KAREN & THE CONSTABLES

It’s been almost a year since I wrote a full blog post. So what happened?

Well, the short answer is that I was struggling. I was organising our wedding and spending all our spare time and money on it, and working in a job I hated, and my mental health was at an all time low.

My brain was in overdrive, I wasn’t sleeping well, and I had no motivation to do anything. I confided in a small group of family and friends who were very supportive, and my doctor was brilliant and really helped me to understand what I was going through.

I was given medication which really helped but I knew that the root cause of it all was my work and that was something I needed to change, but I felt trapped. My husband Allan and I worked shifts which were structured to enable us to look after our daughters without paying for childcare. But because of how well our shifts worked together it wasn’t going to be easy finding a role which fitted in.

But things started to look up! I started working for Temple Spa as a consultant and I instantly loved the freedom to work around my day job and family. Allan found a new job with more opportunity and flexibility.

We got married in August and had a fantastic time celebrating with all of our loved ones! A week later we flew off to spend almost two weeks in Singapore and Bali and we had the most fantastic, luxurious trip. A real holiday of a lifetime!

After we returned the next few months flew by with the Christmas rush, and in February I turned 40!

I decided that this would be a turning point and that I’d take steps towards achieving some goals. I trained in skincare and nails and opened a completely cruelty-free home salon. I concentrated on things that would make me happy and worked on improving my self care. Every day I spent time applying for jobs but the market is tough and I was getting nowhere.

I was finally invited to one interview but it was the one company I really wanted to work for. I was so worried that I’d mess it up but, a few days later, I was offered the job! I was absolutely ecstatic!

I was sad to leave my old work colleagues but so excited for my new adventure. I’ve now been working in my new role for a month and I absolutely love it! I’ve stopped taking my medication, my mood has completely lifted, my concentration and overall health have improved, and Allan has told me that I’m back to my old self!

So I’ve renamed and revamped the blog to reflect my new outlook and I hope you like it! I’ll be focusing more on the things that make me happy, adventures with the family and whatever else life has in store!