Having trouble dealing with the pressure of upcoming exams? Take a break. Revision is super important but at the same time it is essential to take time for you to relax. At this time, you need to think about you … Continue reading
So today i have been loving the song Quiet from Matilda the Musical and i just had to do a cover of it. I apologise that i don’t know the words very well so had to keep glancing over at them but other than that, i hope you enjoy:)
first of all, I’d like to apologise for the lack of blog posts lately, I’ve just had no time whatsoever. something that I’ve been spending time doing is taking part in a show called me and my girl. last week … Continue reading
Lately, i have fully realised the importance of trying to make yourself happy and not being okay with settling for less than you deserve.
there is a big ideal that society pushes on people to make them feel like they need to fit a mould in order to be liked or to be accepted.
i have found that this ideal is not for everyone. we are all different and that’s what makes us all special. we don’t have to change how we look or how much we weigh or how we act because of what other people say or think. however, i believe that if we want to change, that should also be accepted and should not be constantly blamed on the pressures of society.
as well as trying to help people to be happy with the person they are now, people should have the support and encouragement they need to become the person they are happy want to be; the person they are happy as, as long as that is good for their health.
happiness is a breath of fresh air for most people and there is nothing better than being happy and comfortable with yourself. it benefits you emotionally and physically and helps you to feel confident and to be unafraid to be who you really are.
some things i have learnt are not to pretend to be someone you aren’t and also if you’re not happy with something that you can change, do something about it!
if you pretend to be someone you’re not to impress someone, a guy, for example, chances are it’ll end up in you feeling quite conflicted. situations like that are difficult because you feel trapped, as if you always have to be careful not to say or do the wrong thing and also it’s nice to know that someone loves you for who you are and not who you pretend to be.
i bet that person would love you even more if they knew the real you and everything would be far more comfortable.
i guess the point of this post is that if you’re unhappy, you should make an effort to change the reason why if it is possible. for example, if you don’t like the way your stomach looks, go do some ab workouts! don’t do something that makes you miserable to please someone else. don’t get me wrong, it’s good to think of others before yourself but there is a limit.
i hope this has been helpful and has made you think about yourself and how happy you are with yourself as an individual. if you’re not, it can’t hurt to try and make a difference.
So, next Wednesday (Wednesday 18th February) is the beginning of Lent. Lent is a time where catholics remember the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus spent in the desert. During this time, people try to give something up for that period of time to try to begin to understand how Jesus must have felt during that time. However, do we have to be religious to give this challenge a try?
I myself am not a very religious person but that doesn’t mean I cannot use this time to try and challenge myself by giving something up, and that’s the same for everyone else. If you’re still trying to keep up your new years resolution for keeping fit, lent is a great way to motivate you to give up something that you find the most tempting.
Some things I have considered include unhealthy foods like crisps and sweets or even fizzy drinks. Sometimes when you look at it like you cannot eat something, as if you were allergic, you get used to going without it. in previous years, some of my friends have gone without chocolate and coffee and one year someone even went without a bed!
Something to remember during lent is that you should have something that makes it worthwhile and something that means you have less of a chance of just giving up. If you give up chocolate, you know that at the end of lent you have easter to look forward to and then you can have all the chocolate you want. The same thing goes for whatever else you can think of to give up, you may even find that you do not want it anymore.
By giving something up successfully, i find that you can feel good about yourself since you did not give in and that, if something you are giving up is bad, you could begin a healthier life afterward. I find lent to be good motivation to actually do something as you can be specific about what you want to achieve and you also have unmovable deadlines to stick to.
Lent isn’t that long, try it, you never know what you could achieve.
okay so since this New Year started, I have been trying my hardest to keep up my New Years resolution to get a good body before summer.
I know that New Years resolutions to lose weight and get fit can be difficult to commit to but here are some things that have helped me to persevere this new year.
1. DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY.
it’s no good trying to commit to a whole form of exercise that you hate because there’s no way you’ll want to keep doing it. find something that you like doing, whether it’s a sport, a certain fitness class, or even a work out dvd and you’ll find that sometimes you can even look forward to getting fit.
also, don’t forget to challenge yourself, even when you feel like you cannot continue, try and get a little further each time you work out and you’ll be getting through each session in no time.
2. HAVE A CERTAIN TIME.
make sure that you set a certain day for when you work out. I chose Monday, Wednesday and Friday because those are my free days. having a specific time makes things feel like more of a commitment and soon you’ll find that it will become a habit.
3. EAT HEALTHILY.
getting fit isn’t just about exercise alone. diets can be effective but it’s better just to eat a balanced diet. don’t be afraid to eat the things you like as long as they’re in proportion. also, healthy foods can taste just as good. I’ve had a recent love for roasted vegetables with just about everything.
[if you’re looking for some really tasty but healthy recipes, go check out the blog: deliciously ella]
so those are some tips for how I’m trying to keep fit, I hope they’re helpful to anyone trying to get healthier this new year. remember that you don’t need to lose weight to become whoever society wants you to be. trying to become fit and healthy is all about becoming who you want to be and being happy in your own body.
so, by now most of us are all back to school and work and I don’t know about anyone else but, for me, it’s becoming definite that the spirit of Christmas and the hype of new year is coming to a close.
the expectation is that because it’s a new year we should be full of energy and ready to engage in all aspects of life but I myself have found that due to being out of habit and also worn out from my disrupted sleeping pattern as well as the idea of what is to come in 2015 for me, I’m feeling rather worn out.
in a way, this year seems like it ends when my school year does and it also seems like the steep downhill of a roller coaster and right now I’m perched precariously on the top, scared as hell.
GCSEs are the thing in my life right now that I’m just going to have to face regardless of anything else and I think we all have something like that in one way or another, we always do.
for times where we feel low and anxious because of something inevitable, we should try and remind ourselves that time goes on no matter what and we are going to have to live through some things even if we have been dreading it for months on end.
in January, some people feel inspired, others feel daunted by the year ahead, and if we remind ourselves that the year will happen regardless, us daunted fellows can begin to feel inspired also by the blank canvas we’ve been given.
hope everyone’s having a good start to 2015
okay, so this year is drawing to a close and I’m not the first to point out just how fast 2014 has slipped by.
I’ve had great days, I’ve had sad days, I’ve achieved and I’ve failed much like everyone else has, I’m sure. all of those things have made me into the person I am now and who I will start 2015 as.
at this time of year, everyone is picking New Years resolutions and setting goals for how to improve in the next year, however, the common problem is fully committing to those goals, which is okay, because we’re all the same in that aspect I guess.
in order to help, I have compiled a list of 5 things to help you create and complete some New Years resolutions for the new year.
1. take some time to look back and acknowledge what you have achieved this year. before you go deciding how you want to better, try to think of what you have done during this year that has made a difference to yourself or to someone else, whether it changed their/your life or even just made them smile on a bad day. a year is a very long time and you could be very surprised by all you achieved.
2. think about what you want to achieve; let your head go wild and don’t hold back. you have a completely new year in front of you and if you set your mind on it, you have no idea of what you could achieve, who you could meet or who you could become.
3. really take some time to think about what steps need to be taken in order to achieve those goals. are things going to be simple or is there a path you need to take in order to get there? sometimes when things all come together and you have a plan, things become more exciting and you feel more inspired as well as motivated to complete your goal.
4. it is important to remember that you shouldn’t underestimate yourself. if a task seems too big, just break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. hardwork never denied anyone anything and in the end, it is even more rewarding to achieve something you never thought you were capable of. only you can stand in the way of what you want to achieve, so don’t let yourself because no task is too big.
5. now, onto the commitment part, the part where you have to keep something up for a year.
I recommend that you find a way to best keep yourself motivated, for example, write down exactly what you feel like when you are most inspired and willing to achieve. then, when you are feel rather less motivated, you can read how you felt when inspired and hopefully that would prompt you to become more proactive.
you could also hang up photos or post its, whatever is most effective for what you want to achieve, on your walls or wherever you would see them everyday and therefore, when you see them, you could want to do more.
I hope these steps have been helpful and I hope everyone has a great New Years!
okay so this post is going to be a bit more sensitive than usual but I still hope you enjoy.
this year, on December 22nd, my great nan sadly passed away and that was probably the first big loss I’ve fully experienced in my life so far. although I didn’t see her as often as I should, I still loved her and she made us all laugh. every visit to go and see her was an experience. so when I found out I felt strangely numb, void of emotion I should say, and I guess, even though it was kind of expected, it didn’t feel real.
throughout the week I noticed how much it affected some members of my family and that’s what made me begin to feel more upset. it was a week that was supposed to be filled with joy and cheer but we were all in various stages of mourning I guess. (don’t worry it isn’t all this depressing I swear!)
anyway on Christmas Eve I was beginning to worry if Christmas was going to be worth it this year and I really didn’t want it to come at all.
however, the day was the exact opposite. at some point during that week we all truly realised how important our family is and how easy it is to lose someone without any warning whatsoever.
this Christmas turned out to be one of the best because we all treasured one another and we all supported each other in remembering my great nan in a happy light. We all laughed, we toasted and we hugged, a lot.
this week there’s nothing I’ve valued more than hugging someone I love and showing them how much they mean to me. this year, instead of focusing on gifts and stressing about cooking food, for me, the focus was almost entirely on family and I loved every minute of it.
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and they got everything they wanted and more.
okay so the other day i performed in a showcase for my singing teacher, similar to the one i did around this time last year.
in this showcase i performed ‘at last’ by Etta James which is so fun to sing and ‘Don’t rain on my Parade’ from Funny Girl and originally performed by Barbara Streisand, i know, a tough act to follow. I was really nervous about this song but i think it went okay.
here are the links to my two songs on youtube, dont forget to subscribe! and i hope you enjoy :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hogTF9sAj88&list=UUWE5jIGnzQoSsT7JHBLdScA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKceSecVE5Y&list=UUWE5jIGnzQoSsT7JHBLdScA
My favourite Christmas song this week is…
Sleigh Ride by Pentatonix
So make sure you go and check it out :)
Lucy Jones 