Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far. I’m having a rare but well needed weekend of doing nothing. Well not doing nothing to be honest, by nothing I mean that I didn’t go out last night and won’t be going out tonight and therefor am hangover free which means I have a clear head to get going with some other (non alcohol related) things I have planned to do for a while or have been putting off.

First on the list is blogging. I have been putting off blogging for weeks now. I’ve been telling myself I’ve been too busy and too tired to blog lately because I’ve had a lot going on. And its true, I have had a lot going on and I have at times been too tired and too busy. But I feel like these truths were becoming excuses and the real truth is just that I had just lost a bit of momentum, the task of writing a blog post was seeming bigger and more daunting as the days went by and really I think I’d lost a bit of confidence in my ability to do it.

So what changed, what has made me want to blog again?

I’ve been a bit sick over the last two weeks with a cough and cold, and there’s nothing like a bad cold to make you feel very sorry for yourself. I allowed myself to feel crap and wallow for a bit, and for a while that was fine, I think I needed it. But essentially my body was telling me to slow down and I needed to listen.

So I decided to rest myself and do nothing, you know, give myself a bit of a break. However the more I sat back and did nothing to try and rest myself, the more I started to think of all the things I should be doing and wanted to do but couldn’t because I was sick, and then I started thinking of social events coming up which would take up time that I needed to do other stuff. And on and on it went until I had a to-do list as long as my arm that wasn’t going to get done and I felt extremely overwhelmed.

Luckily I’m fairly self aware an realised pretty quick that this way of thinking and feeling was not normal behaviour for me so I set about getting myself out of this fog.

Since I was really feeling like I needed to get my shit together, I went straight to Audible and dowloaded Best Seller ‘Get Your Sh*t Together‘ by Sarah Knight. The tag line is; How to stop worrying about what you should do so you can finish what you need to do and start doing what you want to do. Seemed appropriate!

If you haven’t ever heard of this book, Google it. It does what it says on the tin, and basically provides a rake of tips and tricks on how to get your shit together which can be applied to varying circumstances. It reminded me of what I’ve known all along, which is when faced with a task which appears too big a feat, break it down into manageable pieces and just start going for it piece by piece. Its funny how easily we can forget something as simple as that. Its good to slow down and remind ourselves of what we already know.

After listening to the book, I felt much more calm about my situation. Things didn’t seem as bad as I had built them up to be, tasks didn’t feel as large as they had and I felt ready to tackle the world (or at least the growing clothes pile in my spare bedroom) piece by piece. It also gave me the push and I won’t lie, the material to write this post.

I think its so important to listen to our bodies and our minds when they are screaming at us for help. Sometimes we know how to help ourselves and what works for us. And other times we don’t. If you are feeling overwhelmed or out of sorts like me or maybe its more than that. Listen to yourself, take a break or seek help or advice from a book or a friend or a partner, whatever is the easiest first step for you.  You will probably be surprised by how little it might take to make you feel a bit better or lighter, and that can be the foundation for so much more.

Funnily enough this isn’t the blog post I set out to write, but there you go, maybe my subconscious knew better and felt this was the right thing to write today. I hope whoever reads this might find it insightful, or maybe even helpful. If you’re interested in the book here’s the link on Amazon Get Your Sh*t Together I would definitely recommend it, especially if your a ‘self  help’ sceptic.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and remember to take some time for yourself.

PinkLadyxo

P.S I still don’t have my shit together (does anyone?) but i’m working on it one piece at a time 🙂