Why I love Guiding reason 426

It's no secret that I'm a Girl Guide. Most of my blog is about Guiding, in one way or another all the cool and exciting things I do has been a direct result of being a Guide.

Having recently moved to the beautiful county of Shropshire I wanted to get involved in Guiding straight away and got in touch with some local leaders. It took me a little longer than anticipated to settle in and get back in the swing of things but I have recently started with a new unit and things are going well.

It's a lot different here, for a start the group I'm with are all very young which is nice as I will get to see them grow up and get to know them all better over time. They are also country guides. The village they live in is only 4 miles outside of town but it is a world away from the Town Centre I live in and it has been lovely getting to know where they live, I went on a lovely local country walk with them all one evening, they all marched off knowingly, running through the corn fields hiding in each others gardens and stopping by to say hello to someone's mum, dad, cat and dog. The village is on a hill and the views around the surrounding area were pretty stunning. I had to stop and admire the scenery along the way.

Pretty impressive countryside to be living in! Got to love Shropshire for that.

I have also had the opportunity to do a bit of camping with these guides already too. We only had one night away and it was more of a shelter building experience, but it was great to be out in the woods, watching the girls get stuck into some team work making their own shelters, figuring out how to make them waterproof and warm with a bit of help and guidance. A cookout, marshmallows on the fire with plenty of singing, listening to the rain bounce off your tent as you fall asleep snuggled in a sleeping bag on the ground. You can't beat the sound of a campfire, sausages sizzling away and woodsmoke in you hair and clothes, wellies on, ready for action. It was a great little overnight camp.

Pegging out the shelter - fingers crossed its waterproof.

I love all these things I get to do and share with the guides. But the thing I love most of all is this...

Badges!!!

Guides have always earned badges and it has always been one of the things that delighted me as a young guide. However it's is even more satisfying to earn them now.

I have a blanket that I sew them all onto. It's not yet as impressive as some I have seen but it is my prize possession and has over 120 badges on it now from all over the world, some I have earned, others swapped, bought or passed down from family.

Since moving to Shropshire I have been given a couple of badges which have meant a lot. One being the name tag above and the other was a Shropshire standard (local county flag). I think these meant the most because the Standard made me feel like even though I'm from somewhere else, as a Guide I am always included, welcomed and have friends that are like family where ever I go, and Shropshire Guiding has adopted me straight away and I love that feeling of inclusion, fitting in with others who love something as much as I do and getting to share that feeling where ever I go.

The Peer Education Coordinator badge is a little more significant. I had learned about and loved the 'Free Being Me' Peer Education programme at Sangam, and one of my goals for when I came home was to do more with this initiative within my local Guiding community. As soon as I joined Shropshire I was asked if I would take on this role and I felt that my experience and enthusiasm for Free Being Me was truly seen and appreciated,  and now I get to share this passion with Guides all over and help shape and encourage other girls and young women a long the way.

Guiding is awesome. And on that note there is only one thing more to say.....

Practicing Gratitude

I want to write a blog post but I'm not really sure what I want to say, so I'm going to start with this.

I am pretty tired this evening, work is quite mentally demanding and is still new to me after only working there a month so I am still learning a lot every day and making sure I do things the right way, as well as making friends and talking to new people and getting to grips with understanding the business, company and role I have been given, but even with all this I am enjoying it. The role is challenging and something I think I am good at and can see my confidence and skills improving already, which makes work a good place to be and as the saying goes 'time flies when you're having fun'!

As part of my job I work with people who need therapy for a variety of things, depression, stress, illness, bereavement and many more complex mental health issues that I do not have the qualifications or experience to fully understand, but I do know that I have been lucky enough not to experience any of these sometimes severely life limiting things.

I don't have anything I really have to do right now. No outstanding responsibility, no chores, no demands on my time. I can relax, get rested and enjoy the time as my own.
I had a nap earlier this evening after spending some quality time lazing with the boyfriend, the one person I love more than anything and get to see every day which in itself makes me incredibly happy. We talked about fun things we wanted to do, enjoyed a home cooked dinner in our lovely flat after both spending our days at work earning a pretty healthy living.
I'm writing this on a new laptop we decided we wanted and could afford because the old one was too slow. I'm sitting in our living room with comfortable furniture, which is clean, warm and completely paid for. I have things that are my own all around me. Some I have been given, for Christmas, birthdays or by family when we moved here, other stuff I have chosen and bought myself because I can and wanted to. I am not really a person who wants material things, the things I own are on the most part practical and functional, with small exceptions for hobbies and the like. I would much rather spend my money and time on experiences that I can plan, look forward to, share, remember and enjoy.

I am very lucky. When I look at my life in such simple terms I feel eternally grateful for the life I have been given, for the life I am allowed to live, for the opportunities that I have had the fortune to receive and benefit from. I can acknowledge too but that I have the independence and strength to make my own choices. I have been the been the sole decision maker in charge of my life, some decisions weren't always easy or obvious but I always had the power to choose. I know this is a privilege. This is not a right everyone is able to have. I am lucky and I do not take it for granted. I am grateful for the things that I could not choose like where I was born, who my parents are, how I was raised, educated, and for my health and physical ability to do every day things as well as learn and develop other skills because I have the time, money and desire to do so.

As I have gotten older I have become more mindful of appreciating the small things in life and practicing gratitude. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this today as I sit quietly in a place that a year ago I never even dreamed I would be.

Thank you universe for providing. An ever grateful Maxine :)