As the clocks went back last weekend, I heard so many comments about how dark it is now in the evenings. So, this week’s blog is about light.
 
When someone lightens up your life just by their presence, it’s a wonderful feeling to bask in that light. When someone is a bit of a downer, there is usually some hidden inner baggage which contains sadness and darkness. Which do you bring to the party? A little light or a little dark? A lot of optimism or a little pessimism?
 
Before the days of flicking a switch to light up a whole town or village, one candle had to be lit by another. If you are aware that you are holding some darkness, it might be useful to spend time with someone whose light is already lit, and stays lit in most situations. Eventually, we may learn the art ourselves, and then act as a candle to others.

I’ve written many times about being busy and how it can take hold of your life, your thoughts and actions. I’ve been in the grip of ‘busy-ness’ so many times, I’ve lost track. And the conclusion I have come to? I have to choose to be less busy. I have to get off the busy-treadmill, the busy-hamster wheel, and decide it’s not for me. The world still turns regardless of how I operate.

Brené Brown sums it up beautifully:
 
“’Crazy-busy’ is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us.”
 
It might not be easy, but I’m trying to stay alongside my life, rather than out in front, so I can catch up with myself. And this means I have to plan well and let some ‘vital’ things pass me by…

What do you think about this?
 
The quickest way to unhappiness is to compare yourself to others.
 
I think this is so true: comparing yourself to others will leave you feeling one of three things – inferior, superior or impressed. All three of these states are tricky because they all disregard the underlying principle of our true connection with each other - mutual love and positive regard, based on independently-generated self-esteem.
 
What to do? Be pleased for someone else and who they are/what they can do, and recognise all that you are/what you can do too. Being grateful for what you are and what you have is a great place to start. And if you must compare yourself to someone, try comparing yourself now to who you used to be – and see how far you have come!

As it’s the first Wednesday of the month, it’s guest blog time. It ties in really nicely with Clean Well-Being’s 8th birthday celebrations, as I’m looking back on all the work I have done over the past years, including working with charities. I have focused on those which have causes that mean a lot to me – from mental health, domestic violence and bereavement to sport, cancer care and the environment.
 
This is where Sport in Mind comes in. I’m currently working with this excellent charity on a couple of supercool projects and wanted to share some of the work they do.
 
With World Mental Health Day 2020 approaching this coming Saturday, I’m handing over the blog reins to a key member of the team from the award-winning Berkshire charity Sport in Mind that delivers sport and physical activity programmes to help aid the recovery of people experiencing mental health problems. 
 
Someone once asked me, “What do you want to do with your life?” And my answer was simple – I want to help people. Today, so many years later, and my mission in life remains the same, but the difference is now I’m in a position to not just help one or two people, as through my work with Sport in Mind I can help and empower thousands of the people experiencing mental health problems each year. 
 
World Mental Health Day on 10th of October is obviously an important day in the calendar for my charity Sport in Mind, but it should be a really important day for all of us because every year at least 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem. Despite the fact millions of us will experience mental health problems this year there’s still a great deal of stigma and misunderstanding about mental illness so it’s really important to talk about how you’re feeling, particularly with life as it is at the moment.
 
Since lockdown, I’ve spoken to so many people who have been struggling mentally and feeling isolated. If there’s anyone reading this who is feeling the same, I just want to let you know you’re not alone, there’s millions of people feeling exactly the same as you so try to connect with friends or family and let them know how you’re feeling. It’s also really important to be active as it’s one of the most effective ways to lift your mood; so many of the people I’ve spoken to during lockdown have been able to improve their mental health by taking part in physical activity regularly. The term physical activity can of course be scary to many of us, but when we talk about physical activity that doesn’t have to mean hardcore fitness workouts or sports sessions, it can be things like going for a walk, dancing in the living room or digging in the garden – anything that will increase your breathing rate. Doing something simple like going for a brisk walk and dancing around the living room really helped my mental health through lockdown.
 
Since Sport in Mind was established in 2010, our charity’s mission has been about providing accessible and supportive sport and physical activity opportunities to improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems. Our sessions are never about how good you are at sport or how fit you are, they are simply about HAVING FUN and giving people are bit of a break from everything else that's going on in their lives.
 
If you’re interested in Sport in Mind’s work, please contact info@sportinmind.org.
 
And here is a video about Sport in Mind’s new dance session: https://www.dropbox.com/s/caop9doynsab1xp/MUM%20BABY%20TEASER.mp4?dl=0 .