Finding Serenity in My Sundays

There are many ways to feel inspired. My biggest source of inspiration is dogs.
Whenever I’m in a funky mood or feel stressed, I go to the park and watch all the dogs.

Although it may seem strange that dogs inspire me more than anything else, I have learnt a lot from watching them, and here’s how:

Self Satisfaction
Dogs never worry about their appearance or compare themselves to other dogs.
They are grateful and satisfied with their looks. They believe that every part of them is beautiful.
They will spread their legs, poo and wee in front of others, get grey hair, put on weight and the way they see themselves never changes.
Now I’m not suggesting that you use the side walk as a toilet (that would be illegal) but we shouldn’t feel embarrassed or insecure about how we were made.

 

 Equality
No matter what size, sexuality, colour, height, social status, religion or how much money you have, dogs will treat everyone equally. Everyone has their own unique body, preferences, opinions, style and lifestyle choices. Being different doesn’t make someone better or worse than others because they don’t follow a certain expectation or trend.

Love & forgiveness
Dogs are known for their unconditional love. It’s truly inspiring and heart warming. Not only are they experts for providing love, they have also mastered forgiveness. When I go anywhere without my dog, he gets extremely grumpy and annoyed with me. As soon as I come in the door, all is forgotten and I am smothered with love and kisses.

Healthy Living
Dogs are very in tune with their bodies needs.
When dogs are sick, they don’t rely on antibiotics to feel better, they use natural resources. Dogs will feed on grass, drink plenty of water and have plenty of rest.

Play
As we get older , playing become non-existent. We forget to set aside time to let loose, have fun and play. Having fun and is extremely important for our health. Dogs play right up to a very old age. This is something we should all be doing, regardless of how old or busy we are. We need to make time.

My dog (cosmo) came into my life when I was very sick. My parents said it would teach me that you have to eat in order to grow strong and healthy, just like a puppy. He has taught me so much more.

Do you have a dog? If so what have they taught you?

Finding Serenity in My Sundays

When I first started this blog, I promised myself that I would be 100% honest throughout my recovery and my journey of finding my own authentic life. I would include everything; the good, the bad and the embarrassing.

You may not be aware that I am a compulsive stress-head and have suffered from anxiety my whole life.

Panic attacks are nothing new to me. Sometimes there doesn’t have to be a reason for me to be filled with anxiety and fear. Often when I have full blown panic attacks, my mind and past events are usually the cause.

My panic attacks often result in my hyperventilating on the floor with all of my muscles cramping up. This is unbelievably painful and the pain from the attack can linger for days. This also makes a constant reminder of why I panicked in the first place.

So that girl on the floor, looking like a fish out of water, that probably was me.

I am proud to tell you that I have now gone two and a half months without a full blown panic attack (high five to that!)

Some days are worse than others but this is my journey of finding my serenity and learning from the challenges that come my way.

Finding my serenity when my anxiety is going through the roof is one of the hardest things I have had to work on.

When I saw a therapist for advice, some of the exercises that were given to me sounded great in theory, but when I was the middle of an attack, they didn’t often help. The exercises that were given to me were better for an everyday practice.

Halfway through last year, I was at the gym when a panic attack started to occur. I tried everything I could to stop it before it resulted in me being on the floor.

So there I was starting to hyperventilate whilst talking to myself out loud saying “I am calm, I am safe”. While I was trying to convince myself that I was calm and safe, the person next to me was wishing they had chosen another machine on the other side of the room.

I can’t exactly tell you how I ended up on the gym’s shower floor hugging my knees with cold water pouring down onto me, but it happened. When I finally realised I was freezing, was when I realised where I was and that I wasn’t in pain. My anxiety didn’t escalate into an attack.

Though I have never told anyone this story before (feel honoured peeps!) it’s something that often comes to mind when I’m having a stressful day.

I may have ended up on the shower floor and had to go home looking like a drowned rat, but the moral to the story is that, the impossible became possible. I won against my attack (I was able to stop it) and this gave me hope that I can once and for all overcome my life-long challenge.

I was willing to fight my battles and that day I chose the outcome.

I have worked on my serenity every single day since the episode at the gym. I have worked hard to not only stop anxiety in its tracks, but to also prevent it and allow myself to be free. Everyone deserves to be free, and that includes me.

Since working on my serenity, my anxiety doesn’t come out of the blue anymore. I can’t tell you how much of a difference this has made in my life.

Sundays are the one day per week on which I try not to have any plan. The day is filled with inspiration and motivation for the coming week. It is something that I have had to prioritise over other social events because a day of getting back to reality and focusing on my wellbeing is extremely beneficial.

Because I have been doing this for a long time now and feel it is something I will always do, I want to be able to share my Sundays with you.

Each Sunday I will write a post under the title of: Finding Serenity in My Sundays.

It will be filled with inspiration, motivation and tips to help you find serenity for the week ahead.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this in the comments below.

Lisa x