Hello friends,
Well! I am back after an almost two month break from this blog. I had not intended on staying away for quite so long but it feels so, so nice to be back, typing away on this page and sharing with you what I have been up to and where I have been. My apologies to anyone who had been hoping to see a new post and didn’t get one. If it is any consolation, I had hoped to write one a number of times over the past few weeks and then when time eluded me, I silently swore under my breath and muttered, “Tomorrow, I will do it tomorrow” and was then bitterly disappointed with myself for procrastinating. Since my last post, Autumn has truly arrived for many of us and, last night, the clocks went back by one hour here in Ireland – a sure sign that winter will be creeping in very soon and the trees will be bare in a couple of weeks.
I must explain my absence to you. Firstly, I took a much needed vacation after almost two years without one. My husband and I travelled to the Spanish island of Lanzarote for a week (you can see some of this stunning island in my video above and if, like me, you haven’t travelled for a while and are in need of some sun, sea and calming island vibes, then I encourage you to pour yourself a drink, put your feet up and enjoy some island life by travelling vicariously to Lanzarote through my video!).
Secondly, I have a new job! More on this in another blog post, but I am delighted to say I really love my new job and am happier than I have been in a very, very long time. It is keeping me extremely busy these days and I promise to write more about it at a later stage and expand a little on how this job came about and why it is the perfect fit for me. I may have shared with you before that I worked as an Executive Assistant for 24 years in large multinational companies, supporting the busiest and most stressed people I have ever met in my entire life. At times, it was very stressful for me too and I have previously shared in another post how I became very ill in 2008 through stress. This new job, while crazy busy, is hectic but not stressful because I truly love what I am doing.
However, before the new job came into existence, I needed a rest. I learnt my lesson in 2008 when I became ill, that when we feel burnt out, spent and unable to give anymore or do anymore, that we haven’t been listening to what our body has been trying to tell us, most likely for weeks or months. So, this time, I was feeling very tired and had absolutely zero energy – even first thing in the morning when I should have been more “full of beans” I was feeling ridiculously tired before the day had even begun. I have been down this road before and have suffered from adrenal fatigue in the past which can be a precursor to something worse if left untreated. So I did my usual fixes – I cut coffee (bad for the adrenal glands as it can increase cortisol production in the body which gives us that jittery feeling), tried to get more sleep, took my supplements, drank my herbal tea but nothing was working. I started to suffer quite badly from insomnia and was waking up at all hours of the night, tossing and turning and unable to get back to sleep. I meditated and diffused my essential oils (and regular readers will know I am a massive fan of both) but still, nothing.
The only thing left to do was to take a proper vacation, away from everything. To pack a small bag with some bikinis and light clothes, a few chunky novels, my Flipflops and sun-cream and just go.
It did the trick. From the very first night we arrived, I slept like a log. You know that long, deep sleep that we have as children and teenagers and then as adults it begins to completely elude us? That kind of sleep. I ate healthy food, I walked the beach, I took photos, I got lots of great footage for my video, I sat on the balcony looking out to sea and re-read an old novel that has been a favourite of mine for years. I call it “comfort reading” – when you return to an old book that feels more like a friend. I drank rosé wine and ate Gambas Pil-Pil and sat in the shade and snoozed for an hour, with nowhere in particular to go and nothing in particular to do. It was bliss. Utter bliss.
I also made a promise to myself while I was away, because I knew I would be starting my new job the day after I returned home. I decided while I was away that, when I returned, I would make rest a priority in my life. I realised that I had been running around like the proverbial headless chicken for weeks beforehand – writing my blog (which I adore), making my videos (which I also really love to do, but they do take hours and are a LOT of hard work), looking after my family and my Mom who is 82 now, interviewing for a new job (a super stressful process at the best of times) and just general life, managing priorities and generally trying to be a good human being, daughter, wife, friend and sister!
So, if you are reading this today and this is resonating with you, please take some time out for yourself this week. Even if it is just for a couple of hours to be by yourself, sit quietly, read a book or listen to music, please take the time you need. As you know, I am fond of the saying “You Cannot Pour From An Empty Cup”. So this week, refill that cup, rest, recharge, relax and reset your mind, body and soul.
Sending love as always, until next time,
Tania x
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