Nicole Dashwood Vittoria CoffeeI will begin by stating the obvious … Spring is here!

After months of cold and wet weather, the promise of sun! Flower buds begin opening and everything turns back to those glorious shades of green we all miss so much through the darkness of winter. All cliché images I know … and here’s another cliché for you … spring cleaning! However, it is not the spring cleaning you might be thinking of …

I am not talking of getting stuck into that cupboard full of ‘goodness knows what’ that you look at on a regular basis and then close the door and forget about. Nor I am talking of dusting off those running shoes and vowing to ‘get moving’, after the hibernation of winter, no, I am talking about spring cleaning your mind.

Most of us have goals, dreams, ambitions. Something that feels so important for us to achieve but that gets pushed aside on a daily basis, “I’ll just do another load of washing, I’ll just get to the supermarket before I pick up the kids, I’ll just make the school lunches.” Whatever it is, it stops us from spending even half an hour on working towards that individual ‘thing’ we want to accomplish.
And YES! I am guilty of doing just that. I work, study, look after my family and think, “I will get to me later.” Now, a goal can only be achieved through belief, prioritising and a hell of a lot of hard work! My family, work and study are my main priorities … however it’s time to spring clean a little bit!

As this Blog took shape, I sat and enjoyed a delicious latte’ that I didn’t make myself at home. I did not use the little free time I have looking around the house for something else to clean away and headed off to a different environment! When I left, the washing basket was not overflowing, both kids were looked after and the house did not look like something from an episode of ‘Hoarders!’ So why do I feel guilty?!

Well, time to change a few things. I have begun to spring clean my priorities to include time for me!

So, as the sun comes back and new life starts up again in the garden, I plan for new life to start up in mind. To start fresh, to be ok with placing myself and my goals in the list of everyday priorities.

To everyone who reads this, please do me a favour … let me know what your dream is … and more importantly are you going to take on the challenge of spring cleaning your mind?!