Well, I’m still loving the Power of Now and I’m annotating like crazy. I haven’t underlined a book so much since studying Wuthering Heights at A-Level and Mrs Batch introduced us to a colour coded noting system.

The following paragraphs got me so excited I wrote a giant: “YES!!” next to them. They’re about the voice in our head. The voice that makes us miserable and ever so slightly crazy:

‘When someone goes to the doctor and says, ‘I hear a voice in my head’ he or she will be most likely sent to a psychiatrist. The fact is that, in a very similar way, virtually everyone hears a voice, or several voices, in their head all of the time: the involuntary thought processes that you don’t realise you have the power to stop. Continuous monologues or dialogues.

‘You have probably come across ‘mad’ people in the street incessantly talking or muttering to themselves. Well, that’s not much different from what you and all the other ‘normal’ people do, except that you don’t do it out loud. The voice comments, speculates, judges, compares, complains, likes, dislikes, and so on. The voice isn’t necessarily relevant to the situation you find yourself in at the time; it may be reviving the recent or distant past or rehearsing or imagining future situations. Here it often imagines things going wrong and negative outcomes; this is called worry. Sometimes this soundtrack is accompanied by visual images or ‘mental movies’. Continue reading →

Hello all, Happy January! How are you? Happy? Hungover? Optimistic? Knackered? Sick? I’m a bit of all of those things, but, to quote that great spiritual leader, Arnold Schwarzenegger, I’M BACK.

And it feels good.

Just to recap, it is exactly a year since I started this blog. By now I was supposed to have gone through 12 self-help books – one a month, as planned. There would have been highs and lows, tears and revelations, romance and rejection,  all coming together to form some sort of profoundly moving (but neat and tidy) epiphany on December 31st 2014.

Continue reading →

Be honest. Be kind. See the funny side. Exercise. Laugh. Lighten up. Have the difficult conversations and do the difficult jobs. Don’t run away. Speak your mind quietly, clearly and respectfully. People are not mind readers. Spit it out. Word hard and enjoy it. Take pride and satisfaction in your abilities. Have confidence. Go for the big things – why not? What’s the worst that can happen? Failure won’t kill you. Say no. Say yes. See the good in people, don’t judge. Listen, understand, forgive. Have fun. Be patient. Nothing is forever. Cherish the day and cherish the people in your life – you are so lucky to have them. Be humble: you’re no better than anyone else and no worse either. We’re all trying our best, we’re all the same, really. Love with all your heart and learn from everything. When things are hard know that it will pass and none of it matters that much anyway. Don’t be a drama queen and don’t take yourself too seriously. You’re just a little dot passing through so make the most of it. Sing, dance, look at the sky and be grateful. If in doubt tidy your room and make a plan – sometimes it helps to get out of your head and get practical. Most importantly though, have a cup of tea and remember this: You’re doing great. xx