On Wednesday, I gave blood, a worthy cause, It was my 5th time, which meant I graduated to a cup of tea! Although, I think I prefer the lemon squash and a pack of prawn cocktail crisps that I had the previous 4 times because, for me, that’s my unusual treat!
Yesterday though, I got hit with a bunch of negative thoughts and had what I like to refer to as a mental wobble! I’ve not had one that bad for a while & I won’t go into all the things that happened other than to say it all started with a memory from about 10 years ago. I met someone speed dating and we became friends for a while, but fell out when someone else got in the way, stories got mixed up, words were said and a nice friendship was lost, I know she has had children since then and last I heard she was living with her boyfriend, yesterday she turned 30 and I sent her an email to wish her a happy birthday, but didn’t expect a reply…..
This got me thinking about all the things that have happened to me over the intervening 10 years, unsurprisingly I started thinking about all the bad things that happened and ignored all the good things. It was all downhill on the slippery slope from there. It was time to put into action The Art of Uphill Skiing!
From experience, I know that sometimes on days like that, there is little point trying to do anything useful. It’s a little bit like when you have Flu (yes proper flu, not “man flu”) and you try to carry on doing stuff, but there is just no energy in your body. Yesterday, I could not even open a bottle of fizzy water!
I gave up trying to do anything, and effectively called in sick (tricky to do when you work for yourself!)
I knew, again from experience, that if I gave myself some space, I normally feel much better the next day, so this morning I’ve woken up feeling much better! Time is a good healer, I’ve put into action the 15 point plan that I talk about in my book (www.igg.me/at/TheArtOfUphillSkiing). I have listened to some positive music, I’ve been outside for a bike ride, I have meditated & I’ve just finished my 10 pages of a good personal development book. “Sam, the magic genie”, which I don’t think I’ve read for about 10 years!
Again, I find myself reading a book and finding that it’s specifically talking to me about my current situation perfectly.
I was letting my thoughts control my feelings, instead of controlling my thoughts to change my feelings!
I have now heard back from the lady in question, as you know, she turned 30 yesterday and is now married to that boyfriend and they are pregnant with their 3rd child!
I also heard back from a bunch of other supportive friends, and last night I wrote down 3 things I was grateful for about the day that I’d had (despite how bad the day had felt!)
Sam, the magic genie is a great book and will certainly now be on my list of recommended reading in my own book if I can get it written. I’m having a bit of self doubt about it at the moment, so please go take a look at the page and if you know anyone who has struggled with depression or anxiety, please point them to www.igg.me/at/TheArtOfUphillSkiing If you feel really generous, buy a copy of the book yourself, and get your name into the acknowledgements! 🙂
Have a great day everyone, and remember your thoughts influence your feelings, so if you want to feel better, think better thoughts! 😀 (but also give yourself a break if you need to!)
<3 love and hugs to you all x
PS thanks to Y, S, C, S, L, M&D for your supportive words yesterday, even though, you may not have known you were helping!
Great post John – it’s amazing how it’s usually the really simple things in life that can have such an impact!
Mastering your thoughts is such an important strategy – but we all have the down days I think.
Glad you have awesome people around to encourage you on your journey 🙂
Thanks Lottie, quite so!
It’s a joy to find sooenme who can think like that