Life intervenes

No writing has occurred, lots of reading and watching rugby in between housework, gardening etc. It's the et cetera that gobbles up the time leaving little tangible evidence. A bit like electricity, it cant be seen but we have complete faith it is there when we flick a switch. So I need to be more mindful, take in what I'm doing which spring-boards nicely to one of the several books I am reading - The Happiness Trap - Stop Struggling, Start Living by Dr Russ Harris (I'm also reading a book by Anne Fine but that's another story hehehe).

Essentially Dr Harris offers an alternative to falling victim (psychologically speaking) to the endless chatter that fills our mind which can be quite destructive if left unchecked - not much different to an unsupervised toddler. We have all heard the 'judge', 'jury', critic, victim, type stories that rush through our minds. Good news is that our thoughts are just words/symbols flitting through our mind, and as long as we realise this and keep reminding ourselves of this, then we might have a better chance at surviving the barrage of negative stuff these words can throw at us - so rather than be at the whim of some crazy angry woman (at worse, on a bad day in the life of a menopausal moment) I can choose to thank the mind for the 'story' because that is all thoughts really are, and in doing this the thoughts are 'diffused', rather than reverberate they just ripple a bit.

Were I reading this book only, I would be through it faster, but I'm a word/book glutton so I don't have a complete overview of the therapy yet. So far though, I like what I have read of the six core principles of 'ACT' (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) which help a person to "a) effectively handle painful thoughts and feelings, and b) t0 create a rich, full and meaningful life...". I already have a rich, full and meaningful life, I'm just too busy sometimes to enjoy it.

Hence, no writing.