Hello! It's Amanda Green here, writing to you from the midst of a chaotic existence!
I wanted to write a series of blogs and I wanted to do it months ago, however, due to the way my life looks right now, a marijuana smoking three toed sloth could beat me on pace for this project!
So here I am with a quick newsletter in the hope that I can share some value by looking at my current situation and maybe you can relate. Part of the chaos in my life is going on around me and part of it, as always, is located in my mind.
Life is actually great but sometimes I need to remind myself about that. My family and I have moved house twice in a 6 week period (so much fun!) and now we live in our new house that is under construction and co-habiting my in laws. There isn't much privacy, there isn't much peace, yesterday there wasn't any water (wondered why my washing came out dry...and dirty!) and we are surrounded by boxes of belongings...yes cosy!
All this on top of life, working and looking after a family is rather a challenge. I have been hugely frustrated that I can't seem to find any time or space to do what I really want to and that nothing is where I want it or how I want it in my home. HOWEVER, it's all about perspective. I could continue to have this battle with myself or I could look at things differently and go with the flow, speaking as a recovering control freak, I am getting better at this.
Yesterday, I chose to see the funny side of everything, despite being tired. I also gave up the battle and reminded myself that I just can't achieve everything I want to do at this time, it's too crazy! Typically I recharge my batteries by being alone but that's not on the horizon so I need to adapt. I am responsible for managing my own emotions as well as having a positive impact on my daughters. If I stay so focused on the fact that I am not doing everything I want to, I am going to miss what's happening right now. Everything is temporary, it won't always be like this so I am practicing mindfulness.
I feel much more peaceful already having adpoted this attitude. I have started to embrace the community aspect of my environment and think about how I can make it better for everyone involved. I also listen to music very loudly in my car (on the rare occasion I am alone) as I drive awat from the house, imagining I am going off on a retreat....for one!!!
I know I am so lucky, I am extremely grateful for the life I have and I am constantly working on being a better person and having a better attitude. As part of my day job, I organised a company visit very recently for our Lancashire business owners to Recycling Lives
www.recyclinglives.com in Preston. We were blown away by the work they are doing and the social impact they are having. The stories they shared about the people they are helping to rebuild their lives since facing homelessness or being in prison were inspirational #perspective.
I hope you can pick up a tip from this newsletter. They have certainly helped me recently. As always, thanks for reading and stay positive...your life depends upon it, Amanda xx