March Reflections. April Aspirations

Good-Bye March

This month has been busy and exhausting, but decently productive. Meaning, All the effort was worth it! Hooray!. Like every month March has seemed to go by faster than the month before. I like making these posts to reflect on the months because often I feel like I haven't achieved anything at all. But often when I look back there is actually a lot of growth that happens within a month.

For me this month has been settling back into my life in Australia. For some reason it takes me a long time to get used to being home after travelling. But I know this post-travel blues can get even the most seasoned travellers down, so I knew it would eventually pass.And that it did and I have actually ended up enjoying March      (towards the end). If you read my final Travel Trail for my Trip to Singapore and Malaysia, you would know I was not really having the easiest of times at the beginning, settling in and getting back to "normal" life. But I ended up having a really good month and I did some things I am proud of and want to document for future me. But I also just like sharing the goings on of my life with you lovely people. So I hope you gain some inspiration, or just enjoy seeing what I got up to.

One of the things I did that I am proud of is; I worked 6 days a week (2/4 weeks). Which although tiring, means that we can now start putting some money back into our savings account (Hopefully). Which could be a step towards many things.( I am hoping for another holiday!).But overall working more gives me a sense of purpose. Even though I only work in a grocery store, I can support myself and help Nick to be able to focus more on his studies (and not worry about money). 

If you follow me on snapchat you will have heard me complain about work, just a tad. 

(Username Kittyfishmeow) Follow me for cats and food and the random everyday ramblings of yours truly. 

Another difficult but, very exciting happening in May was I applied to go back to finish my Enrolled Nursing! In July! This is something I loved doing and something I have wanted to go back to for a while. But I have been too scared to take that step. Until I just decided to accept that (since I have anxiety) everything is going to scare me. But I should take the leap and do it anyway. Not always as easy as it sounds, but I am working on it.

Okay so, if you have been with me for a while you know I like to have a chat occasionally about mental health on my blog. So I decided to dedicate a whole series to it called My Beautiful Battle. This was inspired by the new steps I have been taking in that aspect of my life. This month I managed to see my doctor to get a referral to a therapist. I even ended up making an appointment!( It only took me a couple weeks to pluck up the courage) As all of you with mental illness will understand asking for help and accepting it can be an extremely difficult feat. Unfortunately I am no exception and this has been a major hurdle that I climbed my way over this month! I will definitely be going into more detail on this subject when I post my next entry!

This month has been filled with some littler and some bigger victories, but I think it has given me some steps towards some amazing things to look forward to next month, as we welcome April, but also for the rest of the year.

Hello, April! 

Since March was a productive month I have some hope that April will be great too! I find it really helpful and enjoyable to list down my aspirations for the month ahead. That way when I look back I can see what I achieved and what needs to be bumped on to the list for next month.

For April I will,

• Spend more time creating
  

This is a big one for me and something I really enjoy doing. Mainly I want to create more content for my blog and my other social media platforms. Because I love connecting with people. But I also want to create more art, create more food and grow my tiny garden.

• Get back into running

I have enjoyed running for fitness as well as for mental clarity for quite a while now. This year I even made it my goal to (someday) run a marathon. So I better get running! 

• Start planning 

For a while now I have not really had very much on my plate, sure I work a lot but that's all I really have to keep track of. I want to start using a diary or a calendar to organise my life. Especially since I am about to get back into studying, I will seriously need to brush up on my time management skills. 

• Read 3 Books 

I used to be a solid reader, sometimes more than one book a day! But I have become busy and life got in the way. But it is important to spend more time doing the things you love. Not to mention all the other benefits of reading!

• Learn 2 New Ukulele songs

I have recently (in the last year or so) started playing the ukulele, although I am not very consistent and when I do play, I play the same things. So I think I should start getting a bit more technical, maybe learn some new chords and definitely at least 2 more songs! 

So there is my modest list of some of the things I am going to work extra hard on this month. I would highly recommend you make a list of your own. I try not to make them long a daunting and nice and achievable. But I make sure I put things on my list that will get me to where I want to be in life, or bring me happiness. I find this is a really motivating and inspiring activity, I was surprised the first month I did this that when I looked back I ended up actually achieving more than just the things on my list. 

Thank you all so much for reading my farewell to March and Welcome to April. I hope your month went really well and that you are one step closer to a few of your goals! I really enjoy writing these monthly posts, they really help me to get in a good mindset for the new months ahead. See you all in April!