Living positively is all about finding the good in things, living
well but living within your means, taking small steps each day towards a
better standard of living. It’s not about spending more money, or
spending more time. It may mean spending a little time at first to get
reorganised but in the long term it means living a full, enjoyable life
full of colour and vibrancy no matter what your budget.
Declutter!
This may mean de-cluttering old, tired or
unloved possessions, finding a way to include more fun into your life,
making a change to your routines so that you have less stress and more
time to relax and enjoy life. Don’t be afraid to throw anything away
that you don’t like, don’t want or need.
Charity shops often send out collection bags and like good quality
clothing, some also accept bric-a-brac. Look in the Yellow pages for
charity shops. Some even take unwanted furniture.
If you look at an object and it doesn’t bring you joy or have a
practical purpose any more, get rid of it. This way you will have less
things to dust, more chance of finding things, place for everything to
have its own home and a tidier home.
Ditch Christmas presents from that elderly Aunt who always buys
you something hideous. Just because someone has bought you some thing
doesn’t mean you should hang on to it if you don’t like it.
Borrow
Get used to using your local library - borrow
books rather than buy them. If a book is any good and you feel you might
find it useful to have a copy THEN buy it. If you have friends who have
similar tastes in books as you, arrange to swap, this gives you a vast
array of interesting material to read and ensures that you don’t end up
with lots of books that you’re not planning on reading again cluttering
up your home!
Donate! If you have any spare books don’t be afraid to
give them either to your local charity shop, or to your local library,
both are usually very grateful to have books in good condition.
Alternatively sell spare books on either Amazon or eBay.
Reorganise
Try living more seasonally, enjoying
colourful, crunchy salads in the summer, and warming soups and hearty
stews in the winter months. This way you can either make use of anything
you might have grown in your garden or buy things cheaply at a farmers
market. There is nothing nicer than settling down in front of a warm
fire with a bowl of soup on a winters day.
It might mean getting up a little earlier to make use of the
extra daylight during the summer months and enjoying more early nights
and longer lie in’s during the darker winter months. When the days are
lighter more can be done during daylight hours, this time of year is
great for gardening, sipping wine on the patio, going for walks and
picnics and sitting on the beach. During the shorter, darker days time
could be made for reading, warming up after a crisp walk with a steaming
mug of hot chocolate, planning future projects and reflection.
Sometimes it is good to stay still for a while and take stock and make
plans for the future.
Revitalise!
You could try introducing a new more
interesting way to exercise. Exercise doesn’t have to mean tramping away
on the treadmill, it could mean digging an elderly neighbours garden,
walking the dog, putting on a Street Dance Dvd, even doing housework
quickly counts (although I do agree it may not be ‘fun’ as such). If you
like more of a buzz from your exercise get your bike out and get
riding. If horses were your thing look up your local stables and book
some sessions. Another fabulous craze is Zumba, which makes exercise
fun. Any dance class will get your heart pumping.
Save time - reuse!
A lot of time and energy is spent
going shopping for food. When writing your shopping list and planning
the meals you are going to create, see if there are any recipes that can
be adapted to give you another meal.
For example the Sunday roast can be used on Monday to make another
dish by cooling, slicing up, covering with gravy, tin foil over the top
and baked in a medium oven until its hot.
Left over vegetables can be turned into soup, a chicken carcass
for stocks and soups, leftover sausages can be used cold in sandwiches
with some pickle, chicken can be added to salads or turned into curry.
Any left over boiled potato can be fried the next day to give
sautee potatoes, or sliced fairly thinly and covered in cream, cheese
and garlic to make dauphinoise potatoes.
Mince beef can be savory mince one day, a tin of chopped tomatoes
and a few herbs added the next day to make a tasty ragu sauce for pasta,
or used as the filling for lasagne. Stale(ish) bread can be made into
croutons or breadcrumbs.
If there is only a little bit of something left over bag it up and
pop it in the freezer, it may come in handy for lunch one day.
Find your passion Everyone has something that makes them
feel truly alive. Try to incorporate what you love into your life
whenever possible. This is what makes life worth living and makes you
interesting. If you’re not sure what makes you feel happy try new things
until you find what fits. It may be something simple like walking down a
beach or painting a picture or eating homemade cookies and drinking a
cup of proper coffee. It always astonishes me when people say I love
doing X... but I don’t get time to do it very often. Well make time.
Stop ironing your knickers and do something you love instead. (apologies
if ironing your knickers is what you love doing)
Do whatever it is that makes you happy and puts a little colour in your cheeks.
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