Be Kind to Yourself First!

There are people out there who do many good things for many people, or do amazingly good things on one particular person. We celebrate these people, and thank them sometimes, (and sometimes not). Regardless of the celebrations and thanks though, these amazing kind people keep on doing their kind things, because that's the kind of people they are.

If you are one of these lovely kind people, whether a worker, volunteer,

loved one or community member, thank you very much. Your actions deserve to be front page news, because it's people like you who make our lives worth living. You help out for little or no pay, you step in and do things when needed, where others would step away and do nothing.

Your are kind to many, and possible too few thank you for all you do. The thanks are not why you do the kind things you do, you simply believe in doing the right and kind thing. I thank you for the good and kind things you do, You help to make the whole world a better place for all, because you show everyone around you that good things happen, and believing in the possibility of good can warm our hearts and keep us going when things seem too hard.

So, many thanks you, you wonderful kind people, but ... There's always a but, isn't there. This is an important one, please pay attention to this ... Doing good for others is a wonderful thing to do, but the most important person you must always remember to do good things for, the person you should be kind to first, is YOURSELF!

If you're always too busy being kind to other people, and never have any time left to do good things for yourself, you will burn out, the well of kindness will dry up and you will eventually not be able to do anything at all, no good things and no kind actions, you will have run out of the good things. The best way to refill your well of kindness is to top it up regularly, and the easiest way to keep on top of that is to do good things for yourself first!

Yes YOU, put your name at the top of the list of people to be kind to, to good things for, because when you are kind to yourself, you have more to give to other people. Being good to yourself doesn't drain the well of kindness, it fills it up. So when your a parent, and you want to reward your child with something yummy, because they've done something well, Get yourself something yummy too.

If you're helping someone with their garden, or their shopping, get something good for yourself from the garden - a flower, a strawberry, a cutting, or buy yourself something extra while you're buying the shopping for the other person.

If you're taking someone out for the day, why not take them somewhere you want to go too, not just where they want to go. The kinder you are to yourself, the happier and more productive you'll be, give it a try, and see for yourself!

Thoughts about Good and Bad People

This is a strange period of time. Christmas approaches with all of the fun and stress that comes with that. And the Westernised part of the world thinks about the horror of what happened in the Newtown Sandy Hook Elementary School.

It's easy to cast the killer as an evil person, and consider it a thing that could not have been averted. This was a young man though, who had family, and a life. Something went wrong, and I wonder if this whole thing, and his attitudes to life and death could have been turned around if someone could have heard his voice.

Listening is a such a simple thing to do, properly listening to someone who needs to talk. If this man had been able to tell his story, and been properly heard, what may have changed?

There are bad people, there are good people. This man that killed these school children and adults at that school did a terrible thing. He is not evil, even though the act was evil. There were also good people on that awful day.

I wish there had been a good person to have listened to this young man, before he felt he had to do something to get the attention he craved. There was no-one there, not when they were needed. Are there enough good people in our world? Are you a good person?

How can you tell the difference between good people and bad people? Good people do good things and don't expect anything back when they do them. Bad people only do good things when they get something back from it.

I try to live my life as a good person. I hope you do too, can you honestly call yourself a good person?