Happy Mondays
Leading life and happiness coach
I DON’T know about you but I can’t be the only person who is relieved that August has hit the dust. There are common givens we are supposed to love – strawberries, ice cream and chocolate – but I don’t belong to that club. Add high summer in Britain into the mix and it makes for a month of unappetising Sundays.
A stifling commute spent with your nose pressed against someone’s armpit, other people’s holiday glee pictured on Facebook and the strange deadness of once busy streets – it’s not the good old lazy, hazy days of summer we’ve been sold. Add to that nocturnal teenagers who don’t rise before 2pm and afternoons spent craving the bliss of having the house to oneself. I am currently sighing in contentment as life returns back to normal.
September isn’t so much the last gasp of summer but a fresh breath of optimism. The shorter nights and gentle coolness mean the fans can be switched off and a new vigour rises as the torpor of August subsides and hope of the fresh starts emerges.
There is an excitement at the new term at school and the promise of growth it brings that also translates to adults whose thoughts turn to evening classes, hobbies and plans for the spare room, which may have been vacated by offspring heading for life’s next landmark.
We know where we are with September. August and its heat hit our shores like an obtuse relative that we were cluelessly obliged to accommodate. We try to tolerate it but don’t have a clue what to do with or how to behave around it. One look at the toenails displayed on trains is testament that we are not beach culture Brits.
If like me you are enjoying the new cool wind of change now is the time to get cracking on with alterations and tidy-ups. Think of the things, people, ideas or self-beliefs that have been holding you, well, in a holding pattern like those flights at airports waiting for their turn to land.
September is your time to land and not in spite of but because of the crisp, autumnal air you should arrive on terra firma with a spring in your step and gladness in your heart. You don’t have to hope to get the “nice teacher” like the kids do. The nice teacher is yourself. Open your books to the first page and let us begin:
Don’t over-complicate your thinking. Aim for clarity. When you have clarity you don’t need therapy.
To get clarity you need to know yourself. Dig deep and start writing first the list of things you don’t want in your life (that’s the easy bit) then a list of what you want more of – and how you will get it.
Stop waiting to get “there”. This is your life. This very second you can choose to do things differently. Life isn’t over there ready to start when you’ve got the guy/gal, dropped a dress size or got the car.
Have a plan. Design some life goals for your health, home, relationships, career and fun. If you go with the flow you will drift and get what you are given. Have an intention, a purpose.
Get rid of things that are dragging you down: clutter, other people’s stuff, draggy friends.
Check your fixed “I can’t do that” mindset and adopt an “I’m going to have a go” approach.