I haven’t linked up with Kirsty for a few weeks but when I saw that this week was a list prompt I knew that I had to get in on the action.  Lists are my absolute favourite.  I love making lists.  This week the prompt is: 10 Things I believe!

1. One voice is enough is start something.  If there is one thing that I have learned from blogging, it is that words have tremendous power.  One person speaking their truth can be enough to get that ball rolling.  One person can be enough to wake up the beast within.
2. You can disagree with someone and still like them.  This is a new one for me.  Mr 7 starting school has really been the catalyst for this one.  In the past, if I disagreed with someone I often cut them off, never to speak to them again.  That’s just not possible with people you see everyday at a small school.  I don’t always agree with my friends, but I am learning that that is OK.
3. Life is nothing more than a series of baby steps.  When you are making big changes it can feel so overwhelming.  I’m here and where I want to be is all the way over there.  However I have learned that all it takes is one step and I am closer to there.  It doesn’t matter if it’s only a baby step, it’s still a step.
4. There’s no such thing as a backward step in mental health.  Struggling with Black and White Thinking means that I tended to think that feeling a bit down or feeling like I wanted to self harm meant that I was all the way back at square one.  That simply isn’t true.  Sometimes we need to take a step to the side for a while, and that’s OK.
5. I am worthy.  This one I am putting here because I need to, not because I want to.  My psychologist and I are doing Core Beliefs at the moment and one of the hardest was ‘I am worthy’.
6. If the weather report says possibly showers mid morning and early afternoon, it will be at school drop off and pick up.  It usually happens just as I leave the house to catch the bus and stops as soon as I actually get on the bus too.
7. There is no better feeling as a parent who enjoys reading, than sharing a much loved book with your child.  Mr 7 and I have started reading novels as bedtime stories and some of these have included books from my childhood.  I love sharing books that mesmerised me as a child with him.  At the moment we are reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.  It’s hard going compared to others we’ve read but he’s enjoying it.
8. Enjoying trashy television doesn’t make you less intelligent.  There seems to be a bit of snobbery getting around about the types of shows that people enjoy watching.  If watching a bunch of rich housewives go about their day makes your heart sing then I’m not about to judge you for it.  It is possible to enjoy television that allows you to tune out, and still be an intelligent person.
9. A child who refuses to eat or sleep doesn’t make you a bad parent, nor does it make your child bad.  Parenting Mr 7 has taught me more than anything, that there are no hard and fast rules of parenting.  What works today, won’t necessarily work tomorrow and forcing a child who is anxious will only equal tears for everyone involved.  Listing to your child’s needs and parenting accordingly doesn’t make you soft either.
10. Having a child has opened my eyes to experiences I had never thought possible before.  I have a superhero loving, science fiction geek, gaming nerd for a son and it has introduced me to books, movies and tv shows that I would have never tried before.  I haven’t always loved them, and some I can’t bear (I’m looking at you Uncle Grandpa and Stampy Cat) but I have also discovered things that I have loved.

This list was surprisingly hard to write.  I got stuck at around #6 because I didn’t want the list to be fluff, but I didn’t want it to be too serious either.  The self sabotage of a blogger, sometimes it’s brilliantly annoying!

What do you believe?