This is still me ❤️

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough” A weekend in Broadstairs with the husband We enjoyed an impromptu weekend at the seaside, wandering the food market and the high street, popping in and out of pubs and listening to live music, all in the glorious sunshine. Lunch in London A friend took me for lunch in London. We had an afternoon of gossip and managed to find a very well air conditioned bar to have a quick glass of wine before we went home. Some downtime Although I was kind of forced into it, as I wasn’t really feeling well. Have a day of mostly watching Netflix and generally chilling out made me realise that I don’t have to try and get it all done ASAP and some time out isn’t a bad thing. What are you grateful for this week? ❤️

Feeling Thankful I’m so thankful to have had a positive week. Although I do wonder how much of it was simply down to my mindset. Reviewing my outgoings. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had been sort of putting this off. I was scared that I would look at the numbers and realise I needed to earn money immediately and would have to take the next job that came along. Thankfully, I have enough money to pay the bills for a few months. This does of course mean that I have to cut back on a lot of things but when I weigh it up, the choice between being at home doing my writing vs earning lots of money, there is no contest. Money really can’t buy happiness. Good results on medium I’ve had my best month on Medium since joining back in April. I’ve had lots of views, claps, comments, and followers and I have earned the most! Sadly not enough to pay the bills, in fact barely a cup of tea but it’s a huge win for me and I have learned so much from all the other brilliant writers. Mee

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

Gratitude is the attitude Yesterday, I posted about the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on this week Despite the downs, I have managed to find plenty to be grateful for and here are my top 3. Sunday Cinema Date On Sunday, the husband and I took ourselves to the local cinema to watch Top Gun Maverick. I love going to the cinema, the husband, not so much. The weather was pleasant, so we decided to walk the 2 miles to the cinema. I don’t like to spoil things for others, so I won’t say too much about the film itself, other than that I loved it! Usually, the husband and I will go for dinner or drinks so it was a refreshing change to go to the cinema on a Sunday afternoon. Medium stats For those of you reading this that are Medium members, you will understand where I am coming from. Since joining at the end of April, I have checked my stats almost daily, along with my medium partnership program earnings, which in the first two months have not exceeded 38 cents. So I was pleased

A personal time capsule Last week, I wrote a post about the importance of self reflection . I hadn’t realised how much self reflection I have been doing, it is now as much a part of my day as brushing my teeth. One important thing to remember when self reflecting, is that you must guve yourself time and space to do this, writing daily reflections mindlessly and never actually thinking about them again, serves no purpose. I was excited to see that my first weekly challenge in my 6 Minute Diary, was to write an email to my future self for 6 months time, describing where I see my life at that point in time. There were two websites given where I could use to do this. I decided to go with Future Me, which I had heard already heard of, I thought I may have even wrote a letter to myself in the past. The idea is, that you write a letter to your future self, it can say whatever you want it to, you can even get ideas from the website. You then decide when would like to receive the letter

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It’s been such a positive week for me, although mindset is everything. Some things happened this week that could have dampened my spirits, but because I was in a good frame of mind, I have managed to focus on the positives and put a positive spin on some of the possible negatives. I know that I may not feel like this every week will be like this, but I plan on enjoying it for as long as it lasts. What went well for you this week? ❤️

My hard work is starting to pay off I normally write these posts by going through my week and what’s been happening, but I am far too impatient to write a whole post before I can get to my exciting news. Some of you may have already seen, that I have had my first article published on Medium. For some, this may not be a big thing, but for me, it’s pretty huge. Back in 2017 when I started writing this blog, I was too afraid to share with anyone other than close friends. Who would want to read anything I wrote? I certainly would not have imagined even having the courage to think about submitting my writing to a publication. Writing has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, so I’m feeling pretty bloody good right now. It’s been a good week overall anyway. The husband and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary last Friday and we went to Stratford Upon Avon for the weekend. Stratford Upon Avon is beautiful and our hotel was right next to the river Avon. The sun was shin

This week, I wanted to focus on relationships. I am always very aware of how lucky I am to have the family and friends I do. We learn so much from the people we spend time with and I am truly grateful for those that I am blessed to have in my life ❤️

After a pretty reclusive week last week, I enjoyed catching up with some friends this week, a trip into the city to meet my friend for lunch, a shopping trip with my twinnie followed by dinner with the bestie. It was just what I needed. I also made some great progress in my counselling sessions. I'm still so amazed at how much I get out of these sessions and how much I have learnt to about myself. I am learning so many valuable life tools and I feel so positive about the future. Yesterday, the husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We celebrated in our usual fashion, by taking ourselves off for a little break. What went well for you this week? ❤️

Thank you so much to those of you who have taken the time to complete the short survey I sent out recently. If you haven't yet completed it and would still like to you will find the link below. 43% of you prefer to read my posts on a Monday. 43% of you said you prefer to read them on any weekday with the remaining 14% preferring to read them on a Sunday 43% of you prefer to read my posts on Facebook whilst another 43% prefer Instagram The remaining 43% read them on WordPress 57% of you prefer to read my posts in the morning, 29% of you prefer the evenings and the remaining 14% prefer the afternoon. Your favourite posts are the written blog posts and what went well this week, followed by the weekly intentions, the motivational posts and lastly the newsletter. The majority of you would like to see more Written Blogs & Motivational posts with fewer posts on book reviews and newsletters. I’m going to leave the survey open for a bit longer for anyone who would still li

I would be really grateful ❤️ Last week I sent a very short survey asking for some feedback, I would really love to know what you would like to see from me. Please could you do me a massive favour and complete by clicking here .

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? ♥️

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? ❤

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

Wow. What a week it has been. I enjoyed a fabulous relaxing weekend away and this week I have caught up with some friends at lunch, even managing to control my alcohol intake, without even trying. I am happily riding a high vibe at the moment and I am enjoying every single minute. I love it when life is like this, I am happy, things are going smoothly and I just need to embrace each and every moment. Every time this happens, there is the little voice in the back of my mind saying "Clare, you know that this isn't going to last" That voice used to be a lot louder, so loud in fact, that it used to stop me from enjoying the happy moments. Now, I am getting a lot better at embracing the highs and riding the lows. Every week, I feel like I am overcoming another obstacle in life, sometimes they are big, sometimes they are small, but either way, the feeling of overwhelm is getting easier to deal with. Its still overwhelming, but my stress levels are not as through the roof

As I mentioned in this weeks blog post I spent a lovely Easter weekend with the husband. We visited my brother in his new house and then we spent the day and night in beautiful Canterbury. I was rather relieved to have a quiet week ahead. Yesterday, I received a message on Medium, inviting me to be added as a writer on one of their publications. It’s a personal development publication, which I already follow, as I do really enjoy the articles on there. I was so excited, I did wonder if maybe they had sent it to the wrong person! Writing for a publication means that my writing will reach a wider audience, this particular publication has over 2000 followers. Once I am back home from my relaxing weekend, I will be devouring all the information provided and making a submission. Wish me luck 🍀

I’ve been on a pretty high vibe this week and with this, some pretty positive things are happening. As I mentioned in this weeks blog post, I had myself a little mini spa session on Wednesday and I’m pleased to report that as of Saturday morning, the nails are still look fabulous. Home spa sessions will absolutely become a regular thing now. The bestie came over for a catch up on Thursday night, we talked non stop for hours and as soon as she left I realised that there were loads of things I still needed to tell her, that are of course too long for a text message or phone call, so we will have to schedule another catch up in. At the end of the week, I joined the Medium Partnership Program. For me this is a huge step in the right direction for my writing career and I am looking forward to learning from other writers and hopefully having a bit more exposure to the world of writing. I have been blogging for over 5 years and I still enjoy it so much and I happily spend hours shut away in t