Today is my 60th birthday and I wanted to write this blog to try and inspire women to think about their lives and what they could do to make it their best life ever. Some people hate the saying ‘we can have it all’. I think maybe we can, but probably not all at the same time.
Today the first episode of my podcast is released: Why didn’t anyone tell me this? The links are below. Episode 1 is called: This is me: I will tell you about my life and what makes me happy.
I think life can be great and 2023 could be the best year ever. How can we do this?
My first advice would be to take time to reflect what makes you happy,. We are all individuals and enjoy different ways of life. I know many who have compromised in their relationships and I would stress that if we want to live the best life ever, we might need to have time apart from our partner so we can explore our individual interests.
At the end of each year, I spend a lot of time thinking about what will make me happy and what goals I have for the coming year. I’ve been doing vision boards for about 6 years – read my blog about this for further information.
I love Miriam Akhtars book – The little book of happiness. I met Miriam when we were both on a TV show and I did her positive psychology course. From Miriam’s work I would suggest that ways we might lead the best life ever are:
Friendships – you might be someone who would love lots of friends or prefer just to have a select few. Friendships take energy but bring a lot of happiness. Without friends we will most likely get lonely which is really not good for our wellbeing. The photo is some of my friends enjoying a weekend of music and dancing just before my 60th. And friendships expands into community – a sense of community is hugely beneficial.
Hobbies – what hobbies do you love? Are there hobbies you loved when you were younger and have forgotten about? Or do you want to take up a new hobbie? They can bring so much pleasure.
Nature – our planet is very beautiful. Whether it is taking a walk or swimming in the sea, we should savour our beautiful planet.
Be nice – I do not understand why people are horrible to each other. It is just too sad for words. If we were all kind to each other, the word would be a wonderful place. Hopefully if we all try, it will snowball.
Be positive and optimistic – when you know what makes you happy, hopefully positivity will flow. Sometimes when I wake up, I decide what I can do today that will be positive and will bring me happiness.
Find a sense of meaning – this may be through work, or homelife. I give a lot of careers talks to young people. My advice is to first think about your strengths and what you enjoy doing. And ideally find a career, job or task that incorporates these. Having a sense of meaning and a sense of achievement brings a lot of happiness. But it doesn’t need to be a career. A great way to achieve this is volunteering – it may be helping for two hours in the food bank or visiting an elderly neighbour.
Balance your pillars of wellbeing – this is the most important but I have left it until last so I can write more about it.
To balance health and happiness we need to balance our four four pillars of wellbeing: nutrition, exercise, sleep and mental health. My advice to my younger self is to make sure that this happens sooner rather than later.
We are what we eat. Being a healthy weight is not just about what we look like and how we feel. It is seriously good for our health to be a healthy weight. It reduces the risk of many diseases, increases our wellbeing and gives us energy. We must change the narrative of celebrating with processed sugar such as cakes and chocolates. Those sugar spikes are not good for our health. How do you feel after eating a processed meal compared to a freshly cooked meal? And how do you feel after drinking too much alcohol?
We all need to exercise and keep our bodies moving. We may not have had a very positive experience with exercise at school. But it’s time to embrace it to improve our lives. I have written many blogs about exercise on www.globalwomenconnected.com. Search exercise.
Sleep – make your bedroom your sanctuary. Do not set an alarm, go to bed when you need to. Sleep is so important in our lives.
Mental health has become a growing problem for many. If it is seriously affecting our wellbeing, we need to get medical advice. I think mindfulness, meditation, being still, and being in the moment are really key to living the best life ever. Life goes very fast and it is great to be still and savour time.
So far this blog has been very positive. But life can be hard. Women have a lot to deal with through our lives and I have to discuss these. Puberty, periods, contraception, pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, gynaecological cancers, and the menopause. We are often told we have to grin and bear some of these issues as they are ‘women’s problems’. If we are going to live the best life, we must seek help if we have any issues that are affecting our wellbeing. I will cover a lot of these issues in future podcasts and hopefully you will find inspiration.
I want to finish this blog by discussing social media and what some societies expect women to look like. Women are under huge pressure to look good and social media has made this so much worse. I want to pick out just a few points. Let’s start with make up. When I was young, few women wore it and I still wear very little. But a growing number of women spend a long part of their day putting on make up. We are also seeing a huge increase in cosmetic surgery for women. Many traditions have women’s clothing that prevents women moving freely. If you look back through time, I think this is a good way to sum up some of the fashions women have had to deal with. Even now we still have stilettos and Saris. Men are not affected by any of this. If we are going to live the best life, we should try and not be influenced by social media and look how we want to look, and wear the clothes we want to wear. Let’s be free!
If you want to hear more from me and the guests on my podcast, please subscribe so you do not miss any episodes. The guests I have lined up are incredibly interesting and I hope you will love them.
As always – I would love to hear what you think.
Episode 1 of the podcast; Why didn’t anyone tell me this – out 17th January 2023.
Links to my podcast – Why didn’t anyone tell me this?
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