I am a very keen member of Girlguiding UK. I've been a member for over 10 years and have never looked back. It's where I feel like myself. Guiding has given me so many opportunities I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I have travelled internationally, got awards that look good on my CV and developed skills such as leadership and teamwork that have allowed me to excel in other parts of my life and will help in the workplace.
Tonight a friend and I are leading our Rainbow meeting. Rainbows are girls aged 4-7. We have taken activities before but never a full meeting. It's on something we both love- Fairies and Princesses!! We have really prepared and we know our girls will love everything and won't know if something doesn't go as planned. I'm still worrying. I don't really like getting up in front of people, even if they are children.
The same friend is also running out Senior Section meeting with me. We are Peer Educators, which means we can run sessions on a number of topics from Stress Management and Mental Health to Healthy Living and Teamwork. We have only done one other session, which was in March. I had originally wanted to do three sessions by summer but sadly anxiety got the best of me. I had no way of knowing anxiety would get control. We took a break for a few months to 'study for exams'. Truth is there was a point when I was unsure if I would ever run another session. I really wanted to and I knew that my friend would like friendly support if she was taking a session but I physically couldn't imagine getting up in front of a group for an hour. Luckily I have my anxiety mostly under control now. I signed up to do this session, not thinking that my anxiety would take off last week. Now the thought of doing it is scaring me!!
Looking back I probably shouldn't have put both on the same day. And on the same week I started uni!! Talk about putting myself under pressure!! At least it's going to be over in one go.
Next Friday (10th October) is World Mental Health Day. In the run up to it, I will do daily blogs on different conditions; their symptoms and famous people that suffer from the conditions, treatments for mental health conditions, stigma surrounding mental health and dealing with mental health problems and education.