Against the Wind

Morning, often the hardest part of the day, especially when you have to get up for work… even more so if you dislike the job you do. However, waking up to sun filtering through the blinds always seems to put me in a good mood. It makes getting up easier and a lot quicker.

Running in the morning with the sun on your back is like a mirage, it looks great but it’s actually not what it seems. The heat, the straining of the eyes and the fact you keep thinking you’d rather lay in the garden than be sweating and looking like limp lettuce, all adds to make the run harder.

The great thing about running in the sun with the wind against you, is when you reach the point to turn back, the wind then gives you the push you need and works with you... Perfect, especially if you are about to reach the point of giving up. Unless of course like this particular morning, Mother Nature was not on your side. Just when you turn, the wind turned with you, making you struggle even more against the wind, which once again pushes you back as you try to move forward.

Sometimes you just can't wait for weather to change… you just have to go with it.

Picking up speed, leaning over the edge splashing against the salt soaked ocean and chasing the sun... Sailing perfection, until the wind drops, the rope slacks and the boom swings round whacking you in the face... Making you fall into the water, bruised and remembering exactly why you wear a life jacket.

The weather can be predicted, it can be extremely accurate, help us plan our days and our outfits. The weather can also change, the predictions can be wrong and we have to adapt.

People often run their lives around weather, food can’t be grown until certain conditions allow it and no one wants to lie on a beach in the rain.

Life is like weather. You can plan it in detail, you can prepare for things and it can throw us in many directions. It can change without warning, it can be sunny, cloudy and it can feel like it’s rained for days… and then sometimes, we discover rainbows.

That's the thing about nature, sometimes it will be against you, and sometimes it will challenge you and give you a struggle... But sometimes it's worth the effort to keep going, pushing through. Some things are worth the fight.

Life is definitely like a race, but it is also a race that doesn't just award first place. It is a race everyone can win. It sometimes will cause you pain, put pressure and stress on you, make you compete with others and allow you to excel where others might slow down... And like most things, a race can be hard, but much better if there is someone running by your side... Be them whatever part of your life.

Sometimes you just need the right pair of trainers, a safe life jacket and great support around you. The wind might be against you at times, but it doesn’t matter, we have the tools to work through it.

Don’t let bad weather get you down.

The Label

Introductions, the first taste of making an impression, showing someone who you are in a short space of time... An introduction that most of the time allows people to brand you.

It's apparently rude to ask when voting which side you're backing, which box you're ticking and who you've decided would best back you. However, through a process where we are giving ourselves freedom of speech... Just how many boxes do we fit in and why has life become all about labels?

When did it start being about what we are and not who we are?

If voting is such a private thing, then someone should really tell this to my neighbour who has put up a big conservative flag across their house. They did apologise as I walked up to my house, then shouted as if part of the campaign themselves, “Back Conservative!” They really are such private people.

It seems we have become a race striving to define what each and every person is. Sexuality, status, race... Forgetting that these are also things that have been targeted and turned against us in the past.

The fact is, everyone is and has many labels... For most they are something to hold onto, something that is needed. Putting people in boxes, categories and branding is our way of telling each other who and what we are. It's not just a label, its comfort.

Something un-defined can be scary.

Life has become about what label you wear, gay, straight, black, white, married, single the on-going list is endless. This is ok; just don't find yourself stopping at the label. Because under each very different brand is a person.

An introduction is only a snippet, sometimes we box too soon and sometimes we get it wrong.

The biggest label we wear is the one we give ourselves! The voice in our heads that call us ugly when we feel fat, making us feel uncomfortable. The decisions we make that might not always be right and the fear we have if others brand us wrong.

Everyone fears what box we tick.

That’s the brilliant thing about being branded, everyone see’s it different. Some will brand you wrong. No one will see the same label as you, it’s hard to judge when we all have labels and then theirs some that will see past the label. Some will see you.

I have learnt that you just have to love the label you wear. Use you're vote, but don't get annoyed if you don't win. Everyone has a box.

Don’t always let introductions get in the way.

It’s not bad to be branded, but remember we all do it and then also remember…Life’s so much more than just a label.

Tablets

Many people state the best cure for most common things is fresh air, to let the body naturally work itself out or a good night’s sleep. For whatever reason be it addictions, cravings or the need to calm the storm... we all have our drugs.

If I suffered from lack of sleep, couldn't get settled and had sleepless nights all the time, would I turn to a sleeping pill? I can quite easily say no, partly because I don't suffer from that and partly because I am the type of person to take one and worry that I would never wake up again! However, waking up a week later would definitely be refreshing...

Illegal drugs are always topics of conversation. From school we are taught they are wrong, don't smoke, don't pop pills and don't snort coke. To some, this makes them want to try them more, some would never try them, some get addicted and some ruin their lives because of it. These become their drugs.

If a drug becomes something you're addicted too, surely this stems to more than the tablets we use to cure our headaches, the heroin that gets injected to feed cravings and the pot you smoke to nurse the addiction.

A drug is anything and anyone...

To say drugs are bad would be a statement wrong in so many ways. Granted, drugs used in the wrong way are not good. Many drugs however cure illness, bring people back to life and sometimes help us to survive.

People are drugs, a lot of time they can leave you wanting more. They can feed your addiction, they can hurt you and they can be your best friend. Just because the drug of your choice might be a partner, a pet or a friend, it doesn’t always mean it's a bad thing.
A drug used in the right way can be amazing.

Everyone has their drugs.

The funny thing is though; a good night’s sleep really does make you feel better. Fresh air can clear your head and sometimes our drugs are only a small part of what actually exists!

A drug used in the right way can help you, but at the end of the day there’s more to a person than a drug. It's like the cover of that book, what’s underneath can be just as amazing.

Drugs and addictions come and go, but the real things that keep us alive are the people we have in our lives. The people that are there to support, love, care and be addicted to the good things in life. A good addiction can just be the start of so much more.

A headache tablet doesn't just cure headaches you know!

Be more than just a drug... be amazing.