It’s Okay To Not Be Okay Sometimes

Hi girls,

So, I’ve been feeling pretty rubbish for the last couple of weeks if I’m honest. Last week I was absolutely exhausted and had very little energy which I normally have a lot of but I didn’t feel physically ill so I wasn’t sure what was wrong. I tried doing my normal exercising routines during the week but failed miserably each time. I’d come home in the evenings with the plan of cooking, doing the washing up, laundry – all the usual life chores, but all I wanted to do was to get straight into bed and fall asleep. I couldn’t concentrate at work, staring at my computer wishing the day would end (again unusual for me).
Then the following week comes around and I get the cold and the cough that everybody seems to be catching. So that was another week of not being my usual self and getting behind on usual life tasks like exercising and loading the dishwasher.
In my head I was constantly giving myself a hard time as I was being lazy; not cooking healthily or exercising etc which was sinking myself deeper into a pit of feeling miserable.
On top of that, my skin had flared up in the last few weeks with spots all over my chin. Now I was never a spotty teenager which I am very grateful of but why are they suddenly appearing now. I sometimes get the occasional one little spot when my hormones are riffling and it’s that time of the month but it wasn’t that time of the month. I have heard from a lot of friends that they have suffered from bad skin this summer in London. Due to the heat we’ve had (which was amazing don’t get me wrong!), we’re all getting very hot, sticky and sweaty which is then opening our pores. Then we get on the dreadful underground trains (also as hot and sweaty) and our skin just absorbs all this dirt and pollution so much more as our pores are open. This is my theory anyway and I hope that with the weather cooling down my skin will cool down too (fingers crossed).
Anyway, the added surprise party on my chin was definitely not helping my mood. But then I remembered what I learnt earlier this year in a mindfulness course I attended; that being mindful is about acknowledging and understanding how our bodies are feeling. I was stressing out about not being on my ‘A-game’ and the worries of not exercising, when actually the anxious feelings were causing or part causing my skin problems and my feelings of exhaustion.
It is important to acknowledge and understand what our bodies are trying to tell us. If we’re suddenly more exhausted than usual then perhaps it’s important to take that time out of our usual busy routine and relax. We need to give our bodies and minds a break sometimes.

In today’s world with social media being a big part of our lives, we’re being fed (daily) perfect lies about how celebrities, models, entrepreneurs and our friends have these perfect lives of feeling and looking great. Everybody will instantly take a picture of themselves smiling, at the gym, on a night out – any time they feel good, but what about the pictures of us in ugly pyjamas, binging Netflix and eating our body weight in snacks (we all have those days sometimes). Understandably everyone would rather upload a picture of themselves looking fab than looking drab but it’s important to remind ourselves that it’s NOT THE FULL PICTURE WE SEE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Don’t let your mind trick you into thinking that this person is ‘doing life’ better than you because they’ve gone to the gym today and you haven’t. So that person may be having a better week than you but the tables will turn and suddenly you’ll feel great again.

So if you’re having a bad week this week as I have been just remember…

IT’S OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY SOMETIMES.

Sending lots of love as always xxxx

Ps, see below my full picture…