Understanding yourself!

[WithanAnotE]

"The most difficult stage in life is not when no one understands you;
It is when you don't understand yourself."

No idea who said this, but sums up how I feel at the moment.
I am the classic, professional career woman, burnt out, had breakdown at 40, married with 3yr old DS in tow.

Might be old fashioned, but I think there is some truth in the expression,"midlife crisis"!

Anyway, I am working on the understanding myself bit which seems to involve;

a) now being creative (I'm an accountant); interior decoration, cooking, gardening
b) chasing my son around pretending to be a bull (involves using two carrots on head)
c) Practicing mindfulness -DS gets it, DH doesn't.
d) lots of lavender in the bedroom, candles, reed diffusers.
e) mindfulness bathes in the dark.
f) drinking milky hot chocolate very night.
g) reading books, not watching TV.
h) realising that when DS says footsie this doesn't mean FSE 100 .

Anyone else?

[bassetfeet]

Hi With
That is a very intuitive lovely list you got there . Agree with all of them apart from pretending to be a bull with carrots as horns [but only cos son is 30]
Now the playing with dog is similar though but I use Bonios

It is only recently and thanks in part to Mumsnet that I had a lightbulb moment in understanding why I react sometimes . It was a thread about introverts . Reading the posts was such relief. The absolute need for solitude regularly to recharge . The exhaustion after socialising . The bliss of quiet and a good book . I bought the book recommended "The Highly Sensitive Person" and now I know why bright lights and noise spook me more than others etc .
Before I always felt it was a character defect and felt a bit of a namby pamby .

Now I can swan off to the bedroom or leave supermarket mid shop and say Tis because I am highly sensitive .

Seriously though I wish I had accepted this facet of myself much earlier in my life and realised it was ok to be a bit of a loner .
I so hope you are loving your creative side With . Interior dec ,cooking, gardening are wonderful pursuits and the family benefit too .

[sadsong]

Hello ladies, I feel rather similar. Can I join you?

[Austin7]

I'm delighted to have stumbled upon this post. Enjoyed your list of things that help you understand yourself. An oasis away from 'doing stuff' all the time. I'm going to look up that book on highly sensitive people too, I get really panicky when I've got lots of stuff organised even with family/close friends coz I get drained quickly. I try to be mindful and one of my greatest pleasures is watching my dogs getting so excited chasing after pine cones that I throw for them on walks. Making bread is calming too.

[sensesworkingovertime]

Hi, I am 'connecting' with what you are all saying plus I've just had a bereavement so I feel pretty raw. Please can someone tell me what 'mindfulness' is? I've heard it mentioned a lot but not sure what it is.

With, what a nice list, tell us when you have an i)

[MELanglands]

What an interesting post full of positivity.