Monday 22 September 2014

Pursuing Happiness

There are billions upon billions of moments scattered throughout our lives. They pass in the blink of an eye but they can impact us forever. There are the mundane, the happy, the euphoric, the sad and the tragic, and they are vital. But here I want to focus on the happy kind of moment, which lays the foundations for what I want to call 'Holy Ground.' These are the moments of a happiness and completeness so pure that no matter how much life changes, they will forever remain perfect and untainted by emotions and hurt feelings. As someone who shows so much of herself and seems to be wired strongly to emotion and sentiment (sorry I can't help it), these memories are like sacred territory. They are secret, precious and unseen by the eyes of others. I think we all need these moments of purity and perfection to help us hope. For me, it shows that even in the chaos of the storm life isn't all bad. In fact it is very, very good. It is these times, scattered throughout my short life that show me not to lose hope because it gets better.

The strange thing about many of these times however, is that often they are born from totally ordinary situations. This, more than anything teaches me that we shouldn't take anything for granted, because you never know when (to quote Winnie the Pooh): "...The smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

Sunday 21 September 2014

Fighting the Fear

Fear is designed to protect us. It is an instinct that warns us of danger and sends our bodies into fight or flight mode. In many ways fear is a totally essential part of life because it can help us escape potentially harmful situations. However, since most of us don't spend our lives in fight/flight situations this fear can become irrational and controlling. It paralyses, it controls and instead of helping us to survive it ends up destroying us. The reason I am compelled to write about this is that it has been preying on myself and a lot of the people I care about. After all, it's September, the time for new places and new beginnings. This "new" also feels like a step into the unknown, which often leaves us feeling vulnerable and so our defence mechanism kicks in:we start to prepare for fight/flight. Honestly, in my case it is nearly always the latter I find myself preparing for. But I am tired of it. I am tired of running from the dark and being scared of the unknown, I say FIGHT. Fight that instinct down and push forwards into the new, into the unexplored. Some of the best moments in my life only happened because I forced myself into the unknown. It is this I try to remind myself of when the fear and instinct to run overwhelms me. Furthermore, fear can be extremely destructive. It is exhausting and it steals everything. So when I say I am tired of being scared I mean it. I was losing sleep, losing joy and losing opportunities because instead of success all I forecast is a myriad of catastrophes. Yes, things have gone wrong, and probably will never be 100% perfect all the time, but when life is good, it is amazing. There are so many amazing times just waiting to be had, people to meet but they are all the other side of fear. So take out those boxing gloves, put on a brave face and own it. I know you can. Life comes with risks, but without taking them you won't know success: and oh my dear how you deserve to succeed.