rivers2cross

Today I have been coming to terms with the phenomenal support for the Life of Mique teddy bears. Two weeks ago if someone had told me the fundraising amount would pass £1000 I would have never believed them. To everyone who has bought a bear thank you so much it means a great deal, and anyone on Instagram will know how grateful Monique and her family are as well. When the idea popped into my head I wasn’t even sure if it was appropriate given the serious nature of Monique’s condition. Thankfully it has proved to be a good decision. The fundraising continues, so please keep supporting the teddy bears (you can buy them below) and / or donate to Monique’s Go Fund Me page as every penny raised really does matter.

Last night I posted a video reel on Instagram with my deep gratitude for the support. You can watch it below minus the background music. This was probably the first and possibly the last time I will record this type of video in my PJs! 🤣

What I have really been coming to terms with and thinking a lot about today is kindness. I would possibly go as far as to say that the kindness I have personally experienced in the last couple of weeks, let alone the support for the fundraising, has been of a level that I have never experienced before, and I really think that it will be life-changing for me. I am not great at accepting compliments, but the numerous supportive comments, messages and offers of help have been amazing, not to mention the many many new friendships I am already making. In 2021 I had lost my way a little and felt disconnected from a lot of things in life. 2022 has seen a complete turnaround in these first 6 weeks, and the kindness shown to me has played a significant part in that, so thank you very much. Also some of the kindness that I am seeing going on especially within the cancer community is just bloody beautiful. We seem to live in a world where a negative voice is usually the loudest. Kindness and supportive voices are usually much quieter and don’t make the headlines, but I’ll always listen to a kind voice every single time x

At the end of my CBT sessions recently, one of the goals I set for myself was to meet and make new friends, specifically in the real world. I love the friends I make on social media, and I hope I can keep building this amazing network, but meeting Monique last week, not only being an amazing experience, showed me that meeting up in real life takes friendships to a different place. Pre pandemic I went to quite a few bowel cancer events which was great in terms of meeting so many of the people from the online community, and of course my fundraising books also brought me into contact with lots of people. It certainly hasn’t been so easy during the last couple of years, but I am hoping that during 2022 I will get to meet some of you in person x

The coming week is set to be a busy one. I have lots on at work, so I will probably go back to my pre pandemic hours of 7.30 – 5.00. I also have many teddy bear orders that will need packing up and sending out, so I don’t think there are going to be enough hours in the day! Until tomorrow x