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In Mindful Living, Mindfulness, Women's Interest

I am Good Enough

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

Good Enough

At this time of year, people start to think about New Year resolutions, personal goals and such-like. We’ve all done it, even if we’ve called it something else. We’ll be thinner, smarter, more sociable, we’ll work harder and generally be better versions of ourselves. This year I’m taking a step back from all of this. This year I am saying that I am good enough.

I am good enough! I’m not at my ideal weight. I’ve not reached ultimate productivity status. My hair will never be tamed. I won’t walk 10,000 steps every day. I don’t need to be better. I just need to be me.

Accepting who I am has made me happier. I’m not so bad you know. I’m a great Mum, a darn good wife and I try to be a good friend. I can be funny and cheeky. I run a successful business and I’ve set up monthly sessions to help other freelancers who suffer from isolation. I do what I can to support local businesses and community causes. I am proud of our little town. I am more mindful. I concentrate on the important stuff. I make a mean slow cooked lasagne. I can make people smile. People feel they can come to me for advice or just a hug. I give good hugs. I am kind. 

I am not simply good enough. I’m bloody marvellous! I’m fabulous and this year I’m not piling impossible expectations onto myself. This year I am saying….

Nicki… You are good enough. You do not need improvement. Have a spectacular 2018.

Try saying the same to yourself. There’s nothing wrong with striving for success, trying something new or self-improvement, not at all. Starting any of these processes with a healthy dollop of self-awareness though is important. This New Year, before you think about writing down your goals and promises to yourself and to others just at least take a minute or two to think about everything you are, can do, are all about. It can be quite the eye-opener and once you embrace all of that, you will feel blooming fabulous.

I AM ENOUGH!

 

In Business & Blogging, Diary, General, Parenting, Women's Interest

Social Media: Life Behind the Glass Wall

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

15790705523_ef362fcdf6_zPhoto credit

Social media can be a wonderful thing. As someone who uses it professionally myself, and on behalf of a number of clients it offers opportunities to reach out to people in ways you couldn’t manage effectively offline.

Social media is fabulous for raising awareness, for sharing local information and international news. Personally, I use social media as a sort of digital scrapbook, a way to record and revisit memories whenever I like, and for years to come.

I love seeing what’s going on in my community, sharing news with others, celebrating and when needed commiserating with them. The online world is also a place to gain support. I know people who for various reasons, for example, due to dealing with mental health issues, find themselves isolated. The online world offers aid to those who find themselves alone, scared and in a dark place at 2am and that is a great tool to have around.

Social media is a wonderful thing however, there is also a dark side. People find it perfectly acceptable to say things online, behind their glass wall, that they wouldn’t dream of saying face to face. I’m not talking about these infamous trolls either, I’m talking about people you see every day. I find this bemusing on one hand and incredibly sad on another.

I see people joining groups in order to moan. Don’t get me wrong, I can whine and moan and rant with the best of them and yet I sometimes find myself asking “when did social media replace our ability to act in real life if there’s change needed?”.

Used effectively social media can be a wonderful thing but sometimes I think we could all do with taking a step back, to pause before we post (for our own sakes) and to remember what social media is, to consider its limitations and its dangers. Being behind a glass wall offers a perception of power and that power can be misused sometimes. People on the internet exaggerate, they out and out lie, they victimise, they bully and they convince themselves that they are righteous, that they do have the right to say and do such things. Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, if not used by a wannabe vigilante mob, or by those who have lost sight of how to deal with issues in person, preferring the keyboard warrior stance and the little thrill it offers.

We live in modern times and as such have access to the most wonderful modern technologies. Take advantage of them but follow your own tune, be true to who you are, protect yourself where necessary and enjoy it. Make sure that you don’t take what you see on social media sites as being automatically factual, check things out. Use the internet and social media sites as a set of useful tools, not as a weapon against someone else.

PS: Please don’t disagree with anything I’ve written here, in my little corner of the online world where I like to ramble on sometimes about the thoughts and ideas rattling around in my head. Having a different point of view to someone online is a no-go so don’t be tempted. The backlash can be appalling…. ðŸ˜€ 

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