The truth is I know 2023 will hold so much more than I hope for, because 2022 did.

I healed in ways I didn't know were possible for me.

Feel madly in love twice, 3 times if you include teabag the cat.

Bought a home in a country I hadn't really spent any time in before and drove solo across France and down Italy.

Let's not forget the car camping adventures, standouts were definitely Dingle and Kerry.

There were 2 months of hardcore gyming. Something I never believed my body would be able to do again but it did, and I loved every drop of sweat I got to create.

Many of these tablets, especially the hard tablet form, were filled with chalk and bulking agents to make them into a tablet form. I knew that I could help my body more by cleaning up my supplement intake. I started by trying to buy better quality supplements. For hard pills, if you buy them in larger quantities in the one pill bottle, you will often find the pill size is a lot smaller. I buy organic and/or vegan where possible because I hope they will be cleaner.

Knowing your needs and wants shows you the direction to focus and energy.

Then, with ease, you make decisions that move you in the right direction.

I didn't set out to buy a home in Italy.

You can't make your dreams come true if you don't know yourself and know how to make decisions that match your future goals and support current you.

I've been meaning to write a blog post about how I have helped my body recover from Post Viral Fatigue /Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

I will share with you my journey and what has worked for me. Allowing me now to have more well days than bad. How I have regained trust in my body and feel safe in building living again and building a future.

Here are my spoonie /chronic illness supporting recipes. Green smoothie, Vegetable Juice and a delicious apple and mint mocktail.

We live in a non-stop achievement driven world. A world where being in touch with your intuition can sometimes be flighty and “woo woo” rather than essential for knowing yourself and thriving in your world. Empaths and highly sensitive people (HSP) can find the world we live in today challenging on their mental wellbeing. That’s why Solace Forest exists: to help deep humans like you to discover your own inner sanctuary. Let’s dive into your forest and create a quiet spot beneath the undergrowth for you to bask in the quiet safety of your inner world.

I was born into a dysfunctional family. As a result, love has always been confusing to me and a negative thing to be completely honest.

So I ask you to share your experience of love with me or what you know love to be.

Have you noticed some people pick a word for the year ahead? I'm now one of those people. I have done this with mixed commitment and follow-through in the last couple of years.

This year I am committed, and if you ask me at any point this year what my word is and how I'm actioning it, I expect to be able to answer.

This year my word is RETURN. This is the year I return to things I haven't been able to do since getting Post Viral Fatigue 5 years ago.

This year I want to test my beliefs in what I am capable of.

I've been having a tough time mentally and got some crappy medical news, which shocked me and made things harder.

Since then, I have been processing and creating change where it has been long needed.

But, as is always with life, there is no set final point where I can sit back and breathe in the relief that it is all done.

I am at a point where I can stop, breathe and celebrate what is, before I dive into the next healing and growing focused work.

I went to the Mental Health hospital.

It was an emergency referral by my GP. I called her because I was struggling to stay alive. She was kind, proactive and validating.

We upped my medication to give me immediate hope for better feelings, and she sent an emergency referral to the local Mental health hospital for support.

A few days later, the hospital called. The next available appointment was in 6 weeks. That's not long in medical waiting list terms, but it is long when you are fighting to keep yourself safe.

I'm lucky that I know this is an illness, that the voice and desire to die is not me; it's not to be believed or engaged with. That lightens the danger, but it doesn't alleviate it.

My illness stems from my upsetting childhood and is significantly triggered by living with family.

Is there anything worse than a depressive episode? The pain and darkness are consuming, and it is hard to see or think clearly.

That is why I have written this blog post. It is clear and doable things you can do for yourself during difficult times.

I wish I could take your pain away, but since I can’t, my goal is to be there with you making it more manageable.

I use all of these steps and find the first step to empowerment is to acknowledge this is an illness and what I am feeling and hearing in my mind is a manifestation of my condition. So therefore, it is not fact or truth, and I don’t have to believe it.

My anxiety was BAD the other day.

Luckily I have a whole (metaphorical) toolbox of tried and tested supports that work for me, so I did what I don’t usually have to do, opened it wide and dug around for another tool.

The pull of deep panic was still threatening to kick in. I have to admit I was scared. It was only lunchtime and It felt too much already.

I didn’t want my whole day to feel like I was on the verge of hysteria.

I went back into my toolbox and whipped out another tool, noticing how rarely I need to use more than one tool, but today was not a one tool day. Bus this was a bad anxiety day!!

Do you ever stop to look at your life and ask yourself, is this what I wanted?

Is this still what I want? Was this how I expected to feel in my day to day life.

I'm always surprised at how often people don't stop and assess their life, how it makes them feel, how sustainable it feels.

I often work with busy mums going from morning to night. They will be the first to tell me that they don't have time to stop, let alone think of themselves.

Their conscience tortures them when they think about taking time for themselves or spending money on themselves.

Gratitude practice creates a positive response in your body and mind. It teaches you to take a moment and acknowledge all the good you already have in your life. But unfortunately, we are so busy trying to achieve more that we forget to stop and celebrate what we already have.

Take a moment right now and think of 3 things you are grateful for in your day.

Every time you stop and give time to thinking in this way, you are retraining your brain on how it sees your life and the world.

Conscious effort in changing our thinking makes way for change in our subconscious mind.

I share my story “From battling suicidal thoughts to loving my life” - Vlog - video

I wrote a piece for Image.ie as part of their Corona Diaries series.

“I feel that I am more prepared than most to adjust to living with the restrictions put in place.”

“Decades of depression and then chronic fatigue means I am well versed in feeling lost and unsure about what my future holds, or even, if I get to have one.”