This is still me ❤️

What went weSometimes the little things in life are the most important. It's been another tumultuous week, I don't know how I am feeling half the time and it's so confusing. Once again, stopping and reflecting on my week helps me to see the good things in my life. Spending time with my parents. Sometimes, when things aren't going as you expect them to, spending time with your parents can take the pain out of things. Knowing they will always be there and have my back can sometimes be all the comfort I need. Relaxing Massage I meditated before going to my massage, getting all of my woes and worries out of my head, leaving me to just enjoy an hour of escape. As much as we need to think things through, we also need times when we can just forget our troubles and relax. Taking small steps toward my goals The one thing I do have is my writing and I have been relentless this week in taking small steps each day to make some progress. I have taken myself completely out of my

The bigger picture I share what's been happening this week, my top 10 horror films, 20 things that make me happy and this brilliant post from @thirdeyethoughts Subscribe here

You can’t live a positive life with a negative mind. Today, I wasn’t feeling my best. Despite having good boundaries in place, the negative thoughts can still creep in. When this happens I have a list of go-to self-care activities and I thought I would share these with you. Meditation I always thought meditation was sitting crossed-legged on the floor and clearing your mind completely, which, quite frankly, feels impossible for me. I gave up trying to meditate for ages until it was explained to me that is not the case. The actual definition of meditation, according to Merriam-Webster, is: 1: to engage in contemplation or reflection. 2: to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness Each morning, I make myself a cup of tea, set a timer for 10 minutes and sit in silence, letting my brain do what it wants to, which is usually worry, roll off my list of things

It is not your job to make others happy. I had never heard of the term “setting boundaries” until I started therapy, I certainly didn’t know what it meant. Yet I have found it a key part of my healing process. Why hadn’t I heard about this sooner? I will admit, that I can sometimes find setting boundaries difficult. I am a people pleaser, I want to keep everyone happy, unfortunately, this can cost me my happiness. Your peace should be your priority. This isn’t always going to sit well with others, but if someone is ok with you putting their happiness first at the expense of your own, maybe it’s time to question that relationship. We also need to be respectful of the boundaries others put in place. We all want different things and we all have different priorities in life, so whilst we may not understand the thoughts and feelings of others, we should still be respectful of them. Since I started setting boundaries in my life, I have experienced a dramatic improvement in my overall

So much has changed since January and that includes my goals. I looked back at the goals I had originally set myself at the beginning of the year and half of them are no longer things I wish to achieve. I’ve been reading The Power Of Focus which has some great guidance on goal setting, so I am planning on working my way through that over the next week or so. I want to write some more articles so that I have some ready to submit to publications. I often have ideas pop into my head and I keep a note of them. I currently use Evernote for my blog posts, I just need to organise my folders a bit better as I have almost all of my blog posts in there! Lastly, but most importantly, I am going to block a day out in my diary each week where I make no plans. No lunches, no appointments, no dinners. Nothing. It’s a day just for me to do the things I need or want to do for myself. What are your intentions for this week? ❤️

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“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” — Aristotle I adore stationery. As a child, I used to spend hours in stationery shops longing to buy all the notepads and pens that adorned the shelves. As an adult, I do buy more stationery than I probably should and when I came across self-reflection journals, I became truly addicted. When I was tidying my house recently, I found some old journals and flicked through them. It’s so good to read through and see the thoughts and feelings I was having back then, it’s really interesting to see how much I have grown over the years. I complete my self-reflection journal each morning when I get up and each evening before I go to bed. I try my best to make sure each morning and evening is filled in, even if it’s a bit later than anticipated and I do take it away with me on holidays. After spending a lot of time scouring the internet, I chose the 6-minutediary for my next journal for the following reasons: It’s split into morning and eve

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Will it be as bad as I think? Today, the husband and I celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary & things finally feel like they are settling back down again, after a hectic few weeks. Last Friday, I was sent into a bit of a panic. Toby was a bit sick in the morning, not usually a cause for concern as I have read that cats can be sick if they eat too quickly, but he seemed fine. A couple of hours later, he was sick again and by midday, he was barely lifting his head and was completely listless. I was quite worried now as there are lots of things that are toxic to cats and I didn't know if he had eaten anything he shouldn't have during the night. I decided to call the vet, who asked me to bring him in straight away. Toby got into his carrier without a struggle, which is unusual and he didn't make a sound on the journey, which is also unusual. He usually likes to loudly complain. The vet sees us straight away and he just sits there whilst she examines him, still quiet as a

It’s been a mixed bag this week, but I have managed to turn it around. I enjoyed getting dressed up and going out for dinner and drinks with the girls last Friday. In the week, after having a really busy few weeks, I easily fell back into my usual routine, which helped turn my mood around. I finally wrote my article for publication! It only took me a month. I rewrote and re-read it about 7 times but I think I am happy with it now. What went well for you this week? ♥️

Another week, another mood…or two I feel like my moods are a bit of Russian roulette at the moment. When will the gun go off? Last Friday, after an anxious week of worrying about the fact my contract had been pushed back a week, I decided to walk to my counselling session. I am well versed by now in self-care, but I am not well versed in the art of patience. I know doing some gentle exercise will help my mindset, but during my walk, I didn’t feel ecstatically after 5 minutes, so I spent the first part of the walk feeling pretty miserable, wishing I had just driven instead. During my walk, the first glimmer of light came about 15 minutes in when I saw this little patch of wildflowers growing by the side of the road. I hadn’t noticed it whilst driving and just seeing that, made me feel a little bit happier. Just as I was about 5 minutes from my session, the joy of flowers now forgotten, I got a text from my friend, I had referred her for a role on the same contract as me and she had

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After walking to and from my counselling session last week, I realised how much I benefit from going for a walk, so this week I am going to get myself out each day for a morning walk. I want to update my vision board, the focus has been on the mind for a while now and I feel that I have made some good progress there, now I can work on some other areas. I didn’t manage to get the medium article written last week, so that’s a definite priority for me this week. I have a nice quiet week ahead so will be able to make the time needed for this without feeling rushed. What are your intentions for the coming week? ❤️

Despite being an anxious mess this week, due to certain things not going to plan, making time at the end of the week to think of the things that went well was really easy and helps me to realise what truly matters. I spent a relaxing weekend with my friend in Hereford, we lunched, we walked (me in inappropriate footwear resulting in blisters) and we lounged around, its nice to feel at home without having to do any chores. I spent some much needed time with the husband, unfortunately for him, its been a stressful week for me so I am conscious that he didnt have the best of me, but as always, he showed me love, kindness and endless patience and I am very aware of how lucky I am to have him. On Wednesday, I went to Essex to see my brother on his 40th birthday and spent a few hours with my family which was really lovely. I realise now, that all those things I have been stressing about are not as significant as I first thought. What went well for you this week? ❤

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The last few weeks have been really busy. I’ve had lunches, dinners and weekends away with friends so I’m really looking forward to having some time at home with the husband. Whilst he is working away in the day, I am going to get through my ever growing to do list, this includes finally writing and submitting my article for the medium publication. It’s been a couple of weeks since I got the invitation, but as it would be my first time submitting something, I don’t want to rush it. I have already decided on the content and I am quite looking forward to cracking on with it. I’m also planning on doing some cooking. I do really enjoy cooking, so now I have a bit more time, I would like to cook up some nice lunches and dinners, especially now I have the new Lucy Lord cookbook. What are your intentions for this week? ❤️

I had such a lovely weekend in the New Forest with the husband. It feels like we haven’t had a weekend away for ages, it was relaxed and we just went with the flow each day. Although we are both at home, he has been busy with work and I am often shut away in the sanctuary so I was really grateful to have some quality time with him. I’m ending this week with a huge sigh of relief after handing my notice in. I’ve been so unhappy in that job and it has caused me that much stress and anxiety, that I have been off sick for most of this year. This has been a blessing in disguise, as it has given me time and space I needed to get myself better and learn how to look after myself properly. I’m very fortunate that I was able to do this. I started to feel the anxiety come back this week, when I realised it was time to go back to work and hand in my notice. The close the day got, the more panic I felt, so rather than wait until I had a meltdown, I went online to see what my options were, I discuss

Earlier this year, a friend of mine, who left my employers last year, was telling me about her job, I told her if any new roles came up to let me know. A couple of weeks ago, a role came up, so I sent her my CV, which she then sent over just after Easter. Two days later the agency called me and set up an interview for the following week. The day before my interview, they called and offered me the position, I hadn't even had an interview, although this still went ahead as a formality. Knowing I already had the role, I was a lot less nervous and the interview actually went better because of that. It was a great way to start the long weekend. The husband was taking me away for me belated birthday treat, so we went off to the New Forest, somewhere I've always wanted to go and I was extra happy, knowing I had the new job offer. We had a really lovely weekend, visiting various villages, pubs, restaurants, a beach and a castle. I was feeling on top of the world. We came home on M

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