Episode 60, our 6th Q&A episode! Thank you so much for all the kindness, community and feedback during these last ten episodes. It is my great joy to share my thoughts and experiences with you, and for you to share yours with me. I will be taking a short break from now but we’ll be back before you know it. Take care of yourselves, thank you for listening and thank you for being here!

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To encourage and to be encouraged is a wonderful thing. It’s in the word itself - to hear positive affirmations from external voices engenders courage within us and helps us to keep pursuing the things that we need strength to pursue. Whenever I can, I give encouraging words when I have them. Better in someone else’s ears than in my head!

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All I have to do to be the version of myself I want to be, is pretend that I am and act like I am until I am. Logistically it’s simple but emotionally, it’s anything but. To act like the best versions of ourselves when we don’t feel like we are, brings feelings of inadequacy to the surface. We are more than adequate, and must act as such until evidence proves us correct. Fake it so you make it!

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When we start something that we’re not yet good at, it’s easy to become demoralised at a time where, really, we should be giving ourselves the most leeway and having the most fun! It’s inevitable that we aren’t the finished product when we first start something new. Without our efforts now, as we are, we never will be. The value of starting is worth a thousand intentions not acted on. Enjoy the small signs of progress that come with the work and desire to improve!

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After our busiest moments and biggest achievements, there is an inevitable calming of the waters. Sometimes this calm can feel too quiet, too still, to the point of making us overthink or feel spurred to action just to fill the space. The periods of stillness where we feel not much is happening are often more valuable than we realise as they are happening. In stillness there is rest, time to process and the necessary break for us to reset and be ready for whatever will organically come next.

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It’s important to have a good balance between pushing ourselves and encouraging ourselves. I have found myself wanting in the latter, so recently I have been making it a conscious practice to express positive things about myself aloud at the end of each day, just to remind myself of all I’m doing for my present and future selves. Life is hard enough - it’s important we know how to speak kindly to ourselves!

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Sometimes when I have one too many difficult days in a row (or just one difficult day full stop!), my circumstances seem all-encompassing - that is when I need to zoom out and see that in the bigger picture, this moment is temporary. Sometimes I have so much to do in the grand scheme of things that I feel stuck, frozen - that is when I need to zoom in to the moment at hand and see that all I ever need to do, is take one moment at a time. Zoom in or zoom out as you need to. You can do everything you need to do!

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The difficult thing about doing our best, other than how demanding it can be, is navigating how different our ‘best’ can look at any given time. To be able to look at ourselves, see our efforts and know we’ve given everything we can to the things we know are important, is no small feat. To do so consistently is something to be extremely proud of - I hope you are. Even if we fall short sometimes, it is always in our capacity to try our best.

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When I was young I was always told, ‘if you’re going to do something, do it properly’. A phrase which once felt burdensome, is now a huge liberator in my life. Not only does it remind me to choose my responsibilities with care, it helps me to always give my best even when it feels difficult to do so, because the effort I put into things is always important - even more so when I don’t feel like it. 

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Fall asleep to the description of falling asleep in the back of a car, with accompanying gentle ambient sounds. I hope this brings you peace and calm. (Story begins at 05:15)

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