6 Tips for Enjoying the Wait for Payday!

Just to make you all aware, I have published an article on Recovery Warriors about how perfectionists meditate! Full of personal experience and knowledge of the frustrations of trying to close your eyes and stay focused. The link is here!

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It seems that more often than not I find myself waiting for a pay day. No matter how much I try to budget there always seem to be at least a few days where I only have about £1 to spend each day. From social media I gather that this is not uncommon, so here are some tips for when it happens.

1.  Make sure you have enough food.
   
   To be able to have fun, you need to be nourished. Make sure that at the first sign that you might run out of money, food becomes a priority. Stock up on freezer foods and UHT milk if you need to - make sure you will have enough until pay day.
   
   If you are unable to pay for food, and will not have enough to eat, consider asking to borrow from family or friends, or in the worst case scenario, think about going to your local food bank (there is a list here should you need to look for your closest).
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2. Find good company.
   
   If you are struggling to afford things, you might be feeling a bit miserable. Many friends might be on holiday and posting pictures all over social media. It can be nice to get out of the house, off of social media and into a real life friendship with someone you enjoy spending time with.
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3. Go to a park.
   
   The last few days have been really sunny, and in this kind of weather it can be nice to sunbathe in a park. If you want refreshments, you don't have to spend £s - for instance, you can buy a cream soda for 39p and an ice lolly for 60p from a corner shop - that's 99p for refreshment!
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4. Make art.
   
   If you have the materials at home, it can be nice to spend hours creating art. Sometimes when our schedules are busy it is easy to overlook how fun it can be to get out all your painting materials, but being limited in what you can do is a great opportunity.
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5. Write a gratitude list every day.
   
   To keep things in perspective, write out what you are grateful for. If you have a journal, write a gratitude list in it each day to remind you how much fun you have had. It can be easy to get swept up into feeling sad about having no money, so this is a great way to feel positive.
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6. When you do get money, reflect.
   
   Whenever I get money after having a while of going without, I tend to make a small gesture to ground myself and remind myself of the value of having money. For instance, giving to charity, to a homeless person, or to a church. 

Image from here

Surprising Reasons to Play Sport

On a Google search of reasons to play sport, the two big reasons you should pick up a tennis racket or hockey stick are for health and fun. These reasons are great within their own right, but how else does sport contribute to wellbeing?

Today I played tennis with my partner. Two big things came up for me which showed me how great sport can be for wellbeing:

Challenging the ego

Firstly, I find that playing sport can easily damage my ego, especially when it is a one on one sport rather than a team sport. According to this post by Elyse Santilli, when your ego is in charge:

• You need validation
• You are easily bruised when things don't go your way
• You are consumed by emotions
• Your worth is dependent on external things

Winning is fun, but my ego puts a lot of pressure on me winning at things. Because I am very aware of it I find it enjoyable to notice my ego, let its pressures go and focus on what's really important. Today I made sure to remind myself that winning is not the important thing - enjoying spending time with my partner was the important thing today. 

Mindfulness

Firstly, sport is mindful. We scored, but after getting to 30-15 it was hard to stay on track and remember what our scores were. Remembering our scores and playing at the same time took up a lot of our focus, and distracting thoughts were continuously returned to the game and our scores. This distraction and returning of attention is very mindful and similar to meditation. 

Image from here

Fancy New Gadgets!

Having spent quite a while looking through the fancy gadgets Blogger lets you add to your blog, I have selected a few to improve your reading experience! 

1. I now have an ask box on my blog! It it on the right hand side and you can use it to send me questions, from which I will form blog posts anonymously :) It is a chance for you to connect with me and see some writings on things you as my readers are interested in!
   
2. I also have... drum roll... a search bar! You can look for things you are interested in!
   
3. The last thing is that you can now translate this blog into any language you wish. If you're French and are struggling to read through my lengthy English posts filled with slang, then look no further than the translate gadget at the bottom of the page!

Enjoy!