Tag: Family

Find reasons to love yourself this Valentine’s Day

Whatever your thoughts on Valentine’s Day, whether you’re a hopeless romantic or you believe it’s an insincere and cynical commercial creation designed to suck yet more money from our wallets and purses, it at least provides an appropriate opportunity to reflect on the theme of love. I’d stick my neck out and suggest that the …

Life is all about balance and keeping the plates spinning

I’ve come to realise lately, during those rare but important brief spells of actually taking a few minutes to think things over, that life is all about balance; about keeping all the plates spinning at the same time without letting any fall off the pole and smash into pieces. And the key thing I’ve concluded …

All it takes is a minute or two

A bit of a departure this week, in that the blog post focuses on an image rather than a ‘wordy’ post. I was trying to find a way to encourage everyone to check up on family and friends; to ensure our loved ones are keeping well; to look out for each other. I started writing …

Put up that Christmas tree if you want to

This year has been no different to any other in that now Halloween and Bonfire Night are done and dusted, Christmas advertising campaigns are inescapable. This year has been very different to others for reasons we are all too familiar with. I’ve seen a number of recent social media posts where people have either put …

Mortality and me – why I’ve been thinking of how much time I have left…

Well isn’t this just the cheeriest of blog titles to ease you into those final few hours of the weekend?! Don’t worry though – this post isn’t as morbid as the title suggests. It’s actually more of a call to arms, though I have been thinking over recent weeks and months about just how much …

Lockdown concerns, anxiety, my daughter’s education, and why film nights are helping

One of my main concerns during lockdown has been my daughter’s education. During the latter stages of the previous school year, when all students were home-learning, the amount and quality of learning she experienced wasn’t as in-depth and thorough as it would have been had she been in school. This is absolutely not a slur …

Cathy’s story and why you should define how your life will be, rather than letting life define you

As referenced in last week’s post (which you can find here), a stand-alone post to tell the story of Cathy, a lady who I met during our recent break in Wales. To recap the back story, the house we rented came with a beach hut. This was an absolute godsend and proved to be ridiculously …

It’s the simple things that really matter – why a week away made me feel alive again

I’ve written about this in previous blog posts but the past week has absolutely reminded me that it is the simple things in life that really matter. I spent last week in a stunning part of Wales (Nefyn, on the Llyn Peninsula) with my wife, daughter, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. Nefyn is a small …

Don’t forget just how important the mental health of our children is

A vitally important subject which was really emphasised to me by an e-mail I received earlier this week (more of that later). The mental health of our children is vitally important and whilst we’re all clearly aware of this, it can be easy to forget it during day-to-day life. I’ll refer to our children as …

All that matters – family and friends (and a little bit of music…)

Another relatively succinct post this week (yay shout the regular readers!). I’ve reached a stage in life where it’s the simple things that mean the most to me. Amongst other things, I enjoy losing myself in a good book, listening to a long-forgotten album, the vivid colours of a sunrise / sunset (honestly – I …