Resources that I've found / I find helpful

Quotes worth putting on my wall

I heard this in a big tented church in Nairobi many moons away. The minister preached a brilliant sermon about how we try and cram so much in to make the most of life and end up missing it in the process. I have a tendency to fill my plate too full - this often comes from zest for life and embracing opportunity and sometimes becomes overwhelming so this is a good reminder. I wrote a blog about this a couple of years ago which can be found here.

The Best Way Out is Always Through
This is my very own quote :-) And the mantra by which I live my life now - after years of trying to go round and avoid. Now I go through and life is much more colourful, varied, challenging and rich. I am lighter, freer and happier for accepting and allowing the heavy, constricting and sad.

Lean the fuck in
Another reminder not to bypass but to go in when it feels uncomfortable

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle
Sometimes, particularly when we're in a bubble of our own rough patch, it helps to remember that we don't know what everyone else is facing. Perhaps that person who was rude to us is going through some trauma of their own, perhaps that grumpy driver who honked at us was on their way to a scary hospital appointment and perhaps even someone close to us is battling with their own gremlins that we aren't aware of.  Kindness starts with ourselves and as another lovely saying goes, if you can be anything: be kind.

Know that the wolves that hunt you, in time they will be the dogs that bring your slippers. Love them right.
Beautiful words from Kate Tempest's Hold Your Own, a song I go back to regularly. These words spoke to me as a powerful reminder that the biggest challenges we face can become our greatest sources of strength and comfort. We have to get to know them, to befriend them and to be with them. We have to love them.

Books