Category Archives: Achieving Goals

At last, I have found the solution!

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I have had this deep seated feeling my whole life, that I am here to do more than I am doing. Alog with the pain I have been in, I believe it has been the root to a lot of my depression. A constant feeling than what I am doing is not enough, not my purpose and that frustration has left me feeling I have failed to achieve what I am here to do.

I have an inherent desire to help people, it is who I am, my make up as it were (well it would be if I wore any!) I get such pleasure from helping people, I seem to seek it out, it is like my drug fix, that rush you get when something feels really good.

However, on the flip side when I don’t get my ‘fix’ I start to go under, suffocate in my own need to help others. It isn’t a distraction technique, to avert attention from my self, although I did think it was for a while, it is genuinely my need and when your needs are not fulfilled, you are not happy, go figure!

It has literally driven me insane trying to find a way I can help people on a grand scale, I have done lots of one to one work which is great but is nowhere near what I want to achieve. The frustration in trying to work out how I can help lots of people simultaneously, has, at times been unbearable.

I am thrilled to say, at last, I have found the solution!

As well as writing my book, which I hope will help people, (to be brutally honest), want to stay alive! I am also creating an online course to help those suffering from chronic pain get more out of life.

My course is called:

The 30 Day Stay Sane Despite the Pain Challenge – The achievable step by step method to increase energy and reduce pain, (even when you’re sleep deprived).

I am in the process of fine tuning the course structure and have created a survey to make sure its’ contents provide people with the outcome they are looking for.

Below, is the link to the survey. If you have chronic pain and want a way to lead a better more enjoyable life, please complete it. Once you have, I will be in touch. https://04p76909hxd.typeform.com/to/MLRhKTg9

If you can think of anyone else you know who struggles with pain, please pass the survey on. Remember, I want to help as many people as I can, to do that I need to build a community of people who can relate with each other, a support network is one of the best ways to improve your life.

Thank you in advance and happy Friday, Liz

I am finally writing my book!

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It wasn’t until I looked back to my last blog entry, 30th October 2016, that I realised how long it has been since I had written a post.

Strangely enough, this was the last paragraph:

“Oh, as an aside, I am thinking of writing a book, telling my story, both good and bad but ultimately, hoping to spread the word on how depression first gets under your skin and then inside your mind until you reach a point that you don’t know there is anything else. What do you think?”

How strange indeed, that I felt the pull of my blog when I came back to where I’d left off!

So, YES! Exciting news, my book is underway ‘Surgery, Prosecco and Me! is being created now, (hence the change of my blog name from Woman on the Edge) the highs and lows of ‘life with Liz’ a phrase coined by my dear friend Mike Carson or Carson Mike depending on how much we have had to drink! Mike lived in my barn for months (it is a renovated one, he’s not Joseph in disguise), originally to build the set for my production ‘Steaming’ but then to help look after me when I had a spinal fusion.

Mike had been living on his own for years, in peace and quiet, aside from Shakespeare and classical music, only to find himself living with ‘The Inappropriates’, our family nickname, that I am guessing needs no explanation? A bit of a shock to his system I can tell you, nonetheless he took on the challenge with admiration and became part of the family.

I have digressed, my book, in response to my question “What do you think?”on 30th October 2016, there came a resounding Yes! Great I thought I’ll write that then, besides I have written a book before, albeit a fictional children’s book but nonetheless a book. Did I write it, well obviously not or I wouldn’t be writing this but you know what I mean! Anyway, maybe the reason I didn’t write it then was because I felt there was more to come and boy was there! Unfortunately, most of which I really wished hadn’t! However, there was one thing that I did find, that was very fortunate, that one thing… my sanity. I am finally free from the grasps of depression and the fear of the dark side and Surgery, Prosecco and Me! will explain just how I am to be living to tell the tale.

I am glad to be back in the land of my blog and really looking forward to connecting to everyone who used to read it, (it was read in 22 countries, it blew my mind, well it was already blown but I was honoured) and to connecting with many more people, whom I hope I can help in some way, as I believe that my purpose in life is to help people and my book is just the beginning.

Please feel free to post a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks, Liz x

Being Inspired

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Happy Birthday to a great inspiration.

For those of you that have read my recent posts you will fully understand why my blog is called ‘Woman on the Edge’ things have been very on the edge of late and it’s times like this when I look to be inspired, find other people who too have the ‘Never give up’ attitude.

There was one person who stood out amongst the crowd, an actress whose work I had seen a few years ago that had caught my attention, I have followed her journey with intrigue ever since. So I decided to ask her for an informal interview to discover what she has learnt on her journey and how does she manage to stay focused on her dreams.

She agreed and in fact had a lot to say on the subject – it would seem she is a ‘Woman on the Edge’ of great things to come.

I have chosen today to tell the world about her, as it’s her birthday and as much as material gifts are nice, learning people are inspired by you and believe in you, in my opinion, is a far greater gift. This woman is incredibly talented and it is about time more people new about her.

An interview with  Actress Rayanna Dibs:

When did you choose your career path?

I had an idea of what I wanted my career to look like from a young age. But as I embarked on my chosen journey, I soon realised the picture was not as I thought it would be – and thank god – wouldn’t it be boring if things always went to plan. We wouldn’t feel the need to keep on our toes and be prepared for the Unknown.

Never give up!

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If you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, then close your eyes!

Your brain will then stop searching and focus on the more immediate situation, the present. It will need to work out what you need to do right now in order not to walk into the wall.

I thought of this one day when I was struggling to make myself go for a walk because it hurt.

It is often the case in life that we focus too much time and effort on the end game and not enough on the present. Sometimes, this can lead to being completely overwhelmed and not actually achieving anything, let alone our all important goals.

Take my arrival to Barbados for instance, when I got here I was on crutches, I couldn’t walk unaided, let alone stroll along the beach, go for a swim, hop on the reggae bus and go into town. I felt so disappointed and couldn’t imagine how I was possibly going to be able to progress to where I wanted to be – to be able to do all these things!

So I set about taking it one day at a time, I couldn’t manage any more than that, I got up every day with the intention of doing my exercises, eating well and hoping the next day it would be easier, that’s it, no pressure, I simply couldn’t handle it or I was going to get depressed and for those of you who know me, that is not somewhere I want to be.

After a week, I was able to get in the swimming pool,  a few days later, I managed my first unaided walk on the beach, albeit very short. Two weeks in, I managed to be helped into the sea so I could swim with my children before they went back home, it was wonderful.

Now three weeks in, I have been all over the place on the buses, can now swim lengths in the pool, have reached my goal of walking to the same spot as last year on the beach, total of 2 miles, I have progressed onto the next level of physio exercises and I am up to 20 mins on the exercise bike. How? Because I never gave up, I didn’t believe for a minute I would be able to do all this the day I arrived, so I broke it down into baby steps, which was basically all I could do anyway, so I had very little choice!

Never giving up has helped me recover from all my other surgeries and achieve lots of personal goals, it is, I think, probably the only way of achieving them. It is also important to recognise when you are not moving in the right direction to reach your goals and when you feel you are in that place, close your eyes, let your brain come back to the present and focus on what needs to be done right now, don’t get caught up in living the future, besides who knows what that may hold?

I have met so many talented people who are seriously fighting against the odds to achieve their goals, it is particularly difficult in the world of creative arts. I met people at the Screen writer’s festival in London last year, with some fascinating and fabulous scripts, all desperately trying to get their film made, I urge you all ‘Never give up’ I know there will be days you wonder why on earth you are bothering but if you give up you will not only be giving up on your goal and letting your talents go to waste but you will also lose a piece of your soul and spirit, the chances are you will resent life and those around you and that is infinitely worse than the hard work of ‘Never giving up’.

I am not suggesting any of this is easy but it is doable, with a huge amount of determination and wherever possible gaining the support of others. Also, thinking outside the box is always a good way forward, if you have been doing things the same way for a long time and not making any progress then change it! It may be scary, even risky but I don’t think many people will have succeeded without taking a few risks, besides that’s what makes us feel alive.

So if you find yourself feeling like giving up – close your eyes and come back to the present, maybe change your game plan, maybe ask for help or maybe just take a few days away from it  because when you take the weight off your brain it reacts in the same way your body does, it feels free and when that happens it has the ability to be creative and find solutions.

As a life coach, I would ordinarily suggest avoiding the word ‘Never’ it can be incredibly negative and is often used as an overstatement – “you never do the washing up” etc. But on this occasion I am breaking the rules, well what are there for if not to be broken. I am happy to say ‘Never give up’ because that’s what keeps me going and I hope it will keep you going too.

As an actor, I am acutely aware how hard it is to keep going when your life can be full of rejection, so to all you actors out there ‘Never give up!’