How Not To Take A Compliment.

January 30, 2018 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 11 Comments

I am not very good at accepting compliments.

My brain doesn’t know how to process them which is silly because receiving a compliment should be a relatively simple process:

1. Receive compliment.
2. Thank person who gave you the compliment.
3. Enjoy boost in self-esteem produced by compliment.

However, I tend to be quite self-critical and therefore I sometimes struggle to align compliments with my vision of myself.

As a result, whenever I receive a compliment, I tend to freak out and do everything in my power to deflect it.

I am trying to get better at handling compliments by reframing how I perceive them.

After all, a compliment is basically a verbal gift.

If someone bought you a physical gift, refusing to accept it and saying ‘no this is not right for me TAKE IT BACK’ would be incredibly rude.

Therefore, even if you don’t 100% agree with a compliment, you should just accept it anyway – out of respect for the person giving the compliment and also yourself.

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The Problem With Inspirational Quotes.

January 17, 2018January 20, 2019 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 20 Comments

When I am browsing (aka. procrastinating and generally wasting my life) on the internet, I frequently come across inspirational quotes on various social media platforms.

I’m sure lots of people find these quotes empowering.

However, I tend to find them a bit overwhelming.

Although I think that self-belief is a positive thing in many ways, I sometimes find that relying on myself to be the sole engineer of my own success can cause me to put a lot of pressure on myself.

I sometimes feel underqualified to deal with the task of leading my own life as if whoever is responsible for bestowing the gift of life forgot to include the instruction manual when they gave one to me.

I often try to be more proactive and make plans in an attempt to map out my future in a structured way.

Making plans makes me feel momentarily powerful as if I am the sort of person who can effectively navigate life and exert control over the things that happen to me.

However, what normally happens is that I end up sitting with the plan in front of me with absolutely no idea how to implement it – which is a bit like trying to use a map with faulty navigation equipment.

I tend to make most of my life plans in January.

Like most people, every January, I decide that I am immediately going to reconstruct myself as a new healthier, happier, more productive human being.

For a brief period of time, I genuinely believe that I possess the ability to do this.

However, it soon becomes apparent that this is not the case.

It turns out that making a change in your life requires more than temporary resolve.

It involves taking your initial motivation and transforming it into habit – it is a commitment to continue performing behaviours that may initially feel unnatural and are sometimes the complete opposite of those that you have exhibited your entire life until they become integrated into your daily routine.

It is easy to make a strong statement on January 1st, experience a setback a few weeks later and immediately assume that your entire self-improvement endeavour is doomed.

So this year, I am resolving to not to put too much pressure on myself, accept that setbacks are part of the process and to remember all that I can really do is try my best to navigate life whilst attempting to be the most functional, together version of myself that I can be.

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I Am a Very Small Fish in a Big, Massive, Confusing Ocean.

January 8, 2018January 8, 2018 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 5 Comments

When I was in school, I used to feel quite important.

My social circle was quite small and I was confident that I was going to achieve all of my goals and everything was going to go swimmingly.

I was essentially was a big fish in a small pond.

However, as I have moved up through the educational system, I have gradually come to realise that this is not the case.

It turns out that I am a teeny tiny fish in a significantly larger body of water.

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I Think I Am Suffering From Holiday Season Withdrawal…

January 2, 2018January 11, 2019 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 9 Comments

January is quite a confusing time of year for me.

In the UK, the majority of holidays are concentrated between the months of October and December.

Although I no longer enjoy Halloween and Christmas as much as I used to when I was younger, I still like using the holidays as an excuse to consume a copious amount of food and drink before justifying the consequent damage to my waistline/ general health using the phrase ‘it’s *insert holiday name here* – I deserve to treat myself.’

In addition, the holidays provide winter with a kind of structure, helping to break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks.

There is always an occasion to prepare for and, up until the end of December, it is possible to propel myself through the long dark months of cold miserable weather on a tide of festive merriment.

However, eventually January comes around and I am suddenly released into the new year with nothing on the immediate horizon.

I never know what to do with myself without the incessant stream of holidays that have kept me occupied since late October.

new year

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check out some of my other posts. For more blog posts and drawings, you can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.