How Are You So Positive All of the Time?

How are you so positive all of the time?

This is something I get asked a lot!

To be honest, I don’t really know the answer. But then I think about where I am right now, who I’m with, what I’m trying to achieve. And I sit back and think, what is there not to be positive about?

Yes, I am being made redundant and my last day officially is just over two weeks away.
Yes, we’re currently in lockdown and I can’t do much of what I used to do before.
Yes, I’m embarking on a career choice which is a little alien to me.

But you know what, at least I get to experience these things! I get to learn and grow from each and everyone of them.

I get to spend this time communicating and sharing my experience and my knowledge with a whole host of new people over the internet.
I get to spend time with my sister and my niece that I wouldn’t have done before.
I get to try something out and hopefully succeed, or learn from failing.

Ultimately, I get the choice.

And I choose to chase joy.

Last night on our walk, as we turned onto the home street my niece started grumbling about how tired she was and that she hated walking and that she was going to die.

I asked her what her favourite thing was on the walk: “getting home.”
So I asked her again: “nothing.”

I must admit, the walk had gone on later than I anticipated and it was starting to get dark but I listed off some of the things that we did that I enjoyed:

  1. We saw horses in the field
  2. We walked along the river
  3. We climbed over stones in the priory and played ‘spies’ to hide from other people who were there which culminated in jumping out of the building as the bomb was about to explode
  4. We carried on playing ‘spies’ to stay hidden from the guard (my sister)
  5. We played Pokemon
  6. We played the word association game
This picture of me and ‘Moonlight’ was taken a couple of weeks ago

I wasn’t always this way, but something advising people nearing the end of their life and convinced they know their killer will make you sit up and realise what is important in life.

And thats taking for granted the fact that we could walk using our own bodies, we could breathe and move our bodies.

I’m grateful everyday I get to live this life, that’s why I’m happy most of the time.

Public Health Wales Presenting

I am not one to shy away from public speaking, in fact, I love it.

Until recently I’ve been armed with a research team to help me collate data on the impact of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) training by a fully fledged research team run by doctors and far cleverer people than I am. They were also the loveliest people ever and super supportive and patient.

Collating data doesn’t really mean anything though if you can’t share it. Writing about the cold hard facts and knowing where to talk about it can be difficult. I’m really grateful that the wider organisation thrived on public dissemination and I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I confirm that their Public Engagement Officer role is still in tact.

In the past I’ve collected data from the numerous projects I’ve worked on and had posters submitted to conferences and more recently I’ve given speed round type lightning talks at the annual Public Health Wales conference. (Think about my Ignite Cardiff talk and you’ve got a rough idea, but more ‘proper’).

This is me presenting in 2018 talking about the first year of the ACTivate Your Life – Affected By Cancer study. That graph is showing the audience that every single marker, bar one, was going in the direction we wanted it to go in.

A year later we’d be able to show that we were successfully reducing anxiety and depression scores and increasing overall wellbeing.

That’s a future I want to continue building in my belief that everyone is extraordinary.

What’s your mission?

Simple Content Cards

Inside scoop!

This week I have posted more on this page then I ever have done in a week. Not only because of the lives and the roundup quote that follows them, but also with a morning and evening post that I’ve added as well.

You may know from watching the live show that I have a lot to say about things! However, when I sit down and try and plan out what to write for the week, or even just the day I’m in I get a little stumped.

This little card deck in the picture by JoJo Graham has been my inspiration in getting all of the other stories out of my brain, onto the Page and onto your newsfeed.

I work best with prompts and these cards provide that structure for me, and hopefully what I write resonates with you.

An example of this card in action is the post this week re-introducing myself. I would not have written that as a standalone piece for you this week but what the card says, I must do! It makes me far more efficient. That post led to enquiries related to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and what my offer is – and I wouldn’t have written it had not been for this deck!

What hacks do you have in place that help you day by day?