I take a breath, and I start again

Lesson of the week: Give yourself a chance. Stop saying, “I don’t think I can” or “But what if I am not able to?” and give yourself a chance. This may be cliche, but try to believe in yourself. When you get older, your knees won’t work the same and you won’t have the best memory, and you are going to wish you’d given yourself a chance years sooner. 
(Amanda Helm - Ten things I learned before I turned twenty)

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Something I first read in Michelle's blog post and saw again while doing my own personal blogging resonated with me, this week in particular, that thing being to maximize every moment. There is potential in every moment of every day, seize these moments, make them worth your while. I often struggle most under pressure and overwhelmed with work and it is in these moments that my brain shuts off, checks out, goes on a hiatus. I find myself asking my other body parts have you seen it? Where did it go? I become reminded of the Pixies infamous song "Where Is My Mind," and I think to myself, maybe I should go find it, maybe I should take a break. I try to rejuvenate myself with some tea, by taking a shower, having a piece of chocolate. I come back to my work still struggling, but at least my other body parts are happy, with a full stomach and a clean body. I try again. And then it hits me, it was there all along. My Dorothy moment of the day (my cultural references are on point), I never lost my thoughts, I just did not discover them yet. Be patient, give yourself a chance.

I have realized from my own experience that in order to balance out mental activity I succeed most when counteracting it with physical activity. We often get lost at our desks in overwhelming mental stress and anguish and forget that our bodies are chained to our chairs, our bodies are sad and sedated, it's no wonder we lose inspiration! I have to remember from now on that with every mental challenge I complete I have to stimulate my body as well. I often find myself sitting at my desk staring at my computer screen for hours on end creating graphics for work and leaving with a headache and a loss of inspiration. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Colour of London has been very busy lately with booked events and a tour coming up, so that makes us as managers even more busy ensuring that it runs smoothly. I have been spending many hours creating graphics promoting the tour, thank you graphics for the venues and fans, and various other graphics for social media promotion. It's a little crazy right now, but a good crazy. And it is in these moments more than ever that I have to just give it a chance, give myself a chance. I take a breath, and I start again.