365 Days Later

A year ago today I folded away my Belgian life and got on a train.  Under normal circumstances I might have been settling quite well into a London rediscovered, friendships newly picked-up.  But these are not normal circumstances.  I've now being doing my current job for longer at home than I did in the office.  Apart from the obvious shift in location there's been a huge shift in the nature of my work, and not for the better.  I imagine many of us have experienced that.

One thing that has become clear is that for all the well-being mailings we have received from Work, the only person who is going to mind me is me.  Various health conditions, none of which are particularly threatening alone, have decided to form a gang and make life really quite shit.  So I'm getting up early, doing gentle pilates, and a bit of spiritual stuff before the buttered toast.  Drinking vastly less wine, vastly more water.  Trying to bung in a bit more pilates later in the day.  Eating a reasonable amount of veg. Trying to sit properly (I've discovered that the lateral hip pain that has bugged me for a year may be due to sitting with my legs splayed and feet tucked back under the chair).  Taking breaks and fiddling with plants and beads during the day.  Watching Tom Cruise films.  Nothing revolutionary but it helps.  Small gentle things.  

Perfect health is not really a destination as you get older.  I'm not going to wake up one day in excellent fettle.  But if some things can be mitigated or undone, that is progress along the road.

So one year on, any regrets?  That's hard to answer.  I had to come back to the UK, it was a compelling feeling.  Whether in retrospect it was the wisest decision remains to be seen.  At the moment it feels a bit like living in a poorly directly horror movie.