Getting Distracted

This evening I remembered that I began a blog and have been neglecting it of late. This is not due to the fact that I've nothing blog-worthy to write about. This is not because I've had some tragic accident where I have lost the use of my fingers. Finally, this is not due to the fact that there has been a technology crisis in West Yorkshire and I can no longer access the internet. Au contraire! I have simply been distracted- sometimes in a positive way, but not always.

Not so long ago I made a comparison (likely an unfair one) between myself and people that I follow on Youtube and various other social media websites. For some reason, I found myself lacking. I felt disappointed in myself. I thought: look at what all of these people have done, and they are not all that much older than myself. What have I been doing with my life?  

A good friend then pointed out, that anyone can do something great with their life. How you measure it should be by how happy you are. Not how famous, how rich, how many friends you have, but simply by happiness. So, without further ado, here are some pictures of things that I've not posted before, but have made me happy in the last little while:

I'm not going to explain each picture, as I think for me it would ruin some of the enjoyment that I would then get out of them. So rather you can peruse and enjoy, or not -it's up to you. 

Waking up and going into work today with still a lot to do before my day began properly had me worried that today would be a very stressful day. I was pleasantly surprised though. Today I was a lot less stressed than I typically am. I relaxed into what needed to be done and had a very pleasant day. Looking back on the day, I have to ask myself: what was so different from today than other days? Reflecting I think a big part of it is simply some of the underlying stress that I've had in my life recently. It has had my constantly on edge, which has impacted a very large part of my life. I think that frequently we forget how much stress can impact us, even when we're not focusing on the source of the stress. And thanks to small changes in my life, I feel as though a big weight has been lifted. I'm looking forward to the next work day and what it can bring, rather than thinking of it as a chore, which in fact is a very positive thing since work is such a large portion of my life. 

So not avoiding any cliche metaphors -sometimes that glass is half full, but not always. Instead of questioning whether it's full or empty, decide whether you really felt like you wanted to effort to drink a half full glass - sometimes you only just want to empty your cup so that you can wash it. Indeed being half empty can be a good thing. I've said this to multiple people in the last couple of days: think outside the box.