I was recently invited down to enjoy #KillasheeChristmas at the Killashee House Hotel in Kildare. If you follow me on Instagram (@facesbygrace23) you would have seen just how stunning the hotel and the grounds are. My brother got married there and myself and Kips enjoyed our baby moon there when I was in my second trimester of pregnancy on Sienna.
At first, I thought oh no, I can't go on my own and then the more I thought about it I thought it was exactly what I needed. I had had a tough few weeks before announcing I was pregnant both mentally and psychically. My anxiety had resurfaced and I was having quite frequent panic attacks. I had made an appointment to go see my therapist and I had started to feel happy again once we announced we were expecting.
At this point, the idea of going for a mini overnight stay by myself sounded like heaven. I packed my bags and off I went. I really enjoyed it, I took my time, I switched off and I looked after myself. Sometimes we find it very hard to tune into our feelings and be aware of what our bodies are telling us. My body and mind were definitely telling me to slow down, enjoy the moment and to not sweat the small stuff.
After making the decision to go back to see my therapist I felt relieved, I was in a good place but things were just getting a little overwhelming. The last few years I've learned so much about myself, about my anxiety and about mental health in general and I just wanted to share this post to let people know that its not always plain sailing, some days, weeks, months and years are hard but if you invest a small amount of time into yourself each day it will do the world of good.
I don't think I've ever been more comfortable in my own skin, I feel relaxed, confident and happy, most of all happy. It's such an amazing feeling and we should all feel it. We all deserve to be happy and we have the power to make ourselves happy. I know it's not always easy and I've been through the worst depression of my life, I was medicated, I gave up my life in Australia and I was so so sad. I never thought I'd feel happiness again. I invested in myself, my mental health and I learned so much about it because I didn't want to always feel anxious and depressed.
The point of this post is to remind us all how important self-care is. My therapist told me a line and its stuck with me ever since, "You come into this world alone and you leave alone, why would you not have the best relationship with yourself? Be kind to yourself and mind yourself". They weren't her words exactly but you get the idea.
We have over 60,000 thoughts a day, 95% of those thoughts are negative. When you think about it that's quite tough and we are so programmed to be negative and look for the flaws in ourselves that we miss the point, we are amazing.
If you take one thing from this post and it makes you feel better then I've done my job. Be kind to yourself, mind your mind and if things are getting too tough, talk to someone. Nine times out of ten when I voice my thoughts and get reassurance I feel a hell of a lot better, I even laugh at how idiotic my thoughts are.
Oh and the last tip, listen to The Greatest Showman soundtrack and sing like no one's watching, it has this amazing way of lifting me up and I listen to it first thing in the morning to start my day off right!
Love Grace xox
