Six years is a lifetime

You can do anything

Just looking through some images and I realised why I started this weekly writing project six month ago;

Because you can do anything……

March 2024 - Fountains Abbey Parkrun #129

This was today.

Out for a run, shower. then slimming world, back home to go out with the dogs, quick change then drive to a fitting for my first ever made to measure suit, our for a lovely lunch with my beautiful wife of 35 years, some light chores, some calls to loved ones, out with the dogs again, a cold beer, some office time, light the fire, wave the wife’s friends off, snuggle down; the end.

I know I talked about blowing your own trumpet the other week, but that is not my intention here; ‘A Day in the Life’ didn’t go too well for Gregg Wallace recently and I don’t want to follow suit; this isn’t about my busy schedule of harvester breakfasts and email checking - far from it.

My purpose is to use two simple pictures to draw your attention to the stark difference that a serious mental health episode has made to me; not planned, not big or clever; tough, challenging and at the time I thought catastrophic; but possibly the most important enforced change that could ever have happened.

So this was today too; the corresponding Friday in March, exactly six years ago - 2018.

March 2018 - My Apartment, Media City, Salford.

That was a very different day.

Alcohol sweats, little sleep, early alarms, taxis, trains, meetings, bags, bags under eyes, laptops, unhealthy food, three stone heavier, suits that don’t fit, coats and bags, travelling to various offices and living across two homes, probably got home at some time, probably drank too much, probably made no difference to anything of any importance that day, and many more like them just blend together…..that’s about all I could summarise really.

So that’s all I am saying this week, I am certainly not gloating, I am hopefully supporting anyone who reads this and feels there may be an explosion coming or there must be a better way; whatever the situation you are in at work or at home.

Well guess what?

There is a better way; and you can find it.

You can do anything

Six years is nothing; we’ve only just got started.