I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
Is it just me, or does everyone seem a wee bit fed up?
Not necessarily unhappy. Not miserable every day. Just a bit worn down by everything.
And I include myself in that.
One day I'm full of enthusiasm, making plans, feeling positive and ready to take on the world. The next, something I've read, watched or heard has completely knocked the wind out of my sails.
And the ridiculous thing is, sometimes I've brought it entirely on myself.
Take this morning, for example. I made the mistake of watching something political on the news. One comment led to another, I ended up down a social media rabbit hole, and before I'd even properly started my day, I was absolutely raging.
What a lovely way to start a Tuesday!
And afterwards I thought, why did I even watch that? What did I gain from it? Absolutely nothing, apart from a bad mood.
But that's the world we're living in, isn't it?
There's so much noise, and very little of it seems to make us feel better.
Everywhere we look, there's something else to worry about. The cost of living, energy bills, fuel prices, businesses struggling, another headline telling us things are going to get worse.
And don't even get me started on the price of a normal food shop.
You can walk into a supermarket for a handful of things and come out wondering what on earth you've just spent £40 on.
It's not even the big luxuries anymore. It's the everyday stuff.
And that's what I think is really getting to people.
We're all working, paying our bills, doing our best, trying to make sensible decisions, and somehow everything just seems to be getting harder.
Or is it just our age?
This is something else I've been wondering.
If I were 18 or 19 again, would I be feeling the same way?
Or is this what happens as we get older? Do we become more aware of everything going on around us? More conscious of money, politics, responsibilities and the bigger picture?
Because when you speak to people from older generations, they'll tell you about recessions, interest rates, unemployment and all sorts of difficult times they've lived through.
So perhaps the world has always been a bit of a mess.
The difference now is that we carry the entire mess around in our pockets.
Twenty-four hours a day.
Every opinion, every argument, every bit of bad news, every person telling us who's to blame.
And sometimes I genuinely wonder whether we'd all be a bit happier if we knew a little less.
Not because we shouldn't care. Of course we should.
But because there's a difference between being informed and being completely consumed by it all.
And then there's running a small business.
I absolutely love JoJo Co. I love what we've created, I love making our products, and I still get such a buzz from seeing orders come in and hearing from happy customers.
That hasn't changed.
But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't becoming increasingly difficult.
Sometimes it feels a wee bit bittersweet. You're so proud of something you've built, but you're also constantly trying to work out how to keep it all moving in the right direction.
I was speaking to my accountant recently, and it really brought home just how much pressure small businesses are under.
The rising costs, the taxes, the rules, the expectations. So many things seem completely out of touch with the reality of running a business today.
And I know I'm far from alone.
But this isn't a blog about how hard it is to run JoJo Co.
Because whether you're self-employed, employed, retired, raising a family or just trying to get through the month without another unexpected bill, I think we're all feeling some version of the same thing.
We're doing our best. We'd just quite like life to stop making everything so bloody difficult.
But here's the thing.
I don't want to spend my days being fed up.
I really don't.
And I don't want to become one of those people who constantly talks about how awful everything is, because there's already more than enough of that going around.
Some days I have to give myself a proper talking-to.
Right, enough. Put the phone down. Stop reading the comments. Stop worrying about something you have absolutely no control over.
Get on with your day.
And sometimes it works beautifully.
Other days, not so much.
But I do think we have to make a conscious effort to protect the good bits of life, because they're still there.
And I don't mean pretending everything is wonderful or ignoring what's happening in the world.
I mean refusing to let all the difficult stuff take over every single part of our lives.
If I've had a particularly rubbish day, I'm much more likely to think, right, let's make something really nice for dinner tonight.
Or go out for a good coffee.
Or arrange something to look forward to.
Nothing extravagant. Nothing that costs a fortune.
Just something that changes the mood a little.
Because I genuinely believe that when life feels difficult, we need those little things more than ever.
And I don't think we should feel guilty about enjoying them.
We can't fix everything. But we can still enjoy our lives.
We can still laugh at something ridiculous.
Have friends round for dinner.
Buy ourselves a lovely coffee.
Make a fuss of an ordinary Friday night.
Put the phones away and actually enjoy the company we're in.
And occasionally treat ourselves to something simply because it makes us happy.
I know none of that fixes the bigger problems. I wish it did.
But I think there's something quite important about not allowing everything that's going wrong in the world to steal the enjoyment from everything that's still going right.
Because there is still so much good out there.
Good people. Kindness. Friendship. Family. Little moments that make us laugh when we least expect it.
And sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that rather than waiting for the next bit of bad news.
So yes, I'm a bit fed up sometimes.
Some days more than others.
But I'm also grateful, hopeful, still ambitious and still very much looking forward to things.
And I think all of those feelings can exist at the same time.
Maybe that's just life.
Or maybe we're all feeling a wee bit of it just now.
Either way, I'm making a conscious effort to spend a little less time worrying about the things I can't change and a little more time enjoying the things I can.
Because life is expensive enough without letting it cost us our happiness too.
Love,
Jo x
