The best gift you can give yourself is Travel

The best gift you can give to yourself, your soul and your Mental Health, is travel. Go where you can’t speak the language and everything is foreign. Go where you have to step 100% out of your normal life and learn the gifts of another culture. 

And what a gift France was.

Recently we spent almost 3 weeks there to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and vow renewal. 💍

What an inspiration the French are with their strong sense of style, appreciation of beauty, history and of committing 100% to whatever it is they’re doing. This passion and pride for all they do is truly inspiring.

As we wandered the streets of Nice we were delighted by the passion and welcome we received from a local fruit and vegetable store owner. He and one of his suppliers (a farmer delivering goods) proudly explained the different fruits and vegetables to ours, generously offering us many to try. They were delighted to discover my husbands family has a mango farm, instantly asking many questions in broken English and via Google translate. There was no hint of dismissal or hurried service, simply souls connecting, rejoicing and savouring what Mother Nature has to offer. 

A little further down the road we were drawn in by the fragrance of coffee from a small hole in the wall coffee shop, elegantly styled, but where there’s no chairs, only standing room and bar height tables (similar to Japan but the opposite vibe). Here you’d be forgiven for thinking this was merely a takeaway coffee shop, but no, they serve you coffee in beautiful cups and saucers where the whole point is to savour and enjoy the coffee, even if it’s for a brief 5-10 minutes out of your day. 

As we waited for our coffees, I observed the owner talking to a few of the male customers, obviously regulars, and couldn’t help but think this is like their own men’s MH club, much like the old boy surfers who meet daily at Narrow Neck beach at home. It made me smile to feel their sense of community.

This is my reminder to you all, take time to savour, rejoice, celebrate and fully experience what you’re doing and acknowledge the joyful moments in your day. Know that when you do anything with passion, the world sees you. The payoff for you is an increase in happiness, improved Mental Fitness and your cup will be full - the payoff for others is inspiration.

Men, reach out to your mates, create your own support rituals, not only will you feel more connected, with improved joy and happiness, you may just save a life. 🙏

I hope it’s a day full of moments of joy. Please feel free to share, I’d love to hear about them.

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