How many days do you wake up and you really struggle to do anything? You know that we are all living in such a surreal world right now. We are all having them days when we just don’t do anything. All our efforts are in getting out of bed. Any sort of bad day is fine right now and I am going to tell you some reasons why. Self care is so dependable right now and we all need to utilise it. 

Self care isn’t all about the good things, the creativity, the meditation, the exercise and the all that stuff. It’s also about taking care of yourself. Doing what you need and your body needs. Stuff you love to do but also learning to take steps slowly on a bad day. If you only can manage to get out of bed one day. Then well done. Small steps are good and with the world as it is, we have to think why we have this time. Struggle through and juggle the things that are a must and the things ourselves need. By musts I mean for me work and for things for myself I would think of creativity, chill out etc. 

The main thing is to not stress. We are never going to get this time again. Never hopefully. Everyones lives are up in the air. People not working, going to school, people working and still having to homeschool. Naturally people even without mental health issues are going to suffer with mental health problems. No one is cut out to stay home every day and not see anyone than who lives in your house. I really can’t tell you anyone who could say they don’t have days where its a struggle.

Everyday I have wanted to get up, feel good, eat good and have a motivated day. Not going to lie only 4 out of 7 are like that. Maybe 1 day on the eating good. But you know motivated days are amazing, but bad days are good as well. You can really learn a lot from a day on the sofa. Especially during this time. Nothing is “normal” or the “correct” way of living. Anything and everything is ok. 

So many people and me included to some extend are all about the creativity this lockdown. Baking, painting all sorts. You know if you want to bake, girl you bake. But seriously don’t put the pressure on you to do anything. Do what you want to do when you feel like it. There’s been weeks when I have had eggs in the fridge, I go to make something, open the fridge, then I simply shut it again because I just wasn’t feeling it. Totally ok. If you feel you need to do something, do so, if not don’t worry. 

Last Friday was VE Day and a bank holiday for us in the UK. Normally it would be one to spend with family or friends. But we of course stayed home. The whole day I spent on the sofa. Stared out the window which seems to be a normal thing for me these days. Though for me, the more time I have to think the worse I feel. When the struggle is real though and been for the week, that day on the sofa an old movie and time just laying around was the perfect cuppa tea. I felt so much better from stopping, doing nothing and rebooting myself to get back on the good steps again. 

Now I am not saying that sitting around doing nothing every single day is good. If your are then try do more on the better days. Push yourself but allow yourself to not want to on certain days. You know like a healthy balance. There can be certain parts in everyday that make them bad. For me that must be the fridge calling my name. Eat me, eat me, eat me. For them days it’s just about will power and so what If you had 2 brownies that day, eat better the next.

Why were we given this time? Think about that mentally? For me and I guess many others, is that we have taken a lot for granted. It’s time to take a step back and think on how things need to continue. What needs to leave your life, what needs to happen and what you need to take forward. I have been given this time to spend in my first home before I jump ship onto my bigger and better one. Time to thrive with work and take a step back from things that weren’t how they should have been. 

Personally I actually needed this time to destress and chill. Let my body try sort itself out and put me in a good place for the future. Whenever that may be. My health isn’t always amazing as most of you know. So being able to rock out in pyjama bottoms or sweats and a lot of time to myself is super helpful. Though I am a long way off where I need to be and thankfully I have some time now, I can see that this time staying home is massively helping me. Even the bad days. 

My eating habits need to be capped. Like seriously. But its not even just lockdown that is making me eat. There is a lot going on in my body 24/7 and so naturally I feel the need to eat. Something simple that has allowed me to still graze is stocking up on fruit and vegetables. Being able to have an apple or pear for a snack rather than a chocolate bar. Makes a simple but healthy change. Everything is about balance. 

The struggles are with everyone and be ok with yourself and that life is a struggle. You know even “normal” life is, so why would this be better? If bad days are more common than good days then ok, try find that balance. I can tell you now if I wasn’t working full time, a bad day would be everyday. Don’t think I would even get dressed a little. But everyday you can force something good into the day and create the balance. So for me on VE Day, the good was that I finally wrote my face mask Friday post, but also I felt better in the evening a little, so I thought this is really important to share. Filmed my evening of self care and shared it to the world. 

It takes 3 weeks for things to become a habit. So we are all in the habit of staying home etc. imagine what it’s going to be like when we all have to go back to work and school. Waking up early, driving etc. We are all in the same boat now as we will be when we are let out. Everyone I know are just struggling with everyday things and will be when things go back to “normal.” 

You know everything is about balance. It really is. Balance the bads with the goods. Keep a positive attitude to life. Take the time you need to reboot and feel good for taking the bad day. Even introducing something little into your routine can boost your spirits. For me I look like I’ve been on holiday for a week. But I have just stayed home in my 1 bed flat. 

If you know its a day that you just need to write off as me day do it. But bad things in good days are ok too. Don’t write off everyday but distract yourself with things. Allow yourself time even to do certain things. Then you can delay them until you really have to force yourself to do so. 

The only thing I don’t suggest is FaceTiming your mum for inspiration. Mine always suggests exercise. And that is like marmite to me. It’s the last thing I want to be doing. Remember to keep smiling, safe and be unique, its better being unique than following trends. Everything will be fine.