Grateful.

The news of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's divorce hit me hard this morning.  I could almost feel a tiny sliver of what they must be going through and it's awful - I don't wish it upon anyone.  However it did give me a good opportunity to put things into perspective.  Unlike them, I don't have huge assets that I need to divide up, don't have a marriage I need to dismantle, don't have kids I need to look after or fight over.  I'm not in the public eye so don't have thousands of people chasing me for a story or meet random people and have them not know what to say to me.

It got me thinking about my situation and made me realise how grateful I am that my situation really isn't that bad (even if some late nights when I'm alone in my room it seems like my life has ended).

I've also had so many amazing people around me who I have to take a moment to thank.

• My 3 beautiful sisters who dropped everything to help me move back home at 12 hours notice and provide unconditional support along the way
• My parents who welcomed me home with open arms and made the transition so easy for me
• My friend who sat with me every lunch break for a week, just sitting in silence and watching me cry on Martin Place steps
• My friend who came over with pizza and de-briefed with me, answered all of my emotional text messages at odd hours of the day/night
• My friend who was on standby to have lunch with me, have a drink with me, have a cry with me, whatever I needed whenever I needed it
• My friend who I hadn't seen in over a year clear her schedule to help me move home
• My friend at work who was happy to step out of the office whenever I just needed a sounding board
• My other work friend who pulled me into the ladies bathroom when I burst out crying at my desk one day
• The people who I had previously considered acquaintances but have shown more support than I ever imagined I would receive from them
• All the texts from my cousins, friends, acquaintances - even though they were hard to receive at the beginning it was still lovely to know so many people cared about me and wanted to make sure I was ok
• My twitter/instagram/blog families who don't really know me from a lump of wood but have been so supportive when they had no obligation to be
• My Manager/Team Lead who I am leaving high and dry by moving to London 3 months before our huge project is going to be implemented - I'm sorry!!!

People aside, I'm grateful that:

• I'm young enough to go to the UK on the 2 year visa
• My situation isn't as bad as it could be (refer to Ben & Jennifer above)
• I've been able to sell most of my crap which has been therapeutic as well as practical because I can't take it all to London
• My sister also decided to move to London so I have a buddy with me every step of the way on this terrifying journey
• My health has been improving after seeing an acupuncturist and chinese traditional medicine practitioner who has taught me to listen to my body and made me realise just what kind of impact stress has on my physical health
• I've really been getting into Reformer Pilates which has been such a great outlet for me.  I've even started back on the hot yoga but being very careful not to over-extend myself
• I've had the opportunity to learn SO much about myself in the past few months.  I've always been a reasonably strong, confident person but nothing can prepare you for having the rug pulled out from under you when you're not expecting it.  I do think it's made me stronger and it's also made me look at myself and make some changes for my own benefit (have more patience, be more compassionate, push myself out of my comfort zone and force myself to do things I usually wouldn't do, learn to let go of things)

It's been an absolutely crazy few months.  Hopefully once I get to London and am settled I can actually breathe for the first time without stress/anxiety/fear.