Advent

It's officially that time of year again. The time of year when the weather gets colder, we see multiple decorations of tinsel, Santas, snowmen and so much more. The Christmas songs get put on repeat in shops and it seems we can't escape the ever evident fact that we are now in December and on the 25th it will be Christmas day.

But what is the lead up to Christmas about? 

Is it about those songs, the decorations, the eating of chocolate as you get to open a new door on your advent calendar or about so much more?

As I get older I see that there is much more to this time of year than spending the next few weeks worrying about what presents to buy, making sure the cards are sent out in time and that we have enough food in to see us over the Christmas period.

The Christmas period screams out as being a time of giving, a time of being with those we love and that's reflected in the story of Jesus. He was born as a gift from God to help others and soon after his birth others were coming to celebrate and worship him and offering gifts. Even if we don't believe in God a lot of us will have heard that story through  nativity plays we may have been part of as we were growing up. 

What I'm trying to say is Christmas is based around giving and the lead up to it should be about how we can take that gift and turn it around so that we can each day spend some time thinking what can I do to help others before Christmas and acting upon those thoughts.

So instead of going through the usual rush beforehand and the opening up of an advent door to a piece of chocolate everyday I want to challenge you to think about what can I do today to make a difference and act upon it.

A small group of us have created a small acts advent page that started on the first Sunday of advent (27th of November). We created it to share a new thought each day to reflect upon and challenge us in this lead up to Christmas. Take a look and join in if you wish: SmallActsADVENT

Thankfulness

Thank you. Thanks. Ta. Cheers.

Just a few different ways in which we can praise someone for something they have done to help you or others.

How often do we say them though?

When a word is so short and simple it is easy to forget to say it yet it's one of the first things we learn and I remember being reminded about my 'Ps&Qs' (Please and Thank you's).

Saying thank you is more than just being polite or well mannered though it's about realising that someone has done something to help, to support you or to just be there when you needed it. A simple thank you can go a long way and can mean so much to someone even if we don't realise it.

I believe that as we grow up we lose our loving nature we had as a child to love one another no matter what. As a child it is constantly said to you to be kind, to help one another, to be polite, friendly so why do we sometimes lose that as we get older?

I was reminded of this a while back when I heard a young person praying. A lot of their prayers were saying thank you to God, even when there were things that were difficult to pray about they still said thank you. It made me think, how much do we complain about things and look at the negative before saying thank you?

I challenge you today to say thank you more and mean it. Don't just throw the word around mindlessly actually realise what someone is doing and really say thank you for it. It could impact their day or their week.

To be kind to one another may seem simple but it could have huge rewards. Imagine what could change if their was more kindness in the world?

                                        A simple thank you can make a change.

Never giving up!

After a few months away from this I have come to realise I may not be the best at keeping some new ideas up.

It's always hard to keep up a new habit isn't it? You start it because you want to make a change to your life yet something in you always wants to find a way to give it up at the same time.

Perseverance and determination are two main things that are needed to overcome that want to just give in.

Also making sure you are doing this for you not for others. When you have that thought then it becomes easier to keep things up.

I may not be the best blog writer out there. However I know that I want to share my thoughts about what I can do to help keep the world I live in from crumbling and becoming an empty shell that people used to live in.

A slight difference can make a massive change even if you don't think it can, believe in yourself as there is someone out there that believes in you more, you just may not realise it. Do things to make a change without expecting a thank you, do it because you want to and can happily do it without being noticed.

Just love yourself and the world you live in, it will show love back!

Lights out, all out

Busy this evening? If you have nothing planned then why not be involved in WWF (World Wide Fund for nature) annual Earth Hour tonight, March the 19th, between 8:30pm and 9:30pm local time.

What is Earth Hour?
After starting ten years ago it is still being celebrated globally as an event that asks people to switch off their lights for an hour. 

Why?

So people can show that they care about the future of the planet and try to raise awareness about climate change through this event.

Whilst Earth Hour is not about trying to see how much energy is saved during the hour, it is about getting us to think about our impact on the world and how we can make our living on this planet more sustainable. 

How easy is it to turn off a light when it is not needed?

Do you leave on every light possible when walking through your home?

Do those lights need to be left on in an empty room?


I know that energy saving light bulbs are now available so it might not seem like a lot to turn off a light, however a small piece of action can make a change.

Just think about that room you have left a light on in, is anyone else in there? Does it need to have its light left on? If the answer is no then switch it off. 

For more information about Earth Hour and how to become involved visit the WWF website: http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/ OR https://www.earthhour.org/ 

Compost, a solution to some of our waste

What a great thing it is yet a lot of us probably might not do it or even heard about it!

Compost is defined as a mixture of various decaying organic matters or substances.

I admit I didn't use to compost anything and it is only really in the last couple of years that I have really thought about it and started doing something about it. 

I always thought that it was something that farmers did and something that could not be achieved easily. I mean who really thinks about having a bin of decay matter in the garden anyway?

However, something happened which changed my viewpoint.

A few years ago I was sharing a house with some of my friends that I had met a university. We had picked the house together and it was our first sign of freedom as students after living in halls for a year. We arrived at the house on different days and after some time of living there I noticed one of my flat mates had started taking out organic waste to put into a green container in the garden to decompose, kind of  like a compost bin. I didn't put any thought about why but understood straight away it was the right thing to do and soon most of us were putting our organic waste items into the compost bin also. It was so easy and simple and became part of our daily habits. The end of the academic year was becoming closer and we had decided that some of us would be moving on to different homes so we had to ensure the house looked tidy and respectful for the next tenants. That got me thinking about the compost bin. Would they appreciate this green container of organic waste in their garden? Surely they wouldn't mind as we had it there when we arrived. That's when the original house mate who started the compost bin piped up saying that her parents were willing to take it back to their place on their compost heap as she'd started it herself. 

I hadn't realised until then that it was her who started it. She didn't care that there wasn't a proper compost bin around, she knew what was right and started it herself in a green container (which was meant for putting glass in to be recycled). It was that easy for her and it can be that easy for us to!

Compost shouldn't be seen as something that only farmers do. It shouldn't be seen as a massive chore to getting round to doing. It should be seen as something that we can do today to help reduce the waste that we have in this country!

So start thinking about it! Can you buy a compost bin and start composting? Or even just a cheap container with a few holes in the bottom? 

What can you do to help reduce your waste today?

Challenging the way we live

Have you ever thought about the impact of the way you live might impact the lives of others or the surrounding world?

Recently I have been challenged to think about what it is that I am doing to make the world a better place. Do we have the thoughts of - I can't make a difference so why should I bother or what is the point of making the world better if I will not be alive to reap the rewards?

Personally I think making the world a better place to live in for myself, others and any future generations should not be about self reward but rather about caring about the world and people who live in it to want to see a change happen. 

We see so many injustices in the world and are lead to believe that we can not make a difference but when you become part of something it might be your contribution that sees the change take place. 

Over the coming days, weeks, months I'll be looking at what it is that I can do to change the world around me and not doing it for my own accord but so that I can see justice and make a difference.