June 2013
“1. push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.
2. push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.
3. erase processed food from your diet. start with no lollies, chips, biscuits, then erase pasta, rice, cereal, then bread. use the rule that if a child couldn’t identify what was in it, you don’t eat it.
4. get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.
5. stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.
6. buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
7. buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.
8. strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full.
9. organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.
10. have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.
11. push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.
12. message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.
14. think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.
15. become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
16. lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.” —Sixteen Small Steps to Happiness (via nonelikejesus)
2. push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.
3. erase processed food from your diet. start with no lollies, chips, biscuits, then erase pasta, rice, cereal, then bread. use the rule that if a child couldn’t identify what was in it, you don’t eat it.
4. get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.
5. stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.
6. buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
7. buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.
8. strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full.
9. organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.
10. have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.
11. push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.
12. message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.
14. think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.
15. become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
16. lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.” —Sixteen Small Steps to Happiness (via nonelikejesus)
May 2013
Grumbling to and about Old Curmudgeons
Someone close to me accepted a job opportunity with the goal of learning to serve others for a future career while also helping out a company in need, being paid far less than deserved. What this guy got was a trashy supervisor who issued impossible tasks, ridiculous hours, and critical comments. All within 24 hours. So to this boss and others like him, I would like to say the following:
Has it occurred to you that one day we will be the ones to perform your life saving operations, teach your grandchildren math, design cutting edge technologies, change your diaper in the nursing home? Have you thought about how the bitterness you are leaving us with might affect the integrity and passion with which we do these jobs? Did your elders do this to you? If so, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that that anger is so deep-seeded you felt the urge to pass it on to the smiling, eager college student in front of you when you finally found yourself in the boss’s chair.
I am just baffled how ethics don’t seem to apply in the workplace, when they should matter everywhere. I’ve heard my generation called ignorant and lazy. (You know what’s funny? I don’t seem to recall a single one of my same-aged friends supporting segregation! Or purposely toppling the housing market! Or not willingly giving their time to support volunteer efforts! Hmmm.) Most of us, honestly, are just terrified that you’ve handed us a world too polluted and broken to repair. But thanks for your insights that we’re too stupid and/or entitled to make something of this place! Especially given the excellent job you’ve done!
“Respect your elders” was not a cliché haphazardly tossed around in my house. It was a given. More often (read: all the time), my mom would ask me if I was treating my brother/friend/cat the way I myself would want to be treated. This is not about just treating someone older with dignity. It is about treating all people with dignity. I see it as critical to reward elders, especially the amazing ones in my life, with the same esteem they have shown others. I see it as equally critical, however, to demonstrate to young people that regardless of their age they are worthy of respect. Encourage the talents of the young people who come to you eager to learn. Enough of the pithy comments about their abilities to excel at the same tasks you have done.
Another saying I got a lot growing up was “the meek shall inherit the earth.” I guess looking at our culture, I didn’t see that. It’s always the powerful ones, the attractive ones, the genius ones who seem to have it all. But do they? Do you, the boss screaming yourself red in the face, call yourself happy? Maybe not. Now that I’m older, I do think the meek are inheriting. I think these people do the best they can and are gratified in how hard they worked regardless of whether or not Mr. or Mrs. McGrumpyboss was appreciative. I think they come home to warm homes with good food and people who love them and respect them regardless of their successes. I think these people, every once in a while, can look out over their talents, homes, memories, and loved ones and know that they do have the world.
I think these are the same people who have sisters who occasionally write blog posts to defend them from evil bosses.
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, and obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
—D.A. Carson, For the Love of God (vol. 2) (via sammyrhodes)
“My favorite quality in a man is…passion, mountain sense and a willingness to dance. (You can tell everything about a man by spending a day with him in the mountains.)”
—Alyssa Larson (via grayskymorning)
If I think about it too hard
I get this vague feeling that I don’t know myself at all. Is that weird or does it happen to anyone else?
I just deleted Facebook from my phone
Because it was genuinely making me hate people in my life. It’s so silly that a social media site could make me feel that way. It scares me a little bit about my personality.
Maybe in the future I’ll let go of it entirely. I hope I can do the same with twitter and maybe one day Instagram. If you’re using it for the likes, for the popularity boost, for the gossip factor, then I just don’t feel it’s worth it. I hate who it’s making me.
And the rest of the day this phone will be far, far away so I can enjoy this rainy Monday exploring Charlotte!
