Who wants to be the same as anyone else? Not me, I enjoy having a quirky personality: it has kept me sane. We should call to mind what American author, and cartoonist, Dr Seuss, once said: “You have to be odd to be number one.” It is one of my favourite phrases, and remains one [...]

Being brave is a lonely job because the onus is on the person in question. Even though you may receive support; in the early days of your bravery journey: you are embarking on changes by yourself. You are a tree, growing your own new shoots of changes and development… but there will be someone on [...]

I admire devout kind people, and greatly those whose religion orientates around forgiveness.   If one can forgive another person’s actions or words, then this must be intensely healing and liberating. It might even be the ultimate state of mental wellbeing; since to let go surely makes for a clearer and lighter mind…   Yet, [...]

Those of us who endured tough childhoods may feel particularly challenged when it comes to making decisions. It’s because we had poor, or an absence of any healthy reference points to assist us during our informative years. Our care-givers had other priorities over guiding or nurturing their children. We often reverted to a knee-jerk response, [...]

We all have our preferred ways in which to assimilate new information. I, for instance would never be able to follow written instructions, to assemble flat-packed furniture. Even if I were able-bodied, I know that I still wouldn’t read the instructions! I’d prefer to guess make it: or better still learn how to do it- [...]

Some people get annoyed about childish behaviour in adult-hood, which to me is very sad. Frankly we all have a child-within us, and the younger version of us is both harmless and handy. We’re capable of behaving appropriately and responsibly in our mature years’; yet those of us who can readily tap-into this helpful carefree [...]

I highly value honesty; I was largely dragged-up on lies, and the acidic scars from my childhood: I now wear with pride. It only occurred to me, in recent years, that I should feel proud: self-love strengthens the soul. Yet, whilst my childhood was tainted by deceit; I’ve always been blessed by possessing self-honesty. It [...]

At school I barely concentrated on any topic; I was too busy sky-larking around with my best friend Sam. Or, in maths, far more pre-occupied: discussing music with my friend Roger!   Even though, I later had a conscientious friend in Debbie; perhaps due to my harrowing childhood, I did badly in the majority of [...]

We humans frequently rely on our gut instinct to help us make decisions, and it’s no wonder that when we follow our hunch: we get the outcome we desire.   Fundamentally, the vagus nerve is the information highway between the brain and the gut, and our stomach is often dubbed as being our second brain. [...]

I am not being glib about discussing physical pain; I want to talk about the positivity of it instead. Because when we are mindful about how our bodies work: we can reduce some of our pain, and any reduction in it, is like winning the body lottery. It also significantly improves our mental wellbeing.   [...]