Hello

I hope you are all well.

It’s actually been quite a long time since I shared a blog. There’s no big reason for this, nothing out of the usual, life kind of has been so busy of late. Life gets busy and sometimes life is quiet. The last few weeks have felt very full on, as is the cycle it would seem.

Outside of work I’ve been quite busy focusing on making some changes in my life, undertaking some studies and dealing with some financial stuff. I’m sure many of you can relate to that. None of this has been bad particularly, but sometimes they take your attention away from other things. I’m doing well and my well-being is in a fairly good place, but time has just gotten in the way of writing blogs.

If you’ve attended any of our training sessions, you’ll know I have a big passion for escapism when it comes to dealing with mental health and well-being. Next week on Tuesday I’m heading off to one of my favourite places for a week, that place being Gibraltar. I’m quite interested to be taking part in some of their national day celebrations this year which is something quite new to me and I’m looking forward to it.

Monday marks a big moment in my life, I turn 40. I feel like I’ve had lots of conversations around getting older recently. There seems to be an expectation that I should be scared or feel a certain way about the fact that I’m turning 40 years old. I don’t feel scared or fearful. I feel entirely indifferent about turning 40. It’s not like the it’s the first time I’ve had a birthday and all being well it won’t be my last birthday either. Indeed, moving from Sunday into Monday, it is just the turning of time and another day.

The conversations I’ve had around this have also suggested that’s a lot of fear about getting old or ageing. I take a different view to that, I’m grateful to be alive and I actually am grateful to get older each day. The opposite to that would mean I’m dead. So, I’m grateful for my life and the time that I have. That’s how I feel about getting older.

Practising gratitude is really good for our health. Not just our mental health but also, it’s been proven to reduce inflammation in the body. Reducing inflammation in the body is a good thing. I found over the last couple of years practising gratitude and being aware of those things in life that I’m grateful for is really important and a reap the benefit of that on a regular basis. I have been reflecting on the last 10 years; about where things have changed. There’s been difficult times, there’s been horrible death and loss in my life and severe challenges to my mental health. That’s life, it’s supposed to be messy. I’ve also had great adventures, accepted my own self-worth and value, I found my confidence in so many situations and I know I’ve come so far. And that’s just the last 10 years.

I’m not here to write my memoirs. The aim of this blog was simply a self-reflection that I hope will inspire others to look at the positives in their life and maybe think about their relationship with the ageing process, each day to be grateful for life.

This is not my most insightful blog, but it still brings me joy to write and reflect on how I have developed myself. I’d love to ask you all a question, what are you grateful for in life?

I don’t believe in phrases like life begins at 40, nor do I believe I should feel a certain way because of the ageing process. We’re all unique.

So, after the 1st of September I am taking a long break and will return in the middle of September. The weekend ahead has a few celebrations with loved ones and then a solo trip to Gibraltar.

I’ll leave you with gratitude for reading my words.