Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Going to Hove Park- I planned to go for Samhain/Hallowe'en (as part of my celebrations) but wasn't able to go till later.
• Marmite crisps- I tried the tortilla chips last month and wanted to try the crisps as well!
• Beautiful mid-late autumn colours
• Getting new glasses
• Going to Caffe Nero
• Getting inspiration online for meals
• Rochelle Armstrong's (Mixedlings) petition to create a mixed race heritage month- please sign here if you support the idea!: https://www.change.org/p/create-a-mixed-race-heritage-month
  
• Feeling inspired to write a new Feeling Your Emotions post (about peace)

Feeling Your Emotions- Peace

This is the next instalment in Feeling Your Emotions series. I started it back in 2017. The intention was to look at different emotions (such as anger, sadness and depression, fear and anxiety, peace and love) and get in touch with them, to help heal and move forward. You can read the introduction here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/11/feeling-your-emotions-introduction.html

 Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so if you're having mental/physical issues please seek medical help in addition to reading this. :)

 

I wrote a recap of all the posts so far in 2022: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2022/09/feeling-your-emotions-recap.html

It's now been over 2 years since I wrote that. (And 8 years ago this month since I started the whole series!) After the recap post I planned to write more in the next few months, but didn't in the end. I've been feeling very up and down and struggling at times, and haven't felt very inspired to blog much here in general. (I've been more active on my entertainment blog Star Sparkle Blog and my seasonal living blog The Seasonal Life because I don't write about as "deep" subjects on there.) However, in recent months I've felt like picking the FYE series up again. 

As I mentioned in the recap, I started with the so-called "negative" emotions, intending to work my way up to more "positive" ones. I had planned to cover love or peace next but didn't feel in a space to write about them. When I'd written the last post, I intended that the next one in the series would be peace. So here it is, although later than planned! :)

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Deeper autumn colours
• Autumn leaves
  
• Marmite tortilla chips- I just tried them recently and want to try the crisps as well!
• Wendy's Frozen Hot Chocolate Frosty
  
• Sunshine after lots of rain
• Aileen of Lavendaire's Diary of Becoming YouTube video series- I especially enjoyed Mindfulness & The Power of Awareness (Diary #4).
  
• Hallowe'en chocolate!
  
• Halloweeen/Samhain coming up this week!
  

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Having drinks from Krispy Kreme
  
• Madron/Mabon aka the Autumn Equinox
• Going to Hove Park
  
• Starbucks coming on Deliveroo in my area!
  
• The start of autumn colours as trees change
• Golden September light 
• Into the Magic Shop by Dr James Doty- currently reading it 
• Connecting with like-minded people online
  

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Lammas
• Going to the park (I went for Lammas)
• Going to Burger King
  
• Going to Five Guys
• Last full month of summer
• Late summer light
• Wearing flip flops again now that the weather's finally got better!
• Listening to older music that I hadn't heard for a while
  

Gratitude List

 Posting on a Tuesday again but never mind! :)

Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Going to a belly dance event
  
• Hotter days that feel more like summer!
• Blue skies
  
• Ice cream/dessert places
• Using Pinterest for meal inspiration
  
• YouTube- I've been finding some good content on there lately
  
• A Good Vibe post about when being positive isn't working
• You Are A F*cking Success by Noor Hibbert- a book about manifesting that I'm currently reading

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month: 

• Meeting up with my belly dance friends again
• Litha/the Summer Solstice
• Going to Hove Park for Litha
• Going to Burger King
• Winning £5 twice with McDonald's Surprize fries! 
• Iced coffees
  
• Hotter, sunnier weather
• The long days at this time of year

Mid-2024 Reflections

We're halfway through the year again, so it's time for my annual mid-year reflections post! I've been writing these since 2018 (6 years now), although my first one was in May, so not quite during the middle of the year. You can see my previous posts at the links below:

Reflections (2017): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/05/reflections.html

Mid-2018-Reflecions: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/06/mid-2018-reflections.html

Mid-2019 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2019/06/mid-2019-reflections.html

Mid-2020 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/06/mid-2020-reflections.html

Mid-2021 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2021/06/mid-2021-reflections.html

Mid-2022 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2022/06/mid-2022-reflections.html

Mid-2023 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2023/06/mid-2023-reflections.html

 

I also write an end of year post. You can see 2023's here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2023/12/letting-go-of-2023.html

The first half of 2024 has been ok but not really great. I did feel better than last year though. I had an anxious start to the year and struggled with health anxiety. I've also felt really down at times.

I mainly just went to Happy Café meetups (organised by Action for Happiness) and for park walks. I've got out of the routine of going to the park again lately though, due to various circumstances. I did go the other day though, as part of my celebrations for Litha/the Summer Solstice. I haven't been belly dancing lately but I met up with my dance friends at a pub a couple of times, which was nice.

Gratitude List

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but since I wrote another post yesterday, I'm posting May's Gratitude List today instead. :)

Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Beltane
• Going to the beach (I went around Beltane)
  
• Happy Café (Action for Happiness meetup)
• Getting a milkshake from Slim Chickens
• Going to the library and getting new books- I hadn't been for quite a while!
  
• More sunny days- although it's gone colder at the moment, it's been sunnier this month.
• Roses
  
• Finding people you resonate with

Feeling Powerless

For the past few years I've written a series of posts called Feeling Your Emotions, which explores different emotions and how we can work with them to feel better. You can see all the posts to date at the link below (or under the label "Feeling Your Emotions" when viewing the post):

Feeling Your Emotions Recap: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2022/09/feeling-your-emotions-recap.html

 

I've also written several "stand-alone" posts looking at other feeling states, such as feeling like a "loser", feeling lonely etc. I decided to have them as separate posts because they aren't core/basic emotions. I also recently wrote a post about feeling stuck.

For this post I thought I would take a look at feeling powerless and what we can do to move past that state, and feel better.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so if you're having mental/physical issues please seek medical help in addition to reading this. :)

 

What does it mean to feel powerless?

The definition of powerless (or powerlessness) includes "without power or authority" (Collins Dictionary), "the condition or feeling of having no power (Cambridge Dictionary) or "devoid of strength or resources" and "lacking the authority or capacity to act" (Merriam Webster).

 

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• First full month of spring 
• Blossom trees
  
• Getting a mattress topper
• Finding meal ideas from Mix and Match Mama  
• Finding inspiration on YouTube
  
• Listening to music
  
• Hot chocolate- some days and nights have still been quite cold
  
• Taking part of Amina Makhdoom's 30 Day Joy Challenge again- I didn't do it last year and I'm glad I participated in 2024.
   

Gratitude List

I normally do these posts on Sundays or Mondays, but since tomorrow is Easter Sunday, I'm posting today instead. Last month's Gratitude List was on a Tuesday as well but I plan to get back to the regular posting schedule next month! :)

  Things I'm grateful for this month: 

• Birthday presents and wishes :)
  
• Meeting up with my belly dance friends
  
• Oestara/the Spring Equinox and days continuing to get longer as spring starts
  
• Getting a drink from Popeyes- my first time going there
• Sunsets after dull days
• Kinder Mini Eggs and Cadbury chocolate milk eggs!
• Finding new meal ideas
  
• Easter

 

I also thought I'd share a photo I took on Oestara/the Spring Equinox:

Sunset on Mill Hill, Shoreham-by-sea.

 

Gratitude List

I normally write these posts on the last Sunday or Monday of the month, but yesterday I did another post. So I'm writing this month's Gratitude List today instead. :) 

 

Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Imbolg/Imbolc
• Daffodils and other signs of spring
  
• The days getting longer
• Sunny days after lots of rain! 
• Going to Starbucks
• Listening to new music
• Getting a McDonald's caramel frappe again (they hadn't been available for a while)!
• Books
  

Feeling Stuck (When Your Dreams Seem Far Away)

 

I've previously written about feeling down and stuck in life. My most recent post on that was When You've Been Down for Too Long (two years ago now!), which you can read here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2022/02/when-youve-been-down-for-too-long.html

I've also written about feeling stuck when it comes to achieving your goals, particularly when it comes to manifesting with the Law of Attraction and how to believe in your dreams coming true. And I've looked at the Law of Assumption as an alternative way of manifesting. Although I felt some kind of shift earlier last year, I'm currently in a place where I'm feeling quite stuck, not just in manifesting but in life in general. So I thought I'd take a look at working through it.

Why do we feel stuck?

We can feel stuck for many reasons- feeling like nothing has changed in our life in general for a long time, because of a particular situation in our life that's making us unhappy (a relationship/lack of one, job stress, health problems etc.) or wanting to achieve a goal but feeling unable to reach it.

It can be really hard and frustrating to feel like this. It's important not to blame yourself. Some things may be beyond your control and you could be suffering from trauma, experiencing discrimination or be in an abusive situation. I can't address these myself but I shared some links in my When You've Been Down Too for Long post. I'll share them again below, plus some more that may help.

 

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Winter sunsets
• Easter chocolates already in the shops!
  
• Costa Coffee's new hot milkshakes (I had salted caramel cofeee)
  
• The Self-Love Rainbow Workbook by Dominee Calderon (who runs the site Self-Love Rainbow)
• Lydia Millen post about ways to fall in love with January- this isn't one of my favourite times of year, so it's good to have a new perspective! 
• Re-reading self-help/personal development books
• Hot chocolate
  
• Getting some snow- it doesn't snow that often in Sussex, so it made a change!

 

I've been going through an anxious, down time lately and struggling a bit to think of things for this month's Gratitude List. But it does help to write them. I'd like to blog more during 2024 and have been working on a post. It's hard to feel inspired sometimes.

For anyone also finding things difficult, I hope you're coping as best you can and you can find something to hep you. :)