The Power of Positive Thinking: Changing your thoughts can change your life
My story began on an ordinary day, like any other. I was feeling content with my life, but little did I know that a great tragedy was right around the corner. It all started when I received terrible news about my husband—suddenly and without warning, my world came crashing down.I felt as if my heart […]
I’m a walking example of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
I’ve grown up in a violent environment. Before the age of 18 I watched my brother die, saw a parent try to commit suicide multiple times, battled with addictions and experienced domestic violence as both a victim and the helpless, hopeless onlooker.
Despite this, and the rest, I’m taking the salary of the average career professional through their peak at the age of just 25, and the future is looking like its ready to eclipse my achievements to date. I’m very aware that without my life’s adversities, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Embracing my Non-Binary Identiy
I never really felt different growing up, which is weird cause I was certainly bullied for it. Fuckin kids man, world class ability to detect and trigger insecuritieis in others, gotta hand it em. I always thought of myself as normal, or whatever close approximation seems most apt.
Volunteering on a Construction Site in Central America
I have just landed back in the UK after living in Guatemala for a month. I volunteered on a local project for three weeks and left some time at the end to explore the country. Despite my best efforts on a popular language learning app and four group lessons before departure, my Spanish was not […]
I Too Am the Face of Addiction
I’ve never met a person struggling with substance abuse that wasn’t fighting it in some way. Addiction is a destructive illness that divorces parts of the brain from itself and suspends the sufferer in a constant state of self-battle.
Leaving Cornwall after 44 years
I had always assumed I would end my days in Penzance. I’d lived there since 1977; brought up our two children there, seen three grandchildren born there; and seen them all leave the county. So, there was just my wife and I living in a largish Victorian house which was turning into a money pit as the demands of maintenance increased and my physical abilities decreased. Following a chance remark by our son in August 2020 that he wished we lived nearer to him (in Somerset) we found ourselves in a maelstrom of emotional and practical “stuff” as we contemplated moving.
Racism in North Devon – Dee’s Story
I was relentlessly bullied through pretty much every school year. It all started with taunts about my hair in Primary school, growing up in a little Devon village I was the only brown kid through most of my time there.
Wild swimming helped me to overcome agoraphobia and generalised anxiety
Wild swimming, and in particular, getting into the sea, is an incredibly important part of my life. Whilst I’ve always loved swimming, it has only been during the last couple of years that I have realised how immense the benefits are and how integral it is to my wellbeing. After struggling with my mental health […]
Driving Anxiety
It took me four times to pass my driving test, during one of them I saw my examiner literally gripping on to the car door for dear life. In another of my test I managed to get three of my wheels on the other side of the road, in fairness it was a reverse around […]
CITYFIBRE CHARITY DAY – IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE GARDENING!
Last week the PMO Internal Strategic Programme team spent our Charity Day at MK Snap, a Milton Keynes (MK) charity for adults with learning disabilities. I genuinely can’t say enough good things about the experience: the fact that we get paid to go and support a charity of our choice; the teams approach to it; […]