I bet you thought: " OK, this is gonna be another article on how traveling and staying close to nature gives some nutter a better mood ".
I wish it was this kind of article.
I'm now in a rather particular stage in my life - I don't travel as much as I'd like and I don't stay as close to nature as I'd wish to. I also don't go to the mountains as often as I'd like to.
A quick briefing: the second half of this year wasn't the most fortunate for me. Shortly after the wedding, my father started feeling very ill. It was very difficult time for my family. After spending 2 weeks in hospital, he died of cancer.
We decided to move to my mother's house, which was rather stressful experience. I had to quit my stable and well-paid job, say goodbye to Katowice and to my friends and move out.
Actually, moving all our stuff was exhausting and I hope this was one of the last relocations in my life.
I found a job close to my home, in Wodzisław Slaski and, oh dear, how it sucked! It really did! After having nice job in employee-friendly corporation I ended up in small, lousy Polish company which made me go nuts, right from the very beginning. I needed to quit this mad job in order to save my mental health.
Then, there was an opportunity for a remote work. I was very eager about that and started planning everything. And that failed due to organizational changes in the company (whatever that means). There was an option which involved waiting but I'm not good at waiting.
So, I started looking for a job close to my home.
And I quickly became aware that jobs in my area are hopeless. There are no decent businesses, only small Polish companies which do their best to pay you the minimum wage but, at the same time, require knowledge, experience and command of at least 2 foreign languages.
After a while, I started looking for a job in more remote, bigger cities. I sent out several dozen applications but it was rather quiet at the beginning. Then, I started my job interviews marathon. Another demanding and stressful experience but I need to admit I learnt a lot about companies in the area.
Finally, I landed a job in a German corporation, 70 kilometres away from my home. I do hope things will smooth out now and I'll get everything organized and convenient for myself.
So, the past months haven't been very favourable. But I managed all right. I tried smiling and keeping my spirits up. Here's what helped me:
Table of contents
1. Vitamin & mineral supplements
I take magnesium citrate, D3+K2 vitamins and chlorella on everyday basis. I also take levorotatory vitamin C and some good multivitamins a few times per week. I prefer powdered type of supplements - I want them to be easily absorbed.
All vitamins and minerals are necessary for our body to work well, that's obvious. And we're definitely not able to provide everything we need with food. But you know what's probably the most important of them all?
It's magnesium.
It's because magnesium is basically needed for every process in our body. We really need it a lot, especially when stressed out - we burn it even more then.
Did you know that prolonged bad mood or even depression can be caused by magnesium deficiency? Everything's going well in your life but you're constantly in bad mood? You feel uneasy, anxious? Maybe there's really no deep, psychological issues in the background. Maybe it's just one, very mundane reason - magnesium deficiency.
Consider taking good magnesium - citrate, chloride or malate. You'll see your resistance to stress going up.
2. Physical exercise
It's no Eureka that a good run or hike will get you much needed endorphins. There's nothing better to clear your mind than a long walk in the forest.
But I'm no fitness blogger and I won't say that regardless the weather, I'm always ready to do my outdoor cardio, a fat-killer workout or an interval training (or whatever they call now a good old exercise).
When the weather's lousy, I try to to a warmup (using random youtube film) and some squats - 20 minutes and I'm done. I don't care it's not enough. I feel better - that's the most important thing.
3. Practising gratitude and non-thinking
Both are rather difficult for me. I need to reread "The Magic" by Rhonda Byrne once in a while because I tend to forget there's loads of things I need to be grateful for.
I sometimes do a written list, I sometimes do affirmations in my head. I don't want practising gratitude to become just another everyday chore, so I don't overdo it. I need it to lift my spirits and what I do is enough for that.
Non-thinking is the toughest thing. Oh well, I may never become a buddhist monk but I'll try to cut off the rush of thoughts at least for a few seconds, every now and then. It's like a quick shower to my brain.
I also like listening to Eckhart Tolle on youtube. His calm voice reminds me to stop my repetitive, unnecessary thinking and start living in the present. Great man he is.
4. My husband's support
This is the most important thing of them all.
Bartosz is the most kind, caring, empathetic and supportive person I've ever met. I'm sooo lucky to have him as my husband!
And, most importantly, he's also my closest friend. He's the first person who I speak to when there's something important going on in my life, or in my head. I think it's essential to have someone you can discuss your plans with. It often prevents you from repeating unnecessary mistakes.
I wish everyone had such supportive person within their hand's reach. Life's truly better when you've got a kind soul going along with you, no matter if it's a friend, a sibling or a partner. The most important thing is to have such person close to yourself.
