As the annual self-flagellation of a new year rolls around again, many people tie themselves up in knots thinking about ways they can improve their lives.
Lose weight… Stop drinking… Eat more healthily… Do more exercise – come January, come the same good intentions.
But, as we know, most people who try to introduce them fail miserably. The numbers vary, depending on what poll or survey you read, but around 4 in 5 people who make a New Year’s resolution have abandoned it by the end of February. Continue reading “Do one thing: be kind to yourself”
Without wishing to throw shade on your global knowledge, I’d be hugely surprised if you knew about all three (or possibly any) of those stories, despite the fact they’re big news for the nations concerned.
Many years ago, I was travelling to school with friends and the conversation turned to ‘how much money we wanted to earn’ when we got older. I would have been about 13 at this point.
When it came to my turn, I remember saying something that equated to: “I’m not bothered about being super-rich, just having enough to get by.”
After I’d said it, I heard the woman sitting next to me chuckle. Clearly, I’d said something highly amusing to her, though at the time I had no idea what.
Now I relate the story, I sound horribly precocious, but the thing is I never craved ‘stuff’ as a kid.
I didn’t grow up exactly poor in the 70s/80s, but what I had was precious to me. The toys, books and cassettes I owned were something to cherish. I listened to my tapes over and over again. I re-read my copies of the Hardy Boys novels till the pages were starting to fall apart. And I also assumed they would last for years and I had no intention of getting rid of them.
And almost 40 years after that experience on the train, I can still – hand on heart – say that I don’t particularly crave stuff and, by and large, am not a heavy consumer. Generally, I have ‘enough’. Continue reading “Do you have ‘enough’?”
