Frozen mind

Probably you think my mind became frozen because of a broken heater :-).

Luckily not and I‘m also completely fine and having a great time with my new friend – the heater! Let me explain by telling you a short story:

After leaving my home country and everything behind me, deciding to completely change my life –  I had to start somewhere. I chose to come to the UK (London) it is a world famous, modern 21st-century city full of culture and new opportunities.

Accommodation first

The first priority when moving somewhere new is to find accommodation – London and its surrounding areas (referred to as “ boroughs“) are unfortunately  some of the most expensive places in the world to live.

Rooms for rent in a shared house/apartment with others are usually cheap but also decent and clean with some level of privacy. 

I found a good room, which met all of my needs – it was in a perfect location, the house was clean, and the other housemates were very nice, respectful and friendly.

It’s almost perfect

The only tiny thing that was less than perfect was my room was north facing and wouldn‘t you know it – the coldest room in the house! Even with the central heating turned on, the room was still not warm enough.

I honestly, I didn‘t notice it for the first few months because I was working or going out most of the time anyway. So as time went and spring came, I was excited about the coming summer I was going to appreciate the nice and hot summer days!

5 summer days in UK

It is a common joke that there are only 5 summer days a year – and they are all on Tuesdays! J.  It is only a joke but that first year, it felt like the truth as my happy warm summer days passed very quickly and then were gone.

I soon started to realize that colder weather was coming again and I would soon be in a very cold room again.

I really liked my room – apart from the cold and by then my housemates had become my friends.  Moving wasn’t really something I wanted to do so I started to think of a solution to having a cold room.

I managed to survive previous months by not being there very much.  But to have more time for my online business I had recently changed my full-time job to part-time. As I was going to be spending more time at home I was going to be in that icebox a lot more!

It’s getting serious

I had to have a serious look at my options:- should I  find another job? Maybe I could work from a coffee shop – it worked for JK Rowling when she wrote the Harry Potter books! I love coffee but could I sit there the whole day?

I couldn’t bear the thought of trying to sit and work in the cold, I would get brain freeze. Just imagine waking up cold and then trying to do any productive work in the same cold place. I was seriously unhappy and began to  consider moving and sacrificing the benefits of the house.

The only warm place I could think of was when I was traveling in the tube (the Victoria line is the warmest one in case you are cold in London and interested).

Out of the ice box

Despite thinking long and hard I just couldn‘t think of a solution but then one day everything changed.

I was passing a shop and… there it was! The heater… just sitting there in a shop window looking out and calling “Take me, take me!“ This was it – the solution to the problem!

Obvious solution

Such an obvious answer to the problem and it was so cheap! OH MY GOD! how had I not thought of it? Simple, easy, cheap and effective! It delivers exactly what I was asking for and it cost me exactly £9.99  :-).

It was perfect because my room wasn’t a large room and the little heater warmed it up very quickly – now I have summer the whole year (well at least inside my room :-))

I hope this story has made you smile, it has certainly made me chuckle with the memory while writing it. Hopefully, you can see in this short amusing tale, a real-life example of how many of us often think.

New way of thinking

Blinded by old habits and routines we don‘t even realize there can be other solutions. Sometimes looking at things from a completely different perspective, with a completely different view we can find other ways and solutions to our problems.

It doesn‘t matter what the problem is or the size of the  problem we just don‘t see the solution because we are stuck in our narrow  old ways of thinking.

So why don’t you look at things in a different way than you did before – there is another solution to having that hum-drum existence. It doesn‘t have to be that way.

Not long ago I thought in the same way as many of you –  but that simple, light, cheap but extra powerful heater showed  me how to think differently.

Open mind means open heart

Sure… maybe I am being a little silly about my “friend“ the heater but honestly, since I bought it,  it reminds me to be open minded. To dare to think outside of the box but also to not dismiss the simple and obvious just because a problem feels huge.

Having an open mind means also opening your heart. Maybe you don’t always have rational solutions straight away, just know, there is always some way to solve any problem and that solution could change everything.

So please, be open to new opportunities, new challenges, new people, new life experiences and don‘t be afraid of the words “new“ or “different“.

P.S: I am having Summer all year long even without traveling and in London :-).