A life half lived

Stop watching commercial broadcast news channels and clicking on clickbait news articles. We all need to keep up with what’s happening, but limit your fact checking to reputable government websites and/or the world health organisation website and limit it to once per day and for no more than 30min in total. There’s a difference between being informed and being engrossed. Being informed means learning and accepting the facts, but being engrossed means you’re obsessed and channelling too much of your mental and emotional energy into this in a potentially unhealthy way.

Yes, what’s going on in the world right now is important and to an extent it is impacting your daily life, so keeping informed and understanding how it’s going to impact you so you can take steps to mitigate the negative aspects are important… but so is living your life! More than that -living it in a meaningful, positive and healthy way.

If you’re prone to stress, depression and anxiety you know that news and social media can be a sinkhole of negativity and despair – so take from it only the bare essentials of what you need to stay adequately informed and disregard the rest. Media like this is specifically designed to draw you in and keep you. Media companies don’t sell physical newspapers anymore - your attention is how they make their money now and your focus needs to be on positive things right now.

- Ranata Suzuki

Treats and rewards are okay, and it’s natural to want to ‘nurture’ or ‘comfort’ yourself when you’re in a state of inner turmoil. But don’t give in to that fight or flight response gone wrong bad habit of stuffing yourself full of fatty & sugary foods as an emotional pick-me-up. After the high wears off, all it does is make your body feel heavy & lethargic - not to mention the negative emotional impact it can have on you afterwards. Remember that the mind and body are linked, and to nurture yourself and stay healthy you must parent yourself to some degree and ensure that your needs (not just your impulsive wants) are being met.

Don’t go on a health kick so stringent it feels like you’re torturing yourself - but don’t binge on reward and comfort foods either. Be mindful on keeping a nutritional balance as much as you can during this period as this will contribute to your overall mental, physical & emotional balance and wellbeing more than you consciously realise.

- Ranata Suzuki

Get up at the same time, even if you don’t have to commute anywhere at the moment, go to sleep at a reasonable time and set a wake up alarm. Get dressed in the same clothes you’d wear to work or school, even if you’re not physically going in. If you’re not working or studying at all, then dedicate the same amount of time to a similarly mentally taxing pursuit. If you’ve never really been a routine person – make one up for yourself. Write your routine down, put it in your phone, set alarms and reminders. 

By all means, feel free to change your routine as circumstances change, but always have your time planned to some degree and stick to your timeline as much as possible. It may feel constricting when you first start, but after a few days it becomes comforting and gives you guidance and purpose. At a time when nothing feels normal or certain, you are taking control back and dictating your own normal and at any given day or time you know what you’re meant to be doing.

- Ranata Suzuki

I believe everyone should have a chance at getting a copy of The Longest Night so I am running a giveaway open exclusively to residents of countries where the book cannot be purchased & delivered from any online retailer.

The winner will be chosen randomly from all those who enter on February 9th 2020. To enter, please comment below stating which eligible country you are from. Should your country not be listed it means the book is available from an online retailer delivered to your country (feel free to ask if you can’t find one) or in a very select few cases there are postal restrictions to that country & I am unable to post a book there.

ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan,Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe

T’S & C’S: 1. Previous prize winners are ineligible 2. Book must be posted to an address in eligible country 3. Winner must respond to call outs within 1 week or prize defaults to next randomly chosen entrant

>>> Instagram user d_quintessence_ from Nigeria <<<

**HOWEVER** 

While signing a purchased hard copy for someone recently I made an error so I have cut that page out. This means I now have a second “not 100% perfect” copy to give away as it is missing 1 of the 2 title pages from the front. 

I then redrew out of the remaining entrants to choose the backup prize winner.... and that winner is...

>>> Tumblr user takas-beard from Tunisia <<<

 Could the winners please email [email protected] with a screenshot of them logged into their social media account to claim their prize! 

Ranata Suzuki -  Suffocating in silence