Read an extract from Tea & Honesty by Jules Sebastian!

Jules Sebastian is a TV presenter, stylist, public speaker and philanthropist who has built a loyal base of followers with her warmth and real talk. Her frequent public speaking engagements often focus on a variety of topics, including female empowerment, teamwork, health, lifestyle and her career as a stylist for celebrity clients such as Mel B, Jessica Mauboy, The Veronicas and Samantha Jade. She is also a Founder of The Sebastian Foundation, which focuses on community needs and the next generation of youth in Australia. Jules has partnered with some of Australia’s most iconic brands such as Biolage, Woolworths, Stocklands, Reebok, Myer, Cadbury, and Sanitarium, and is a frequent guest of The Today Show, The Morning Show, The Daily Edition and The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

Today, we’re thrilled to share with you an extract from Jules’ first book, Tea & Honesty — a collection of heartfelt conversations and reflections from her Tea With Jules Youtube programme. Read on …

Jules Sebastian

Kindness

Flipping through the pages of this book, you will notice the words ‘kind’ and ‘kindness’ sprinkled frequently throughout. If you have ever come across my Instagram page, you will see that the last line of my bio is, ‘Above all, kindness’. I live by it, I believe in it and superior to everything else, my greatest hope would be that we, as the human race, collectively learn to bring kindness to the forefront in our everyday lives. It would change the world. I know it.

I have tried and tested kindness in all sorts of situations. It works. ‘Kill them with kindness,’ they say, and it’s true! Have you ever run into the back of someone’s car? (Me? Never!) But say (hypothetically) that you had, the person in the damaged car would have every right to get out of their car huffing and puffing at what you had just done. But instead of fighting it, making excuses or getting angry, imagine if you simply stepped back and, out of the kindness in your heart, said, ‘Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. This is completely my fault, are you hurt? Is there anything I can do for you?’

Chances are the demeanour that you display will influence the response you get in return. Think on that for a minute.

Throughout my life (and perhaps even in yours, too) my kindness has often been mistaken for weakness. But I’ve come to learn that, to the contrary, kindness can be one of your strongest weapons. When you lean into being kind, people cannot resist it. It breaks down barriers, hard edges and built-up walls and defeats even the hardest of hearts.

One thing I know is that kindness is not weakness. In fact, kindness takes some serious courage. Keep it front of mind when you are dealing with a tricky person, work mate or friend. Take a deep breath and genuinely engage in other people’s realities. I have a passion to see people be touched by kindness as I know it encourages, uplifts and spurs us all onto greater things. You will never regret giving kindness away. You won’t lose your essence or your temper and it’s more than likely you will be able to resolve what once appeared seemingly unresolvable.

I fall short of this benchmark all the time—I stumble and trip, I fail and I let myself and others down. Yet, kindness envelops what the heartbeat of this book is. It’s everything I have talked about in these pages. It’s the trying, the struggles and the triumphs. We most definitely won’t get kindness right every time, but if we get it right even some of the time, we have made a difference.

This is my shortest chapter. Simply because kindness can speak for itself. If we tap into its power, we will truly be changed and bring change. If you can’t quite get your head around what true kindness looks like or could look like in your own life, let these words fill up your heart and spill out into your universe:

Be affectionate. Be courteous. Be decent. Be gentle. Be gracious. Be hospitable. Be humane. Be patient. Be sweet. Be sympathetic. Be tender. Be understanding. Be selfless. Be amiable. Be charitable. Be considerate. Be delicate. Be helpful. Be thoughtful. Be KIND.

—Tea & Honesty by Jules Sebastian (Murdoch Books) is out now.

Tea & Honesty

Heartfelt conversations. Lessons learned. Stories shared.

by Jules Sebastian

On her much-loved Tea With Jules programme on Youtube, presenter, stylist and philanthropist Jules Sebastian captures beautiful conversations, many of them with Australian icons, women and men from all walks of life about their pivotal experiences.

These stories range the full spectrum - covering motherhood, relationships, career, lifestyle, health and more - and are at times both raw, moving and poignant. These conversations have shaped Jules' own life, helping her navigate her role...

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