What Is Jiggsy?

It’s taken some Spanish sun for me to realise how overdue this break has been. It’s not OK for me to ‘keep on going’ indefinitely without burning out, or jeopardising the connection to my authentic self that I fought so hard to find.

Learning about my ‘financial anorexia,’ was not something I had anticipated when I entered treatment. But, discovering how my relationship with money was acutely aligned with my relationship with food, was a valuable teaching.

I’ve always struggled with finding the balance between being sociable and being alone. I have finally accepted who I am, and found a happy medium.

Returning to work after a period of mental ill health, isn’t easy. But it’s not big, expensive gimmicks that helped me. It was something much simpler, and cost nothing.

When you are not the one in control of an outcome, it can be hard to not revert back to old coping behaviours. These past few months have been particularly testing for me, but I have shown myself to be more resilient than even I thought.

When you let go of the expectations of where you ‘should’ be in your life, you make room to accept where you are in the here and now. We all mature and grow physically, emotionally and mentally at different rates. There is no ‘one size fits all.’

Sometimes, it’s worth taking a risk to speak your truth, even if it leaves you feeling vulnerable…because that’s what recovery is truly about. Just remember though, it’s not what you say, but how you say it, that can make the difference.

If you lost everything tomorrow that gives you your sense of identity, would you know who you were? Without all the frills of life, are you content with your lot? Not an easy one, but a passing conversation made me curious about how my own sense of self has evolved since being in recovery.

Full of self-doubt, never feeling like you deserve anything good that comes your way, and feeling deeply unworthy, are all symptoms of ‘Imposter Syndrome.’ If they sound familiar to you, then you are not alone. More importantly though, there are some simple techniques you can do to help set yourself free.