doing things for you

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.

Lent 2015

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.

tips for keeping fit

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.

January blues

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

5 steps for New Years resolutions

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!

Christmas 2014

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.

My wishes tag.

so i first saw this tag on CutiepieMarzia’s channel and i really like it so i thought i would give it a try.

1. What do you wish you knew when you were younger?

I kind of wish i appreciated primary school more than i did because i just couldn’t wait to grow up when I’m now realising how fast time actually goes. so i guess i knew that i should take advantage of being younger because everyone gets their turn to be older but we only get one chance at being young.

2. Where do you wish you could live?

i quite like living here in England since there aren’t any dangerous or massive spiders or other things like that but i really like the idea of living in a city like London or by the seaside. Sometimes it can be quite boring living in the middle of an island with nothing special really happening so a busy place like London seems like a really exciting place to live even though it is quite expensive.

3. What is the one thing you wish you could do?

I wish i wasn’t so afraid of things, for example, heights. i love the idea of roller coasters and climbing up high but when i get there i feel as if I’m going to fall over for no apparent reason, its ridiculous. i don’t want to be afraid but for some reason i just am, and thats really annoying for me.

4. What would you wish to be better at?

I wish i was more determined and better at committing to things. there are so many hobbies that i have just given up on because i was bored and i could’ve done well in them. I kind of just gave up and thats something i regret.

i also wish i was more secretive because, if I’m honest, I’m kind of an open book and that frustrates me. I’m fine with keeping other peoples secrets, its just my own that i have trouble with.

5. What did you wish to become when you were little?

When i was little, i remember wanting to be a vet for a long time. i used to wake up super early every morning and go downstairs to watch tv. at that time, there was nothing that decent ever on and i found that i would watch vet programmes, with surgery and everything, every single morning. in the end, i think i decided against becoming a vet because i didn’t think i would want to inject an animal. so i gave up on that idea; good job really because I’m hopeless at science.

6. Is there anything you wish you could change about the world?

I think I’ve written about this in a post before but sometimes i wish that some people were not allowed to live on this Earth because of the evil that they commit. People who ambush and torture or even murder innocent people without a second thought about the pain that they cause don’t deserve to be alive. most humans have good inside of them, whether it is buried deep or right at the surface. People who commit inhumane crimes like the ones we have seen in our world cannot be human because there is nothing human about what they do.

7. What is your “biggest wish”?

I was really tempted to miss out this question because I am so unsure of what the answer is. All i can think of is that i wish that, in the future, i will have a family like the one i am in now where everyone is kind of on the right track and we all support one another. I love my family and my dogs and my cat and i hope i can have a family of my own just like that one day.

i hope you have enjoyed this post, feel free to do this tag if you want to.

time goes too fast!

so mocks are coming up and its kind of scary how fast this year has gone. Lately i feel like i have been very short of time and I’m pretty sure that most people in the same place as me kind of feel the same way. i guess because time goes so fast its like there can never be enough, especially when there is a deadline approaching.

even though I’m excited for a lot of things like being able to drive and getting a house and other things like that, Im kind of scared of growing up and i guess thats okay because everyone has to do it. the thing is, when you grow up, you just get older and older and then wam bam your going to die soon. i think the reality of how short life really is set in the other day and it kind of freaked me out.

something that i have recently been trying to make time for is sleep. with all the exams and other things going on, sleep is a big priority because it means i can go into school the next day awake and ready to learn. even when i manage to get a decent nights sleep I’m ready for a nap by the end of the next day so when I don’t I’m practically falling asleep in lessons. in my opinion, having a decent nights sleep and making sure you’re drinking water throughout the day is the best way to keep alert and learn as much as you can.

due to upcoming exams and the idea that one day I’m actually going to have to grow up, i sometimes feel as if i cannot look forward to things. i don’t know if I’m the only person who feels like this but it kind of sucks, especially if something great is coming up. for example, christmas is soon but i just want this week to freeze so i can get in some revision. i know that i have to get through two more weeks and then i can look forward to christmas. after that i have more exams to face. something I’ve realised about this is that trying to distract yourself from these things kind of sucks sometimes and to be honest, you have to do everything you can to keep yourself happy.

it is very important to prioritise, i think.

1. revise

2. sleep

3. keep yourself in a good mood.

in my opinion, if you are in a positive mindset, you can achieve a lot more because even though constant work sucks, you kind of feel happy/good about yourself at the same time. even little things can make a difference. for example, i like keep my room tidy because otherwise i start to stress out and also i tend to do whatever I’m in the mood to do. i have painted my nails a few times which made me feel better and i even took a break from revising to bake a vegan chocolate cake. whatever it is, sometimes you should just take a break and improve your mindset by making yourself feel better and then you can go back and continue to learn with a fresh perspective.

(I’m sorry i haven’t been putting a blog post up every wednesday and sunday, been slightly short on time)

it’s inevitable

this week, I suddenly became very aware of the inevitability of life. it is inevitable that I’m going to do my exams and that I’m going to have to get a job and then (hopefully a few decades after I get my first job) I will inevitably die.
even though life is unpredictable, it doesn’t stop moving forward for anyone. we have a very limited life and that life is spent being in education, then getting a job, then staying in that job until you are old enough to retire which is now at around the age of 70ish. I think it’s a shame that money is such an overbearing weight for most of the world and that means they can’t go out and do what they want to most.
how is it that you cannot live your life because of needing money to live it?
we are all lucky, there is always someone who’s having a worse day than us even though it may not feel like it. maybe you fell out with all of your friends and got dumped, I’m not gonna lie, that really sucks and I’m sorry, however, there is also a starving child somewhere on the brink of dying from malnutrition or someone suffering from cancer is taking a turn for the worst.
what makes life so scary is that sometimes we wish it to go faster, we hope the day will feel more like an hour and that friday will come straight after Monday. there are also times where time could never be slow enough.
something that scares me about inevitability is that there is no escaping it. it’s like we’re trapped. for example, you could be afraid of needles and you have to get a jab, you have no way out, there is no way that will not happen and you know that and that is what makes it so frightening.
I guess it’s a waste of time being afraid of inevitability because (and I say this because I can think of no better words) it is inevitable. there is no way of avoiding death and we can only accept that, although I’m not quite sure anyone really does, that’s okay though because you cannot fully accept something you know nothing about.
I don’t really know what the point of this blog post really was but I hope it has made some people think, I feel like to help some people become more aware of life slipping through their fingers the best way is to think about something like this.

halloween Elphaba costume

so halloween is coming up and i am really really excited. In this post i will be showing you how to recreate this elphaba look, i know i found it really fun to do. this look is really simple and also really effective, also it is really strange being green like the wicked witch of the west!

for this look, i am wearing a simple black, turtle neck dress from boohoo.com. Underneath, i am wearing just a long sleeved black shirt and black tights just so i dont have to paint my whole arms aswell as my face, neck and hands. for my hair, i just pulled it into a simple plait, it doesnt have to be neat. if you want, you can wear a black wig to make the look more accurate.

next, you need a light green face paint; i used the classic colours snazaroo face and body paint in lime green and i used a damp sponge just to apply that all over my face and neck, not forgetting my ears. make sure to paint your neck to where your shirt/dress collar starts so you don’t have any skin showing. also make sure your sponge isnt too wet because that means your facepaint will go streaky and wont look as good.

Then, add dimension to your face with a darker green face paint, i used the same snazaroo face and body paint but in the shade dark green. i applied this as a contour for my nose and cheeks with the sponge. to make sure the darker colours arent too harsh, dab some more of the lime green colour over the edges and over the darker colour so it is noticeable but also blends in better.

Next, i am going to do my eyes. the eyes for this look are really simple and you can add things and take things away depending on the look you are trying to achieve. i just took a black eyeshadow (you can use a black facepaint if you want to) and used that with a fluffy brush over the outer corner of my eye lid and blended it through the crease; i also took some of it under my eye to cover any of it i missed with the green. I then applied some mascara and moved onto my eyebrows. since i had covered them with green paint, i decided to fill in my eyebrows with the black eyeshadow.

for my lips, i simply painted them with the dark green face paint and thats the face completed. The final step is to paint your hands or any other exposed pieces of skin green. the paint does come off on all kinds of furniture and clothes so beware when you are touching things even though i found it was really easy to remove from these things and also i didnt go into school the next day with green all over me.

and that is the whole look completed. I hope you enjoyed this and that some of you can now recreate this Elphaba look. I also filmed a video of me singing ‘The Wizard and I’ from Wicked, i hope you like it. sorry its a bit out of time at parts, i was too loud for the music.

heres the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu-RzUK_F0E&list=UUWE5jIGnzQoSsT7JHBLdScA