A November ‘how are you?’ & letting mindfulness centre you

Hello friend,

How are you?

Sorry I’ve been quiet. I’ve been meaning to write to you about a number of things including sharing a recipe for a smashing pumpkin soup I made last week. And I will.

I’ve just been struggling with a whirlwind of things happening. Fighting off a bacterial infection that’s been on my case for three weeks. This always seems to happen to me the one week I don’t juice fresh fruit and veg. And you know when everything seems to go wrong at once? I lost my voice for some days, felt like a painful lump was in my throat and have been losing more sleep than usual coughing incessantly every night. The doctor said it looked like the infection was on its last leg so put off prescribing antibiotics, assuming I’d be able to fight it off.

And I tried my best. But there have been so many bugs going round. On my third week of it I’ve given in and gotten the antibiotics, as the coughing has worsened with a seemingly never ending supply of mucus (sorry for the TMI). I’m hoping to be better soon.

Because my exhaustion levels are much higher and everything feels worse with fibromyalgia. In between that I’ve been having terrible flares of gastritis pain, for which I’m trying new medication. I’ve not even been able to think much about managing my mental health because my physical health is just too much at the moment. Then all the other life bits.

On a good note, I’ve been thinking about something my beautiful cousin and I spoke about.

It can often be hard to find happiness; many of us are searching for something or some place. And it becomes more important (it always is) to see the beauty around us and just have gratitude for every moment we have; every leaf that we witness falling, every breeze caressing our hair, sharing a smile with a stranger or delighting in the sound of a friend’s laughter.

It might not seem like much, but I am thankful for it. Because as my cousin said, sometimes it is all we have.

I hope you are able to see, hear and feel some of this around you, to experience some light amidst whatever it is you are facing. Being mindful can help to centre us.

Speak soon and keep dreaming.

Gentle hugs and love x

Image by Bronwyn

Slider image by Marko Blažević