u/Chrolan1988

Ok, so I was sceptical. I thought there may be some differences but I never expected as many as there have been.

Week 1:

Like managing an addict, constantly saying no to her, offer all distraction going and nothing seemed to hold, but we had our holiday to look forward to the following week so kept driving the conversation this way, baring in mind it was the latter part of the summer holidays

Week 2:

On holiday, occasionally asks for it, but moves on a little quicker than week 1 and we’re very occupied with holiday activities. Other than the journey to the holiday destination no major emotions about no longer having it but asking for it everyday.

Week 3:

School resumes, asks for it in the evening a couple of times but with no major fight. It’s this week where we really started to notice a difference. Sure she wants to play games repeatedly with us which is nice but it wears a tad thin after work, cooking, managing her younger siblings but the positives my goodness. Now engagement is better, eye contact is held longer, sharing more about her day and a greater awareness of self starts to happen. She starts to slow down ever so fractionally though, but still not manic.

Week 4: up to and including today. The same engagement continues, her humour is back, the wit, the speed of reply, her eyes are changing, less grey under them, slightly more focused and interested in her homework.

Keep in mind she went from averaging 3.5hrs a day during a school week and up to 6hrs on weekend days.

It hasn’t been easy and we are not through the woods yet but overall vast improvement.

Worthy of note, she is expecting diagnosis of a SEND condition(s) due to behaviour at school and our own concerns at home over the last 3 years but speaking openly, yes there are still some traits but my goodness they are reduced significantly and we are just about to finish week 4.

It’s been harder work for us both, keeping in mind she is one of 3 and both mum and I work full time without any kind of “village” support.

I am not only proud that she doesn’t need it, but relieved we can still live our life like normal without it.

Another month or 2 and then we are really are making progress.

Hopefully this is interesting for anyone considering doing the same.

Her typical iPad use was; YouTube Kids, Netflix kids profile some games like the Toca world one, but mostly YouTube kids and it was decaying her. Now it’s not.

To add some context, I have been hitting golf balls for coming up to year, it was only really in July that I started to book Tee times typically 9 holes and I am finding a constant inconsistency that I can’t seem to overcome.

I will try to explain, if my driving is going well,
My mid game suffers, if my mid game improves, my putting will suffer, if my approach play needs attention, my long irons start failing.

Thinking of the key areas: Driver, Woods, Hybrids, long Irons, mid irons, approach clubs (typically
short irons and wedges), bunker shots, putting.

I can’t seem to get better at all of it, or at least hold a standard in one of the areas. As whenever any area requires attention from me it improves but then another area seems to decline as a result.

It’s like a constant trade off, I cant seem to sustain quality in any area consistently.

Is the pretty standard/normal (welcome to golf type situation) or is this a me thing?

Is there actually a way to get to a level and hold on to it, is it just constant practice?

Any tips or tricks other than just practice more would be appreciated, I am sure it just a mental thing!

I have had an EV since 2022 and when I got mine there was a gov grant to have home chargers installed for free, mine was a pod point.

The network started well and offered 50kwh charging which at the time was in line with the highest at the time.

Now I can’t find a 50kwh pod point anywhere and where I do, they are bust! Only thing working is the 7kwh at all the tescos and Lidl seem to have acquired them directly or through another party.

Looking at the likes of Instavolt and their set up on the M3/A34 is exactly what’s needed, 100kwh+ 40 available chargers, on site management and a large Starbucks - that’s the future.

IONITY seem to be at the services now and they are not too bad either.

Is pod point now pod pointless?

I have had an EV since 2022 and when I got mine there was a gov grant to have home chargers installed for free, mine was a pod point.

The network started well and offered 50kwh charging which at the time was in line with the highest at the time.

Now I can’t find a 50kwh pod point anywhere and where I do, they are bust! Only thing working is the 7kwh at all the tescos and Lidl seem to have acquired them directly or through another party.

Looking at the likes of Instavolt and their set up on the M3/A34 is exactly what’s needed, 100kwh+ 40 available chargers, on site management and a large Starbucks - that’s the future.

IONITY seem to be at the services now and they are not too bad either.

Is pod point now pod pointless?

In around 6 weeks time my lease is up on my Audi Q4 40 (2022) S-line with sound, tech and comfort.

I am moving to the Enyaq which offers more features, has better range and quicker acceleration.

The key features it includes that is not included with my current car: memory electric seats, keyless entry, wireless phone charging and hands free boot release. Due to supply chain issues, my Audi should have had keyless and phone charging but didn’t come with them.

Question is what am I likely to miss?

The door handles and switches seem a little less chunky and also aircon on screen only but other than that there isn’t anything really that I think I will.

I am wondering if anyone else has made the switch down grading ‘the badge’ but in the same group.

Key reason, the equivalent Audi is around £9.5k p11 more and monthly payments around £200 net less with the Skoda.

Hi, long story short, I was section in 2009 and again in 2011 diagnosed with paranoid psychosis in 09 and Bipolar disorder in 2011. I had been taking olanzapine on and off from 2009 to 2011. Then consistently taking it from 2011 -2015 scaling down from 20mg to 5mg over that 4 year period. Due to the nasty side effects of Olanzapine I moved to quetiapine fully by the end of 2015.

Move in to Spring 2016, I was told by the mental health team including doctors and car workers, I no longer needed to take medication at all, I was fully discharged to GP and that was that.

However, due to a sense of psychological reliance on antipsychotics and the fact that it has aided sleep for so long, I have been scared to come off it. My GP is flexible and my prescription has essentially been a 30 day rolling meditation that’s always open to review.

The medication itself being such a low dose 25mg is probably offering a greater placebo effect rather than actually medicating my condition(s) and as I have been able to officially speaking stop taking it for 10 years I am now considering actually doing it.

Has anyone done this before and what has your experience been? Is it worth it and will it better my life? I always feel better in the morning when I don’t take it and wake up with more energy for the day but I soon get scared and start taking it again. I haven’t gone longer than 3 days.

Monthly Breakdown:

- Salary changing to +£4583

- Pension contribution (minus) 6%

- Childcare vouchers (minus) £230

- Car payment changing to (minus) £1057

- Health Benefit +£281

- Car allowance +£375

- Car BiK +£76

Right side will be:

- BiK (minus) £281 for health
- BiK (minus) £76

A thought worth considering is that human beings may begin life in a natural state of joy, wonder, trust, and presence. In childhood, happiness often feels instinctive. Children laugh easily, are absorbed by small things, and tend to return quickly to the moment after upset. There is a lightness and openness that can feel close to a natural way of being.

As life unfolds, that ease can become layered over. Pain, fear, disappointment, comparison, and responsibility begin to shape how we interpret ourselves and the world. Alongside this, modern consumer culture reinforces the idea that something is missing, that fulfilment is always ahead in the next purchase, achievement, or possession. Attention is steadily pulled outward toward what can be acquired rather than inward toward what can be known or felt.

This can create a subtle tension. The more we pursue externally, the more internally complex life can become. Stress, frustration, and unhappiness are not only emotional states but also mentally demanding ones. They require sustained attention, interpretation, comparison, and anticipation. In that sense, they are heavy states to maintain.

Contentment, by contrast, often feels lighter. Gratitude is lighter. Presence is lighter. Joy is lighter.

From here, an interesting question emerges. What if peace is not something we must construct, but something closer to our underlying nature, gradually obscured rather than absent?

Many religious traditions offer language that points in this direction. In Christianity, writers such as Saint Augustine described the human heart as restless until it finds rest in God, suggesting that longing is not simply for more things, but for reconnection with something deeper and enduring. In Sufism, there is a strong emphasis on remembrance, presence, and moving beyond attachment to the material world toward closeness with the Divine. In Hinduism, teachings often distinguish between temporary desires and a deeper state of inner fulfilment rooted in awareness of the eternal. Across these traditions, there is a shared theme that restlessness is not solved by accumulation, but by alignment, remembrance, or surrender.

Psychology offers parallel ideas in a different language. Carl Rogers wrote about an innate tendency toward growth and wholeness when we are not blocked by conditions of worth. Carl Jung described individuation as a process of becoming more whole inwardly rather than more complete externally. These ideas sit interestingly alongside religious perspectives that point toward returning to something essential within or beyond the self.

Seen this way, growth may be less about accumulation and more about refinement. Less about adding to the self, and more about uncovering what is already there beneath conditioning and distraction.

It is only a thought, and open to challenge, but perhaps what we call growth is not always upward or outward. It may also be inward. A gradual movement away from what is noisy, comparative, and consuming, and toward what feels simpler, steadier, and more aligned with peace, meaning, and what many would describe as closeness to God.