It’s so easy to sit and “preach” about the things we do which have helped our mental health. I do it myself. And was due to write a series of things I had done to improve my Wellbeing (the first post I wrote was about reading).
I was feeling so in control of everything. Balanced. Striving. I felt good inside and out.
I see so often "Simple steps to improve your mental health" and similar content but not enough of people recognising things they stopped doing or that they lost control of which affected them.
I got engaged on October 1st and I’ve been in such a bubble with that, I still am. I still look at my beautiful Garnet and Diamond ring and feel like I’m living in a dream! But, because of that high I got lazy in all the areas that I was using to thrive and really keep myself well. Because I was (and still am) on that high I felt like I didn’t need anything else.
That was wrong of me.
So I’m going to switch things around, follow my word of the year and be authentic and actually write about the things I STOPPED doing which have now affected me and caused me to be in a state of overwhelm and where I feel like I've kind of lost myself.
Reading. I got out of the habit of reading. I was reading up to 2 books a week at one point. Smashing past my book goal for 2024. I finished my last book on September 30th and started reading a new one, it’s now almost the end of November and I’m still only on page 66. It’s a book by my favourite author whose books I get lost in easily. But I lost my routine, I got out of the habit of putting down my phone, turning off the tv and making time wherever I could to stick my head in a book.
Skincare. As someone who suffers with Psoriasis you’d think I would have a decent skincare routine in place to help that. I didn’t, but I got into a habit of taking my make up off at night, using serums and cream to look after my skin and honestly, my skin had never looked or felt better! I got lazy. I’ve slept in my make up, taking it off the next day with a face wipe and reapplying, not bothering with serums or creams because "it will be alright". Guess what? It's not. And now not only do I now need to work to get back into a habit, I now also need to work hard to get my skin in a good place again.
Colouring. Yes, I am a 39 year old who loves colouring. I've dipped in and out of it over the years but around June this year I really got the bug. I found it so calming. If I wasn’t reading a book I was colouring. I wasn’t watching tv, instead choosing to put a Podcast on and sit and colour.
Food. I’ve shared before that I have an issue with food. Food addiction/eating disorder. I recognised this with the support from my fiancé last year and it’s something I’ve accepted and try hard to control. When I’m in the zone, when I’m in control, it’s great. I eat well, I manage my portions, I feel good. I have lost that and it affects me inside and out in so many ways. Along with this, I had upped my water intake and stopped this again instead drinking more coffee, Coke Zero and squash.
Work/life balance. I work from home and it is so easy to NOT take regular breaks. To instead jump on the laptop as soon as you wake up, to not get yourself ready, and do the morning chores before starting your work day. To eat your lunch at your laptop rather than going into a different room. So easy! I was starting to get into a habit of not going on my laptop until I’d taken my children to school, read a chapter or two of my book or got myself ready (hair done, dressed, skincare and make up done). But, I’ve lost that. Again, jumping on my laptop first thing, eating at my desk, chucking on whatever clothes I could find and more often than not, chucking on make up quickly before a call (or not bothering at all) and chucking my hair in a bun or pony tail instead.
Weekly goals and intentions and weekly wins. This was something I started a couple of months ago after being inspired by someone on LinkedIn. It was great to keep myself motivated, to feel that buzz at the end of the week when I could write down my wins and realise I’d hit my goals and intentions and sometimes I’d even done more than I’d intended.
Writing down my monthly highlights. This is something I’ve done for a while now. I like to make Instagram reels with monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly highlights with clips from those times, but I also decided to write them down because it felt like a nice thing to do. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realised I’d stopped doing that and then relied on my phone and going through photos to remember things I’d experienced since October.
Recognising all these things has been really important to me. I don't look at this list and think "I've failed" "I'm rubbish". Instead I look at this list and see it as my drive to get back to the place I was at. These are really simple changes I made before that will be easy to get back into, maybe not all at once, just bit by bit. Getting back into habits and routines will get me back to the place where I was.
