Being inspired

I went and saw the Pixar film Brave a couple of days ago. Not only was Brave a brilliant film but before the film started there was a beautiful short animation called La Luna by Pixar. If you ever get to see it I really recommend to. It is a beautiful film about a young boy, his father and grandfather who tidy up the stars on the moon (watch it and you will see what I am trying to explain). The father and grandfather try and teach the boy their way of doing the job. However the young boy does not like those ways and so develops his own. Once he develops his own way the three of then get the job done with ease.
I loved this film as it was a stunning piece of art that I found really inspiring. I love the way it showed that other peoples ways of doing things may not be the right path for you, it showed that you can create your own path and if it's your own you will be happy and being happy has a global impact.
The main thing I have taken away from it is believe in yourself and believe that your path that you create is a wonderful thing.

A healthy attitude

"A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier." Author unknown

I love this quote, it fills me with questions like who can you infect with a healthy attitude? What does a healthy attitude do for yourself and those around you? Does a healthy attitude make you more successful? Happier?

So what is a healthy attitude? There are many different views on this but for me it is about your body and mind being in tune, seeing yourself in a positive light, being able to achieve goals that you set, being able to have fun and enjoy life.

What can a healthy attitude effect? I think it can effect pretty much every aspect of life. A healthy attitude can effect how you view yourself, how you interact with others, your relationships, your job, your satisfaction with life, your coping mechanisms. I think the list is endless. So if it effects this much how can it be improved, developed and changed?

I have looked at different techniques, different views on how to increase a healthy attitude. I think to start with you need to acknowledge that it is an attitude so it can be changed and you have control of your attitudes. I think this is really empowering knowing that your in control. So you can change it and your in control so what now? How can you improve or change your attitude? Here are a few things that I have found that have helped me;
~ keeping a gratitude journal. A place where I wrote down what I am thankful for. I try and do this daily.
~ exercise. I find going to the gym, swimming, walking, any form of exercise helps me. I think scientifically it's about endorphins and other neurotransmitter but for me it's about having time to myself, focusing on something, taking time out and working on myself.
~ having a bath. I find having a bath really relaxing and gives me time to think through stuff and be able to let go of it.
~ being by the sea. I find the sea puts things into perspective.
~ eating healthy most of the time. I love my treats and those foods you love to eat but also I feel so much nicer about myself and the world if I eat well.
~ pamper myself. Things like painting my nails, getting my eyebrows done, having a massage, getting my hair cut. All these things help me feel good about myself and the world.
~ take time to think through things and then let them go. I find just brushing things under the carpet just makes them worse in the long term.

So here's s few things that I do to improve and maintain a health attitude.

Self confidence

How many of you have asked why can I not be more confident? Why can I not be happy in my own skin? Why can I not look like all those pretty people out there?

I know I have and keep doing so. But I have decided to change because what makes them out there better then me? I am me, I am a person, I have people that I love and who love me, so why do I still ask those questions? And what can I do about them so I can move forward and be really happy in my own skin?

So this is what this blog will be about; exploring self confidence/ self esteem/ self worth, finding if there are tools and techniques that do work, looking at research into self esteem and getting people's own stories about themselves.

So please join me on this journey and let me know what you think, tell me your story and let's leave those questions behind!

Lifting myself up

I know its been a while since I have written. This is because this last couple of weeks I have struggled, fought, went backwards, went forwards, felt stuck, felt alive. A time of some interesting and different feelings. So instead of dwelling on the feelings I have decided to share how I got myself up, lifted myself to where I am now.

• I had a good catch up with one of my good friends,
• Had some girly time with friends,
• pampered myself;
• painted my nails,
• changed how I did my makeup,
• made an effort in what I was wearing,
• I had a good cry and let the emotions out,
• I read a book that I have wanted to read for ages called the Labrinth. A good novel that I got sucked into and thoroughly enjoyed it,
• I thought about what it was that was creating these range of emotions inside me and came to the conclusions that;
•  I was thinking that I might not deserve the great stuff that was happening in my life. This was a difficult thought to acknowledge as I have done some work on letting go of my conflict that I wasn't good enough yet here I was back in that same feeling. I felt like I had taken a step back. So once I acknowledged this I wanted to do some work on that feeling. I started by thinking about all the positives in my life, about what I had succeeded, about what I had achieved, overcome and the people who were in my life. This put me in a better state, a state that felt of confidence, love, achievement, and positivity. From this good state I looked at the root of why I didn't feel good enough, looked at the very first time I felt it and thought that in that moment there must be something still left to learn. I learnt that I did deserve success and happiness, and it is ok to be happy.
• That I was focusing on some of the negatives, about the things that I haven't achieved yet. I think this stemed from the feelings of not being good enough. So when I changed my state I started noticing the good things in my life; the fantastic people, the amazing opportunities, the knowledge that I have, the lovely place I live, the joys of living by the sea. The things that I had started to take for granted, when I changed my state, changed what I was noticing. I noticed the good, the joy, the fun and the love
• I did some work about how I saw what was going on. I pictured that the light of fun and enjoyment I had was fading. So I fed it more light, I opened the windows to flood sunlight in, I then opened up the picture to allow the warmth, light, freshness in. This really helped.

Doing these things really helped me and moved me forwards and lifted myself up.

my melt down and then my putting myself together

So with all the work I had been doing on myself and how I thought about myself I thought I was feeling a lot better about me and being me. But it all fell apart this weekend. So here is the story and how I got myself from that place to somewhere new and somewhere with learning.

The story:
I was getting dressed for a girly night out but I could not find an outft that I felt nice in. For me feeling nice in the outfit is the most important part. So I spent sometime going through my wardrobe and could not find anything. Then I thought that I could do my hair and makeup to make myself feel better. Well that didn't seem to work. I went back to look at the wardrobe and had a melt down. I then text my friend and she came over and supported my to chose an outfit. I retouched my makeup and looked hard in the mirror, looking at the parts of me that I liked, and the parts that I loved. I then did some visual work, changing what I pictured as heavy and ugh, to something light.

My learnings:

• My friends are brilliant and a huge part of my life. They are part of my support network. They know me so well that they know exactly what to say to help cheer me up :) so thank you to my friends for being you.
• Changing how you see things has a dramatic effect on how you feel. I changed something that I saw and felt as really heavy into something a lot lighter. I did this by changing it into a feather. This meant that it was very light and free to be all that it can be. This metaphor helped me look at myself in a lighter more free way.
• That there is good days and some not so good days but it is about enjoying life to the fullest and being all that you can be. So the days that aren't so great look at why and look at changing them into a good day. I have done this by changing the makeup I wear, talking to my friends, thinking about a time that I felt really great and by remembering the good points about myself.

So I started this week from a mixed weekend; a bit good, a bit fun, a bit not so fun, a bit confused,
 just bits and pieces. The next blog will look at how this week I pieced myself back together.

A reflection of week 1

So week 1 is completed and I am strating week 2 of my living healthily plan. I just wanted to reflect on last week so that I can learn from it. So here goes....

• I've really enjoyed the walking into work. It has meant that I am wide awake and feel really energised for the day.
• My energy levels throughout the day have increased.
• My creativity has leaped and bounded so that my head is full of ideas which I am loving.
• I am sleeping better.
• I feel better about myself.

So these are the really positive things that have come out of increasing my exericise and eating a little less.
The less positive things are:

• I am tired in the evening, but I think that as my fitness level increases so will my energy in the evening.
• I seem to get the munchies at 11 am so I am now taking a healthy snack with me.

Thats all I can think of at the moment. So my reflection is that the benefits out weigh any negatives. :)

So here begins week 2. It is already full of new exciting things, catch up with two old friends, seeing my sister and learning new things.

Keeping motivated

So it is day two of my  new job, and about a week into my keeping fit and healthy plan and I'm tired. So how do I keep motivated? This is the question I have been asking myself today. So the answers I have come up with are;

• being fit and healthy is important to me so I just need to remind myself of this
• having a routine to my exercise would be useful so that I get into a pattern and don't need to spend a lot of energy on the thinking of when and how. I have decided to walk to and from work. This will mean that exercise becomes a routine part of my day,
• that I need many different forms of motivation, such as a pitcure in my head of what I am working towards, having some great music that helps me get in s great state.

These are the answers I came up with today. If anybody has any other ideas and inputs I would really appreciated it.