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THE IMPORTANCE OF 'CELEBRATING THE SMALL THINGS'.

11 January 2018 5 comments


One of the problems with being a perfectionist and a worrier, is getting too entangled in the 'everyday', to acknowledge and celebrate the small things - the little moments, the habitual, the miniature triumphs.

Whilst I'm still of course that perfectionist and worrier, my slow living journey and changes in my personal life have made me appreciate the smaller things a little more. I don't talk about this much online but I've been dealing with an ongoing family illness, and on the bad days, it can feel like such a strain on my emotions and be a bit of a struggle to get through the day. Breaking down my day, celebrating the small things and 'segmenting' have been a source of happiness for me, and whatever you're struggling with, large or small, it can be for you too :)





A N   E X T R A   T E N ,   M O R N I N G   M I N U T E S


One tiny adjustment to my daily routine that makes one of the biggest differences has been a joint effort with F.

Mornings are one of the easiest places to make slow lifestyle changes in my life, because society dictates them to be so imperfect! Most people's morning routines start with several snoozes of the alarm, a doze, a somewhat rushed affair of a shower and breakfast, before getting dressed into cold clothes, maybe rounding up the children, and dashing off to work.

Practising the art of slow living in the mornings sets a more relaxed and happy tone for the rest of my day, and F and I have been setting our alarm clocks ten minutes earlier to enjoy the very first moments of our mornings together. It's like a little snippet of enjoying a lie in together on the weekends, everyday.



R E W A R D I N G / C O N G R A T U L A T I N G
S U C C E S S E S ,   H O W E V E R   S M A L L


Perfectionism is such a loosely used term, and I've only spoken really briefly about it here on BTB, but in it's more negative meaning, it can hinder confidence and self worth, and be a constant thorn in your side.

One way I like to try and stop that, is to break down and compartmentalise an 'end goal' into smaller segments - which helps as I'm also very analytical and like deconstructing and evaluating!

Other than often being more motivational and less distracting, working in smaller goals, and most importantly rewarding each small success, is so important for building confidence and giving yourself a sense of accomplishment. It's easy to feel like I've not achieved anything by the end of the day, so making more of rewarding the smaller successes gives me a chance to grant myself a sense of achievement, multiple times! Because who needs another reason to be hard on themselves? I speak from experience, in saying that we all need to give ourselves a break. I exercised for 10 minutes today, I managed to start a task that I've been putting off for yonks, I ran some errands that needed doing. Rather than a sarcastic 'Woop!', I'm going to take those things and run with them - it's progress!

And I think the same goes for congratulating others too. F's particularly good at that, he comments and congratulates for every pound I've lost for example - even though he might not realise it's the same pound I'm losing then regaining ;)



M A K I N G   M O U N T A I N S   O U T   O F   M O L E H I L L S


On a similar drift, I've been making more of situations I may have previously overlooked or neglected to prioritise.

'Making mountains out of molehills' is often used negatively, referring to somewhat of an over-reaction, but for 2018, I'm turning it on it's head. Whilst it's obviously commonplace to celebrate an anniversary, a once a year affair, F and I are going about celebrating other, more obscure milestones this year whilst we're at it!

It's coming up to the anniversary of when we first met, so we thought we'd make a bit of a thing of it this time, and throw a brunch for friends and family, and take a more formal approach to the whole thing - baking, decor, stationery, the lot!

I wanted to go back to snail mail and get some proper invitations sent out - something simple but a little special. The quality, the presentation and the ease of personalisation of Basic Invite's stationery has really impressed me. As a blogger, you'll know how wonderful it is to work with a brand you can really, truly get behind (and you'll have to take my word for it if you're not! ;) - it was just such a lovely buying experience.




I nearly went for some gold foil, but in the end opted for these gorgeous, clear acetate invites and reply slips which I think I'm going to embellish by popping some pressed leaves and flowers onto the backing slip behind them (an idea completely stolen from this page from their website!). My rooms currently a bit of a mess, strewn with drying sprigs, piles of books harbouring pressed petals, eucalyptus hanging from the curtain pole!

I like how customisable everything is - for every occasion, from a birthday, to an obscure, made-up event like ours, every possible colour you could want. And their wedding stationery. I'm nowhere close to being married yet but I'm already bookmarking the site for 'future reference' ;)

(You can currently save 15% on everything with the code 15FF51 - and no I don't benefit from the code :)

I urge you anyway, to join in with my perhaps perceived over-the-top-ness and make a happy mountain out of an everyday molehill :)


I'd love you to share your tips and experiences with the 'little things', and I hope you're all having a lovely day :)


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xx

This post is in collaboration with Basic Invite.
Thank you for supporting the sponsored content that makes Barely There Beauty possible.



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