Climbed Out The Comfort Zone

Honestly, I’m surprised I can even type today's post. My arms are aching so much I’ve spent half the day just stroking them, telling them everything’s going to be alright. 

I went indoor climbing at Arch Climbing Wall in Bermondsey last night, with me Rooley. She’s been climbing for about 8 months and she’s bloody gangsta at it. I saw a video she posted on insta of her climbing and I wanted to give it try. Plus it was a good excuse for us to hang out. 

We got lost trying to find the place. We learnt yesterday that there are times that we both have the ability to be shit at reading maps. Seriously it would have been easier to have found Narnia. Thankfully we bumped into a lady who just happened to be going to the same place as us and managed to use the directions her friends had given her to get us there. There was a queue to get in when we arrived. Apparently this one is a very popular location. So I got registered, got changed, picked up my climbing shoes and off we went. Being the anxious Annie that I am, as much as I had been looking forward to trying this, I did wake up with an element of fear. With my luck with injuries, I was sure there was a higher chance of me plummeting to my death (I know, proper drama queen) When I voiced these concerns at work, everyone soothed my overzealous mind, by reminding me that I would be strapped into a harness, controlled by someone else, so I had nothing to worry about. That statement went a long way to putting my mind at rest. 

Fun fact, Arch climbing doesn't use harnesses. You just climb. Climb up. Climb down. Climb side to side. Even climb horizontally. So upon realising that I would be climbing up a wall, with the only person to rely on for not falling being myself, It occurred to me that I could either pull up a stool in the little cafe and read my book, whilst waiting for Rools, or I could strap on a pair and starting climbing. Thankfully it was the latter. To be fair, all of the floors are covered with crashmats. I managed 4 climbs before my body gave out. This shit takes its toll on you physically. It didn't help that the higher I climbed the more fear set in. However, it's a damn good workout and I have to say it does get you quite determined to get to the top each time you climb. By my 3rd climb I was gaining a little confidence and was starting to find my stride. By the time I had finished the muscles in my forearms were dead. Holding myself up on was about to become impossible. That was my cue to have a walk round and just watch other people. I have to say, some of the climbers, I saw amazed me. The body strength and the technique were impressive. 

I'm not sure I’ll be climbing as my regular workout, but I definitely want to give it another go and soon. I enjoyed it and would like to see, how I get on with less fear and more practice. Plus you just get talking to people, which makes it a social activity as well as a physical one. As far as trying something new goes, this experience gets a 👍🏾 from me. I had to bring my mouth down to my toothbrush rather than the normal bring my toothbrush up to my mouth this morning, because my arms a literally dead, but it was totally worth it. 

Have a great day, remember you are a unicorn and don't let anybody shit on your rainbow ❤️

Get Up and Get Out

As if my body clock really woke me up and 6:30am on a Saturday morning 🙄

Logic would have suggested I stayed awake. The comfort of my bed recommended otherwise. So when my alarm when off at 8am, I almost threw my phone. That's the problem with going back to sleep, it makes you more tired when the time comes to actually get up. In my case grumpier. Nonetheless I forfeited the coziness of my bed and got up.

I got walk the walk done - video below.  I even switched up my route getting in 11.5k rather than usual 10. I'm not sure I will be doing that every week, walking up 2 hills back to back is great for my glutes but I wanted to fall back into the land of nod as soon as I got home.

As I have been holed up in my house on weekends since the beginning of the year, I decided it was time to take that crucial step of doing more. So I jumped my newly toned ass, on a train to green park and went to a little hot spot i like to hang out in. Waterstones. Yes, the book shop. I discovered it when I went to a meetup event there last year.  This one is 5 floors high and the best thing is you can just rock up and chill out on one of their many sofa's.  So that's what I did.  My book "My Name is Nobody" has reached that peak point, where I'm struggling to put it down. I love this point of any book - you're so engrossed you block out the whole world and  you just want to finish it to find out how it ends.  I was in there for a good couple of hours, before I  went to choose some more books to buy - Note to self - remember to research books/authors before going to buy. This place contains more books than the library in Beauty and the Beast.

It only occurred to me how hungry I was when I walked up the stairs from the 1st to the 5th floor to use the toilets (only to be told they were out of order, so I had to use the ones of the lower ground floor). I really got those steps in today. 24,772 to be precise.  So I  went to grab a coffee and a cinnamon danish.  FYI damn good Danish. Now I'm thinking about it I should have bought one to go.  I mean I have earned the calories right.  As I was in no hurry I casually strolled back to the station. Even bumped into a colleague from work on the way.

The point to these chronicles of my days movements, was that that even though I was spending the day on my own, I was doing something I enjoyed and was OK being by myself.  The thing is even when your out on your own,  you meet and can end up chatting to random people.  For example, once I was back on the tube, a group of girls, jumped on just before the doors were closing and one got stuck, so the others fought with the door to help her. Standard procedure - my girls would have done the same. Now the train driver, decided to announce that the train was now being held in the platform due to the restraining of the door. Fair play. However this driver chose to broadcast to the whole train that "due to some people being idiots, the train was being held up until further notice" He then continued with his rant by pointing out that "Its not hard to be adults, thankfully for these idiots that held up the train and that they should have used there brains and waited for the next one to arrive" To which, myself and 3 other ladies in the carriage exchanged looks of amused shock at how hard he was going in on these girls. Which sparked a conversation. Now its not like I became BFF with these ladies, but you never know what a random conversation could lead to.

Have a great day, remember you are a unicorn and let anyone shit on your rainbow ❤

Positive Reinforcements

It occurred to me today that I am on a pursuit of happiness over the next year, but I could end up being sadder than when I started. 

We have no control over the unforeseen circumstances, that can arise to turn our worlds upside down. We can only control how we deal with them.  I am trying to do whatever I can to create a happier lifestyle, rather than coasting through the sub-par rat race I'm currently engaged in.  Please don't get me wrong my life isn't awful, I just feel I am doing more existing than living and that's the kind of shit regrets are made of. But what if on my journey to be better version of myself, things goes tits up and I end up worse off.

There are a few things I need to work on within this little adventure - focus, self love, facing fears, trying new things, body confidence.  What if I do not achieve any of them?What if whilst trying to improve the above I fall flat on my ass? The truth is I might fail. The truth also is, I wont know until I have actually tried and worrying about failing at this point is a product of  negative thoughts. Now these little motherfuckers creep up when you need them the absolute least.  If you do not learn how to banish them, like Romeo was from Verona, they can have the worst impact on your day to day life. Good news, there is an antidote. Positive thinking 😄 Bad news, like everything worth anything, you have to put in the work to train your mind differently and that can take time.  If you're anything like me and impatience is your nemesis, this will sucks balls 😒 I'm well aware that  putting in a consistent effort to get to where I want to be,  will help me to  appreciate my end destination. My problem is I want it now and that's just not going to happen. Not unless Morpheus has come up with a third pill I don't know about. 

So seeing as though its going to be another baby steps situation of me making small changes everyday, I'm going to acknowledge the things I did today to add some positive elements to my life.

Walk the Walk😊 - A 10k walk I did this morning and have done every Saturday this year so far.  I started it in 2017 and did it every week barring 3. I slacked off quite a bit last year, but I'm back on it this year. Despite the sun shining brightly, it was not bikini weather, but I still got out there and got it done as you can see below

Garlic & Honey Prawns - I tried a new recipe again today.  Again it was a very simple one, but it tasted amaze balls. I had some tenderstem broccoli which I sauteed in sesame seed oil and garlic. (Seriously, what rock have I been living under that I have only just tried cooking with sesame seed oil today).  I literally could have eaten just a bowl of the broccoli cooked in that.

Blog - So if you have been reading my posts for the last 7 days, you will notice I now have a different theme. I spent a good few hours playing around with this (I can be a little bit indecisive), but I am loving the new look. Red is my favorite colour, in case my hair and lipstick didn't give that away. 

So all in all I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I guess the point I need to remember is, positivity is not going to come easily everyday, so some days I'm going to have to work harder at boosting it. 

Can I just say, that if anyone reading this is having a bad day or a negative thought day, it is temporary. If  you can find something positive to do, no matter how small, do it. But if you're feeling so low, it feels like your head is on the ground, lift it just a little bit. That's a good enough first step. I know you might say its easy for me to say that, sitting on my positive perch today. But believe me, I know what its like to sit on the lowest step. The step that you just don't have it in you to get up from.  The one that keeps you so low, the only peace you get, is when your are locked away in a room, under a blanket, sleeping, because all the things/thoughts that are making you low have stopped for those few hours your eyes are closed. So like I said, just lift a little at at time. 

I have not spent the whole day watching Lego cartoons as I thought I would but all in all have still had a good day and am looking forward to my lie in tomorrow.

Have a great day, remember you are a unicorn and don't let anyone shit on your rainbow 💓