This year I turn 44. An age I may never have reached.

I often get asked why I take 4 million selfies and am so loud or "extra". It's my way of celebrating every single day. Life is a gift. Every day I become more grateful that I am alive and thriving. But it wasn't always this way. There were times when life was challenging and I was struggling. I fell into a very dark place. Thankfully I was surrounded by lots of beautiful hearts including my children who got me through to the other side.

Not everyone is so lucky.

Sometimes you can be surrounded by everyone and yet feel completely alone. The hardest thing to do when you're struggling is to reach out and ask for help. It's much harder to share with loved ones as you don't want the judgement, disappointment or to needlessly worry them.... but equally when you're feeling like this, it's exactly when you need to find a safe space to share these feelings.

It's a crazy catch 22 situation. Sometimes it can feel like a spiral that you struggle to get yourself out of. You don't always need someone to come in and "fix things" for you. What you need is for someone to listen to your thoughts, your feelings and your fears so that you can say them out loud. To offload all of those negative thoughts and emotions. It really does feel like the burden becomes lighter to carry as you defragment your own thoughts. It's not always easy doing that with family or close friends because it can feel like you're failing in some way and you don't want to worry them. Often you keep it to yourself. But after a while, that can become all consuming.

That's where Samaritans do amazing work. They have a helpline that is free and open 24 hours a day. It's free. You get to speak to a stranger who is a volunteer and whose job is to simply listen to you. A total game changer for so many.

Phone : 116 123

Whilst I was lucky and had a support system around me that helped me rebuild myself back up, I appreciate that not everyone is so fortunate. Samaritans provide an invaluable service so to celebrate reaching my 44th year I am taking on my biggest ever physical challenge : Running 40 miles along the beautiful Welsh Coastline in the Pegasus Ultra Marathon - VOGUM.

It will be really tough, especially as I've never attempted this distance before and also because I've been runstreaking for the last 2,260 days (as of 15th May 2024) but I am determined to give it a shot. Thankfully I am not doing this challenge on my own. I am running with two of my rather bonkers and gorgeous mates (Cat and Neet) as we go on this adventure testing our bodies whilst we get to see some beautiful scenery. I'm full of a mixture of fear and excitement but I'm sure we'll make some great memories along the way too!

I hope that by fundraising for this rather special cause, I can help Samaritans to carry on providing a much needed service that enables more people reach their next birthdays and get to experience more milestones with their loves ones.

Thanks for reading this. Life is tough at times. You never know what someone else may be going through on the inside. Just because they are smiling and laughing, doesn't mean that they aren't masking their true emotional state. If you can try and not be a dick to people, it can make life a lot better for everyone.

Sending you all buckets of positive energy, welsh hugs (cwtches) and love from little me,

Rav xxx

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