Today is one of those days where "I'm not at my best"is very politely said about my current state. While my "old" me would have gone under the blanket feeling pity and miserable, my "new" me took a new approach.

A long to do list, work (although it's a day off) and even longer list of things to declutter are awaiting me home. And while I was tempted to either get Netflix and chill or start getting thins off my lists I decided to go a date with myself. This was not on my list, but will do my soul better than other hundreds of thins awaiting me. I need to admit and also thank two of my friends who nudged me a bit to do so.

So now here I am sitting outside a very nice place next to the river and enjoying the November sun, writing this blog post. Undecided when I left the house of whether I feel like writing today or not I decided to leave technology at home, but got inspired while in the car by the sun outside and went analog - paper and pen. I need to admit that it feels very refreshing to change the keyboard and the iPad pencil to a simple piece of paper and pen.

But back to the topic of today. I've been collecting all types of health and body data for almost a year now which started for completely different reason - I wanted to know why a bear post surgery I was still in pain. That was one of the best decision I've ever made when I look back at it now.

We're complex creatures - an interconnected system of body, mind and soul. By collecting data about myself I started understanding that connection even better and started being more gentle to myself as I could better understand why I feel a certain way. My grumpy mood started last night when I went out and the night didn't turn out the way I expected it. I even leaned into opening a dating account when I came back home disappointed, but stopped when I looked at why I felt the way I did. (Nothing against dating platforms, but as I know myself I know it's not my cup of tea). Once I realised it's my grumpy time of the month I've quickly shook off the idea of the dating app registration and got cozy under the blanket with a movie.

Is it as easy as it seems to be from above text? The answer is no. Being emotional and grumpy for few days every month is not a ten minutes thing on one of those days. It's few days of ups and downs. So today when I woke up at the same state it needed another round of confirmation that it's just this time of the month and this shall pass too. But for now it's something to embrace and learn how to make the most out of it.

For today going out and enjoying the last sunny days of the year helped. Will that always work? No. Will it fit everyone? Most probably not (although nature and alone time are proven ways to help in such cases) But it's about getting to know ourselves and what suits us best and when. It's also knowing who our lies are who could nudge us in the right direction instead of closing ourselves inside.  I'm grateful I've surrounded myself with people who I can open up to and rely on. I'm grateful I've started getting to know all sides of myself better so I can grow and keep the balance between body, mind and soul.