Life has forced me to rest, and I don't have a post this week

It feels like I'm in stasis at the moment. A four-week period of suspension brought about by the reality of having to wait for something.

Today is my fifty-sixth birthday, and if there's a constant in my life when it comes to taking up residence, it is that I have always lived inside my head. And boy, do I need to clean house.

"If you get down and quarrel every day, you're saying prayers to the devil, I say." (Bob Marley)

This invisible inner narrator judges, worries, comments, complains, plans and ruminates on the past, and we believe everything it says.

"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." (Karen Kaiser Clark)

"It's a lie, you know, that you only get one story." (V.E. Schwab, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil)

"Every breakthrough begins with breaking the thought patterns that hold you back."

When you compare yourself and come up short.

"Remember that your natural state is joy." (Wayne Dyer).

"You know the first moment of dawn has arrived when you look into the eyes of another human being and see yourself."

"Sometimes you're the only one that can save yourself; for no one is coming to save you." (R.J. Intindola)

"The most powerful mind is the quiet mind. It is the mind that is present, reflective, mindful of its thoughts and its state." (Maria Konnikova)

Fear and anxiety are related emotions, yet they are triggered by different factors and function differently. Over the course of this journey, gaining an understanding of their relationship shed light on why anxiety may sometimes resemble persistent fear.

Anxiety: biological, psychological and environmental factors.

A memento mori, which translates from Latin as “remember you will die,” serves as a practice, object, or artwork designed to remind us of our mortality and the unpredictability of death. By fostering a deep awareness of life's brevity, it aims to encourage us to make decisions that align with our genuine values.

"I don't cry because we've been separated by distance, and for a matter of years. Why? Because for as long as we share the same sky and breathe the same air, we're still together" (Donna Lynn Hope)

On this incredible journey of discovery I have found myself on, a book has led to another book (or books), and my deep-dive into mindfulness and self-help has, in turn, revealed other wondrous uncoverings.

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving." (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe).

"The real energy to push forward comes from when you realize that there will always be an opposing force."