Distractions

I am nothing if consistent. Consistently bad at posting consistently that is. So here I am at 10pm at night tapping out a post because I have been inspired by what a friend told me this evening. I may have had many distractions over the weeks, but for now I have given up the temptation of bed in order to spill a little ink on the page. For some reason this always seems the best time for me to write, the moment when I am too tired to think and what comes to mind is guided straight onto the page without editing. Naturally this doesn't mean that any of what you will read is any good, but it feels good to type it nonetheless. I believe that we could all benefit from creating something just for the process of it, without care or thought for the outcome, nor what others may think. It's taken me a damn long time to come to that conclusion in my mind and boy does it feel good.

So other than distractions what do I have to share on this occasion? Well in brief but exciting news I have a new role at work, Catherine and I got permanent residency and my mind continues to behave itself. The latter being because it has been kept busy with the former and with the help of my work friends who are a constant source of inspiration. In short this means that I can stay in Australia indefinitely in order to continue my work on myself and hopefully for other people with mental health improvement.

Over the last few weeks I have begun on a new fitness journey with DK Fitness, doing two sessions a week of functional training. Aside from not walking properly in the days after I have noticed the fitness improvement. My test? The Coogee stairs. Having completed it last week with a much lower average heart rate and less tired legs I am glad to see the fruits of my labours already. The aim is to do it once per week along with functional training and a little commuter cycling in order to get fitter than I was ten years ago. Bloody hell let's hope I can survive!

My writing has taken a decided downturn of late as I have focused on work and my new podcast The Grumpy Man in which I talk to friends about their passions and their daily habits. The aim is to see how they keep a calm and stable mind day to day and identify tools and patterns that we could all benefit from using ourselves. It has been a great exercise as I have learnt so much about my friends and also engaged in open and honest discussion with other men around mental health. Something I don't think we do enough of in today's society. My long term goal is to speak to 100 different men and not only learn from them, but share their experiences with mental health in order to help other men talk about theirs.

As I said above my writing has been on the back burner, but I have still managed to make some edits to the Grumpy Man book. I am going to set a final release date here and now in order to make myself accountable to you. Yes you, the internet, the blank face that I talk to. By doing this I can at least release something at long last, stop my pathetic procrastination and ADD tendencies and publish this bloody book! Alright here goes. I will release the Grumpy Man book on...hang on what month is it now? May? Ok. Damn it's May already? Ok. Well I kind of had this thing on in May, so maybe... no dammit I will publish this book on June 1st. Yes let's do this! Oh shit...

One of the things I have discovered with my writing, the podcast and my recent fitness escapades is that the less I include my brain on the deal the better. If I could leave my head at home and trudge around headless I would invariably screw up more often, I mean I'd bump into a lot of stuff to start with, but I'd also just get shit done. That's what I have found with the podcast. I had no idea how to make a podcast a month ago (some might say I still don't), but after some brief research I discovered it isn't that difficult. You set yourself up with a mike and just talk. It helps if you have somebody to talk to admittedly and it's better still if they are interesting or funny. But ultimately the basics are a piece of cake, the rest is icing and sprinkles. 

So without thought I have produced something in very little time. It may not change the world, but it may well change mine. Consistently showing my brain that it isn't needed and that I can produce content without it raining negativity is a huge step in my mental health. Perhaps the next step is to keep doing it consistently and improve. Hmm there's a decent thought.

This week I will be speaking to a couple of guests and as usual I will have a new episode out on Friday morning. If you'd like to contribute to the podcast or blog or just want to speak with a grumpy man then drop me a line at tjalfry@icloud.com

Tom :)


"You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks." - Winston Churchill