Pete Greensmith

When times are a little hard or I’m feeling a little low it is really important for me that I am able to feel grounded and keep a connection to when things are good.

So I try and ensure that I have some constants in my life. Touching base with friends and family, seeing everyone is ok, catching up with news and gossip. It’s important for me to do this for two reasons one is that it shows me normal life continues, secondly I care and could help, so am always interested in my friends and connections.

As well as this I have targets for what I like to achieve. I like to have at least 30 mins of exercise a day. Workdays this is usually a walk to work, if that’s not possible (I now work too far from home for this to be a thing) I walk before work or at lunchtime.

Luckily this means I get to walk along the prom and see the sea. I love the sea. The sight of it and the sound of the water remind me of home. It grounds me.

Some days the tide is in and calm. Others there are crashing waves. Some days I hear the roar of the waves and can see them breaking in the distance.

Another way is photography. I have always loved photography. I’m not good at it. It’s a hobby. I take things I like. Others don’t. That’s fine. It’s all about me after all.

For many years now I have only used my phone to take pics (so I guess I am an iphoneographer). This means I am always ready and able to take snaps. If you’re reading this as you follow me on social media you will have seen LOTS of my work I post it frequently.

Something I have a less successful connection to is food. I won’t go into it too deeply here as it is enough for a whole series of posts. Basically I am a comfort eater.

This combined with the fact that I have insomnia and so frequently my body doesn’t get sufficient sleep to be able to recover and rebalance hormones means I am capable of eating a lot. (Basically my hunger/full hormones don’t rebalance. So I can always feel hungry).

I try to be healthy. I make my lunches. I bring snacks. I try to limit portion size and not snack outside of meals. But I struggle.

The reason I am sharing that is balance. To show that I have an ongoing struggle. My targets and goals are set. Sometimes achieved.

How I ground myself is regular but occasionally fails.

What I’m saying is sometimes I fail, sometimes I’m not ok. But that’s ok. Because I try

How do you ground yourself? What are your markers doe how you feel and when to act?