Shane MacGowan's Funeral Cortege arriving in Nenagh

 


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What will I give up for Lent?

 Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday and to be honest I'm not exactly giving up anything for Lent. What I will be doing is cutting down on screen time. I have already started this a little last Saturday. I personally spend many hours on screens be it computer, tablet, games consoles or television. I watch T.V. during meal times too. This is the part I am giving up. During breakfast and dinner for the most part I will try and not watch T.V. I will talk to the people around me. I recently started using my New Nintendo 3dsXL and I have noticed I can play it for a long time during the course of the day. I have started using a timer to keep me more mindful of my use of it and that has helped. I  want to use Lent as a time to become closer to God. I aim to do that by either praying a bit more, even one small prayer is good or do something that helps me be closer to God. That can be play religious music, read religious books, going for a walk and noticing the things He created or gardening. As you can see I am not giving up anything but I am cutting down and also giving more time to other more important things in my life. Lent is a time of fast and abstinence but it is also a time of taking up things that help you and others become closer to God. It is also a time of almsgiving where you can give time/donations or money to those who need it most. This Lent I advise you don't just give up something because it is good for you do it to get closer to God and those around you. I hope you all have a great and fruitful Lent.






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Starting my weight loss journey again


On the 4th of January 2023 I wrote a post outlining my goals for 2023. One of them was to lose weight in a year. I originally set this goal to start from yesterday the 4th of February but I weight myself today instead. My goal is to lose 1 stone by next Christmas please God. This is my starting weight. I have not decided if I will weigh myself on a Saturday or Sunday each week. But I will decide that as the weeks go on. I will weigh myself each week if I can. I aim to lose 1-2lbs a week.

My 1st plan is to cut down the days I have treats. Now I have them on Saturday and Sunday. I will cut it down to Sunday. I also plan to restart using healthunlocked website to log my weightloss. You can follow me  https://healthunlocked.com/user/CreativeKnitter That is enough of a change as I don't want to change to much too quickly.

Starting weight 16 st 0 lbs

Weight next week: 15 st 13 lbs







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What I read in 2022

We are now near the end of January 2023 and I know I'm late with this list. These lists are usually done in early January but you know what they say "better late than never". Here is a list of what I read in 2022

January 2022
  • Skylark by 
  • Books from the Attic: Treasures from an Irish Childhood by 

February 2022

  • I Know You Got Soul: Machines with That Certain Something by 
  • Liberalism: Find a Cure by Mark Dice


March 2022
  • New Class at Malory Towers by 

April 2022
  • Little Women by 
  • Your Thoughts are Killing You: Take Control of Your Mind and Close the Door to Those Negative, Depressing, Fearful, Worrisome Thoughts Forever by 

May 2022
  • It Shall Come To Pass: It Shall Come To Pass eBook by 
  • Gordon Ramsay's Playing with Fire by 

July 2022
  • Beano: Dennis & Gnasher ‘The Battle For Bash Street School (Dennis & Gnasher, #1) by 
  • These High, Green Hills by 
  • Overheard in a Tower Block: Poems by 


August 2022

  • St. Therese of Lisieux: The Story of a Soul: With Additional Writings and Sayings by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Francis Bourne (Preface) I also listened to an audio reading of this book on the hallow app
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel by 

September 2022
  • The Story of Tracy Beaker by 
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel by 

October 2022
  • A 1995 boyzone Annual by Eddie Rowley. (I think it was 1995 anyway)

November 2022
  • Ranger 22: Lessons from the Front by Ray Goggins
  • 25 Tough Questions on the Catholic Faith by Keith Barltrop
  • Superhero Squad by Alesha Dixon
  • Marian Thoughts by Pope Benedict XVI

December 2022
  • Following Christ by Pope Benedict XVI
  • Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien, Baillie Tolkien (Editor)
  • Christmas Angel by Leslea Wahl

Thanks for reading. 

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My SMART Goals

This year instead of making resolutions I am going to make S.M.A.R.T goals. S.M.A.R.T stands for

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-based


I aim to have 1 goal for this year and that is to lose weight. I will break it down to a SMART goal

Specific: Lose 1 stone

Measurable: Increase my exercise to start with by doing 10,000 steps most days counting them through my Fitbit watch

Achievable: I think it is achievable because I would only have to lose less than 1/2 a pound a week

Realistic: Same as achievable

Time-based: I would like to start this on Sunday the 5th of February until next Christmas please God.


That is my main goal. I have a few smaller goals too.

Get back into praying more each day. Even if it is only a short prayer that is SMART because it is Specific

Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based


Read but I'm not setting a goodreads challenge this year as I don't know how many books I'll be able to read so I will aim for 2 by the end of the year. That is a SMART goal too

Image via https://www.clker.com/clipart-508451.html


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My Christmas Reads

Since Christmas is around the corner and we are currently in Advent I have started reading Christmas books. Here are some of the Christmas books I have read, am currently reading and hope to read this year. I also have one book I had to stop reading:


A book I stopped reading:

I did read All I want for Christmas about half way but I stopped because I felt it was too racy for my liking in parts. This book is by various Irish female Artists. 


Book I have read:

I finished reading Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien and Baillie Tolkien. I felt it was a  great read. I read this on an old kindle. It contained images of the actual letters in written format along with the print format. I found that he images on the book that I found hard to read on the kindle I have so I will probably get this book in print format for a better experience. I'd say it would be easier to read on newer kindles. I love the letters that Tolkien gives to his children from Father Christmas. They are very heartwarming and homely.


Book I am currently reading:

I am currently reading Jesus of Nazareth the Infancy Narratives by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on my kindle. I did read it half way through at one point however I can't remember what I read of it so I'm starting again.


Books I hope to read:

I hope to reread A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Christmas Angel by Leslea Wahl again this year.



Image via https://www.123rf.com/photo_103370100_stock-illustration-illustration-of-a-senior-man-wearing-santa-claus-costume-reading-a-book-and-telling-a-story.html
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Anxiety setback and how it affects me

I am currently going through another one of my setbacks in my anxiety and here is how I experience them. I am usually going along with my life just fine then wham I'm in a setback. I usually get setbacks that affect my sleep somehow. This time around is no different. I am experiencing insomnia every second night for the last week. I just can't seem to sleep until around 3.30am or 4am. I sleep then until about 9am which is actually a good amount of sleep however I am usually anxious before I sleep and therefore the quality of sleep would not be great.

I experience thoughts going around in my head for example "oh no it is 2.30am and I am still not a sleep" or I would go to bed, do my diary, read my book etc. whatever I usually do and then lie down and my thoughts would go to something like "oh no I'm lying down 30 mins now and I'm not even near sleeping"

These are my trigger thoughts. On a normal night I would not care about the sleep but when I am having a setback it is all I seem to care about at that time. I am doing things to help me. I am redoing a course I finished a few months ago on anxiety. It is facilitated by Aware using the silvercloud platform and it is self paced and free. I also try and type in how I feel on the mental health forum called turn2me. It is basically a social network, where you are anonymous and can check in at certain times with how you are feeling and join text chat groups on different topics such as "Tips on how to manage anxiety" which are facilitated by a turn2me volunteer. The things you post can be private where only you can see it or public where others can comment on your post with helpful advice. I also talk to my family and especially my brother a lot.

What makes this setback different than all the rest is that I am a stronger person now and I realise that I can do a lot of things even on little sleep. I try not to let lack of sleep or tiredness dictate me. I felt frustrated and a bit emotional this morning because I felt that this is never doing to end but I know from past experiences that it will end. I know what I need to do and setbacks are a good thing and will happen in recovery. 

I have a tendency to do things like what I mentioned above with Aware and turn2me etc. until I feel better and then stop but I really should be doing it on a regular basis to help me on the road to recovery. 

I wanted to do this post to help others but also to help myself because I feel better when I type out what is making me anxious rather than talk to a stranger. That reminds me I also will be using the Samaritans. They can be both rang on 116123 or emailed which is what I aim to do.

Right now I am good but I know I am still in the setback a little. I know I will get through it as I always do but I just wanted to share my experience. 

I hope to do an update soon again.

Thanks for reading please share and comment below. What are setbacks like for you and what helps you through them?





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