I mentioned in the last blog that I was stressed. I amn’t as stressed now but it hasn’t gone completely. Even yesterday, I had a lovely day by the sea reading and walking and then suddenly I felt this tension and tightness in my jaw. This isn’t the first time my jaw has taken the brunt of my stress but I don’t always notice that ith as happened. I noticed yesterday though so I started wondering what exactly had caused it. Unconscious stress I decided, the worst kind of stress…

I have said before that it is difficult to move to a completely new place. I had thought that maybe it was more difficult for me as I don’t have a real job. My housemate gave me some perspective on that though; he told me that he had struggled a lot when he first moved to Galway, despite having a job when he moved.

When you’re stressed, angry or just feeling a bit down something that can immediately change your mood is to think of good things that you have in your life. It is part of the human condition to think of the bad or negative things but if we can change our focus onto what is going well for us then it can completely change your mood. I was talking to a friend of mine a week ago and I was talking about all of the difficulties I am having at the minute. He then said ‘How are things in the house?’ and that stopped me. Things are great in the house. It’s a nice house in a quiet area, my room is great and I get on with my housemates. Things are really brilliant in the house. I then thought about all of the good things that I have in my life right now and once my glasses had been switched for a more positive pair everything changed!

One of my evening practices is to write down things that I am grateful for from that day. I have been doing this since I came to Galway but I had forgotten the reason tor doing it. I had forgotten that I need to really sit with my list and I really need to feel what is going on inside me when I think about all of these wonderful things. I remembered that this is where the real gold is in this exercise!