"Your Joy is Your Job"

Hello Everyone :)

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this video (from 24:40 onwards is what I'm talking about) whilst I was planning for a small group that I lead, and it had some very interesting points in it that really made me think...

One of my goals for this year is to be happier and a more positive person and to just enjoy life. So when I watched this video, I decided that I needed to make some changes in my life and in my thinking.

Steven Furtick (a Christian speaker), says in part of this talk that we need to "own our emotions", and stop looking for someone else to blame for our state of minds. So we shouldn't be blaming others for the way that we feel, or for "putting us in a bad mood"...come on now, even I'm guilty of this!

Rather than just letting everyone and everything get to us, we need to own our emotions, and say to ourselves that "our joy is our job"...

This simple saying struck a chord in me and really challenged me because so often I rely on others to make me happy and to bring me joy. But in reality, people will always let us down because no one is perfect. We are all flawed. So if we want to have joy in our lives, it starts with us! We need to make a conscious effort to be more joyful, to fill our lives and our thoughts with the things that make us joyful.

We can't control what happens to us in life but we can control how we react to it. There is a famous quote by Charles R Swindle that says "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.... We are in charge of our attitudes". And I 100% believe this! There are so many situations in life where we can go off the handle and flip out at others or ourselves, this sometimes being the easier way out of things. Or we can choose to ride out the storm in a calm, collected and joyful way.
Now, I'm not saying that this is super easy and that it will come naturally to everyone, because let's be honest it won't. But that's ok!
Good things take time :)

After 2 months of this type of thinking, I feel so much happier and a lot more positive. And sometimes it won't be something that I notice on a daily basis, but more when something challenging arises and I don't feel stressed or anxious, because my way of thinking has changed and I know that those feelings won't get me anywhere. But feeling positive will! 
So, give it a try...

I'll leave you with this thought "Happiness is dependant on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to do battle with society and with others than to fight our own nature".

If you've got the time I would really encourage you to watch the video! And let me know what you think... Are there any motivational quotes that help you to keep your joy? Leave me a comment, I would love to read them!

Have a great week!

Jess x

January Round-Up... The Month of New Beginnings

Hello Everyone :)
January is always seen as the month of new beginnings and the month to start new, and healthy habits, and it is for that reason why January is one of my favourite months! I know, I sound crazy, like come on who actually enjoys January?? 
But I love the idea of trying to better yourself and trying to make a better life for yourself. And this is what this post is all about.

I worked out EVERY day in January.
This is something that I never thought that I would ever do, because I'm quite a lazy person haha! I normally start working out and then give up before the month is over. So this is quite the achievement for me!

I used the January 2017 Blogilates Work Out Calendar (which you can find here, sign up to the newsletter to receive the password). Here it tells you which part of the body you'll be working on and what videos you need to do to complete the work out. Each work out is around 30-40 minutes long each day and it works you HARD!
I wanted to do it because I wanted to tone up all over my body, and this is something that I've wanted/needed to do for a while. I would always find some sort of excuse as to why I couldn't work out and complete the calendar. But this month I finally did it!

I drank 2 litres of water EVERY day in January.
Drinking enough water in your day can help with a lot of things! The right amount to drink in a day is around 2 litres, and whenever I thought of this number it would terrify me because it sounds like a heck of a lot of water!
But with the help of this bottle, I found it 10x easier! You can get them here and in all sorts of cute colours and with different motivational quotes on them.

Drinking more water has always been something that I've wanted and needed to do, so when I got this bottle for Christmas, I decided it was the perfect time.

Since I've started drinking 2 litres every day, I've found that my skin is a lot clearer and is glowing almost. Now, if that isn't reason enough to drink more water, then I don't know what is! I'm also not as tired during the day and I seem to have more energy, which is always great!

So I would recommend anyone to try and drink more water, it really is the secret to a good life.

I kept a thankful journal EVERY day in January.
Thankful journals have been something that I've kept over the last year, but I've never really stuck it out for very long, but then life gets in the way and I'll forget all about it. But as January is the month for new beginnings, I told myself that I would try to keep it up!
I wanted to do this because I want to be more mindful of things, I want to be more grateful and to think differently about things.
It's a great way to start off the day as well. I list 3 things that I'm thankful for, I then sit and think about these 3 things and then get started with my day. It has changed my outlook on life, and makes me look for the positive in things.

I planned....a lot!
I also planned for a lot of things that I will be doing in the months to come of this year. 
Me and one of my friends wrote a whole list of all the things that we want to do together this year, and let me just say that I have some very exciting things coming up, if all goes to plan!
I also planned out the itinerary for my Amsterdam trip in March, which also includes a lot of fun things to do.
And finally, I GOT ED SHEERAN TICKETS!!! So I'm going to see him in May at the O2 and I cannot wait! 
This is going to be one great year.

Looking to February...
Already, my February is shaping up to be pretty darn exciting! 
I'm going to see Busted on the 13th, in my hometown woop woop! Which will be a very exciting night, and from looking at the setlist, I can tell that my 5 year old self will make an appearance.
My church is then holding its annual 'Winterfest' as well, which will make for an amazing weekend.
And finally, it's my friend's birthday towards the end of the month and we're doing a cocktail making class, which is on my list of things to do this year! So that will be a crazy and fun filled night.

What exciting things did you get up to in January? Do you have anything coming up in February that you just cannot wait for? Leave me a comment :)

Have a great week!

Jess x