6 Things I have learnt so far in 2019

We are now 7 months into 2019, so I have decided to look back at the past 7 months and pass on a few things I have learnt .... I must admit, turning 30 has been a hard one. I' m not feeling it and I usually LOVE birthdays ... but I reckon this year might eventually be on to something.

1) Its okay to sit still - and I don't mean literally sitting still. I mean being able to just take each day for what it is. This year I have decided to do a 'No change year'. I have this annoying habit of having a need to keep busy, do things, take on extra things, have babies, get a pet, move house etc ... and I decided with the help of my friends to try and stop these habits. 

Oddly I felt that changing something would make things better. Most of the time I wasn't really sure what I was trying to make better, but I had a feeling inside that something NEEDED to change. Little did I know that doing the opposite works even better.

Don't get me wrong it has been SO hard to stop myself from entering a comfortable rabbit hole of changing something. I have felt like I have needed to sit on my hands, or re-direct my energy onto something else - something more positive. 

In my case it has been exercise, going for walks, redirecting my energy into my family, budgeting, making future plans - I bet some of you are thinking these are normal bits and bobs to do, but for me some of them felt like extra things, not everyday things.

For example my husband and I have made a 'want list' of the things we want to do, whether it be big dreams like extending the house or small dreams like getting some garden furniture (in the sale obviously). Writing it down seems to be working pretty well, it is almost like my mind has brain dumped all the things I feel I should be doing, to turning it into a family project and taking the pressure off.

(Picture from Longleat centre parks spa .... birthday treat from some fab friends for some much needed me time with one of the closest and oldest friends)

2) You can exercise for fun or just because! I have only ever really exercised to help 'look' a certain way. Granted I never got there and would always feel deflated that it hadn't worked within 2 weeks. Nowadays, I enjoy going to the gym for me. It is my time to focus on myself, and I am really enjoying it. I have no expectations of losing weight or fitting in a certain size ... it is literally for fun. Sometimes exercise consists of attending a stretch class ... which is pure bliss and relaxing.

(Okay, so I don't have any photos of me exercising, but surfing a friend is just as good eh?)

3) You can learn so much from your kids or other peoples children - their minds are mind boggling and I find it annoying but so insightful when my daughter asks 'Why?!' ... mainly because answering 'just because' is never enough. She has got me really thinking about why we do what we do. Its amazing but also frustrating. I realise how much we just do things, as thats what we are taught and what is expected ... a lot of the time I can't even explain why .. which just gets me thinking.

4) It's okay to accept feeling guilty and leave it at that - Since finding out about my sons foot everyone knows I have been feeling guilty about it. I know in equal measure it is not my fault his foot didn't develop properly, just as much as it's not my fault that my kids didn't make the magic 37 weeks mark in pregnancy. And you know what? I have actually accepted I will feel guilty about his foot. I completely accept it for what it is, I know it wasn't my fault and thats okay. I always felt like i had to get passed the guilt feeling, and 'move on' but I think this is me moving on. I have moved passed just feeling a negative feeling towards guilt and his foot, to just feeling okay with it. It doesn't eat me up, I do not have days where I feel gloomy about it, but I just feel like it is a normal feeling now. And to me that is great!

5) I am starting to learn a bit more about how to be a bit more environmentally friendly this year, I've just been looking into re-usable nappies, reusable make up pads, not buying bottled drinks when out, using different stuff for laundry (there are these eco balls we are going to try when we run out of detergent). I've been following a few good eco friendly accounts on instagram and taking note of taking my re-usable coffee cup out. We are still very very early in our journey into this but I am looking forward to seeing if these little changes will have had a good effect in 10 years time.

This is a recent buy, which actually works and I love:

Click HERE for the Amazon link.

6) Its okay to not spend money - Its been well publicised that we are a generation who like to spend, spend fast and want things right now. And I must admit, I completely agree. It has taken me ages to accept going out for a coffee can be a treat and not an every day, or a few times a week thing. Luckily a lot of my friends enjoy a walk, or cuppas round each others houses. I have noticed a fair few people doing a 'no spend year', I' m not entirely sure I would have the will power to not spend on anything, but the concept is quite cool and I'd imagine it would change how you think about spending money.

I have read a book called 'Get your sh*t together' by Sarah Knight and it's a brilliant read to just change how you think about spending money, saving, jobs and just life in general.