Blowing Up Your Bouncy Castle

Today was not a good day. I feel tired although I haven't done that much, I am not interested in doing anything I usually am interested in and I get irritated by just about everything.

I thought, okay, make yourself a coffee Angela and you'll feel better. And then the coffee tin was empty and I had to find a new bag in the pantry. And then I spilt the coffee and made a mess of my kitchen. And then my coffee maker didn't work the way it usually does. So I started a fight with the coffee maker.

I'm afraid to say I yelled.

The yelling did not improve my mood.

Finally, I managed to get my coffee sorted, sat in my favourite spot, the sun was shining and I should have felt perfectly happy.

I didn't.

I miss people.

I miss you.

I miss the many funny comments I hear all day in class.

I miss hugs.

I miss having a chat in the staffroom.

I miss singing together.

I miss laughter.

I miss riding my motorcycle.

I miss ordering a coffee in a cafe.

I miss Scorpio Books.

I miss catching up with friends for real.

I miss being able to go to a shop.

I miss going to the gardening centre.

I miss going to the cinema.

I miss Thai Take Aways.

I miss Fish and Chips.

I miss having friends over.

I miss my kids having friends over.

I miss being able to jump in the car and go somewhere.

I miss not having to think about who touched the bridge rails.

On a scale of 1-10, my day was turning out as a 4. And that was being optimistic.

Have you ever heard of resilience? People who have lots of resilience are people who know how to look after themselves. Resilient people have the same ups and downs as everybody else, but they seem to bounce back easier than people who are not so resilient.

And here is the good news: you can learn how to be more resilient.

One of the ways to build your own resilience is knowing where to find your bouncy castle. You know how in a bouncy castle you suddenly can jump much higher and easier than on the ground? Well, that's what you need when your day is shaping up as a 5 or less. You need to get into that bouncy castle, maybe you won't bounce back to a ten that day, but at least you'll be able to jump to a 6 or more.

In case you were very excited about telling your parents that they HAVE to buy you a bouncy castle right now because Angela said so- it's not a real bouncy castle. It's the idea of a place or an activity which bounces you back.

And here's the other secret about bouncy castles: you need to blow them up before you are slipping down from number 5. Bouncy castles take a long time to blow up, you need to start with this when you're in your 6-10 zone or you'll be too late

 These are my bouncy castles:

1. Start moving: yoga, dancing or a walk on the beach
2. Ride my motorcycle
3. Clean something

Sometimes I have a 4th bouncy castle: a bath with candle light. This is a great bouncy castle after a busy day. In the middle of the day during a lock down it is likely to irritate me even more. I'll start fighting with my bath tub no doubt.

Everyone has different bouncy castles. David is not a keen yogi or dancer, but he loves riding a road bike. So his bouncy castle is going for a bike ride, preferably with lots of hills. I am not much of a road biker, so for me that's definitely not a way to bounce back. see what I mean how you have to blow up your bouncy castle beforehand? It is something which you are familiar and happy with already. Starting something new on a 4 day is not really recommended.

I've done tons of yoga and walking in the last weeks, the living room was taken up by my team so I didn't feel like busting out some dance moves, motorcycling is not happening at the moment, which left cleaning. Hey! Brilliant idea! I can clean my motorcycle!!!!!

So I rolled my Black Beauty on the driveway and cleaned every nook and cranny. She's spic and span now, ready to be taken out after lock down is over.

And my day turned to an 8.

This leads to your journal:

What is your bouncy castle?

What is the place, the activity which makes you feel better on those down days? It can't be yelling at your coffee machine or your little sibling or your parents, it needs to be something which builds you up without harming any other individual. Make a list of at least 3 things, but if you can think of more, go for it! Decorate it as lovely as you can.One day, when things aren't looking as happy as usual, check your list and find your bouncy castle. 

Remember, there is no right or wrong here and they'll all look different. Leah's bouncy castle is not like Julian's. Hamish S's castle is likely to not involve any handstands, whereas Eilidh's probably has lots of those in hers. Your bouncy castle is as unique as you are.

I hope your day is an 8 or more. Stay tuned for a Chocolate Fish opportunity tomorrow. Love you all,

Angela