Tag: Coping mechanisms

Good riddance summer, hello autumn my old friend

I’m conscious this post will divide people but I’m going to plough on regardless… I’ll be glad to see the back of summer, and I’ll welcome autumn and winter with open arms. There. I said it. I naively thought we were in this position 2-3 weeks ago, then the damned Indian summer hit and sent …

Lewis Capaldi showed that mental health issues can and do affect anyone

Last Saturday, I witnessed one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen. I sat down to watch Lewis Capaldi deliver yet another amazing Pyramid Stage performance at Glastonbury. He knocked it out of the park during his previous appearance at the festival and I fully expected him to do that again. Sadly, that wasn’t …

Turning 50, fearing the aging process, and some fine advice from Clint

I turn 50 in December of this year. I won’t be mentioning it too often here as I’m really not happy about it. In fact, I’m dreading it. Not because I fear there’ll be some big noticeable change in my life, but mainly as this is the landmark birthday which makes me feel I’m truly …

One thing I tell myself on a daily basis – You Are Fortunate

Life is tough at times, seemingly more than ever these days. We are in the midst of political chaos, rising prices (seemingly across the board), the rising cost of bills, especially energy and mortgage costs, increasing strike activity, and a generally dismal environment everywhere we look. It’s as if someone took the very worst parts …

Breaking the stigma – do most of us have mental health issues?

I’ve been agonising for months over whether to write this post, largely as it may be misinterpreted, and people may have widely different views regarding the answer to the question in the blog title. However, a TV documentary we watched as a family this week made my mind up for me. More of that later. …

Do you have opportunities to talk about your mental health?

I’m fortunate to work for a company which places a great deal of importance on the mental health of employees. The Wellbeing team in our HR department are fantastic. They regularly arrange lunchtime catch-ups for staff to understand what support is available and to provide an opportunity for us to talk in a safe space. …

Don’t despair if you’re struggling to lose weight – it isn’t easy. A weight-loss / fat-shedding update

I’ve written about my need to lose weight on at least 3 previous occasions, the first back in September 2019, and here I am yet again, revisiting the same subject. The reason being that weight-wise, I’m in the same situation today as I was 29 months ago and I’ve recently been questioning why that is. …

The joy of photos

I’ll be spending some time today compiling the calendars we give to some family members as Christmas presents (apologies for the spoiler if any of you are reading this though it shouldn’t come as a surprise given that you’ve received them for the past 14 years or so!). These consist of nothing but photos of …

Don’t dwell on criticism from anyone who you wouldn’t go to for advice

A short post this week, inspired by the huge amount of keyboard warriors out there these days who appear to think they have a free rein to take to social media and type whatever they like about people, no matter how vile, personal or abhorrent their words may be. It happens far too often and …

Anxiety, live gigs, and why I continue to plug in and play…

There were signs of hope and encouragement for many of us in the UK this week. Hope that our children can settle into a normal school life again. Hope that we can meet up with friends and family soon. Hope that shops, pubs and restaurants will soon open again. Hope that we can give our …