The Saturday Session #32

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

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Its week #32 and I am thrilled, last week the community was buzzing with so many good posts, it was really hard to pick a featured blogger, but also super fun to read the various genre of posts and peoples passions that joined us. If you regularly or perhaps occasionally join us, I’d like to dedicate week 32 to you – thank you for making this linky so joyful to run. It should perhaps feel like another ‘to do’ on the list of doom but is much more a task of ‘cant wait to do’ and thats always a sign that you’re on to something special.

I did eventually pick a featured blogger, a Dad with a beard that impressed me – seriously if I was a man, or in my next life, I’m rocking a beard of joy; like Enda’s – its his blog endastories that I’ve selected this week. The post is all about singing, but as he write’s there were lines of pure joy that made my heart sing. I loved his unique style and passion for something many of us don’t realise we do…I know I sing because my son frequently screams at me to stop, but Enda’s approach to the mundane filled with me delight. Don’t take my word for it, click the blue link above and read it for yourself.

Below as always are a reminder of the rules, please don’t link and run – commenting is caring and if you enjoyed my featured blogger, you may also want to take a peek at Hayleys cohost too. Just click here.

RULES

  • Link up You can link up to 2 posts, old or new
  • Grab a badge Please do add #thesatsesh badge. You can do this by copying and pasting the badge code into the text/HTML area of your post within your publishing platform and its located in my side bar for your ease.
  • Tweet Share your posts on Twitter using the linky hashtag #thesatsesh and tag us in for retweets @fridgesays @mummy_mindful. Follow us if you don’t already please.
  • Comment sit back, relax (its the weekend after all). Please use #thesatsesh and in usual linky etiquette comment on each of the hosts posts, mine and Hayleys, the post before and after yours. If you comment on more, that would be wonderful but FOUR is more than enough
  • Following the rules means you may qualify for our featured blogger announced weekly, plus this linky is run by school teachers so detention for anyone that doesn’t. 

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Come and play in our IG community by using #thesatsesh for photos of your weekend or perhaps connected to a post you’ve linked. Follow us on Instagram @fridgesays and @mission_mindfulness_blog and we will keep up to date and follow you back.

 

We must learn who is gold and who is simply gold plated.

~ Fridgesays ~ 27 Comments

Quote from the sparkly Anon.

I once owned a ring, it was sparkly and made me feel beautiful and I wore it day and night…and it turned my finger green.

I have friends that have done this to my soul.

When I was a child I begged my Mum to buy me a doll (Oopsy Daisy) and she was a crawling doll, she gave in one Christmas (even though she thought it wasn’t a great idea) and bought her for me. My Mum was right, she sucked – the advert lied.

Social media is often gold plated, often tainted and although at times looks sparkly and joyous, its gold plated and if you believe it, it will make you jealous and turn you green too.

However, for every gold plated ring, there are other options – silver, platinum and of course gold…rose gold, yellow gold, white gold and yup you guessed it – green gold is a real thing. The variety means we get to sample what works for us. What fits best. As I grow older I have become better at being me, comfortable in my skin, not interested in what others think (mostly). At the same time I have tuned in to people that serve me, make me a better person and enhance my skill set. I can meet someone and in seconds tell you if they are my kind of person, my kind of gold. The magpie in me can spot a plated quality from a long way off, but every now and then a gold plated person sneaks in and taints my sparkle. Sometimes its not human, sometimes it comes in the form of political agendas, policies and paperwork, sometimes it looks alien and it scares me.

…but I’ve also learnt this. If I go back to me. To my centre, my core, if I listen to my kind of gold (like my Mum and the doll advice), if I step back – it doesn’t matter what the gold plated agenda is/has, I can sparkle in my own integrity.

My advice is simple, you will drive yourself mad looking out for the ‘plated’ aspects of life. Let them turn green, let them follow their path, their journey and enjoy your own with full accreditation (all good jewels comes with a certificate), be you and whatever semi precious stone, metal or gem you are, this is when and how you will truly sparkle.

The Saturday Session #31

~ Fridgesays ~ 2 Comments

img_3883Week 31 has arrived. Welcome to #thesatsesh and to a community of talent, lovers of writing, reading, self discovery and last week someone even uploaded a post with a Pavlova recipe…win 🙂

If you haven’t come across this linky before (where have you been for the last 31 weeks?) then its become a linky of variety, where people leave good comments (let us know if you have issues with this). Its run by myself and my cohost Hayley, both Teachers and both positive chicks looking to improve the world around us. Each week we pick a featured blogger  – click here to visit Hayleys blog and see who she’s picked. Or Stick around and read below to see who I went for.

My featured blogger is Ruth from ‘Craft with Cartwright’ – The post was titled ‘The Princes Paws creative corner interview’ and was about a man called Dominic who is a teaching assistant by day and has his own business bringing his two loves together; dogs and sewing. I’m not sure if I liked the post because it was insightful and I love learning about people or that I was inspired by Dominic’s passion for what he does? You can check it out here . I also thought it was super cool for Ruth to show case other talented crafting gurus. In a world where people are quick to judge, put down and destroy – a little blog loving made me appreciate her authenticity.

Okay, a moment here for Dominc’s pooch – how blooming cute is this little fur-dude?

Anyway, lets crack on with week 31 of #thesatsesh and below are the rules for any new bloggers, all welcome.

RULES

  • Link up You can link up to 2 posts, old or new
  • Grab a badge Please do add #thesatsesh badge. You can do this by copying and pasting the badge code into the text/HTML area of your post within your publishing platform and its located in my side bar for your ease.
  • Tweet Share your posts on Twitter using the linky hashtag #thesatsesh and tag us in for retweets @fridgesays @mummy_mindful. Follow us if you don’t already please.
  • Comment sit back, relax (its the weekend after all). Please use #thesatsesh and in usual linky etiquette comment on each of the hosts posts, mine and Hayleys, the post before and after yours. If you comment on more, that would be wonderful but FOUR is more than enough
  • Following the rules means you may qualify for our featured blogger announced weekly, plus this linky is run by school teachers so detention for anyone that doesn’t. 

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Come and play in our IG community by using #thesatsesh for photos of your weekend or perhaps connected to a post you’ve linked. Follow us on Instagram @fridgesays and @mission_mindfulness_blog and we will keep up to date and follow you back.

Happiness is a state of mind.

~ Fridgesays ~ 23 Comments

Quote by Walt Disney.

I was in work and one of my friends told me an awesome story that involved positive thinking and Disney. Before she could pause for breath, I asked her to write it down. Enjoy…

I recently returned from a magical trip to Disneyland Paris. The trip was fantastic, we saw the parades, fireworks and never had to wait too long in lines for rides. The food was delicious and the weather was (aside from one thunderstorm the first night) gloriously sunny and spring-like.

This was all right up until we went to return home to England. We had booked the Eurostar to take us directly to London, non-stop and then we had another train booked to take us from London back home to the Sussex coast. When we arrived at the train station in Disneyland and were told that due to French rail strike action, that would not be happening. We would instead have to take a train from Disneyland to another station just outside central Paris, then change to a train to Paris central. There we would be told if we had seats on a train 3 hours later than our original planned departure, sitting together with my husband wasn’t guaranteed either. The late departure time would also mean we might not make our train in London.

It was at this moment I took a ‘pause’. This is something I have learnt from both the goddess and spiritual leader Oprah Winfrey and from doing Mindfulness training with school.

The ‘pause’ allowed me to find calm and consider what my reaction would be. So I took a quick inventory of my thoughts and feelings. What was I feeling? Frustration, anger, anxiety?

For example: I might have said to the man (who was actually just a volunteer) something confrontational like “This isn’t good enough”. I could have turned to my husband and taken it out on him “I knew we should have checked this before we came. It’s your fault- you should have checked”. Or, I could have beaten myself up with negative thoughts ‘Why does this always happen to me?’ or ‘You don’t deserve happiness, something always goes wrong’.

Pause and breathe.

Instead my response was this:

To the volunteer at the station: “Thank you so much, I am sure we will work it all out, hope you get home okay too”.

To my husband “It’s a bit annoying but, it will give us a chance to have a couple of drinks at the station as the last send-off of a great trip”

To myself ‘You are calm and can cope with this change of plan. You are grateful you have had a lovely trip with a husband who you have lots of fun with. You will look back on this as an adventure when you are back at work on a dull boring day’ and ‘You do deserve good things and this is a small setback, which you will handle as you do everything that comes your way’.

This is how I handled the situation. With a pause of calm, I was able to engage in positive thought, gratitude, and kindness. Not only to others but to myself.

At Paris central station, as we sat and drank our pints of ice-cold French beer, I heard other people around me complain at officials and volunteers in raised voices and aggression in their faces. Their body language towards family members was tense and dis-engaged. Grumpy children still wearing their Mickey Mouse ears wailed and parents scolded their behaviour briefly, before returning to their negativity towards the officials or each other. (Disclaimer: I fully appreciate I do not have children and I can imagine how stressful travel is at the best of times let alone in these circumstances)

As we finally left the waiting area to board the train, we walked right down the platform to the front of the train. As we boarded, we turned right into a First-class carriage. My husband double checked our tickets. Yes, we had the right seats- we had been upgraded! Not only bigger comfier seats, but this included a lovely meal, with wine and French patisseries.

I don’t know about you but that surely proof that positive thinking works.

Thanks to the lovely Martine for typing this up for me, now I can read this back and remember to pause, breath and go to Disney more often.

The Saturday Session #30

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Whoop, we have made it to week thirty of #thesatsesh and I am truly proud that not only did my idea, my fear and my realisation become real – but that at week 30 I feel like we have a regular linky established Facing your fears is pretty hard, especially when it means stepping out of your comfort zone.

Which effortlessly links to who my featured blogger is, she has received the accolade before, has been with us since week one and is a long term respected chick – Our Rach blogs , please click the link, she has given up something since January and is facing the discomfort and varied response along the way, including my nemesis – crisps.  Her humour and heart goes hand in hand with her emotional fragility and genuine awesomeness. If you haven’t seen her on twitter – you aren’t on twitter and if you have missed her honesty you’re in a coma. I am biased though as i consider her a friend. Please also check out my cohost Hayley’s blog to see who her featued blogger is by  clicking the link here

If you are up for joining us in week 30 then please click the blue box below but also comment, badge up and read the rules below 🙂

RULES

  • Link up You can link up to 2 posts, old or new
  • Grab a badge Please do add #thesatsesh badge. You can do this by copying and pasting the badge code into the text/HTML area of your post within your publishing platform and its located in my side bar for your ease.
  • Tweet Share your posts on Twitter using the linky hashtag #thesatsesh and tag us in for retweets @fridgesays @mummy_mindful. Follow us if you don’t already please.
  • Comment sit back, relax (its the weekend after all). Please use #thesatsesh and in usual linky etiquette comment on each of the hosts posts, mine and Hayleys, the post before and after yours. If you comment on more, that would be wonderful but FOUR is more than enough
  • Following the rules means you may qualify for our featured blogger announced weekly, plus this linky is run by school teachers so detention for anyone that doesn’t. 

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Come and play in our IG community by using #thesatsesh for photos of your weekend or perhaps connected to a post you’ve linked. Follow us on Instagram @fridgesays and @mission_mindfulness_blog and we will keep up to date and follow you back.

 

Happy is the new rich

~ Fridgesays ~ 43 Comments

Great work from Anon.

Every now and then society enjoys a fad; minimalist living, various diets, exercise comes in an out of fashion – Zumba, HIIT workouts, hula hooping, unicorns and Pom-Pom’s, the list is endless. I’ve noticed that happiness is currently on the pedestal.

This is a fad that regular readers will know I completely adore. Every morning, whether I wake by the sunlight flowing through the window or my son pounces on my head like a meteorite – I choose happiness. It’s a decision that I continue to make throughout the day, most days. Sometimes I forget but then I look at my happiness bank account, I’m wealthy. A quick gratitude list of my assets helps to keep me flowing; abundant in good health for myself and family, a job that I adore (except on Monday mornings when I’m snuggled in bed and the alarm goes off) I am surrounded by a tribe of awesome people…and my dog, candles, books…

Being a millionaire of happiness is pretty awesome. My actual bank manager can’t touch it, I can spend it like confetti and the more I give out, the more I get back…win.

It takes effort and mindfulness, it takes self discipline to redirect my attention when the darkness creeps in – but I will always consciously decide to be happy.

If you live under darkness, then you too can be rich. It starts by doing one thing you enjoy for a few moments and allowing the light in. You’ll quickly find that a few pounds of happiness have been credited to your bank account. However, I fully appreciate that at times professional help is required and self care is needed. The great news is recognising your own needs also credits your happiness account.

I asked my five year old son why happiness was important?

“because it means you can do things that make you smile”

If I feel sad what should I do?

“Lots of things – get a drink, drinking water makes me and my tongue happy”

*warning being happy is highly addictive and is super annoying for anyone who isn’t happy.

** Five year olds are the epicentre of happiness and the true experts. However, ten seconds later they can explode in a ‘Hulk smash’ mentality and truly depict the fragility of being happy.

The Saturdays Session #29

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Welcome back to #thesatsesh following a mini break over the Easter holidays. If you are new to linky parties or blogging then now is a great time to join us, if however you have joined us previously and are returning to the party then we are totally honoured. I run #thesatsesh with my cohost Hayley and you can click here to see who her featured blogger is from week 28.

Or stay here, read who I selected and click the blue box below to join us for week 29. My featured blogger is an old favourite. She often joins us and always with her unique writing style and topical issues. Lisa from Lisa Pomerantzser made not only some good points, but also in her humorous style looked at the issue of being present and as parents not having our eyes glued to our iPhones / androids. I guess there is a serious side to her message and I have to say I was grateful when Hayley suggested we took a break from the linky over the holidays, I know she had some non techno time…ummm I swapped linking to listening to podcasts, but I certainly am now ready to go again. As for Lisa’s message about putting our devices down, I will keep trying but also be mindful when the little dude is around.

RULES

  • Link up You can link up to 2 posts, old or new
  • Grab a badge Please do add #thesatsesh badge. You can do this by copying and pasting the badge code into the text/HTML area of your post within your publishing platform and its located in my side bar for your ease.
  • Tweet Share your posts on Twitter using the linky hashtag #thesatsesh and tag us in for retweets @fridgesays@mummy_mindful. Follow us if you don’t already please.
  • Comment sit back, relax (its the weekend after all). Please use #thesatsesh and in usual linky etiquette comment on each of the hosts posts, mine and Hayleys, the post before and after yours. If you comment on more, that would be wonderful but FOUR is more than enough
  • Following the rules means you may qualify for our featured blogger announced weekly, plus this linky is run by school teachers so detention for anyone that doesn’t. 

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Come and play in our IG community by using #thesatsesh for photos of your weekend or perhaps connected to a post you’ve linked. Follow us on Instagram @fridgesays and @mission_mindfulness_blog and we will keep up to date and follow you back.

Change can be sunshine if you let it in.

~ Fridgesays ~ 22 Comments

Frankly it’s spring in the UK and I’m freezing…I’ve got more knitwear on right now that Marks and Spencer’s.

They say change is as good as a break, I’d say that haven’t been to the right locations, but it is true that change gives you a renewed energy, it allows you to see new pathways and even if at first it’s a little daunting, in time it becomes second nature.

Currently my son is reading a book about the metamorphosis of butterflies. As you turn the pages the butterfly makes the alterations it goes through look effortless. So much so, that in my next life I may have a go at it myself. There’s the larva stage where it seems life is one giant all you can eat buffet, the Pupa stage where you sleep for weeks and then you emerge like you’re on a reality TV show with shimmer and delight. How amazing must the butterfly feel when it flies after being a large slime-less slug stuck to the floor? How blooming terrified must it be to wake up one morning and find you’ve sprouted wings?

Wings; to be free, to glide and to see the world through an entirely new perspective. Those changes make my ability to change the washing detergent I use look ridiculous.

Life is short and much like the quote suggests, sunshine can come with change. Just like night changes to day, seasons change…we change, sometimes for the better, sometimes with effort and always with a new perspective.

May your days be filled with sunshine.

Be a good person but don’t waste time proving it.

~ Fridgesays ~ 24 Comments

Quote Anon.

The word that sprung to mind was ‘integrity’ when I saw this quote. It’s so important when you have an audience to still do the same things when your audience has gone home.

Being ‘good’ is obviously a word thats open to interpretation, but proving it is something I find people who are often insecure in their self do. Lets face it many people suffer from ‘lack of self love love’ and we certainly all have days where the self love monster eats our souls and spits us out in a top thats too tight, eyeliner thats clearly thicker on one side than the other – and thats only if we can be bothered to open our make up boxes.

Self love aside, there is nothing worse than meeting a person, thinking they are ‘good’ (feel free to enter any other adjective of your choice in here – I’m partial to ‘kind’ and also ‘stupendous’, although I just looked up good in the thesaurus and ‘ship shape’ made me laugh), only to find a few meet ups down the line that they are more plastic than Tiny Tears.

However, don’t despair below I plan to outline my own survival guide of 2018 for surviving and even thriving around these people. Its a comprehensive guide and I hope will be of value to you and others, in true fridgesays manner I have created it in magnets.

In essence, if someone is good to you or others to impress you or so you think they are good, suck up their good vibes like a baby and their milk bottle and don’t worry about their motivations. If they are doing it to impress you, firstly be honoured they give a shizzle and then know that in time people always show their true colours. I believe Phil Collins (legend of the 90’s) created a song around this theme, aptly named ‘True colours” although I can’t recommend the song to you, the video is hilarious with more fist pumps than the average 90s classic.

If you are an ‘impress’ kind of person, take a moment to sit down. Think about your motivations – if you want to bake a cake for people or show kindness and compassion, do it…if you feel socially bound, don’t. I live in a village and my son attends the local school, some of the parents are lets say a little keen to get involved. I am not. If its in my sons interest, I’m there. If its not or of no interest to me, I’ll avoid it like I do day time TV. I couldn’t give a scooby doo what any of the other parents thinks of me…why? because I don’t have the luxury of time to think about them and when I do have time, I’d rather show kindness to those in my tribe. I don’t aspire to be the class ‘rep’ Mum and I don’t wish to meet up with them in the holidays, unless my sons wants to see his friends.

I do think good role modelling is essential to our little peoples lives, and so try to be the best me. This summer I am planning a series of ‘acts of kindness’ to others beyond and within our tribe to educate my son on being grateful for what we have, sharing and giving to those that don’t.

So please, if you are anxious about what others think of you, spend the energy of loving you a little more and I promise what others think will become irrelevant.

The Saturday Session #28

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Welcome back to week 28 of #thesatsesh , time flies when you’re blogging and I can’t believe we are nearly at week 30. However, its going to take us a little longer than usual as myself and Hayley are going to take a break from the linky over the Easter Holidays and we will return on the 14th April. If you are an organised blogger then please pop this in your diary and don’t forget us, if like me you’re a blag it blogger then any previous bloggers that have joined us will receive the usual reminder plus one several days before via twitter.

With the admin out of the way, I’ve been ultra greedy this week and picked TWO featured bloggers. Mainly as they share a common theme – food! One of the many delights that this linky community have is variety. I love that one minute I’m reading about mental health, the next its children’s sensory ideas and then a recipe that makes me dribble catches my imagination. Cooking is something that my little dude has just discovered and Easter is bound to be unpredictable in the weather department, so you’ll find me hitting the links below and dancing in the kitchen with him when the rain stops play.

My first blogger is from Cooking with Kids and I love the original concept of the blog, plus the recipes are always mouth watering…only click the link if you are ready to see some seriously sexy Bread and butter pudding. This is absolutely something I plan to make with the little dude over the holidays. (The welsh cakes were a huge success!) and I love the little tips that she manages to pop in as she writes. I always leave her blog feeling inspired.

Next up is my Dads favourite, a recipe for homemade Turkish delight. I HAVE TO TRY THIS RECIPE. I’ll win the best daughter award if I can nail this and Mummy Wales reassures me in the first few lines that its easy peasy. Heres a link if you also feel like giving it a go, although the lovely Nicola seems to write about so many different topics her blog has something for most people and to add the cherry on the delight – she is a lovely lady too.

So whilst ‘Mummy Wales’ and ‘Cooking with kids’ collect their featured bloggers badges from my side bar, you can click here to see who Hayley my cohost has picked as her featured blogger, or scroll down to the blue box and join us for week 28.

RULES

  • Link up You can link up to 2 posts, old or new
  • Grab a badge Please do add #thesatsesh badge. You can do this by copying and pasting the badge code into the text/HTML area of your post within your publishing platform and its located in my side bar for your ease.
  • Tweet Share your posts on Twitter using the linky hashtag #thesatsesh and tag us in for retweets @fridgesays @mummy_mindful. Follow us if you don’t already please.
  • Comment sit back, relax (its the weekend after all). Please use #thesatsesh and in usual linky etiquette comment on each of the hosts posts, mine and Hayleys, the post before and after yours. If you comment on more, that would be wonderful but FOUR is more than enough
  • Following the rules means you may qualify for our featured blogger announced weekly, plus this linky is run by school teachers so detention for anyone that doesn’t. 

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Come and play in our IG community by using #thesatsesh for photos of your weekend or perhaps connected to a post you’ve linked. Follow us on Instagram @fridgesays and @mission_mindfulness_blog and we will keep up to date and follow you back.