Thirty Chic Days - June

Eiffel Tower painting by artist Leslie Saeta

I’m in the mood for another Thirty Chic Days.  Even though life is going wonderfully well - I’m (almost) keeping up at work and home despite having lots to do, eating well most of the time, and feeling generally good about things, I know there are areas where I’m dragging the chain a little bit.

I do know that when I’m really ‘on’, I feel amazing.  When I’m up to date with home and work and have done things ahead of time life is easy.  I deal with issues as they come up no problem.  But if I let little things slip here and there, that’s when I get irritable and grumpy, and it’s only because of me.

I’ve thought of all the little things that I can do to make me feel good rather than lazy and guilty.  None of them are earth-shattering or even particularly major.  But that doesn’t matter and in fact is preferable.  They will be easier to do and all it takes is a gentle upward swing to set me off in the right direction again.

I’ve started by listing all the ways I feel unchic and created an action plan.  Just little things I can do day to day to feel more chic and less blah.  Instead of feeling demotivated and down, creating an action plan of simple steps reminds me how easy it is to feel chic again, rather than ho-hum.

A good friend reminded me of the quote below, and it started me off on this new Thirty Chic Days idea of what little things I can do for life to feel magical again.

‘If you want an extraordinary life, you must have equally extraordinary routines, because your daily actions are creating your life.’ -Tonya Leigh

Tomorrow is the first day of June.  It’s winter here in the southern hemisphere and summer in the north.  A fresh new month of thirty days just waiting for us to dive on in.

Chic Habits: Having Empathy

I read recently that having empathy for others makes you a happy person, and I can totally believe it.

I have been putting my ‘empathy’ mantra into practice over the past little while and it has helped me make better decisions.  I then feel good about myself, I am a nicer person and everyone is happy.

Whenever I am in a situation – serving a customer, out in public, driving, whatever, when I think about the other person I think of them with empathy.  Sometimes it is hard and I don’t always get there, but most of the time I see things from their point of view and am happy to give way graciously, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally.

At the very least I think I come across in a more caring way and that in turn often triggers them to be more thoughtful.  No matter what, I always feel better afterwards.  The few times I’ve thought it was ‘my right’ to do something, even if it was, I’ve had a bad feeling afterwards (and I didn’t like it!). 

Even people I dislike, I can feel for them and therefore feel happier for myself if I think of them with empathy.  I don’t feel good when I think (or say) bad thoughts about someone, but I would think to myself ‘well they’re x’ as if that made my thoughts valid.

Having empathy takes away the bad thoughts and replaces them with better ones, and so I feel positive and happier rather than negative and picky.

Sometimes I might seem to be ‘giving in’ to someone or being ‘too nice’ for my own good, it actually is for my own good.  And it’s not just situations, it’s any time I interact with another human being, I think of them with empathy and all is well.

If you knew me in person you would know I am not the pushover type.  I fight for my rights and sometimes I probably go too far for my own peace of mind.  So cultivating empathy is beneficial for me.

It’s about finding balance in how we live our life and conduct our day to day moments.  When you find something that enhances these it’s like a blessing from above.