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Why I’m grateful for my family

Why I’m grateful for my family

by | Jan 20, 2017 | YEAR OF GRATITUDE

It’s that time again where I want to set my other work aside and practice gratitude. This is a task I’m taking great pleasure in if I’m honest, and I didn’t realise just how much I have to be grateful for until I started this challenge. I’m also joined by Lu Lu Blue who is doing this challenge too.

I won’t talk about my husband today as he got an entire blog post dedicated to him last week, instead I want to talk about my close family. I come from a small family. It’s just my parents and my two brothers and I. We are a quiet bunch of folks and we get on pretty well.

Here are a few specific things I’m grateful for and why:

My parents always encouraged extra-curricular activities. My younger brother Colin played football and my older brother Stuart has been a drummer in a band since he was a teenager. I was in a drama club, played piano and loved drawing and writing as a kid. We were always expected to try our best in school, but as long as we could promise mum and dad that we ‘tried our best’ we were never judged for our grades. This helped build our social skills and let us express ourselves creatively in a way which has made us who we are today.

We’ve all done stupid stuff. Thank god that we’ve stuck by each other through it all. No one holds a grudge in my family and we all remember the good – and embarrassing – times more than anything else. When we get together we generally have a laugh about stupid shit we’ve done and enjoy it. There’s no judgement.

We live apart but it’s not too bad. One of my brothers now lives in Australia, and although it’s hard not to see him at family events I’m grateful that he’s found a partner and settled down in an exciting new place. I’ve moved away from Scotland too (only to Birmingham, so not quite so far) and I’m grateful that my parents still make the effort to come and visit me as much as possible. I’m also grateful that they forgive me when I get busy and forget to call them for a few weeks. I need to work on that one!

Above all, I’m grateful for the unconditional love I receive from all of my family members. As someone with depression and anxiety it’s easy for me to feel like I’ve become a burden to others when I’m going through a particularly bad period. I know I have family I can rely on and I can ask them for anything. That’s what I’m most grateful for.

 

 

Why it’s absolutely OK to cry about stupid stuff

Why it’s absolutely OK to cry about stupid stuff

by | Nov 4, 2016 | LIFE

I’m a crier.

I like a good sob, normally in private and more than likely about things that are really not important.

I’ve been known to weep uncontrollably when I’ve fucked up my make up, when the bag splits on the way home from the shops and when my parents’ dog ate £100 straight out of my handbag. I know you probably think I made that last one up but I can assure you I really didn’t.

The thing with me is that I tend to sit on my emotions. I’ll let thoughts get trapped in my head, they wear away at me and grind me down for days or weeks until they finally surface in the most unexpected manner. I regularly find myself in the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ scenario, whereby it only takes something small and seemingly meaningless to send me into a fit of rage followed by the waterworks explosion. I can cry that sickening way, when you feel like you might hurl because you have so much sadness bubbling over and you just have to get it out.

its OK to cry about things that aren't important mental health

The great news is that I normally feel better after a good old strop and a tear-fest. No matter what has pushed me to boiling point, my mind is clearly in need of some sort of release – so it finds its own way of getting it. It sounds like I’m a dramatic person (OK maybe I am at times) but I only have these little tantrums because I’ve remained so calm and collected on the surface for so long. I have been in that situation long term and it seriously isn’t good for your health. I’m trying to work on keeping my mind relaxed and de-cluttered but it’s a work in progress.

My advice is to cry when you need you. Even when it seems unreasonable, even when you can’t explain what you’re upset about; cry away and you’ll feel so much better in the long run.