Any Excuse - Make it real

I will and always have taken any excuse possible to be beside the sea, I have lived on it and loved it for so many years I can’t imagine being without it.

Yet in 2023 I took a job I thought would be fun. 37hours a week fabulously flexible and hybrid working too! What more could I ask for?

Well the office was surrounded by trees, my desk at home was lost in the attic and as for flexi hours it didn’t really make for a swim it just managed to flex round child care.

I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it. My resilience dissolved, my motivation evaporated and my confidence died. I became a shell, an empty drone that worked and worked, but could no longer stand up for what I wanted and who I was.

As time moved on, I lost the strength to push for a walk on the beach, a swim, a cold water dip. Left behind as a distant memory was the paddle board and the waterfalls, even the mad open water challenges that made me buzz.

I moved away emotionally from my friends, the Facebook community I loved so dearly and the ocean.

I woke early one morning to a beautiful sun rise, a chilly start to an October day I stepped outside with my coffee and realised in 12 short months the person I had become was so removed from the things I loved, the people I loved, the ocean, the swimming, the beach. I had abandoned my physical health, mental health and my emotional welbeing I truly was a mess.

That day I drew a line in the sand, I handed in my notice and walked away from a lovely salary. But it was no longer about money, it was about quality of life.

Since leaving that job I have invested heavily in learning, growing a new me that is qualified to do the jobs I want to do in the environment I want to work in.

So bring on that beach, that swimming pool that cold water. I am ready for you now! And this time I am here to stay. 💚🌊💚🌊