Monday Mottos

Each day is a new, each person different and every life incomparable. This quote is short and fitting:

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Monday Mottos

Life is hard enough without the enemy of unnecessary worry, thoughts and memories. But letting go of these things is hard and I myself am working on this in order to create more forward momentum in my life this year. By living more in the moment, clearing my mind of unwanted thoughts and tackling everything with a much better attitude, this year I hope I can change for the better 🙂 

“These mountains you are carrying, you were only meant to climb” –Najwa Zebian 

Monday Mottos

Happy new year! I will be keeping this lovely quote in mind this year…

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together”- Vincent Van Gogh 

Interesting quote that reminds me of both the good Drs who do exactly this and the bad who only look at tests and typical ‘normal ranges’ and don’t treat you as a person and individual case. 

“Death is not the enemy sir, Indifference is!

You treat a disease, you win, you lose.

You treat a person, I guarantee you, you’ll win, no matter what the outcome.”- Patch Adams

Expectations


In life most people are always expecting something. Whether it’s what will happen next in their day, or whether that new pill they’re on is going to work or not. We expect things because predicting outcomes gives us something to aim towards. It usually goes hand in hand with how optimistic or pessimistic we are in general too. Sometimes people think that expecting the worse can be a good thing because you’ll only end up meeting that expectation or being pleasantly surprised. But surely it’s better to approach things with more confidence therefore creating a path along the way that will ultimately lead to the more positive outcome you’re expecting.
But what happens when things don’t meet our expectations? I’ve dealt with this myself and it’s something I’ve been trying to come to terms with recently after realising that not reaching my own expectations was affecting me more than I ever knew. I always had a very clear idea of where I would be in my career by now but unfortunately my health set me back and the level I have achieved isn’t what I always expected it would be. Whilst I have accepted that now, disappointment is something you have to go through when you have made an expectation for yourself. You also face other people’s expectations too. For me I also had other people’s same high expectations which created a lot of guilt and shame. But that is why we must live for ourselves and make sure that we have pride and happiness no matter what we achieve or don’t, without worrying that everyone around us is pleased with everything we do or don’t. 
You wont always meet expectations and neither will the things around you in your life but you can learn to live with expectations and be more kind and reasonable to yourself along the way.

Monday Mottos (Mental Health Awareness)

‘And here you are living, despite it all’ – Rupi Kaur

Today is mental health awareness day but it is something that I and roughly 1 in 6 of us (though I believe it’s likely to be more unreported) are constantly aware of, as it consumes life just as much as any other illness or perhaps more so. And there are so many different types of mental illnesses just as there is with physical. I suffer with perhaps the most common;’depression’ and ‘anxiety’. However even these vary hugely from person to person and vary depending on how I am looking after my self and if I am keeping up with my coping strategies. Mental health is complex and important but currently undervalued as the NHS turns away patients deemed ‘not severe enough’ to help. Surely prevention before a suicide attempt is better than help after or no help because the attempt should succeed. I am in a good place at the moment after a recent course of therapy and have adopted good mental habits that I hope to continue but I am well aware that mental health is a condition prone to relapses. So be a friend to everyone you meet. Don’t judge someone from the outset- well try not to- you don’t know what’s going on inside. And if it’s you who’s struggling, just keep going, keep breathing and you’ll find a way to a better day. 

Monday Mottos

Life can’t be all bad all the time, every moment will go by eventually! 

“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.” – Charlie Chaplin 

Monday Mottos

A beautiful group of words to speak to all those who, like me, are often asking why they can’t just be normal…this is why.

“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk on, but no flowers grow on it.” —Vincent Van Gogh

Monday Mottos

“Happiness is an inside job. Don’t assign anyone else that much power over your life.” (Mandy Hale)

“The list”

Perhaps like me you’re one of those unlucky people, who when you go to see a new healthcare professional or sometimes even a beautician, or you’re just filling out a form for something, where you’re not expecting it, you have to recite the dreaded list. 

‘Do you have any health conditions?’

“NOOO IM GONNA GET DRY MOUTH! Seriously is this not on the system!? Do you need to know?”

I find most people switch off about half way through my list. But the thing is, it’s not just a list, it’s my life! I deal with this crap every day, so you might be getting frustrated by having to write down or read through my list but imagine living with all of the things on the list!!

So perhaps lovely readers you might be so brave and lovely as to bear with me and read my list and then comment with yours and I will read yours. We can appreciate eachothers struggles but we can’t know how it feels. And this is one time when we are writing the list just for ourselves and we are accepting that our lives are hard but we are owning it and we are awesome and that list is part of us 🙂 much love…here goes!

• Hashimotos disease
• Migraine (including hemiplegic migraine)
• Pernicious anemia 
• Depression and anxiety
• Endometriosis
• Vulvodynia (& vestibulodynia)
• Essential tremor
• Fibromyalgia (recently diagnosed)
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Hypermobility syndrome
• Acid reflux disease
• Eczema 
• Piles 😳
• Bruxism (Grindy teeth, locking jaw!)
• Costochondritis

That’ll do!

I do feel good listing it and I actually don’t feel embarrassed, none of it is my fault and I feel I’ve been given a poo-y stick sometimes but I have a lot of great things too in my life and we are all allowed moments of self pity as long as they are brief and you get back up. Managing your life around how you feel daily is important and accepting that you mustn’t compare yourself to anyone else is key. If you want to join in please leave your list for me to read 🙂