I spend a lot of time on my own and in my head.

It is very easy to get lost in your own head, thinking, planning, worrying etc… when I am left alone with my own thoughts I tend to focus on all the things I am not doing and worrying about where my life is going and not being the best I can be etc. and then I start to feel down. Looking after yourself mentally is so important and yet such an easy thing not to do. Spending time alone makes me realise how important it is to spend time with friends and family. When I am around people I love and care about I never feel low or like I’m not good enough so I love surrounding myself with those people as much as I can.

The happiest time of my life as all the seaside trips we made as a family when I was a kid, If I could go back to those times I would in a heartbeat.  My family and I used t go to Torquay every year in the summer and stay in a B&B that had 2 live in Labradors, I must have been around 7 or 8 when we first started going and literally thought it was the best place in the world. I will remember those trips fondly.

My mum was diagnosed with progressive MS in the mid nineties and she knew she would get sicker and sicker so she planned a holiday to Florida and took me and my little sister. It was the first time I had ever been on a plane and we all had an amazing time, surprise surprise one of the things I enjoyed the most about the trip was all the amazing food lol. These are the things that at the time just seems like a bit of fun and something to do but creating memories with the people you love is so important and I thank my lucky stars that I have so many.  Having lost my mum recently these memories mean more to me now than ever. I love to surround myself with people that I love creating more memories and just generally having a good old time.

This summer has been spent a little differently, less fun and frolics and more soul searching and trying to find some sort of direction.  I have spent my summer on small projects, getting used to living back in the big city and travelling up and down the UK seeing friends and having nights out.  This summer has seemed really short because the weather didn’t hold up for very long but we managed to get in a couple of barbecues and some lovely days out with both friends and family. Summers as an adult are hugely different to what they were as a child. I’m hoping I can make future summers a little bit more like the ones I had as a kid.. maybe next year a little break might be in order, a little longer and further than the odd weekend in the Midlands lol

I spend a lot of time and money going out on nights out and weekends away and surrounding myself with people but I am trying to find some balance in terms of spending time with friends and family and spending time alone.

Something I am keen to start working on more now is trying to be just as happy when I am on my own. I have never really sat and thought about the importance of taking care of your own mental/emotional health. I was reading these Five Tips to Bring Balance into Your Life and realised just how responsible I am for my own happiness. I allow myself to think negatively about myself and berate myself for not doing enough whereas I wouldn’t stand for that from anyone else. The five tips on TheCircle website seem like a good place to start for me as each step seems doable and potentially beneficial in my quest to a move balanced and healthy mind. Personally for me I need to set goals and not attack myself every time I mess up. Maybe being mindful and setting boundaries and seeking inspiration will help me focus on doing positive things rather than constantly thinking about what I’m not doing.

It’s so difficult to know how to take care of yourself mentally, I think finding resources online to help with that are a good place to start.

Something I read in the five steps really made me think, when you have things to do and you are going over and over them in your head you are wasting so much mental energy doing the work in your head that you are exhausted before you even start. I want to start writing things down on paper so I can free my mind of all the thoughts that are not doing me any good and hopefully free up some space for good/positive things instead.

Any tips or links that you think may be useful would be much appreciated x

Post in collaboration with TheCircle.