Confidence…

Why do most people struggle to feel confident in themselves? I do often, but am consciously making an effort to change that. My biggest anxiety is caused by worrying about what people think of me. I have been implementing the following activities in an effort to reduce my anxiety levels:

1. Choose good friends. Did you know that you can actually choose the people you want to influence your life? And did you also know that its totally OK to cut off unproductive relationships. People who continually treat you bad do nothing whatsoever for your confidence, they drag you down into believing that you aren’t very valuable. It takes some guts, but man its good to get rid of this out of your life. Surround yourself with people that you want to be like, listen to you, and appreciate who you are, and then be a good friend to THEM.

2. Catch your thoughts. What do you say to yourself in your head? This is the make or break of successful life in my opinion. You really have to consciously and deliberately think positive things to beat the default human condition of negativity. When my little girl wakes up earlier than I hope for, I have to take a moment to get out of bed happy to be a mum, and not grumpy that I didn’t get enough sleep and its going to set my day off wrong. My thoughts for this week… I can do anything! I am loved! I am creative and talented! I am calm…calm…calm.  🙂

3. Watch your words. Have you ever listened to the way you speak about yourself to others. I started to, and am catching myself often! I started showing my new blogpage of business self promotion to my hubby, (www.jadegoulding.com) its really nothing too elaborate at this stage, but he caught me downgrading myself and my creative efforts and kindly pointed out that I should talk more confidently about it. If you can just step outside yourself for a moment, and hear the words you say, you might want to change them. Be confident in the decisions you’ve made, speak out good things about what you do and who you are. It makes a world of difference to your happiness if you do!

Gifts

Wow, I feel so blessed. I had amazing friends help me celebrate my 30th birthday on Saturday. It was a fun party, I heard lots of laughter, and people who haven’t seen each other for a while got to reconnect. That is the most satisfying aspect for me. And I have to say, that all of my gifts were delightful! Wine, chocolate, cute house things, jewellery, and a bottle of Hendricks Gin! You know how sometimes people really miss the mark with presents. I don’t know if its because they really don’t know the person, what they like or enjoy, or the gift giver is so unaware of etiquette and social norms, but I’ve experienced and heard of some pretty funny gifts. Like a Dad giving his daughter an old Dolly Parton CD (his own) wrapped in recycled wrapping paper, for her 21st! And power tools for daughters, I once received a ceramic purple poodle dog, all glittery and dressed in high heels. Who would think to create such an item?! Hilarious. I’d love to hear stories of strange gifts. Please share!

Party Planning Committee

Invitations

I’m throwing a party. And I’m excited. I think the key ingredients for a successful party are good friends, delicious food and drinks, good music, and a fresh ambience created by jazzing up the house a bit with dinky decorations. The funnest part is doing it on a budget. Seeing what you can do for not much money is a creative challenge! I’ve op shopped for glassware, made bunting from an old book about stamps and some string, and will pick up some fresh flowers from the markets on the day! Stay tuned for the finale after Saturday’s knee’s up!

Vintage Vessels

Bunting made from old books and string!

Jazz things up with flowers!

Mmm Winter Cider all warm and delicious!

New things. Hopes & dreams.

This month, I turned 30. What better time to make entrance to the online world in a greater way.

I was trying to sleep last night, thoughts and ideas racing in my mind, and the title of this blog came to me. The Folksy Life. I like simplicity. I don’t profess to have mastered it, but I like it. I like understanding the original meaning of things. I like getting back to basics. I like honesty and I like simplicity.

So I’d like this creative project to be a collection of my favourite things for general living. Whether anyone follows it or not, I don’t really mind. I just want to pull my thoughts and ideas into one place, for my own reference, maybe to share with people, and hopefully encourage someone.

Thus… The Folksy Life is born.