Tuesday, May 17, 2016
6 Reasons To Phone Your Spouse Daily
It has been a while since I wrote about marriage. My post
was based on the answers of 28 married couples giving tips for a good marriage.
Read more »Labels: Marriage, Self Esteem, Tips
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Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Make Time For Reflection By Saying No
It was about two years ago that I wrote about Solitude and coping alone, though we are never really 'alone' we still need time to be alone to reflect.
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Labels: Psychological Wellbeing, Reflection, Tips
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Wednesday, June 03, 2015
8 Ways To Increase Your Self Esteem After a Set-back
From my understanding, our self esteem is a sum of several factors. It is very important to have an optimal level of it for us to function in a healthy manner.
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Labels: Counselling, Self Esteem, Set-back, Tips
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Sunday, May 31, 2015
14 Tips To Prepare For Ramadan
There is a wealth of material out there on preparing for Ramadan. Here I present just 14 tips which have been recycled as timeless pieces of practical advice I have collected along the way!
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Friday, July 27, 2012
5 Ways To Maximise Ramadan By Serving Others
There is a wealth of material online which can help provide many ideas on making your Ramadan spiritually more uplifting. My piece here is a tiny addition to all the wonderful stuff that is out there.
Many people cannot fast. There is a whole catergory of
individuals who do not fast and this is available through the links above. When we generally think
of an individual who cannot fast due to health reasons who do we think of?
Someone in a hospital bed with machines all over them? A diabetic? Or someone
with kidney failure? Or someone receiving chemotherapy? It seems that some of
us think that you must be quite poorly (physically) to be considered exempt
from fasting. However, the wisdom in Tradition allows a whole host of different
illnesses to be considered valid conditions for not fasting. Sometimes fasting
may be delayed until the individual is feeling better, but other
times the individual may have a continuous health condition meaning they will
not make up those fasts.
Some people who are not fasting may appear healthy-looking
with a lot of energy but removal of food and drink would not be conducive to
their wellbeing. It is important never to question the sincerity of an
individual who is not fasting, for that is between them and God Almighty.
The Tradition teaches us that the Prophet Alaislam was the
most kindest person and he was even more generous in Ramadan. Serving others is
one unique way in incorporating this characteristic into our lives. Here are
some things you may wish to consider if you are not fasting to help maximise
your day:
1. Housework
Helping an individual who is fasting can really be
appreciated, especially given the length of the current fasts. Help with
housework chores including cleaning and preparing food can go a long way. This
would be particularly welcomed prior to the end of Ramadan when Eid
preparations begin and the house can do with a good ole scrub!
2. Clear out
I have written before about doing clear-outs for charity
here. It really is a fantastic way to combine both helping others aswell as
letting go of possessions and taking a few steps towards freeing yourself from
material chains.
3. Child minding
As more children are on holidays this Ramadan, this can
cause additional work for families in terms of feeding them and keeping an eye
on them. Children can consume more energy in the holiday season because they
get bored so easily and are always on the look-out for fun activities. You can
volunteer your time to assist in this process by spending some time with
children on a worthwhile activity.
4. Gardening
People who have gardens to take care of will know how
keeping on top of it all can require a considerable amount of time and energy.
Weeding itself can be very time-consuming. With all the rainfall we have had,
many people's gardens have not maintained a good shape. Helping someone with
regular maintenance (even a few hours per week) can contribute significantly in
reducing the workload they have. If you know of people with allotments, then
you can volunteer to assist with that too. Gardening in the summer can be very
testing as the heat can cause dehydration - a fasting individual would be
unable to have regular drink breaks. Any help therefore would be great.
5. Shopping
Who enjoys shopping on an empty stomach? We don’t but we
must get in essentials! Helping someone by doing their shopping for them can
save them valuable energy, time and unnecessary queing!
So there you have it, a few things you can do in
Ramadan to attain goodness through your service to others!
Ramadan Blessings!
Labels: Ramadan, Serving Others, Tips
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Charity Shop Tips
I remember writing some years ago (although it really doesn’t seem that long) how difficult I found cleaning up. Reading back now, I only have God Almighty to thank! Anyway this post is about giving you tips for a clearout which may benefit someone else!
So here are some tips if you decide to give your unwanteds to the Charity Shop:
1. Ensure your intention is to give to charity in the same way a smile equates to charity in Prophetic teachings. If your items need to go into a skip, then put them into a skip. Avoid giving items which are damaged beyond repair and unlikely to be used by someone.
2. You decide which Charity Shop to give to. Obviously certain items may be more suited in some shops than others. One example is of religious material which should be given to appropriate stores with said religious affiliations; another is ethnic clothing such as saris which may be better utilised at an Asian one.
3. In addition, some retail charity shops allow donators to become part of ‘Gift Aid’ schemes which mean they claim back tax on a sold item. Such shops will give you a membership card and your donated items will be price-tagged with your donor number on it. At the end of each financial year you will receive a letter telling you how much tax has been reclaimed by the charity. It is worth asking the staff, if they don’t tell you about it from the outset. The charity shop Sue Ryder started this and it has extended to other shops.
4. OK so you have decided who you will take your unwanteds to, next? Here comes the fun bit: organisation time! Yes, giving to charity is not just about grabbing a black bag and throwing everything into it. Just imagine the time it will take some poor soul to go through your junk! Prophetic wisdom teaches us to try our best to make life easy for the other. So avoid the mess and start arranging things into some order. If you have a stack of books, cassettes and clothes, then make three piles. You can even further arrange the clothes so similar items are grouped together.
5. Now that all like items are sorted, you can pack them. Be generous with your wrapping and use ample plastic bags. The charity shop can prolly re-use the bags. Use bubble-wrap for anything fragile as you don’t know which store the bags will be sorted in! This is extremely important if you are donating glass items.
6. You may think this is OTT but there is nothing wrong with labelling bags with contents; especially if you have done a sizeable clearout. Again it just makes life easy for the person sorting the donations out.
7. When donating a large item which has a fault or damage eg a bookshelf with a missing shelf, it may be worth pointing this out upon donation / delivery. A simple note will again do the trick.
8. In the case of religious material, some shops will specifically ask what you are donating, and this is when you should make it clear if you are donating any copies of texts eg Quran. The reason for this is because at some shops staff will take the Quran quite immediately and place it on a specified bookshelf before sifting through the rest.
9. There has been a recent trend of collecting unwanted clothing in return for cash. I have certainly seen some shops which claim to give £10 for 10kg of clothing. Personally I am not in favour of it. This is because I believe the spirit of giving for no material return generates a feeling that a £10 note just cannot match. Of course one never knows the financial state of another and I am not here to judge.
10. Finally, in the case of fabric off-cuts or items of clothing or furnishings (such as curtains) which are soiled, damaged or burnt, one idea is to contact the textile faculty at your local college. Many art and textiles departments are only too keen to get fabric off-cuts for students, and the more variety of material on offer, the greater the possibility of enhancing a student project. However please do ensure that all damaged bits of the fabric are cut off first!
A general principle I have taken from friends is:
if you haven’t used it for six months, you probably won’t use it again.
This can be applied to a lot of the things we may be in two minds about getting rid of.
So here are some tips if you decide to give your unwanteds to the Charity Shop:
1. Ensure your intention is to give to charity in the same way a smile equates to charity in Prophetic teachings. If your items need to go into a skip, then put them into a skip. Avoid giving items which are damaged beyond repair and unlikely to be used by someone.
2. You decide which Charity Shop to give to. Obviously certain items may be more suited in some shops than others. One example is of religious material which should be given to appropriate stores with said religious affiliations; another is ethnic clothing such as saris which may be better utilised at an Asian one.
3. In addition, some retail charity shops allow donators to become part of ‘Gift Aid’ schemes which mean they claim back tax on a sold item. Such shops will give you a membership card and your donated items will be price-tagged with your donor number on it. At the end of each financial year you will receive a letter telling you how much tax has been reclaimed by the charity. It is worth asking the staff, if they don’t tell you about it from the outset. The charity shop Sue Ryder started this and it has extended to other shops.
4. OK so you have decided who you will take your unwanteds to, next? Here comes the fun bit: organisation time! Yes, giving to charity is not just about grabbing a black bag and throwing everything into it. Just imagine the time it will take some poor soul to go through your junk! Prophetic wisdom teaches us to try our best to make life easy for the other. So avoid the mess and start arranging things into some order. If you have a stack of books, cassettes and clothes, then make three piles. You can even further arrange the clothes so similar items are grouped together.
5. Now that all like items are sorted, you can pack them. Be generous with your wrapping and use ample plastic bags. The charity shop can prolly re-use the bags. Use bubble-wrap for anything fragile as you don’t know which store the bags will be sorted in! This is extremely important if you are donating glass items.
6. You may think this is OTT but there is nothing wrong with labelling bags with contents; especially if you have done a sizeable clearout. Again it just makes life easy for the person sorting the donations out.
7. When donating a large item which has a fault or damage eg a bookshelf with a missing shelf, it may be worth pointing this out upon donation / delivery. A simple note will again do the trick.
8. In the case of religious material, some shops will specifically ask what you are donating, and this is when you should make it clear if you are donating any copies of texts eg Quran. The reason for this is because at some shops staff will take the Quran quite immediately and place it on a specified bookshelf before sifting through the rest.
9. There has been a recent trend of collecting unwanted clothing in return for cash. I have certainly seen some shops which claim to give £10 for 10kg of clothing. Personally I am not in favour of it. This is because I believe the spirit of giving for no material return generates a feeling that a £10 note just cannot match. Of course one never knows the financial state of another and I am not here to judge.
10. Finally, in the case of fabric off-cuts or items of clothing or furnishings (such as curtains) which are soiled, damaged or burnt, one idea is to contact the textile faculty at your local college. Many art and textiles departments are only too keen to get fabric off-cuts for students, and the more variety of material on offer, the greater the possibility of enhancing a student project. However please do ensure that all damaged bits of the fabric are cut off first!
A general principle I have taken from friends is:
if you haven’t used it for six months, you probably won’t use it again.
This can be applied to a lot of the things we may be in two minds about getting rid of.
Labels: Charity Projects, Tips
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