop even if i wanted to! hahahah! What a way to live! :)

I hope this finds you all well! :)

Love Daena x

Things... what do we really need?

Hi everyone,

For those that don't know me very well, or for those who have not seen inside my little bedroom or my tiny house, you will not know that I am a bibliophile. I collect BOOKS! This is wonderful as I love to read, however I have been accruing books faster than I have been reading them. By bedroom is affectionately known as "the library" as there is more bookcases in my room, more specifically lining my walls, than empty spaces.

Even thought I LOVE books, buying them does not make me "happy". It is the joy of reading that I find is a gift, one that I truly treasure. I had reading problems as a child and since I mastered the ability, I have surrounded myself with the words that for so long evaded me.

However, I have come upon the problem of having too many. I have been seriously considering buying another bookcase. But is that really a good idea?

In the last couple of years I have had serious problems with Insomnia! Medications and natural therapies arent working like they once were, so I have had to start doing some radical things to help me get to sleep.

In one particular instance, Last year, I gave up most forms of Caffeine! No more coffee, no more Diet Coke, no more energy drinks! Minimal amounts of chocolate and tea as well. As such I have been off Caffeine for well over a year! Now if I have too much chocolate or tea I am bouncing off the walls, God only know what would happen to me if I had Coffee or energy drinks... probably running around the ceilings! lol!

This month, I have been asked to minimize distractions in my bedroom, so that it will not "re-stimulate" me after I get tired. So the book cases and the desk have had to be rearranged and covered to encourage, not discourage sleep.

The point however of this blog post is not actually the sleep problems, even though I deal with them every night, but the stuff that I have accumulated in my room. The room itself is about the size of a shoe box. I have 6 book cases, a bed and a desk in my room. And every square inch of my room has been utilized to the full. In some cases the books are stacked double deep, on the shelves.

During Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) a friend of mine and her husband have been working to de-clutter their home and to give away the things that they don't use anymore or don't need. She has been blogging about it here earthmotherwithin.blogspot.com.au

I have been thinking about this in terms of kindness and have been wondering if I should do the same thing. Is it not kindness to get rid of the things that you don't need? Is it not kindness to simplify life for yourself and others?

One person, along time ago, told me to "Live Simply, so others can simply live!" But somewhere along the line, I have replaced simplicity with stuff! Quite often we believe we have to BUY our happiness. That having the right house, or car, or dress, or shoes, or books, or computer games, or iPhone will make us happy! but does it really? I dont know.

I have been following a man on Facebook who challenged himself to live with only 100 things for one year to see if it was possible. He lived simply and gave more. I loved his idea so much that i wanted to share it with you...100 Thing Challenge

I will be attempting to be kind to myself by de-cluttering more, and yes that will mean that some of my books will have to be given away or donated to charities. After all the things that I don't want or use any more can be given to charities and other people who need it more than me! I could sell the things that are of value and give money to charity! I could donate books/DVDs/CDs to Libraries for other people to enjoy! There are so many opportunities to share what we already have with others! So it does not cost us anything but that we can enjoy sharing or giving away. After all not only will it be great to GIVE, but we also RECEIVE by having clean houses and sleep inducing houses (even though this idea seems like a dream to me at the moment!)

Anyway, its just a thought! Think about and have a look at these wonderful blogs that can give you the inspiration to get started! to help you live an uncluttered life! :)

I hope this finds you well!
luv Daena x
p.s. I will add these two blogs (evenually) to my "useful links" list, so you can check them out anytime too!

Peaches Neet Feet - what a great idea!

Hey everyone,

I am just about to head off and give a talk to my local church, all about kindness!

I am using one of my favorite videos and I thought that I had already posted this... but apparently not! Peaches Neet Feet is an awesome project and this video was the winner of The Random Acts of Kindness Foundations video challenge!
Just love it, so must share it!

So here you go...

I love this because it talks about using your own strength and passions to do Kind acts in your community/state/country! so i hope this gives you a little inspiration as it has with me! :)

Hope this finds you happy and healthy!
luv Daena
p.s. you can do something this awesome too! :)