HEALTH + WELLNESS
NEW YEAR , NEW YOU CONT .
MIND Go a day without complaining
What with thoughtless memes and outright trolling , there ’ s a lot of ugliness that ’ s thrown at people by people that don ’ t even know said people these days . It ’ s not good , for anyone , so flip it and start upping your positivity quotient . OK , there might not be any cucumbers left in Tesco , it might be cold and rainy outside , or Monday morning might fast be approaching , but every time you complain , you ’ re heaping a big dollop of negative energy not just into your life , but into the world overall . Complaining breeds complaining , so before you start waxing lyrical about your peeves , stop and try to think of a way to solve the problem – there will be other cucumbers ; you ’ re lucky to have a warm , dry home ; and , Monday marks a fresh week full of fresh opportunities . If you can ’ t solve it , move on . Life ’ s too short .
Speak up
It ’ s all very well being appalled at how badly the trains are running , or shocked that you ’ ve found out your favourite cosmetics are tested on animals , but in order to make change happen , you need to take positive action . When petitions that you support pop up on your social media feed , sign them ; if you really feel the road outside your child ’ s school needs a lower speed limit , write to the council and your local MP ; if you ’ re outraged by the government ’ s treatment of the refugee crisis , stage a march or mass meeting and call them out on it . Turn your mental complaints into tweets , Facebook posts , forums , letters and meetings in a measured and proactive manner and you ’ ll find your voice and actions have the capacity to make a profound impact on the topics that niggle you .
Be Kind
Sounds simple . Is simple . You might think karma ’ s a load of airy-fairy nonsense , but thousands of years of philosophical thinking would disagree : what you put out into the world is what you get back . If someone irks you and you lose your rag , you ’ ll irk them and likely irk the person who they go on to tell ; it ’ s a whole chain of unnecessary negative energy that can be stopped short if you take a step back and assess if the situation is really worth all the aggravation . Smiling at a stranger , carrying someone ’ s bags who ’ s clearly struggling , or giving a fellow passenger the 20p he needs on the bus to pay for his ticket are all small , simple acts of kindness ; practice them whenever you can .
HOME Plant a garden
It ’ s remarkable how much good even the smallest patch of green space can do for the environment – growing your own veg means you can buy less that ’ s been flown around the world , therefore lowering your carbon footprint and supporting local producers , and growing herbs and flowers will attract important pollinators like birds , bees and butterflies , who are disappearing fast due to the use of nasty pesticides and insecticides . If you don ’ t have access to a patch of land , get involved with a community garden like Kent Community Oasis Garden ( blogs . kent . ac . uk / kentcog ) where you can learn to work with the land and embrace the natural growing cycles of the seasons .
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