Book Review #3 Feel The Fear...And Do It Anyway!

Hi Lovelies,

I wanted to share with you, the latest book I've read, called Feel The Fear...And Do It Anyway! by Susan Jeffers. This has been one of the most powerful and inspiring books i've ever read.

Let me start by saying how I came across it. I have always been a natural worrier, to the point where the smallest setbacks would send me into a spiral of anxiety for days. Confiding this to a friend, she recommended this book. Now, I won't lie, at first I was hesitant, I thought it was going to be one of those patronising self help books with a load of phschology ramblings. But I promised to give it a go so I ordered the book and as soon as it arrived I got stuck in.

The lady that wrote this is a complete genius. She explains how we attract good things into our lives by being positive and happy, and seeing the good in bad situations, she explains it in a language I can understand. The bottom line of the book is to teach you how to be a confident and secure person, and to have a healthy balanced life, through the power of positive thinking. I know it sounds a bit quirky and hippy but everything in the book made complete sense. There's lots of exercises throughout to get you started. E.g. Go for one whole week without complaining or bitching about a single thing. Now this may not seem that difficult, but believe me, it really was. I had no idea how much I complained about, from my train being late in the morning, to someone that had been rude to me that day. I was surprised how difficult I found it to smile through my annoyances and move on!

This book teaches you  to appreciate and focus on what you have got, not what you don't have, and how to live everyday to the fullest. To put yourself out of your comfort zone and by doing so, increasing your confidence. It teaches you that it's ok to feel scared, but to do what scares you anyway, hence the title.Some people might think this is all common sense and that's how you should live anyway, well, lucky you, because for alot of us that suffer severe anxiety, it's extremely hard to stay positive and confident when things aren't going the way that you want.

This book is definitely for anyone that wants to change their mindset to be a more secure and positive person and to see another side of themselves! I definitely feel alot more relaxed and happier, in the knowledge that whatever isn't going right, I can handle it.

You can purchase the book here for £5.59 from Amazon.

Have any of you read this or something similar? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Hello Bloggers!

 

I can't believe  it's been over a year since I last posted anything! 

To start, life became insanely busy and I had a few personal things to work through. These aren't the only reasons I stopped though. I started to notice how much nastiness and bitchiness there was going on over people's blogs. Especially over twitter. It made me lose interest in something that I loved and that was meant to be a fun hobby. There appeared to be too many rules for my liking and to be totally honest, started to seem like one big popularity contest, with the most important part of blogging being how many followers you have.

 

 I've really missed posting and interacting with other bloggers, I spoke to some lovely people and found some really great blogs. I've decided to go back to posting just for fun and not worry if I haven't posted in a while, or stressing if a particular post is good enough or sounds stupid.

 

So for anyone that would like to continue to read my ramblings, watch this space ;)

 

 

 

                                                        

Book Review #2 || Life Of Pi

Hi Dolls!

Hope you're all having a good week!

I have just finished the hugely successful book 'Life Of Pi',by Yann Martel, which has recently been made into a film, so I thought I would share my thoughts about it with you all.

The storyline is set in the 1970's and is about a teenage boy named Piscine, shortened to Pi, who lives in India with his parents and brother. The family own a  Zoo, but they decide to move to Canada so have to sell all the animals to other Zoos in America/Canada. They set off for Canada by ship with the animals in tow. After a few days at sea there is a huge storm which causes the ship to sink, Pi is the only human who makes it on to a lifeboat...but he is joined by a fully grown Tiger, a Hyena, an Orangutan and a Zebra with a broken leg. This is where the story really begins.                                            I have to say, the first 100 pages I found pretty hard going. The style of writing is not the most exciting and the build up to the story is, dare I say it, quite dull. But I'm glad I persevered because once you get past that on to the real adventure, you will not be able to put it down! I won't spoil the rest just in case you want to read it or watch the movie, but it is a tragic, beautiful story about Man's will to live and just how far your survival instinct will push you.  It teaches you a great deal about animals in the wild too and makes you realise how similar they are to us.  Tigers are my favourite wild animal, I think they are beautiful and interesting so it was amazing to read more about the mind of a Tiger and it's interaction with humans.

I liked the fact that it was so unpredictable, as soon as I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something totally different happened which is very refreshing.

However, the ending was somewhat of a disappoinment if i'm brutally honest.Without saying too much, there is a huge twist which was fascinating to read but left me feeling confused. I like to finish reading a book feeling satisfied but I unfortunately finished it feeling mislead.

All in all, a great story once you can get past the slow build up. I would definitely recommend it to anyone to read, and if you do, please do let me know if you could make sense of the ending!

Valentines and New Years Resolutions Catch Up!

Hi Guys!

A bit late but I hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day! Here are a few pics from mine. I spent the evening on an open deck boat along the River Thames with the other half, which was great but absolutely freezing!  But there was a free glass of champers so that made up for it ;).  Although I ended up having 4 glasses and on an empty stomach that is not a good idea, I ended up totally pissed and stumbling around on the boat. You honestly can't take me anywhere!

I live in London and it's so easy to take for granted what a beautiful city it really is. I mean people come from all over to marvel at Big Ben, and St Pauls Cathedral, Harrods, Tower Bridge etc. But when you see it all the time it seems the novelty wears off. It was so lovely to cruise along the Thames and actually take in all the sights for once, and especially in the evening when everything is lit up it looks absolutely gorgeous. I would definitely recommend to anyone thats passing through London to do.



Me and Carl

Anyway, I done a new years resolutions post at the beginning of Jan and as promised I thought i'd give you all an update on how i'm getting on with them! We already half way through Feb (how mad is that?!), so I thought it was about time!

Beauty:

• I have been so strict with myself in terms of Cleansing/Toning/Moisturising every night and no matter how drunk I come home, or how tired I feel, I can proudly say that I have no longer woken up with panda eye since the start of the new year :)
• I did also say that I would start getting regular facials. Unfortunately I haven't managed to do this yet, purely because of the cost and time factor. But I'm still hoping to squeeze this in in the near future.
• I have cut down alot on the fake tan I'm happy to say. To be honest it looks a bit daft to be tanned in these freezing temperatures anyway! Although I am still putting a very light layer on for special occasions.

Lifestyle

• Gym-The one I thought would be quite easy turned out to be the hardest! After Christmas I felt desperate to exercise after all the carbs and junk I had consumed. But alas, this was not to be. After some thinking and the realisation that I am never going to be able to justify £60 a month no matter how many times I go. There are alot of gyms with exactly the same equipment at half the price. There's no need to be flashy. I sadly cancelled my membership. BUT I got a few fitness DVDs and have been using them a few times a week which I think, does the same thing anyway! Until I feel I can dedicate more time at a much cheaper gym!
• Takeaway Food-I haven't done TOO badly with this one. I still have the odd, uncalled for McDonald's when I've had a rubbish day and talk myself into it or having the familiar craving on the way home from a night out, wrongly thinking it will help in some way but of course, it makes you feel gross and sluggish. But other than that, I no longer class most Friday nights as 'Curry Night' basically telling myself that just because it's Friday I deserve a treat. My goal of only two takeaways a month is not quite yet perfect, but I'm getting there.
• Sleep-This one is easy as I do love a great nights sleep. Most week nights I go to Bed at around 10:30 so at the very least I have been managing to get in a nice 8 hours. It really does make all the difference. Although the weekends are a very different story!
• Anxiety- It's so so hard to not worry when you're a natural at it. I would blow up trivial minor things into a big worry fest and stress about them for days. I still do a bit, but I am working towards trying to control this and be more carefree as it really is not worth it.
• Regualar Breakfast-I have been terrible with this one. I have the odd banana in the mornings still when I remember or some toast when I  have the time but I'm still trying to manage a regular healthy breakfast everyday. Shamefully I would rather have the extra 10 minute snooze than have something to eat! Which I hugely regret as the morning goes on so I am definitely going to try harder to put this right!

General:

• Saving Money- January was a complete write off as I had alot of things to pay off for after Christmas. But starting from the end of Jan I am managing to save my target amount each month which I am very pleased about. I have also found the perfect savings account which I am hoping to open within the next week.
• Quality Time with Family-I am starting to arrange monthly visits to my Nan by confirming a date with her each time we go. She lives quite a long drive away so it's difficult to always make trips down to her.
• Paris-Yes I am still the only person that hasn't been to Paris *sad face*. I would have loved to have gone for Valentines Day but it was way too expensive and to be honest I'd rather go in the run up to Christmas so fingers crossed I'll get to go this year.
• Adventurous- I'm slowly but surely trying more foods that I wouldn't normally consider because of the way they look. And i'm also still on my constant battle to become a top chef in the kitchen, or at least be able to cook something that doesn't revolve around toast. I've recently purchased some cooking-for-dummies books so keep your eyes peeled for a few recipes :)

I saw plenty of  Resolutions posts so would love to know how you are getting on with yours? :)