Motivation

When the chips are down and your back is against the wall, how do you continue to motivate yourself? Is it the thought of your loved ones or simply the knowledge that things will inevitably get better?

It is difficult to see the wood for the trees at times but no matter how large the forest is, we all know that there is an end, there is a route out.

You can turn around here and say it is easy to say living where I do. I have challenges in my life but they are in no way equivalent to those in Afghanistan, Ukraine or Israel right now.

I do complain about parts of my life but I will never complain to the level that some do as I am grateful. I am grateful for everything that I have and yes, there are elements that I consider challenging at the moment such as the collision of so many events at once. It is tiring but it is nothing compared to being consistently shot at.

I am tired. Looking at this screen right now I am mainly looking forward to getting on the train to have a nap in order to be present with my wife tonight. This is my number one goal, to finish as positively as humanly possible and to snatch a few minutes of rest on the train in order to fully enjoy an evening with my wife.

We are not looking to do anything major such as going out for the night but we will be home to spend time with each other and I cannot wait. It is what has kept me motivated this week and over the last few working days with the consideration that they have been challenging.

Not only am I looking forward to an evening with my wife but in less than a month I will be free. I will be exhausted, yes but I will also be able to sit back and relax, having taken a long weekend off to spend time for me, doing nothing more than relaxing and putting my feet up.

I do still enjoy my job and whilst there are frustrations, I know that it could be worse and by having the day-to-day treat of my wife in my life, as well as the thought of one encapsulated day that will be for me and me alone, I can continue to push through to the other side as there are times which are stressful, where I simply wish to tear my hair out.

This past week has been particularly stressful being away for days on end and then still be required to come back and deliver the same amount of work with much less time. It is a challenge and one which I am looking to getting ahead of next year, yet I imagine that I said that last year and will say that next year.

With my current role, I have found contentment where there remains a challenge and a reason to turn up each and every day. No two days are the same but with this also comes the acknowledgement that I need to look after myself.

I am getting older and a key part of that is less energy than I used to have. I need to give myself time for myself and not try to cram as much as possible into each and every day, as that will help no one.

I think we all come across challenge that is relative to our existence in life. Moments by which we wonder how we can get ahead, with the challenge feeling insurmountable but it never is. By having parts of life that we can focus on we can see light at the end of the tunnel and I am so grateful to have this attached to my existence.

As mentioned earlier, the world is going through a short, sharp shock and it is something that is incredibly worrying to see. The sadness and horror, imagining what it is like on the ground and then comparing to my trivial moans are enough to keep anyone honest

We always need to concentrate on never taking things personally when we are tired or frustrated, as there is always someone out there who is worse off than you. It is something my Grandad taught me and something that I will never, ever forget. His kindness and endless perspective.

I look to always try and place things in context, have an escape route for the future and daily goals and motivations that keep me on the straight and narrow as when time is short, patience is a virtue.

It is something that we should all have in mind during our days on this earth that we are living the only life that we will ever have and whilst things are frustrating they should never overtake who we are as a person.

We should always aim to keep things in perspective whilst at the same time ensuring coping mechanisms that move us beyond the humps and the challenges of the day-to-day. This is how we can successfully push through anything vaguely close to frustration and avoid throwing our devices through the window.

Annoyances in life are as commonplace as the aches and pains associated with ageing. It is inevitable and if we let them get the better of us then more fool us as we should always keep in mind that there are others worse off than us.

I mean do you want to look back and consider that you worked too much? I certainly do not and hope that I get to the end knowing that I squeezed the best out of my days and not the worst.