Happy New Year! (Belated I guess as I come to you so late)
We’ve made it into a new year, a new era, a new time and for one thing I feel very refreshed

After reflecting on how the year went (as you usually do when it comes to the end of December) one thing I realised was that I think I, and a lot of other people did not thrive but just survived, barely, just making it through the year.

I knew I wanted to make a blog post about this, especially as towards the end of the year I went through a really tough time mentally, (I swear, I never realised the effect of it getting dark at 4pm can have on you!), but I guess I never had the motivation to do so. Until I listened to a podcast from She’s In A Pod called “Thriving OR Surviving” a recap of 2021 (check it out guys, very good episode)

The girls highlighted something which was really important when looking at surviving and thriving

“Surviving means to continue live or exist, while thrive can mean to grow or develop well, to prosper or to flourish. The differences between these mindsets is surviving is doing what is necessary to live whilst thriving is not being satisfied just surviving but reaching above this to make continual progress.”

I never related to something so much! The second half of 2021 for me was a period of just survival, trying to make it to the end of another draining week. For me the end of the year became a constant cycle of these repeated words “okay Monday is done, only 4 more days to go” or “nearly there” or “just keep going” before you end up with a weekend that goes in a blink of an eye.

It’s all well and good to keep on going with words of encouragement to get you through the week, but when you are running on autopilot, it can be draining and difficult.
I literally visualise myself (follow me on this one) at a track race, be it 100m or 200m, and you are nearly at the end of the race where you give it your absolute all, because you want to win of course. You are pushing, clenching your fist whilst driving it through the air as you head first over the finish line…

But then the race doesn’t stop there, you have to go around the track all over again, perhaps each round the slowest person has to come out, and you keep on going round until there is one person who is crossing the finishing line.

Or you know them movies where one person wake sup from a dream and they are stuck in this repeat of their day each day, and they have to try and change something in order to escape it (watch Naked on Netflix as I realise that was probably a very poor explanation of the point I was trying to make)

Anyways….

My aim or goal for the year is to not repeat that, to not just survive another year, to not look back on 2022 and think at least I just made it, it was a struggle, but I made it. This year I want to thrive through the year.

Here are some tips I’ve learnt on doing so:

Start in your mind:
One thing I’ve been learning is how to control the mind more. A lot of things start from the mind- I learnt in therapy that our mind is what impact our behaviours. Normally we think changing our behaviour or changing the action will impact our mind, but its really the other way round.
So, this year, I want to challenge the way I think and perceive things. Of course, this means just being more optimistic, hopeful and positive about things.

Think about what you have and be grateful:
To thrive means to grow and develop well, and with growth comes gratitude. When I was going through a difficult time, a lot of people reminded me to think of all the blessings that were coming through the year. That was definitely the last thing I wanted to hear but it came in handy. I started to ponder on all the good things that happened to me and how that helped me to thrive.

Make an effort to change your day:
As mentioned before, one thing I felt like I was doing was running on autopilot, each day felt the same and it definitely did not help that it got dark by 4pm lol! I’ve decided to make my days very special, if that means having a catch-up call with a friend, going for a walk, treating myself to a relaxing evening, or whatever it may be. This is another thing that I have learnt during therapy, making an effort to fit in actual activities throughout your day to make your day feel different.