Hello and welcome to Believe in ME with Rhona Barton. 

This podcast is about all things Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) related!

I'm Rhona and I lived with ME for almost 10 years during which time, I was bed-bound and wheelchair-bound, welcome to my Podcast.

Hello and welcome to Believe in ME with Rhona Barton. In this week’s episode I’m going to be chatting about the gift you’ll give yourself this Christmas. 

You can head to www.rhonabarton.co.uk/media for more information about me and my story.

Don’t forget that you can review, share & subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Ok, let’s jump straight in!

In last week’s episode, we spoke about planning for family gatherings and with Christmas fast approaching, I’ve been putting up my decorations, delivering Christmas presents and preparing for visitors arriving. Food has been ordered, pathways have been cleared of snow and Christmas tunes have been pulled together for a playlist.

How are you getting on with your Christmas plans? 

Have you finished your gift buying?

Got everything wrapped and delivered?

Have you made arrangements with any visitors to have them bring a dish for the meal or stay and clean up afterwards?

What would make this year’s celebrations ideal for you given your current circumstances?

Whilst I feel like I’m all organised, I’ve finally got time to stop to think about what I’m going to give myself for Christmas.

Have you done that yet?

Now, socks, pyjamas and chocolates are lovely and always welcome, but things haven’t been all smooth sailing this year. So, with that in mind, I’ve come up with a few things that I’m considering gifting myself with this year. 

Number 1 on my list is Rest! I keep reminding myself that I don’t have to do everything. Running around and burning myself out is not going to prove anything to myself or anyone else and it’s not needed. I intend to schedule rest time for myself not just over the festive period but into 2023. To that end, I have already put holiday time into my diary right up until July 2023! 

Kindness is next. I’ve spoken about this a few times and that’s because it’s important – it is for me anyway. Self-Compassion and Self Kindness is a gift that keeps on giving and, for that reason alone, I’m building more of this into the end of 2022 and into 2023. Whether that is accepting myself – flaws and all – practicing patience and extending niceties to others, taking breaks during my working day, eating well, exercising or prioritising my sleep schedule, I’ll be doing my best to keep on top of this one.

Embracing failure. Life doesn’t always go according to plan and, as frustrating as that can be, I’m going to try looking at these instances as chances to learn something new. And as we say in Scotland, what’s for you won’t go by you. So maybe there’s a reason behind why things go wrong from time to time. 

A digital detox. Social Media and being online in general can be exhausting and it takes time away from in person activities for me. I’ll be giving myself a break so that I can disconnect and clear my head for a while. That’s the intention anyway, let’s see how it works out and, if it does, I’m intending to build it regularly into my year.

Forgiveness. This one’s a work in progress for me and ties to my perfectionism (also a work in progress!). I know I struggle to find a balance between holding myself accountable and beating myself for things not being 100% perfect so, I’m considering letting go of any guilt I may feel around the imperfections and seeing what happens!

Self talk. I know that I have a pretty consistent chatter that goes on in my head. I’ve a busy brain and it’s not always helpful information. So, with that in mind, another thing I’m considering is revising the way I talk to myself. Taking more control over that internal chatter. 

Mindfulness.  I know that this seems to be an “in” thing at the moment and I’ve tried mindfulness before. It didn’t go well – I just became impatient at not “getting” it quickly enough … which I suppose is actually more reason for me to try it again! But I’m also talking about things like listening with intent when others are speaking; being patient and accepting different views with the connections I already have in my life.

Spa Days with my niece! Ok, so far the gifts that I’m considering are all pretty much free and do-able with some practice and some consistency. This one is very much about being indulgent and having some fun. I try to visit my family at least once a month but I don’t always get time with my niece due to her schedule – she’s probably the busiest out of all of us! I’m hoping, selfishly, that by booking in a couple of spa days in 2023, I’ll be able to spend some time with her, have a good giggle and embrace a couple of other gifts such as kindness, rest and mindfulness. I’m also likely to add in an extra wee gift of afternoon tea and cake!

Christmas for me is about giving and that means giving to myself as well as others. In putting my thinking into this episode, I’m holding myself accountable for the actions I take in 2023 and whether or not I keep these gifts going beyond January!

I can only try and then learn when things go wrong!

So what about you? What gifts are you going to try to give yourself?

Let’s think about some key take aways from this episode:

1.    As I’ve mentioned, Christmas is about giving and that means giving to yourself also. Please don’t forget about you during this time.

2.    Giving yourself gifts, physical ones or gifts like forgiveness and self care, is as much part of the Christmas meaning as giving gifts to others is.

3.    When you give yourself a gift, much as when we give gifts to others, don’t attach strings to it. Accept it graciously, as you would any gift you’re given.

4.    You don’t need to try everything at the same time. You can spread your gifts out throughout the year and enjoy each of them in turn.

That’s it for today everybody.  I hope you have found this episode helpful and that there are things that you may wish to gift yourself. 

I’d love to hear about the gift or gifts you are giving yourself this year so feel free to reach out via any of my social media links or my website.

You can still download your FREE copy of my Activity tracker by heading to www.rhonabarton.co.uk/links. 

Whilst you’re there, you can head to my media page for more information about me and my story. 

Thank you for listening. Don’t forget that you can review, share & subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

I hope today’s a good day for you. Bye for now. 

Don’t forget that you can review, share & follow the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also sign-up for my mailing list by visiting www.rhonabarton.co.uk or join my Facebook group – Believe in ME Community by following the Facebook page (@rhonabartoncoaching).