25 Years of my life and still trying to get up that great big hill…

Sometimes things just happen out of the blue.  Since I last posted I have been on a general low that has been highlighted by some great moments. As I said in my last post, I have taken a lot on recently, and over the past two weeks some of that has taken its toll although I think it is mostly worth it. One downside of being busy is that I don’t have the time to look after myself mentally, the mindfulness and the CBT techniques go by the wayside and I find myself getting very physically tired thru the mental stress.

At times like this I need a bit of a kick up the backside, something that normally comes from within. This time however it came from a chance conversation with my younger sister. She had been clearing some stuff out and had found some letters I had written her in 1993 when she had just gone to university. In one of these letters I was telling her that I had been going through some hard times mentally and had been having some therapy whilst being off work for six weeks. Now I know that I went through some anxiety issues back then but I must have blanked out the therapy and six weeks off work because it was quite a shock reading about it.

The best thing about the letter though, and kind of the point of this post, is that I had written down a list of  ‘ 10 challenging ideas to think about ‘, and I thought I would share them with you. So here they are, and I hope they help some of you 🙂

1. This is it !  There are no rehearsals. Your life is up and running.
2. There is no way that you can get everything you want. You may satisfy some of your needs but you will always feel some dissatisfaction.
3. You cannot completely control or own anything, especially people. Everything is temporary and everything changes. Get used to change.
4. Nobody is stronger or weaker than anybody else. We are all made up of a collection of strengths and weaknesses.
5. All important decisions are made on the basis of limited information. Everything has an element of risk.
6. All life’s important battles and conflicts are fought within ourselves.
7. You are responsible for everything you do. All excuses are unacceptable.
8. We all make mistakes.  We are all selfish,cheating,vain, greedy and tell lies. Nobody is perfect. learn to forgive yourself and accept your humanness.
9. We are all free to do what ever we like. All we have to do is accept the consequences.
10. The world is not always just or fair. Being good offers no guarantee of a happy outcome.

I think some of this stuff may be a bit too hard hitting for the therapy of today, but sometimes you get caught up in the darkness and you need some challenging things to think about. I just wish I had written this to myself a few years ago.

Thanks for reading……