A list of good things

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for me. 🥲

The darker days and colder weather probably isn’t helping along with big life changes, so I wanted to write a list of things that are just… good things. Things that sometimes I forget about in my moment of anxiety or when I’m feeling sad.

Whilst I was writing this, I felt a lot better remembering that although there seems to be a lot of bad days especially this year, there’s also a hell lot of great things. Note: this list is in no particular order.

• Living in an apartment where I’ve made the space feel like home
• Exercising and getting the endorphin rush afterwards
• Progressing in my strength with things like pull-ups and push-ups
• The sun when it comes in leaks into my apartment. Sometimes when I close my eyes it feels like summer.
• My plants
• Closing my activity rings
• Cooking myself and my partner good food
• Shopping less
• Making my favourite shake with banana, blueberries, greek yoghurt and protein powder
• Long walks on weekends
• Being away from screens
• Having a heart-to-heart with my partner
• Talking in the dark in bed before sleeping
• Making a meal for my partner and seeing his face light up
• Re-connecting broken relationships
• Talking on the phone with my family for hours
• Looking for Christmas presents
• Writing to reflect
• Writing with gratitude
• Telling people you care about that you care about them
• Enjoying my favourite shows and movies
• Watching the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon and laughing at all the jokes
• Playing games for fun
• Playing games with my sister
• Learning something new every day
• Structured learning
• When something reminds someone of you and tells you about it
• Hot chocolate and biscuits
• Cleaning, decluttering and tidying up
• Up-cycling items
• Texting friends
• Yoga practice
• Realising that you have more than enough and feeling content
• Caring colleagues
• Successfully setting boundaries with work. Taking breaks without guilt.
• My “at-home” spa days
• Following a recipe well
• Hugs
• Thanking someone for everything that they’ve done for you (without them realising it per se)
• Asking for recommendations, recieving kind words
• Standing my own ground for my choice
• Being told that you bright up a room
• Being told that you have an unknown superpower: “the Pauline thing that you do”
• Sharing thoughts/ideas with others at virtual events
• Breathing
• Blue skies (even though it’s cold)
• Wearing out all my favourite comfortable clothes
• Helping others with work/life
• Connecting with communities
• Feeling hydrated
• Ugly crying it all out when you need to
• Realising that imposter syndrome ain’t shit, but you are the shit.
• Reminiscing on the best memories
• Someone recommending something to you, giving it a go yourself and loving it
• Singing even though you can’t sing
• Dancing even though you can’t dance
• Connecting with new people even though it’s all virtual
• Laughing at something so much it hurts
• Inside jokes
• Not scrolling too much on social media
• Putting the heating on
• Wearing comfy socks
• Light at the end of the tunnel — a vaccine!
• The people I care about are safe and healthy

That’s my good things list right now. Is there anything that you would add? 💜