New Aspirations...

My first intentional act of kindness is to revisit my skills of active listening, too often I find myself jumping in when someone is speaking to me either to preempt what they want or to show I can relate/understand. Also, there are times I simply become distracted by something else - usually my phone - both work and personal... this acknowledgement of how my skills as a listener have become sloppy and at times rude and dare I say self centred has made me stop and think about how it leaves others feeling and shouldn't I lead by example - how can I expect it of others when I am not fulfilling a basic human kindness.  So as I tell L often I am going to STOP and switch my listening ears on...  Hopefully, this act will not only make the person speaking feel they have my full attention but allow them to realise that I truly do care about what they have to day and will also mean I become a better person.

Earlier today on FB an old and extremely talented friend posted that she would be taking part in a pay it forward art making project - I jumped at the chance to get involved as I am always looking for an opportunity to pick up my brushes... I decided not to stick with FB alone and will be sharing it on twitter too... I just hope I get some response.  Having been inspired by this I then later saw a link (see below) to coffee cups and crayons page dedicated to carrying out 100 Acts of Kindness between the 20th January (Martin Luther King day) and 14th February.  The idea is based upon teaching children that no act of kindness is too small - by carrying out small and simple acts of kindness in the home and community. To show children everyone can be kind. Everyone can make a difference. This got me thinking - that this would make a great item for my list - carrying out 30 acts of kindness between now and my 30th birthday - along with as many little ones that L and I can find t

As I mentioned at the end of my last post I have decided to take a leaf from a lovely twitter user who is aiming to do 40 things by her 40th and put my own twist on it do 30 things this year for my 30th.  I want these to be a mix of things -  small things, silly things, some serious personal things I want to accomplish this year, but the main theme is to be slowing down before I take a giant leap next year and hopefully start my child nursing degree (so long as fate doesn't have other plans), so I will be  making the most of the quality time I have with my family and finding some time for me... Before I return to Uni to develop my career further and afford me more time with D and L.  I don't have a full 30, I will be adding things as I go along through the year, I may remove things and I am open to suggestions! But here in no particular order is what I have so far; 1. Holiday with family - the last break D and I took was the year before L was born, so a much needed break is du

It was just over a year ago that I last wrote a post, looking back at the positivity, with which I faced 2013 I can honestly say that I did try to live up to my promise to make it a year of memories.  We may not have made it to Disneyland, what with finances being squeezed as D is now currently a SAHD due to the problems he has had following surgery on his lower back. But hopefully 2014 will bring a small job for him which he can combine with looking after L - who finally started nursery this week... A blog for another day... And which will mean we can aim to do a bit of travelling early next year, as this year has costly but wonderful things happening... I will finally be passing my driving test... I have to as I lose three hours a day of my life travelling, more if there are delays and if we have adverse weather then I can't get to work! (Not always a bad thing from a family point of view but I hate letting the people I work with down when they need someone),  I turn 30 in August