Spreading Peace and Goodwill
by Rebecca Daniel
This year has been a tough year, hasn’t it?
Who would have thought that we would be entering into a new decade and experiencing a global pandemic, riots about equality, diversity, equity, home schooling, working from home, loss of jobs, loss of loved ones and all the other things that life throws at us?
Honestly, this year feels like a strange sci-fi movie and like all movies, it will come to an end.
I don’t know about you, but this time of year always makes me feel a little bit crazy. Rushing around searching for presents and complaining that I wasn’t organised to start it in October, panicking about burning the Christmas dinner or forgetting to put on the potatoes and stuffing, or getting the house clean and tidy for it all to be messed up again by strips of wrapping paper, shredding tinsel and glitter. Oh, the nightmare of glitter.
However, this year will be a slightly different Christmas for us all.
This year we may have to settle with what we can control and let go of the things we can’t.
But to be honest, this year we may all learn something very different about ourselves and how we would like to celebrate going forward. Spreading peace and goodwill is so important, more so this year than ever before.
The thing is, at this time of the year people tend to focus on the materialistic approaches of spreading peace and goodwill; but what if I told you that spreading peace and goodwill doesn’t have to cost a thing.
What if I told you that you could gift someone for free?
In Dr Seuss’ classic story, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ he narrates that, “Maybe Christmas,” the Grinch thought, “doesn’t come from a store.” And this is very true.
Here are some top tips on how you can spread peace and goodwill for free:
Rest – Reduce your speed and take it easy. Avoid putting the pressure on yourself to get everything perfect as unrealistic expectations can increase our stress and anxiety. I’ll let you in on a little secret; perfection doesn’t exist and no matter how much we try to control everything we simply cannot. Getting enough rest will allow our bodies to recharge which is beneficial to strengthening our immune system. We also are more productive and more fulfilled when we are well rested which means we can spread this energy and happiness to others.
Forgive - Letting go of unresourceful emotions can most certainly set you up to feeling lighter and more positive. As I said, we’re not perfect and we all make mistakes. If you can think of one person you may need to forgive to shift that energy give it a go. Forgiveness doesn’t always have to directly mean apologising to someone, you can forgive people in your heart and reframe situations to help you move forward.
Volunteer – Expressing gratitude during this time of year is important. Being grateful for the things we have in our lives helps to lower our risk for depression and anxiety. Our brains are hardwired to focus on the negatives but we can improve how we feel about ourselves by intentionally focusing on the positive things, no matter how small they are. Volunteering and giving our time to help others is a great way to feel grateful for our own lives.
Putting a smile on the faces of others, being generous, understanding and forgiving are some of many suggestions to help you spread peace and goodwill this season.
As the Dalai Lama beautifully articulates, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”
About the Writer
Rebecca is an award-winning social entrepreneur, an internationally recognised, fully accredited and qualified Teacher, Transformation Coach, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and DISC Behaviour and Personality Profiling Practitioner.
Rebecca passionately helps heart-centered and purpose driven professionals (including those within the education sector) to thrive in all aspects of their lives. Her core purpose is to empower her clients through powerful and transformational coaching, mentoring and training so they can live a truly fulfilled life.
As co-founder of the Teacher Wellbeing Project alongside fellow coach Sarah Bramall we are inviting teachers to a free webinar on November 30th at 16.00 (BST) to help reduce their stress and become more optimistic for the new year ahead. To take part, register here: http://bit.ly/TTWPFreeWebinar2020
We also invite teaching professionals to join our free community over on
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/theteacherwellbeingproject
