I had booked annual leave for next week, and I was looking forward to it. But at the start of this week I told my boss that I needed to take this week off. I spend enough time talking to people about recognising the signs of stress and burnout, and preaching about prioritising your wellbeing that I need to sit up and listen to my own body this week.

I know I have felt something similar to this in my younger years and I ploughed on and carried working and working and proved not to be good for me. As I’ve gotten older and yes, definitely wiser I am more in tune with my mind and body and I know that at the end of the day everyone is replaceable. I won’t put any business before my own wellbeing and mental health.

I’ve woken up with a headache so I know I need to take it easy today. I plan on going for a walk in the woods with Honey (our Bichon Frise) and Lucas and also making sure I drink lots of water. Apart from that I’m ‘going with the flow’ and seeing where the day takes me, which is very unlike me!

What does relaxing look like for you?

I have to say, I don’t think I’m very good at relaxing. My mind is always on the go. I like to read, not necessarily books, but consume information. Whether I’m reading news articles, posts on LinkedIn, whatever it may be, my mind is always active. I’ve been enjoying thinking about ELEVATE and what content I want to create (and I hope this new blog is valuable and will maybe give you some food for thought).

So the way that I relax is do nothing. I mean, literally sit and stare into space. No phone, no tv, no conversation, no nothing. Just left with my thoughts. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shut them out but it gives me an opportunity to process everything in my head. So there will hopefully be some of that happening today too!

A touch of woo woo…

This is something completely separate that happened this morning that I wanted to share. I was reading a news article and the guy I was reading about was really inspiring. He had contracted polio at a very young age and had spent his entire life in an iron lung. I thought, well if he can get through what he has, I can survive this time I’m going through. I’d never even heard of an iron lung so was hugely fascinated to learn more. I then googled him and clicked another article. This article explained that he had fallen in love once and the girl he fell in love with was called Claire. I thought, that’s a crazy coincidence. I carried on reading and he became a lawyer on the same date as my birthday.

I genuinely believe the universe has a way of sending signs and this may have just been one of them. I’d love to hear if you are open to these kind of messages.