Hello, nice to meet you

Just lately I have been reflecting on who I am - what brings me joy, what stresses me out, what makes me laugh, what makes me sad, what gets my blood pumping, what gets my heart racing, what gets my blood boiling.

Some random facts, in no particular order:

I am happy in water

Knowing that there is cruelty to animals in the world (including eating them) brings me intense sadness

I really enjoy walking workouts to 80s rock music

I love spreadsheets, but too many number targets in my daily life stress me out (6 glasses of water per day, 5-a-day fruit & veg, workout 5 times per week etc) even when I know it’s good for me (and yes, I am making the choice to do those things…)

Fascinating conversations really make me tick

It is really important to get to know ourselves and to give ourselves permission to be who we are, like what we like, feel what we feel. We cannot love that that we do not know. But I know that I am constantly changing, growing, shifting, so the way I feel about those things above may not be how I always feel. And whilst I may feel right now that it is nigh on impossible for my beliefs and feelings to change on some of my more stronger beliefs, I vividly remember a time - less than 10 years ago - when I couldn’t imagine not wanting to go out dancing on a Saturday night. The only dancing that I get joy from on a Saturday night these days is Strictly, and it’s not because I’ve become housebound because of lockdown restrictions. The thought of going to a nightclub now fills me with horror.

The point is that it feels really important to me to check in with myself regularly to see if I still hold the same feelings and opinions about things. It’s very easy to get stuck into habits, or to continue to tell ourselves that we like this, or that we don’t enjoy that, because that is the way we’ve always felt. There doesn’t even have to be any great reason for a change in feeling or opinion. It can just be that life is taking us down a different path, for a reason that may or may not be apparent.

So I advise getting to know who you are on a constant basis. Be curious, don’t let you hold you back by old habits, and see what adventures you’re going to be taking yourself on.

Thank you for listening.

*if you enjoy the themes of these musings and would like to learn more, or join in similar conversations, please head over to The Listening House www.atthelisteninghouse.com