I was talking with my “brother” the other day and reflecting on life and everything else that goes with it and he said something to me that made me think. He said “you learn lessons so hard and so fast that I find I learn a lot from just being around you” and so based on that, I thought I would share with you the TOP 4 Lessons I have learnt this month.

• My opinion of myself is the ONLY ONE that really matters

No matter how many times people tell you things about yourself – unless you truly believe it in your heart and accept it and own it as your own – there is no way that you will ever believe it. I used to listen to people tell me things about myself, I would say thank you, yet in my head, it was not making sense. I would then get upset when people said other things about me, sometimes even the same people who passed compliments in the past. So therefore, I contsantly fought with myself and all these conflicting things that were being said.

I can only see the world as I know it – nothing else is ever going to change that, and therefore, I can only see myself as I know myself. Like my own, people’s opinions are ALWAYS changing – things happen, things influence our beliefs and values and decisions and opinions change. But when I am sure of who I am and own who I am, and I live my life in accordance with my beliefs and values, then really, it is only my opinion of myself that matters. If I see a trend of people getting upset with me, I can take a look at myself and see why I am creating that and if there is anything I need to change. If there isn’t and I am happy with myself, then why the frikkin hell should I let other people’s opinions of me upset me.

And if I live my life influenced by everybody else’s ever changing opinions (just like mine) then how I can I be the authentic person I strive to be because you know what, there are 6 billion people in the world and there is no way I am ever going to please all of them, so I may as well start off by making sure I am happy with myself and not let other people influence who I am or how I react or live my life.

• When you speak openly and honestly from the heart, people listen and take inspired action

There was a time in my life when all I could do was talk the biggest load of crap there ever was, and then I used to wonder why people did not take any notice of me. Imagine for a minute, if you would, that you could only speak (say) 500 words a day and that was it. What would you say and how would you use those words ? Would you make the most of them and make sure you spoke your honest truth and message or would you just waste them with nonsense ? There is so much going on in the world that we are conditioned to “listen” to every day that it is no wonder so few voices are truly heard.

A few people asked me recently about a detox / cleanse that I did a while back, and I spoke about what it did for me, based on my true life fact and from the heart, because it made a huge impact on my life. A little while later, quite a few people took action and decided to have a go for themselves. It was pretty humbling to know that my words could inspire someone to take action and was a good learning for me.

• It’s OK to let go of stuff

When I got out of hospital many years ago (November 2002) I met a young student priest, who was very very open minded. He helped me a great deal, considering that I had been in hospital as a result of trying to take my own life (again) and I was pretty feckin lost – I was angry and I hated myself for what I had put my family through and I did not see the point of carrying on. After spending 3 full and intense days with him, and having some pretty profound breakthroughs back then, he gave me a parting gift that I have carried with me EVERY SINGLE DAY since then – his rosary (who I called Lordy.) Now those of you that really know me will know how important my own personal faith is in my life, and Lordy has helped me through some pretty tough shit. He has always been there as a reminder that somebody greater than myself believed in me enough to give me a fourth or fifth chance !

We went swimming one night when I was in Portugal, and I put Lordy down on my towel. It was quite late and the tide was coming in, so I ran to move my towel, carefully picking it up. We then went back into the sea and carried on swimming and chatting. I then go out and went to dry myself, and noticed that Lordy was not there. Now let me explain – there have been times in the past when I have driven to work, realised that I had left Lordy at home and turned around to go and collect Him – that is the importance he held in my heart, and one day soon, I know you will understand this more. Anyway, instead of the insane panic that would normally overcome me, all that was there was an overwhelming sense of peace and calm. In my heart, I knew that it was OK to just let go and have faith. How many times in the past did I fight and push myself through stuff, when had I just embraced it and accepted things and just let go, it would have been so much more liberating. I turned and hugged my “brother” knowing that letting go is the most exciting thing we can ever do in our lives. Why hold on to stuff that keeps one foot trapped in the past when all we have to do is let it go?

• Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Something like this used to terrify me – I guess because my opinion of myself was not that great, I was too afraid to speak openly from the heart and therefore, I was hanging on to shit from the past !!! But when I realised that I was sure of who I was and what I wanted, that my opinion mattered and if I let go of my shit and spoke openly from my heart, it was OK to ask for help. I did and the answers I got blew me away !

My Mom has the most amazing intuition in the world – a gift I clearly now realise that I got from her. Due to the distance apart that we are, and that fact that phone systems in Zimbabwe are pretty messed up, I don’t get to speak to her much, but she knows just when to send the right type of mail across the world to me.

As you may know from my previous post, some pretty big shit has shifted in my head, and I have had a few days of rather intense and vivid dreams, as well as some very “unrestful” sleep – in fact, A LOT of unrestful sleep. My body is physically drained yet my mind is raring to go, possibly explaining all the dreams. I am going with the flow of it all and taking things one day at a time at the moment. I am putting plans in place and taking steps towards creating the dream that I once thought was just that – a dream. And then there are some areas that are not without their challenges, and those I am working in too. It is very difficult when other people’s emotions are involved, and all I can do is be me, open and honest about everything I guess.

So this came from my Mom at exactly the right time. It summed up a lot of what has happened over the last 2 years of intense work on myself, and you know what, I have (as have you) probably read it in the past, but this time it really sunk in and I feel obligated to share it with you all.

Maybe…
we were supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that,
when we finally meet the right person,
we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

Maybe…
it is true that we don’t know what we have until we lose it,
but it is also true that we don’t know what we have been missing until it arrives.

Maybe…
the brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past;
after all, you can’t go on successfully in life
until you let go of your past mistakes, failures and heartaches.

Maybe…
you should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet,
enough trials to make you strong,
enough sorrow to keep you human,
and enough hope to make you happy.

Maybe…
the happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Maybe…
the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had.

Maybe…
happiness waits for all those who cry,
all those who hurt, all those who have searched, and all those who have tried,
for only they can appreciate the importance of all the people who have touched their lives.

Maybe…
you should do something nice for someone every single day,
even if it is simply to leave them alone.

Maybe…
giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back.
Don’t expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart;
but, if it doesn’t, be content that it grew in yours.

Maybe…
you should dream what you want to dream;
go where you want to go,  be what you want to be,
because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you dream of,
and want to do.

Life is only travelled ONCE;
Today’s MOMENT becomes Tomorrow’s MEMORY.
Enjoy every moment, good or bad, because the GIFT of LIFE… is LIFE itself…

EGO INVENIO my friends ! The journey to the heart of knowing yourself is one of the MOST rewarding journeys you will ever undertake. By no means the easiest, but by all means the most rewarding.

A little over 2 years ago, I embarked upon a journey of self discovery, one that I had been travelling along on, on my own for some years at that stage. I made a decision back then that it was time to reach out for help rather than trying to do everything on my own because even though my life had radically changed in the years running up to that point, there was still a few things that I was struggling with and because I was doing it on my own, I felt like I was getting nowhere.

Just under a week ago, I have the amazing privilege to attend Billionaire Bootcamp in Portugal with the Academy of Wealth and Achievement, and to graduate as well from their amazing trainings. It was the topping on the cake of the last 2 years for me, and something that, at times, I thought I would never ever get through. Surrounded by friends that I had made over the last 26 months, I stood and received my certificate from 3 pivitol people along the journey – Chris Howard, Duane Alley and Johnnie Cass. These 3, amongst others, have been people who have made me laugh and smile, cry and scream and love and hate all at the same time. They have pushed me and pulled me, held me accountable to things I never dreamed possible for myself and showed me what I was capable of just when I felt like giving up.

There was a time in my life when I never believed that it was possible to deal with, or even handle, some of the “stuff” I have chosen to deal with, but my philosophy in life is that if you are going to do anything, you may as well do it properly and full out or else what is the point. And right now, boy am I frikkin glad that I have this “law” in my life. During this last week in Portugal, there was one particular writing process that we went through, and having being a “writer” on a daily basis now for almost 10 years, it proved to me how much I have taken ownership of my life and where I am today. I have had some pretty radical changes in my life over this period with AWA, so I went in with an open mind, ready to take on whatever came my way in my own full-out way. But I never expected to receive what was sent for me.

On the second day of the training, I was doing my writing as was suggested, and that was when possible the most profound shit hit me smack in the fucking face. I messaged a “brother” and asked if we could meet up for a chat on the beach as I was feeling somewhat strange, and as we sat there, close to midnight, going through whatever the hell had happened, and looking out at the sea, I was filled with a sense of peace that I have only ever experienced once before in my life (which we will save for another day soon to come.) For years and years now, I had been working tirelessly on myself, mostly on my own until this last 2 year patch. I had been writing and writing every single day, sometimes for a short period of time, and sometimes for hours on end. That jounery of self discovery to deep within myself sometimes felt like it was a waste of time, yet at the same time, over the years, it has helped me find someone that I deeply care for and love now. And this final piece in the puzzle made me see that it had been the most amazing journey I had ever emarked upon.

Some say that in order to achieve mastery in your life, you must spend 10,000 hours doing what you intend to be a master on, and I have heard this said many times. It often made me question myself as to what value I have to add to the world and how I could ever become a master in some area. During my writing, it dawned on me that there was and is something special and unique about what I do in my life, and that the mastery I had been supposedly looking for was within me all along. Sitting on that beach in Portugal I had the most profound personal Shift in Conciousness that I had ever thought possible, and let me tell you something mate, it was way fucking better than any drug I had ever consumed in my entire life – and I have had a fair share of that along the way too.

Things changed massively that night for me, and to be totally honest with you, things are still shifting around in my head as we speak here, but what I have learned is true mastery in the art of self discovery. It took me almost 1o years to learn and teach myself the Art of True Self Discovery (some may refer to this as Ego Invenio – a term which will be common knowledge in the not so distant future) and it made me realise, along with the support and encouragement of TEAM CHICKEN (they will know who they are when they read this) that I do have something special and unique to offer to the world, and for that  I am truly blessed.

Standing on that stage with those 3 teachers that I mentioned earlier was an end step I once thought was impossible for me. But it was also the end step that made me see the gift I had been given by my personal God – one of the art of true self acceptance, no matter what.

I was meant to be doing a talk next weekend, 24th July, however, due to some massive shifts in mindset and the like, I am going to postpone this unil September this year. Yes, I could get up there and do it but as a result of some transformational conversations in Portugal, I am now working on my first ever “speaking tour” and would like to include the London dates in that. I will keep you informed of everything as we go along, but I just wanted to share with you what has been happening as I have been rather quiet of late.

To those people who were there with me, I would like to say a very BIG thank you to you all. I don’t speak to many people and I sometimes keep very quiet, but I connect from the heart when I do. You all played an amazing part of my journey and I would not have done it without you around. To Mufasa, Team Chicken and Team TBE – you guys have been my rock in this last part of my journey of mastery in self acceptance, and like in a marathon, the last few miles are always the ones where you have to dig deep, and boy have I done that and boy, have you helped me dig down to those depths.

And to everyone out there who has a dream ! Never fucking give up mate. I started out on this journey almost 10 years ago, and there were many times along the way where I wanted to throw the towel in. Keep going. Keep digging. Find people to help you and listen when people share and speak out. You will get there as long as you keep the dream alive.

See you in September baby, and watch out, things will never ever be the same ever again !

So, I started writing a blog and then heard some more news. I let the shock set in, I took some time out to cry (and swear) a lot and I took a deep breath and listened to my heart, which has been speaking to me quite a bit lately. For some strange reason, this time around, my fucking head would not answer back and that was when I knew that maybe, I had finally listened to the message that I was being given.

Today I had the news that 2 people I knew, one very well, had died. The first young lady was sadly killed by a lion back home and the 2nd young lady died this morning really suddenly. Both of them were amazing people, they truly were but you know what was even more special about them. EVERY SINGLE day they got to do what they were passionate about. One worked in an animal orphanage, and the other worked as a teacher of small children. They loved what they did and they got to do it each and every day of their lives.

Keziah, the girl who died this morning was very special to me. You see, some time back, as you know, I was pretty fucked up. She was one of the first people I spoke to about some stuff that was going on back then and she gave me a book to read the changed my life. It was called The Cross and The Swicthblade about this minister who worked with heroin addicts on the streets in America. He never gave up on them and his ministry still goes today around the world. That book made me see that I was not going mad and that the dreams and visions I had for the future were possible. She always believed in me and whenever I spoke to her, she always inspired me and now she has gone to a place she strongly believed in.

You see, I don’t know if I speak for you, but I know that for me, I have some pretty big dreams that I want to achieve in my life. Because of my own fears and limitations that I have placed on myself, I guess you could say I have always come up with excuses and the like.

Until today !

How many signs and messages do we need to get before we actually take some specific sort of action towards what we want to do ? Life is short guys, it really is. I know that there was a time in my life where I hated everything going on and when I just wanted to be dead. Call it extreme but I know that there are people out there who know what I am talking about. I tried to end my life a few times, and in doing so, I hurt a lot of people but none more than I hurt myself. It has taken me many years to accept who I am and to truly love the person that I am every day now, realising how lucky I am to be alive and living now.

So, I am taking some action and this is where you come in because I need some help from you. It will be my birthday in August and before then, I intend to stand up and speak. I can’t teach you about internet marketing, and I can’t teach you about trading and fitness but what I can tell you is my story and how to be authentic and true to who you are. I can share with you from the heart what I have learnt in my life, in the hope that it will change your life in one way or another.

Fuck me, it is scarry writing this stuff, but these 2 friends of mine have shown me something truly special in life, and I believe that I can now share what I know with the people who are reading this and ready to listen.

I have some dates lined up and depending on the interest that is shown, Iguess that is how it goes. It will be towards the end of July, early-August and will be in the evening after work for a few hours. There will be a small charge to cover the costs of organising it, part of the proceeds of this will also go to The Gorilla Organisation, a charity that is very very close to my heart in all that i do, but it will be small.

If you are interested, please contact me via Facebook or by email on mycoachguy@yahoo.com and I will keep you informed, and if you can, please pass this on to your friends and family.

It’s my dream and I believe in it, so please support me in taking this HUGE step forwards, and remember, maket he most of everything because you never know what is going to happen next.

You know something – I frikkin love music – a frikkin lot !! I have been watching a new video of a song recently, and everytime I watch it, it brings tears to my eyes. Imaginative, creative, crazy, touching and beautiful in all respects. And while watching it over and over again, inside my head, some more shit started moving around. I saw people being unafraid to be who they were. I saw people coming together as one instead of being apart and different. I saw someone who clearly lives their passion and shares their message with the world, and it taught me some amazing lessons to be honest.

1)      It’s OK to TRUST people.

Trust is built and based around our expectations of the world. We grow up learning and believing things, and as we go through life, things happen that challenge this way of thinking. People disagree with us or do things we don’t really understand because we don’t know what they are going through, and it breaks down that supposed trust that we have in life. Expectations, to me, are really only premeditated resentments. If this person does this or that, then I will feel this or that. However, when we find that we are secure with who we are and where we are in life, it is actually OK to trust because we are in charge of where we are in life, and leave the other people’s reality to them. I never used to trust easily, and I have found this changing a lot lately and watching this showed me that it is actually OK to trust because I know in my heart now that I trust myself.

2)      Belief – in whatever you want to believe in.

Faith is an amazing thing, no matter what it is that you believe in. For me, faith is paramount to my existence and where I am in my life, and I realised recently how much I rely on it. It gets me through the dark times when I feel like the “voices” are going to actually eat me up alive and it makes me remember that I am on a journey all the time. My faith helps me feel the pain and emotions that I go through and it gives me the strength to deal with them – it does not take them away, because if it did, how would I make a difference by sharing what I go through. Every trial I go through helps me to grow as a being and to help others and share the love.

3)      It’s OK to be scared about situations in your life.

Fear is a very natural and real thing. It reminds us that we are alive and free to make choices. In times gone by, it helped us to survive and get through some pretty shit things. And at the same time, how would we ever be able to have courage and faith if fear had not shown up. I have recently found myself being very afraid of some stuff going on, but it made me see what strength, courage and faith I do have.

4)      Loving yourself happens when you least expect it

This video starts with a cup of coffee, some milk and marshmallows falling to the floor and images of people getting undressed. To me, being naked is the ultimate symbol of being exposed for who and what I truly am. It scares me being naked, it really does. Who knows why the coffee dropped and why these people exposed their vulnerability to those around them. What it showed me was that things happen in your life when you least expect it – you cannot control them but what you can do is give yourself the permission to be vulnerable and be who you were born to be – loving another person is the surest way to see how much you love yourself, and fuck me mate, this was a pretty big lesson for me.

5)      Self Hypnosis is frikkin awesome

I have found a very interesting pattern to some of the things that I do, and over the past couple of years, I have got a number of tattoos. I love them for many different reasons and I will tell you about that another time. I had a rather large and unfinished tattoo redone this weekend and as I am no longer a great fan of physical pain, I decided that I was going to do some pain alleviation hypnosis on myself and I fell asleep in the chair while the dude was inking my arm. I heard him laughing at me and he looked over at me and asked how I had managed to fall asleep while being tattooed because I actually snored a bit ! It’s really cool man and you should try it some time !!!

I found myself getting somewhat overwhelmed by things yesterday. You know what it is like when something goes on in your head, and then every other frikkin thing gets in the way – it is like this parade of shit going through your mind where everyone wants to get heard and everything wants your attention. You know what I am talking about right ?

So, last night I took the long and scenic route home, spent a bit of time appreciating the weather and everything for what it is right now – when you don’t have much sun around, you tend to realise how special it is when you do see it and it kind of makes things look different somehow. I looked at all the situations going on in my life currently, some of them big and some of them small, as you may well know and I realised how fucking lucky I actually am. I was getting upset with myself for letting myself have certain feelings, for thinking certain things and for just worrying the whole time and I guess it took getting to the state of overwhelm for me to take stock of things.

I learnt that you can’t control everything going on in your life – yes, I know that we all know that but do we actually listen to it and apply it all the time? Working in the personal development industry, there comes a stage, I guess, where you kind of second-guess everything you are feeling and thinking and doing. What part of me is this and what part of me is that ? Why am I doing this and why am I doing that ? It can be very empowering, but in my opinion, it can also make you, to some extent, doubt a lot of things as well. Now that is my opinion alone and some of you may very well disagree with it, but hey, that is life.

It made me see that it is OK to just feel sometimes. As painful as it is, it is good. It made me reach out and speak to people as well, not many, but it is a start. And it made me realise that some people come into your life for a fucking amazing reason. You care for them for who they are, for what you learn about them and for what you see about yourself in them. They have stuff going on to and when you are in that state of overwhelm, it is so easy to just forget about things.

I don’t know what today is going to bring, but you know what, right now I don’t give a shit. That may sound careless and senseless but hey, that’s me mate, and that’s how I am going to get through things right now. If things happen, they happen and if they don’t, then they don’t but the sun is shining, my thoughts are still racing and my mind is all over the place and today is today !

“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself as accepted in spite of being unacceptable” – Paul Tillich

I personally believe that the journey to true self acceptance is one of the most challenging things a person can ever decide to embark upon. To put aside all masks and identities, to lay yourself bare to the world and say from the heart that this is me and this is who I am is a pretty tough thing to do and something that, due to my own bullshit, I have been very passionate about in my own life.

For a very very long time in my own life, I wore a mask – one that covered up a lot of personal pain and anguish and one that hurt a lot of people as well. When I woke up in a hospital bed, covered in tubes and needles, I decided then that I was going to find myself and be myself, and lying there, I never knew how much hard work and tireless dedication it would take. There have been times when all I have wanted to do is give up on it all, and so many times along the way when I have doubted everything I did.

And that was until a few years ago, when I accepted my life for what it was and me for who I was becoming and being every day. I have never openly spoken about myself, neither have I hidden it from anyone, but accepting myself as a gay man and a gay dad was one of the hardest, yet at the same time, most liberating things that I have done. For years I denied what people said, I argued and fought about it, and I hated every part of myself for feeling the way that I felt. I made myself an outsider, I hurt mysef to get away from it, and to be honest with you, there were times when I thought to myself that it would be better to be away from here than to accept this in my life.

I met some people who helped me through things, and I finally told the people closest and dearest to me about what I was going through and they were, and still are, a very special part of my life. Yet for some reason, I still could not bring myself to fully accept and love who I am, until recently when I realised a few things.

Some years ago, I decided that to love was something that was too painful – it ended in pain, it hurt people and it just caused problems, so yes, if I am honest with you, I decided that love was for other people. As I gradually accepted myself over the years, I began to like what I saw. I began to accept myself as a pretty good guy and a decent catch, but thanks to my decisions, I always ended up hurting myself in one way or another – sabotaging relationships with some amazing guys, creating shit fucked up stories in my head that made me act like an idiot, acting like a complete and utter fool at times as well by doing some stupid things – just the whole bunch of shit. It has been a tiring few years if I am honest with you and then recently something strange happened.

To be honest with you, right now I am terrified to write and publish this blog. It is possibly one of the most openly honest and intimate things I have allowed myself to think, let alone write here, but it is where I want to go with my life and what I feel could possibly be holding me back from the next step, so I am just doing what my heart tells me from now on.

I recently began feeling some very strange, yet vaguely familiar feelings and have been wondering what they were. Somebody came into my life that changed some stuff, and tonight on the way home, it dawned on me what was going on and why I was feeling this way. This man made me see me for what and who I truly was and whilst speaking to 2 other very special people in my life about this, I realised that I had started to actually love who I had become. I was being honest and open with people, I was sharing from my heart the truth that I believed in, and I was allowing myself to not be afraid to show whatever emotion I was going through. In doing so, I was touching people’s lives and having an impact on them just by BEING ME. When I realised that I was liking and loving me, and someone else maybe, because of that subconcious decision that I made many years ago, I began sabotaging things a lot to the point where I really had a very bad 2 or 3 days of self doubt.

Who did I think I was to feel like this ? Stuff like this is not for me ! You don’t deserve all this because it only ends in pain. How can you feel like this when there could be something better around the corner for you ? You only deserve a few moments of happiness and the rest, well who gives a shit, it is there for someone else.

Now that may sound mad and crazy, but you know what, it is the truth. I don’t ask for these thoughts and I don’t keep them quiet anymore, but you know what they did? They made me see that because I had allowed myself to find myself and love myself for who I was, warts and all, I had allowed myself to see someone else just as amazing who showed me everything I loved about me and more. Some people who have chosen a path to true self acceptance will know exactly what I am saying here, but by allowing myself to open up to the possibility of loving someone else actually allowed me to open up my heart to myself.

I sit here now, a little bit scared about all of this. I don’t know what is going to happen next but what I do know is that I don’t have to hide anymore and I don’t have to pretend anymore. This is me and this is who I am and if it means I have to wait a while, then I am prepared to wait and see what happens.

I have literally just had a very humbling experience and something that has brought to the surface many, many things for me. I live near water, there are some amazing docks and the view of the river is frikkin cool. A few moments ago, there were fire engine and police cars and helicopters crawling all over the place, so I took a walk to see what was going on.

Leading up to today, I have been going through a few things and have recently had the pleasure of meeting someone really cool. We have a lot in common and get on really well, and it has made me see that it is possible that I could find a somebody in this world. There are a few challenges, as always, that I have been internally questioning a lot, really making myself quite upset at times, however, honesty is something that is hugely important to me, and we have had possibly one of the most honest conversations I have ever had with anyone. It made me realise that you never ever know what is going to happen in your life, and sometimes you just have to accept the way that things are and go with them.

I woke up this morning feeling really down, very down in fact and you know, I have blogged about this in the past and I still work on it now. Sometimes, I get tired of learning. Sometimes I get tired of physically having to deal with some of this shit and if I am honest enough to say, sometimes I can’t actually stand it, I really can’t. I feel like I take 1 step forward and 2 steps back at times and it can be pretty tough going. I have to look after myself really hard but it has become a way of life now and something that I do naturally and something I want to show people. So yeah, this morning was tough and hard work too.

Anyway, so there I was, walking towards where all these emergency services were and found out that someone had killed themselves and they were now trying to find the body. It took me back to many years ago when I thought that there was no way out, and it brought up all of those feelings and emotions and I stood there amongst all these people with tears just rolling down my face because we heart went out to that person and to their family.

Sometimes, it feels like there is no way out of things and sometimes people give up. I wanted to give up today – not necissarily on life, but on something very special in my life. I realised that if I was to have something special one day, I have to go through these trials now. If you have something special in your life, appreciate it for every gift that it is – challenges and all. One day you can look back and see how amazing the experience was and how you go through it.

There will always be that one special person out there that you can talk to, and they will let you cry and get upset and they will let you know that it is OK. I wondered if that person had someone to talk to, and I know what went through their mind the moment they made that decision and people say that it is the cowards way out, but you know, it takes courage to do something like that and I am not making any excuses for that. Sorry this may be a bit of a ramble but I am just speaking from my heart and letting whatever comes out, come out. I am about to go and see that friend that I can talk to because I am lucky enough to have people like that around me, and I hope I can keep it under control, and you know what, if I can’t, I don’t care.

I tell you what mate, life is so frikkin short, it really is. Live it. Love it, no matter how painful it is at times.

I have not written for a while as I have been fighting with the writing lately – I think there are things I feel I am ready to share that could possibly be too honest for my own liking, and that scares me a little bit. I know, that sounds a bit strange, but hey ho ! I have been doing lots of old fashioned writing so I promise you that it will make it’s way across here sooner or later.

Anyway, recently I have had some pretty big learnings come around in my life as you know, especially with the broken toe and being unable to run the marathon. That really taught me how much I need to slow down and takes things easy. Yet there is something else I want to share with you, and possibly this is also one of those honest things too, one that is deeply personaly and maybe a bit tough to share but I have a philosophy in my life and that is if you can’t walk the walk, then why the fuck should you talk the talk ?

So, not too long ago I came across someone pretty cool. You know when you meet people who just have a pretty significant impact on your life ? Yup ! One of those people. Now forgive me, but being 37 years old, I was beginning to think that when people told those stories, they were just that – STORIES ! That was until recently. I found myself being very confused and frightened by these things that were going through my head because they totally defied any strategy or thought-pattern that I had regarding this type of thing. No matter how much I tried to deny it or make it go away, it was just there.

And that is when I got the learning maybe. It is OK to feel the way you feel when you feel it, whatever it is. As long as you live in the now, experience it, enjoy it and make the most of it. Moments like this do not come along very often, so why not just live now. Yup ! You can say that you know all these things, and I know that because I often say it, but how often do we truly do it? How often do we actually just relish each and every moment that we have in an experience that brings a smile to our faces?

You never know when something is going to happen, and when you sit around expecting things and pondering on things or thinking things through, you totally forget about the NOW and that is when it happens. That is when magic occurs – right now.

Self-harming is something that I struggled with for many, many years of my life and to this day, I see the scars that remind me of how far I have come and what I have worked through, both on my own and with the help of trained professionals – something that I will always encourage people to do.

In doing so, there are also some small things that I used to do that helped me to break the pattern of constantly hurting myself, whether it was physically, mentally or emotionally. These little steps, combined with other things, made a huge difference, and in working with people in the past, I have found that it has made a huge difference with them as well.

The first thing that you need to grasp is that, even though this is a coping mechanism, in one way or another, it has also become a habit that we do. Identifying what triggers that habit and breaking the cycle, along with professional help to deal with the underlying causes, are 2 of the biggest steps to take to freedom from this.

1)    Keep a journal of your emotions, recording every single thing that you feel and what you go through. This may seem like a very negative thing to do, but as you go along, it will help you to notice a pattern or patterns leading up to times when you hurt yourself. Seeing these can help you to change or alter the way that things happen because you are no aware of them.

2)    Hurting ourselves produces hormones in the body that are the equivalent of natural pain killers – they get released by the body when it is under stress and the overall effect that they have on us is that they tend to relax or quieten our minds, and more often that not, this is also part of the cycle. The body knows that when it hurts itself, it is going to get a hit of something – kind of like a drug addict scoring, and this then becomes a mental cycle. Understanding this principle makes the next suggestions easier to follow.

3)    Carry a thick elastic band with you around your wrist – you know you can get those bright coloured bracelets that many charities now use to raise awareness. Whenever you feel the urge to go out and do something to yourself, pull the band back as far as you can and let it snap back down to your wrist. This, in effect, has a similar effect to that of cutting yourself or harming yourself in other ways, and is also a very good way to interrupt the pattern.

4)    Another way to do this is to go and find a cube of ice and grip it tightly in your hand for as long as possible.

5)    One of the best things that I ever personally did, and believe me, this may sound strange at first, but you will only do it a few times before you begin to understand how to break your cycle because it can be rather amusing. Whenever I felt the urge to hurt myself and I was in a public place, I would clap my hands together as loud as I possibly could. First of all, it was rather painful, but more importantly, it gave everyone around me quite a large fright, as well as myself and I only had to do this 2 or 3 times and I began to break the thought pattern of going to do something else to myself.

6)    Reward yourself every single time you manage to do one of the above things rather than something else. Notice how you feel proud of yourself for not doing something damaging, and begin to feel the freedom that comes with this release from old patterns.

The most important thing throughout this, is to get help from someone. There are many people out there who are qualified and able to help you get out of this pattern and there is nothing to be ashamed of. In my personal opinion, people may believe that we who self harm are cowards – however, having lived through this for over 20 years, and having come out the other side alive, I can honestly say that it takes a huge amount of courage to do what we do, and at the same time, that same courage is what we have to use to our advantage in getting out of the cycle and helping those who are still trapped.

These are my own thoughts and opinions and are what have personally helped me in my own life, and should not be followed without also consulting and working alongside a trained professional.