Familliar mistakes

We all make mistakes over the course of our lives, but those which are most regrettable are the repeated mistakes. These familiar mistakes sneak up on us and before we know it they have happened, leaving us saying those familiar words "next time...".

This is what happened to me this week just gone as I made the too frequent mistake of working too much. "We all do that" I hear you cry and that is something we should all take note of. However too much for me means working the weekends on top of a 40-50 hour week. It means working instead of doing the things I need to do to maintain a balance in my head. This may sound a little pathetic, which is exactly how I have seen it in the past. After all plenty of people work much longer hours, or two jobs. I am not those people, nor should I feel bad about my limitations. As I've got to know depression and understand what triggers it I've realised that my limits are not the same as they used to be, nor are they the same as others. I've accepted that that is ok. Why should I try to push myself beyond my limits at work? Other than earning a bit more money, what does it achieve for me other than feeling mentally exhausted? Who am I trying to impress? There is no purpose served for me to work myself into the ground because I will end up hating what I do or making myself ill. As it is I struggle to find enjoyment and satisfaction in life and working long hours certainly doesn't improve this feeling.

On the plus side I have been making some good progress with my book and I am now putting it together using Apple's iBooks Author. This will enable me to not only publish in Apple's iBooks store, but also as an ePub so that I can spread the love (so to speak) via many formats. Writing this book has certainly helped me to understand what I need to do to help myself. Hopefully as a result the book will help others that experience depression or anxiety.

One of the other things that helps maintain stability is meditation and I've begun the 8 week Mindfulness programme again in order to help myself out. I've shared the book with friends and family alike, so if you haven't read it then give it a go: Mindfulness finding peace in a frantic world

Or if you like an app or two then you should look at Insight Timer, it's a fantastic time for meditation, with free meditations, background noise and an online community which encourages you to meditate more. It's free and an easy intro to meditation: App Store or Play Store

Enough from me until later in the week,

Tom :)