BUSY OR PRODUCTIVE?

Ways of Remembering, ,

Originally busy meant constantly in motion. – hence the phrase ‘busy as a bee’. It also had some not useful connotations, which we have carried forward in the word busybody – always sticking their nose in other peoples’ business,

And still we tend to say we’re busy when we’ve lots to do, but it implies a level of rushing from one thing to another, rather than getting things done. It reminds me of the Bing Crosby song: ‘We’re busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do’.

On top of that, when we tell someone else that we’re too busy to join them in something, or stop and talk, it feels very dismissive, as if what they’re suggesting or asking for isn’t as important as the things you have to do.

The alternative is to be productive. This implies having some clear results, and gives us a different mindset. In order to feel productive, we need to have thought about what we want to achieve and how to go about it. it means we use our energy more effectively and go about things more methodically. We are more likely to complete tasks we set ourselves and to feel good afterwards.

Next time the word busy comes into your head, just stop and check – could you be productive instead? could you spare the time for this person and show that they matter to you? Unless of course you’re just busy doing nothing!

After all, the second verse of the song goes: ‘I’m busy going nowhere, isn’t it just a crime, I’d like to be unhappy but I simply don’t have the time’.

SIGNS OF HOPE

Ways of Remembering, ,

Like everyone else, I sometimes despair – about our world and its poor state, about our climate, about politics. But there are signs of hope, always, if we look for them.

Not everyone is kow-towing to Trump and his bullying. Canada, Mexico and China have all said ‘no, we are not saying, oh dear, what can we do when he tries to bully us.’ And a bunch of respected journalists in the US have resigned from their papers because they are accepting of Trump’s way and set up their own journal to say no.

And despite our weird weather patterns, the snowdrops are flowering in the garden, signalling spring, and there are signs of growth everywhere.

Looking for the signs of hope is important because that prompts us to be hopeful about other things. Hope is not a passive emotion – it prompts us into action, to create more hope and grow it into reality.

Whether that be encouraging and supporting those who are standing up for their rights and freedom, for decent values, or becoming more energised in our own little world, it makes a positive difference, not just to us, but to the world we live in.

I feel much more like clearing the winter debris from my garden, to find what else I have growing.. I feel more ready to encourage others to trust in themselves and their power, and believe even more strongly that we as individuals can make a difference in this world and help make it a kinder and better place.

So go find your signs of hope and let’s get going. It’s our world, let’s make it the way we all want it to be.

BUILDING UP YOUR ENERGY RESERVES

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We may pay attention to our physical fitness, or be aware of our mental health, but we don’t usually take great care of the foundational building blocks for both of these – our energy reserves.

This is something we can have control over, because we all know what increases our energy and what depletes it.

Energy is our life force. It feeds us physically, mentally and emotionally. And building it in ourselves is literally vital.

The ways we increase our energy is quite individual. We probably all benefit from a good night’s sleep, and healthy food, but then it needs to be tailor-made. Some feel better after an invigorating shower, others after a long soak in the bath. Some thrive on a session in the gym, others on a stroll in the park. The company of some people enlivens you, the company of others drains you. And we all have the things we love doing that makes us feel good, and those things that we have to push ourselves to do.

What we can all do is to become more aware of what increases our energy reserves and what leaves us with an energy deficit. If we feed into our lives as many things as possible to enhance our energy, it is easier to handle the times when we’re being somewhat drained – we have spare capacity, rather than running on empty.

And it doesn’t have to be difficult, complicated or time-consuming. It can be just five minutes sitting quietly, or watching something that makes us laugh (laughter is a great energy-giver), or treating yourself to the right piece of cake at the right time, or watching the birds at the bird feeder for a minute or two.

If we get in the habit of allowing ourselves to enjoy those little things that boost our energy, we automatically help ourselves to stay healthier, in every sense, and improve our lives.

So boost your energy in some simple ways today – and every day!

BALANCE

Ways of Remembering, , ,

It’s a new year. When we look back over the previous year, it gives us a starting point for the new one.

What did you spend too much time on, and what was neglected as a consequence? What made you anxious, and how can you alleviate that? What stressed you and how can you reduce that stress? What made you feel good and how can you have more of that? How did you care for yourself and how can you give yourself even more of that?

These types of questions prompt us into noticing how we can improve our lives for this year and shift the balance towards a happier, more comfortable time. They take us towards small easy steps we can take to make life better for ourselves.

Of course, there will always be unavoidable ups and owns in our lives, good days and bad days. I don’t believe anyone has a perfect life, or a perfect attitude towards whatever happens.

But we can all appreciate more the good days we have (and normally add a few more with a shift in attitude!), and we can all think of better ways to handle those days that feel tough, or at least offset the toughness with more kindness towards ourselves.

When we find more balance, more equilibrium in our lives, we not only feel better, we are also nicer people to be around, and we receive more of the friendship and support that we all need – it’s a virtuous circle.

So come on, let’s find some more balance in our lives, and make it easier for ourselves as we do so. We deserve it!

Happy New Year..

A LITTLE BIT OF PEACE

Ways of Remembering, ,

This seems to have been a year of conflict and anxiety in the world, with wars raging, thousands of innocent people being displaced or killed, governments in turmoil, and scary threats looming on the horizon. Those of us not directly affected by these things have had our own stresses and battles to fight, of one sort or another. It feels as if everyone needs a break.

And as Christmas approaches, we have an opportunity to take a breath. I know that, for many, there is stress over the immediate Christmas period: family to visit; presents t buy and wrap; food to prepare, but in that post-Christmas period there is a chance to take a little bit of peace and quiet.

We can all find an hour or two to relax, and have a little bit of peace. It is a chance to re-charge our batteries and regain some perspective that we need to take.

And as we do so, let us just send some peaceful energy out into the world at large, change the vibration a little from our own place of peace. As a well-known advertisement says: ‘Every little helps’, and we can play our part in that.

I wish you all a little bit of peace over Christmas, as well as fun and laughter. Give yourself a break – best Christmas present ever!

BEAUTY IS NOT PERFECTION

Ways of Remembering,

There have always been cultural versions of perfection that are almost impossible to match: skinny models; muscular bodies; social media influencers – so many versions. Yet this is not beauty.

Our beauty shines through when we forget what others may think of us, how we should look, or what we should do. It shows when we are comfortable in our own skin, and when we are just being, without any consideration of how it may appear to others.

This is why it is so much easier to describe a plant or tree or animal or baby as beautiful – they’re not trying to impress us, they’re just being.

If beauty were an ideal shape, size, appearance to aim for, there would be a universal definition for it, but there clearly isn’t. This type of attractiveness changes across history, across cultures.

Beauty is defined by the clear spirit behind it, someone or something in their element, being who or what they are.

When we write or draw something to impress other people, or we ‘dress to impress’, we are betraying our own essence.

When our words, our art, our manner, flow from the heart, we allow our beauty through.

So be beautiful today!

THE GOOD SIDE OF PREJUDICE

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Being prejudiced is always seen as a bad thing. We think of people who are racist or sexist or homophobic etc. when we talk of people who are prejudiced.

Yet the word simply means making a judgement in advance and we all use prejudice all the time.

We ‘know’ if we are going to be bored in the meeting, or if we’re going to find something difficult to handle. We equally ‘know’ if we’re going to enjoy an event we’re attending or if we’re going to find something easy.

Our prejudices help us to navigate the world without having to start every experience from scratch and are based on previous experiences and things we’ve been told.

What we’re not aware of is the effect our prejudices have on how we approach whatever it is. If I think it’s going to be hard or unpleasant, I go into it with that mindset, looking for the evidence that I was right, and sometimes actually creating the proof I am looking for.

The opposite is equally true. If I expect it to be fun, easy, pleasant, that’s what I look for and help create. We tend to get what we expect to get – our prejudice.

So let’s approach as much as we can with useful prejudices: it will be interesting, enjoyable, easy; most people are friendly and helpful; I can usually work things out.

If we use positive prejudices to make our lives easier, we will get the best out of most situations.

GIVE IN BUT DON’T GIVE UP

Ways of Remembering, ,

It was hard to hear, last week, that Trump had decisively won the American election. Not only does it make you wonder about the values of half the American population, but also it will have an impact on the world.

But Kamala Harris’s concession speech reminded me of a principle we can all work to: ‘We concede the victory, but do not admit defeat.’

There are times when we all have to concede that we have failed to achieve what we set out to do, with the best of intentions. Bemoaning the fact that we failed, or blaming others for it, does not change that. We have to accept that it happened and give in to the loss.

However, that doesn’t mean that we have to give up completely. Rather than wasting energy on recrimination or regrets, we can accept how it is, and then use our energy to work out what we can do differently or instead, to achieve our intention.

This then becomes a creative endeavour, where we learn from what went wrong or didn’t work, and look for other possibilities. This works at a macro-level, – a major defeat in politics – but also at a micro-level – I upset a friend unintentionally, or I didn’t finish those tasks I set myself.

It is a waste of energy to allow a defeat of some kind to send you into despair. All that does is make you more likely to fail at even more and give up.

Instead, give in to the one failure and use your energy to make things work better next time.

THE ARTS MATTER

Ways of Remembering, ,

I watched a documentary by Melvyn Bragg a while ago. It was called ‘Art Matters’ and it gave compelling arguments for why we need to nurture our cultural life.

There were two that particularly caught my attention. The first was aimed at government. He pointed out that the arts contribute 6 per cent of our economy for a very small investment. How much more they could bring in if the grants for cultural projects had not been cut back to the bone!

The second was a reminder to all of us: the arts are a manifestation of imagination, whether it be a Shakespeare play or a pop song. Encouraging us to use our imagination, from early in childhood, and continuing to do so throughout our academic lives, is vital for our health and the health of our world.

Imagination is a way of connecting unlikely bedfellows and creating something different. We all have imagination, even if we don’t become great writers or artists.

Combining different tastes and textures to create a new meal; planting unusual combinations of flowers together; coming up with a different perspective on something – we do things like this a lot. And our dreams are always imaginative – how did Tom Cruise get to be at my birthday party?!

No matter what you look at in your home, someone imagined it and then designed and made it – how cool is that!

So encourage your imagination and that of your children – it could change the world.

IS TOTAL DESTRUCTION A DETERRENT?

Ways of Remembering,

Years ago, I was an active member of CND (Campaign for Nuclar Disarmament). The argument that having nuclear weapons was a deterrent never made sense to me.

Recently, I watched documentaries, a movie and a drama series about the creation of the nuclear bomb and Oppenheimer’s role. All of these question its effectiveness as a deterrent, and leave you horrified (as was Oppenheimer), at the monster that had been created and unleashed.

There is also a recent documentary called ‘Atomic People’, where survivors of the bombs on Japan describe what happened in horrifying and heart-breaking detail. These same people set up an anti-nuclear group and have just won the Nobel Peace Prize for it.

Where does the twisted logic come from, that says possessing these weapons of mass destruction deters others from using them on us? How can there be a competition to see which country can amass more of these terrible weapons?

If just one is unleashed, our world is changed forever – they are far more powerful now than they were in the 1940’s.

There was a brief period when there was talk of disarmament, a moment when maybe common sense would prevail. Yet it came to nothing.

It is time we stood up again and said no to spending billions on renewing weapons which we all hope will never be used, and instead spend the money on saving lives and making our world a better place to live.

It is time that one country was brave enough to take the first step and disarm their nuclear weapons, recognising that they are a threat to all our lives and our world, not a deterrent.