Things I am thankful for...

Hey!

In relation to my 'positive thinking' for 2015, I have been spending a lot of time reflecting on the things I am thankful for in my life. Let me tell you, there is a lot of things I am so thankful for. But I thought I would just pop a few things down, and if I ever feel like I need a boost I can read this post and it will remind me of why I should be happy!

Friends & Family

This one is something I am incredibly lucky with. I have a wonderful family, I live with my twin brother, my mum and dad and our two beautiful dogs Shadow and Buzz. Buzz is my puppy and he never fails to make me smile. I have a huge family, so many aunties, uncles, cousins, second cousins, and it is so lovely always having someone to go to if I need anything. My parents are so supportive of anything I want to do and always have been, I think they're the main reason I'm so determined and headstrong. My brother is an absolute idiot, but we get on really well and he really is the better half of me! I don't know what I'd do without him.

Buzz

Shadow & Buzz

As for friends, well, mine are the best. I have a few of close girl friends that are consistently there for me and always brighten my day. I also have a giant group of friends, about 20 of us, and they are like a huge, dysfunctional family. I literally love them all so much and they're so much fun to be around! They accepted me into their 'group' about 4 years ago now and they're just wonderful.

The 'family'

Books

Yes, that sounds so geeky.. But I'm currently in my second year of doing an English and American Literature degree and I have been obsessed with reading for as long as I can remember. There aren't any words to describe the feeling of getting lost in another world for a while, and I just love it. I have so much admiration for writers, I wish I had the skill they have!

The 'Little' Things

By this, I mean the things we take for granted, that we count as normal yet for some people they just don't exist. For instance, a house to live in, food on the table, money in the bank. The freedom to say and do what I want, for the most part. The right to education and to have the opportunity to learn and develop myself. The things that we don't even give a second thought, yet we really should. No, I don't often think myself lucky for these things, I'm the same as everyone else and don't focus on it much, but I suppose I should!

Scouting

As I mentioned in my last post, Scouting has always been a huge part of my life and I am so thankful for it. I am now a Cub Scout Leader and there is nothing more satisfying that seeing a group of 8-10 year olds having fun and being happy as a result of the voluntary work I do. I want to be a teacher one day, and quite honestly the time I spend Scouting reminds me exactly why I want to do it. It really is such a rewarding hobby and it is as important to me as a job. In some ways I feel it's more important than a job because it's voluntary and so I am making a conscious decision to work for these children and to do the best I can for them. 

Me in Disneyland Paris on a Scout trip

Me and Bear Grylls

So, there you go, a few things that make me happy and I am very thankful for! I have to say I'm probably more lucky than most, I basically have three families! My blood relatives, my friend family and my Scouting family. Not many people can say that! I'm now in an extra good mood after writing this.

Emma x

New year, new me?

First things first, my name is Emma, I'm 20 years old and I'm from a small town near Manchester.

Okay, so I am completely aware that the whole 'new year, new me' thing is a load of rubbish. No, just because we write a different number for the date does not mean I am a new person who can completely restart my life. However, there is something somewhat hopeful about a new year, hence the reason I started this blog, and hence the name of my blog. I won't go into the boring details of the crappy year I just experienced, because I want to focus on the wonderful year that hopefully lays ahead of me. The way I see it, whether you decide you want to turn your life around on January 1st, or April 21st, or September 15th, it's a pretty exciting and refreshing feeling. Quite simply, I refuse to have a year like 2014, in which I spent far too much time dwelling on the negatives rather than focusing on the positives. I am a very privileged person, in that I have great friends and family surrounding me, I'm studying at university, I have a part time job. I need to learn to appreciate that more.

So, here we go, I'm going to do the oh so cliche thing of writing my New Years Resolutions down. Now, I have refused to make any for the past couple of years, because I thought 'well I'll never achieve them anyway', and thinking about it now, that is exactly where I was going wrong. And so this year, I'm going to make resolutions, and I'm going to try my best to keep them!

1. To be a better person

I'm aware that this is an extremely broad concept, and I know you can't just turn around and say 'yeah I'm going to be better than I am now' because it just doesn't happen like that. But, I know for a fact that in 2014 I didn't treat some people the way I should have, and at times I was a pretty unpleasant person to know and be around. I want to be more selfless this year, yet I want to be aware of the fact that I can't sacrifice my own happiness to please everyone else. It's all about balance, and that is something I want to do better this year.

2. To be a more positive person

I am most definitely a glass half empty kind of girl, and it has become clear to me that being that way really isn't the most beneficial of attitudes.. Let's face it, if you always look at the things negatively then you are never going to feel positive about things! If something is hard I need to stop thinking 'it's too difficult, I give up' and think 'how can I get around this issue?' This also ties in with number 1, as being more positive will make me a better person!

3. To work hard

This applies to many things. To work in general. To university, which I admittedly do not enjoy very much, yet I want to succeed in it and therefore I need to get my head down and focus (let's ignore the massive pile of work I am currently avoiding..). It also applies to Scouting, an organisation I have been involved with for all of my life, but this year I am taking on new roles, taking on new adventures and hopefully I can be part of that all important change in the development of Scouting!

I think 3 resolutions is plenty to work on, especially when they're as broad as mine. I don't want to overwhelm myself with ridiculous and unrealistic goals that I will simply be disappointed in and give up on. So, I think I'm pretty satisfied with what I have come up with, and I suppose we shall see what the year brings.

Here's to 2015!

Emma x