I’m a big believer in taking responsibility for my actions and their outcomes, which has the disadvantages of blame and guilt occasionally, but that’s definitely outweighed by the benefits. I try to avoid blaming other people for my problems, which is a pretty rare thing in my family to be honest. The older I get the more different I feel I am from them, but hopefully that means that I’m learning a lot from other people’s (and my own) mistakes. One of my work friends joked the other day that it must be hard being me. I don’t think he knows how true that is ;)

Mistakes are not bad things. Regret is a bad thing. My mantra at the moment is, ‘You are responsible for your own happiness’. And really, everything I’ve done this month has shown that to be true. I’ve tried a more intuitive side of living. When I’m tired, I go to sleep. If I feel like playing computer games instead of going to the gym, I listen to my body and mind and just do it. I’m spending more time doing what I want for me, and being the tiniest bit selfish on occasion, and it’s working out pretty well. I look forward to things. That doesn’t mean I let people down or flake on them if I don’t feel like doing something, but suggesting a compromise in plans occasionally is no bad thing. It’s my time, I need a say in how it is spent too.

One thing I’m focusing on at the moment is new mini experiences, both professionally and socially, and through them trying to figure out more about what makes me happy and what I enjoy that’s good for me. What’s sustainable. What will help me improve various areas of my life. One of the biggest foundations for this for me at the moment is the gym.

Since renewing my gym membership, I’ve been going pretty much every other day. My old gym used to be about a 2 mile walk (largely uphill), and it got kind of tedious having to set aside a good three to four hours out of my day, especially in winter. My new gym, whilst it’s a lot smaller and not as snazzy, is only about a mile away and it’s surprising how much difference it’s made. I’m happy to go after work even though I’m usually feeling a bit tired, and it has made me feel a hell of a lot better about life, the universe and everything. There have been a couple of days where I’ve felt a bit rubbish, but even those have been more like ‘Meh’ days rather than anything too bad. It’s summer, there’s a lot more daylight and even (shock horror) a bit of sunshine at the moment, and even though I still spend a hell of a lot of time indoors, I’m really enjoying the time I do have outside.

I’ve also been working on yet another new site. My photo project is on hold for the moment because I want to get a few things live before Google’s next update. I’ve also finalised the sale on the domain I sold and received the money (sadly it’s going straight towards the huge quarterly gas and electricity bill we’ve just had), and doing a bit of light client work.

All things considered, it’s a fairly good balance. At the moment I’d just like to do more of everything in the world (which is a good sign really), but time and energy are the limiting factors. I am the kind of person that gets incredibly obsessed with things and can’t stop thinking about them, so it’s nice to have a variety of different things going on and not being completely dependent on one thing. I also have a really good feeling that there are big new opportunities around the corner, so it’s all looking good :D