Tag Archive: kindness

A Little Kindness goes A Long Way

Written on September 29th, 2009 and labelled Authentic, Happiness, It's nice to be nice, Reflections
1 Comment - Thoughts?

In a nutshell: people who work in customer relations and are on the receiving of an e-mail or phone call, who are then kind and courteous, deserve a big smooch.

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So a while back, the awesome MommyMelee mentioned something about aromatherapy.  Now, me being me, I decided that if a lovely gal like MM likes aromatherapy, then I should go and check it out (an advertiser’s wet dream, I’m sure).

Off I tootled.  And, surprisingly, after only a few minutes of swinging from website to website,  I found myself in the luxury of some aromatherapy website selling some aromatherapy course.

As it was free, I don’t understand why I didn’t sign up.  Something must’ve caught my drawn-to-shiny-or-glossy eyes.

A few weeks passed.  Sunday the 6th (0r 13th?) came around and, lo and behold, I decided that I wanted essential oils and a burner.

Though I didn’t actually know what an oil burner was, what one looked like or where I could find one, it seemed to me that it’s the thought that counts.

So I scurried over to google and found myself soon landing on the siee of a UK company called Woodland Herbs.

Now, don’t get me wrong, even though their landing page is fairly attractive, navigating its inner depths was quite a nightmare.  And its shopping cart?  Don’t even get me started.

And, too, the shipping took longer than something that was sent internationally on the same day.

But anyway.  When my order did arrive I ripped open the package and quickly went to use my brand new oil burner with some organic cedar oil (no pesticides for me, yo).  Well, cedar oil & water, of course.

So it gets going and I’m all excited.  I decide that I want to make my bedroom smell pretty, so I blow out the candle and leave it to cool down so I can transport it upstairs.  Naturally, I’m all like ‘heck if I’m gonna wait for this to cool’, and go and make something or do something or play with something*.  I can’t remember.

So I come back from what I’m doing and am like, ‘oh crud, did I leave the window open and did rain somehow blow onto the chair?’

Err, no.  The burner, which took longer to arrive than some mail from the US and took me 34 minutes to order, had decided to leak.  Everywhere.  NOT happy.

I punched in my e-mail, pasted in their contact and then, curtly, asked them why the oil burner which I’d only used ONCE had started to leak.

The response I’ve received, quite frankly, makes all the waiting and hassle worth it.

First, the man who shot me an e-mail back made it his first priority to talk with the supplier to work out why on earth it was leaking.  Hurray.  Answers to my anger.

I sent him an e-mail back saying thank you and that I appreciated the help.

Silence for a couple of days.

Then, after logging onto my e-mail today, I get this:

enquiriestome

Apart from his misuse of ‘ok’, I’m very happy that he’s sending me a replacement.  I mean, for real?  If my Nike trainers had busted and I hadn’t been given a warranty (which this burner hadn’t come with) then there wouldn’t be a chance in HELL that I would’ve gotten a replacement pair.

But to me it just proves that a little kindness goes a long way.  Despite the time delay and difficult navigation, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I’ll be going back to get all my essential oil needs satisfied (yeah, that’s right, I have needs).

The moral of the story?  A little bit of kindness can go a very long way.  You never know who might become your next long-term customer, client or best friend.  Sometimes just being kind can really enrich a life.  After all, it’s nice to be nice.

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*Dirty mind much?

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50 things.

Written on August 29th, 2009 and labelled Happiness, It's nice to be nice
2 Comments - Thoughts?

I realise that sometimes more than ever before I’m being a Negative Norman/Nancy/Whatever.  And, you know, while you may hate reading about the crud that happens in my life, I also quite dislike writing about it.

Writing about horrible stuff is easy:  horrible is forever in the news, or just down the road, or hiding under the bed.  Horrible is always around — and it will always be around — and I need to seriously understand and accept this.  Crappage happens.  There’s no point dwelling on it as, after all, that’s going to get us nowhere.

So, to try and break my negativity spell, here are 50 things which I like.  50 things that make me smile or laugh or that I truly, truly value.   Feel free to make your own after reading mine.  :]

  1. I like how fascinated with the sky I am.  How much I love to stare and stare at a blue sky.  Especially if I wake up early in the morning when the weather is different to the rest of the day.
  2. The first picture (along with the others, but the first one the most) of this post makes me smile my face off.
  3. I like that I imagine little music videos in my head as songs go along.
  4. I like that I don’t drink any soft drinks or anything out of a can.  I like that water, herbal tea or juice are my beverages of choice.
  5. I like how my friend Sophie allows me to give her a book on menopause every year for Christmas.
  6. I like my fragile relationship with reflexive verbs in other languages.
  7. I like that I’m an English dork.
  8. I like that even though some of my friends can be absolute pains in the ass at times, they are good friends nonetheless and I do actually cherish them.
  9. I like that I give a shit about things in the world.
  10. I like that I know how — and when I need to — switch off my self-consciousness.
  11. I like how much insight into myself therapy has and will give me.
  12. I like that, even though they’re ‘only animals’, my cats are like surrogate children to me.
  13. I like that I’m quite clear (at least in my mind) on who I do and do not like.
  14. I like how varied my musical tastes are;  that I can listen to Evanescence, Fiona Apple and Enya one after the other.
  15. I like how my ability to write is deeply seated in my emotional self.
  16. I like the fact that my three all-time favourite movies are either foreign or were made over 10 years ago.
  17. I like how much I love animals.
  18. I like how a little kindness goes a very long way.
  19. I like how reading pictographical instructions overloads my mind with confusion.
  20. I like how I’m not afraid to be somewhat brusque in a shop because I know that, essentially, I’ll be giving them my money.
  21. I like all the nice memories of days gone by.  The secret memories and moments that define who I am.
  22. I like that I talk to myself when I’m alone.
  23. I like how I try not to kill flies but, rather, let them out.
  24. I like being an affiliate member for several companies and people even though I’ve never earned a penny from being one.
  25. I like how goshdarn weak my circulatory system is (even to the point where resting my left foot on top of my right knee (making a triangle shape with my left leg and right thigh) gives me pins-and-needles).
  26. I like how I use hyphens all the time, even though I know I don’t really need to use them as frequently as I do.
  27. I like how cautious of the news I am.
  28. I like how I’m learning to use GIMP one tool at a time.
  29. I like shopping online.
  30. I like how obsessed I am with tracking all the visitors to my blog.
  31. I like how saying ‘my blog’ makes me feel grown-up.
  32. I like that I’m addicted to hummus.  A lot.
  33. I also like how addicted I am to aiming low.
  34. I like the fact that the saying ‘turn the other cheek’ always makes me think of a guy’s butt.  A nice butt.
  35. I like that I can cook!  (And that I DO cook)
  36. I like doing press-ups.
  37. I like singing when no one is home.  Like right now.
  38. I like to walk around naked at home, though I don’t usually.
  39. I like how I take my Creative Zen: M to bed so that I can listen to teleseminars I’ve downloaded before I go to sleep (so the information can soak in!).
  40. I like how I’ve always been the thinnest person in my family.  And that I am presently.  Though, I wouldn’t [EVER] rub it in their faces, because I know how much it stings to feel overweight.
  41. I like clothes that forgive my womanly hips.
  42. I like clover.
  43. I like going for walks on my own.
  44. I like it when you’re on a plane and you’re going down the runway and there’s that sudden, super-duper increase in speed and then the plane suddenly lifts off the ground.
  45. I like it that I know a quick test to determine if a mirror is two-way or not.
  46. I like taking showers that are nice and warm and have big nozzles on the shower-head.
  47. I even more like taking baths, but often don’t.
  48. I like that I know all the words to this song.  And most of them to this one, too.
  49. I like the sound of wind rustling through a tree or water running over rocks.
  50. I like how I have both the drive and motivation to get myself out of the UK.

And you know?  Even if it does make 51, I like that you’ve read this.  :)

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Endings are always the worst.

Written on August 23rd, 2009 and labelled Endings, Reflections
1 Comment - Thoughts?

I’ve always been the type of person that hates ending things.  Whether it be dinner, a movie or a relationship, I just am not fond of finality.

And so it pains me, more than just slightly, that my blog is now fully set-up and ready to become sufficient on just one me.  If you didn’t know, the woman who I could lament for hours on how professional and efficient she is, MommyGeekology, is also the woman who brought this entire blog to life.  I copied & pasted links.  She did everything else.

And so I can’t help feel indebted to her and yet, simultaneously, somewhat frowny that our relationship has drawn to a natural close now that everything on her side is done.  And while I pause for thought over the brief existence that our working partnership had, I can’t help but reflect on all the other friendships, relationships and working partnerships that’ve already been and gone in my life.

And even more, I can’t help but notice the changes that each one has brought into my life.  Even, would you believe, the times when there were people who I wouldn’t even conceive of having anything positive in them.   But they did.  And they do.

And so even though I’m somewhat sad that this one was to end, it couldn’t be more true that all good things must.

(FYI: If you’re interested in getting your blogger.com or wordpress.com blog up and into the world of self-hosted, pop over to MG’s site, Rent-A-Geek, to see what she can do!)

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