Post #2

If you read my previous story, you'll notice that the pictures at the top are strikingly similar (ignore the big love heart on the first one as I stole it from my Instagram page.) They weren't chosen by accident, let me tell you! I have this nifty wee app called SmallTalk that sends you six different snipits every day - a fun fact, a joke, an 'On This Day' event, a 'Word of the Day', a 'Tip of the Day', and a quote. The quotes, especially, tend to (maybe try to) be inspirational. A wee surge of pep and positivity if you will, to start your day, or end your day - you tell it when to send you notifications. I get mine at 11am everyday because I know I'll definitely be compos mentis enough to read and appreciate it, or if I'm busy, I find a quiet minute to sit, reflect and digest its contents during a sutible snack break.

Today's quote was the one pictured above. It nearly mirrors what I wrote at the end of yesterday's story. Am I a mind reader? Can I see the future? Who knows... but it made me stop and think for a sec.

"Every day is not a success. Every year is not a success. You have to celebrate the good."

This is what we need to do. All the time. Pandemic situation or not.

For some - getting out of bed is a success. For some - success is remembering to eat food at reasonable times of the day, or putting on a load of washing and hanging it up to dry instead of leaving it festering in the washer, cleaning the dishes or putting away the dry ones first before piling on the fresh ones... tasks that some find menial are really hard for others.

Take my day as an example - I woke up feeling better than yesterday (note to self: getting out of the bed on the left side makes absolutely no difference to getting out on the right side...) got ready for my virtual Ballet, Barre and Stretch class (which I nailed by the way, not that I'm bragging but I felt marvellous before, during and after!) and as soon as it was done, immediately peeled off the bra-tights combo and jumped in the shower which is the absolute best thing about gymming at home! but while I was in there, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had a lot to do... I started making mental lists in my head as I prepped my hair, face and upper body for a Self Tape (because who even wears trousers when you're only filming from the boobs up?!) brushed all those thoughts away as I recorded it in an unusually small number of takes, dragged the three sections into iMovie, smooshed them together to make something reasonably watchable, uploaded the link, whizzed it to my Agent (who sent the loveliest response) and then finished off the day with Domino's Two for Tuesdays, a Marvel Movie Marathon and a gin, without a second thought of lists.

Now read it back and find my successes for the day.

Go on, I'm sure you can spot them. I definitely can. But if you can't then I'll tell you - there's a fair few! And I am going to celebrate them.

• I got out of bed
• I got dressed
• I was prepared for the start of my class.
• I gave my body a great work out.
• I washed it all away in the shower, forgetting about the mistakes I made and the fact that I only wore a bra and tights without a top to cover my belly (which I always do as I have some self conscious chubby moments) and that other people could see me exercise wearing only that.
• I did my hair and make up.
• I made a bloody good self tape AND managed to figure out how to work iMovie!
• I let myself eat what I wanted and have a wee bevvy (an alcoholic drink for those who don't speak Glasweigan) without feeling guilty about it.
• I forgot about the world and everything else I need to do for two whole movies and don't feel guilty about it.

This is allowed. This is what we all need to do to give ourselves a break from focusing on the negatives.

So the next time you start beating yourself up about not doing that thing you said you were going to do, or not ticking everything off your lists - be it mental or physical - focus on the successes. Celebrate the things you did. Big or small, boring or exciting, everyday or extraordinary. Because when you do - you'll start to see yourself in a new light. One that will be noticed by the others around you.

Keep positive and stay safe.

♥️