"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

Time To Get Organised

Hello Everyone :)

One of my goals/resolutions for this year is to get organised and to STAY organised for the WHOLE year! Most years I say that I want to get organised and get my life together, but then I usually fail by the end of January...if I even get that far!

I knew that I had to do something differently if I wanted to keep it up this year, so for Christmas I asked for THE most amazing planner/diary so that I can keep a check on what I'm supposed to be doing and when I should be doing it. I also got The Happiness Planner, which is something that I've wanted for a very long time! 

So with the help of both of these things, *I'm hoping*, I will have a very productive and organised year!

This planner/diary is incredible! As soon as I laid eyes on it, I fell in love...and I never thought that would happen to me...with a diary.

But anyway, this is called the Ban.do Sunshine Academic Diary 2016-2017, and it is glorious! I can't say enough good things about it, so I thought I'd write it all down...

I got this planner from John Lewis, after looking for SO long to find it in a UK shop and at a reasonable price, which I finally found here. It costs £26 (which I thought was pretty reasonable as it literally plans out your whole life for you) but you can find it on their own website here as well.

The main focus of this diary is to get your life in order and to make it a whole lot easier. Each month has a "month to view" section, kind of like a wall calendar, and then it splits each week down to have a week on each page. There is plenty of space to write in all the stuff that your busy life entails. But one of my favourite parts about it is that THERE ARE STICKERS!!!! 

These stickers just make this diary a lot more fun! They are so beautiful and well made and are in a wide range of designs; from aeroplanes to nail appointment stickers - whatever you're doing in life, there is a sticker for it (there are also additional stickers that you can buy, if you run out or need some extras).

My favourite part about the whole diary is the colourful design and how easy it is to use! I get a diary every single year, but this by far has to be my favourite one I've ever had!

So to any of you looking to get organised this year, or at least look like you're getting organised (haha!), then I would say that this is the planner for you! It's easy to use, has stickers, and is a nice and usable size (in a5).

Now, this is my favourite thing I think I have ever been given in my whole entire life! This is The Happiness Planner!

I got given this for my birthday last year, in August, but I was waiting for the right time to use it; like a significant thing to happen in my life, or the start of a new month. But with each new month came new challenges and I soon forgot all about this bad boy. However, as it is now 2017, I thought what better way to start off the year than by using my Happiness Planner.

You can get one here, and they have many different designs to choose from, you can also decide the length of your diary too. So you can go for only 100 days (like my one), or you can get the 365 day one. But they are all beautiful. The prices vary, depending on which one you want, which website you get it from, and what country you're in, so make sure you do your research before you buy one!

The main focus of this planner is to "focus on what makes you happy". The whole idea of "do more of what makes you happy" and all that jazz has always been something that I've tried to focus on, so this planner is absolutely perfect for people trying to make the most of life and getting all they can out of it.

The planner starts with "The Happiness Roadmap", where it asks you 13 questions about how you feel right now, about the things that make you happy and unhappy, what you want to get out of this planner etc. Filling these out really helps you to analyse the things that trigger your happiness and unhappiness.

Before starting the 100 days of happiness process, it asks you to rate how you feel, with a scale from 1-5; 5 being the good feelings, and 1 being the bad feelings. Then it begins...

Each week starts with a weekly plan, so you can see what you're up to this week and so you can prioritise your time wisely.

Each day has a quote to start off, for example "The best investment you'll ever make is in yourself. Never stop exploring, learning,experiencing, and becoming a better person every day" - Mo Seetubtim. This is such a great feature as it gets you thinking as soon as you open the page!

You then fill out what you're excited about for the day, what your main focus is, what your exercises are (still not sure if this means physical exercises or mental exercises, but anyway), and what your meals are for the day. This again, just helps to plan out your day, and keeps you organised.

It then asks you to fill out your schedule and make a to do list.... Now if you're anything like me and you LOVE to make lists then this feature is incredible! I just love the feeling you get when you cross off all things you have on your to do list.

Then at the end of the day it asks you to fill out the good things about the day and what you hope for tomorrow, already making you excited for the next day - I love it!

At the end of each week there is a weekly reflection page where it asks you to rate how you feel again, what the good and bad things were, what you learned, what/who you're thankful for and what you want to improve on for next week.

I just can't say enough good things about this planner! It has changed my perspective and my thinking on life in such a short space of time. It just gets you to focus more on the positive parts of life rather than the negative, and gets you to work on the negative parts so that they don't always have to stay negative!

It has such a fun and beautiful design and makes every day a joy. I wake up excited to write in it!

I would recommend this to anyone who is wanting to make the most of life and is wanting to increase their happiness - this planner will definitely do it for you!

Are you planning on getting organised this year? If so what planners/diaries do you recommend for doing so? Leave me a comment, I would LOVE to know!

Have a great week!

Jess x

2016 Review

Hello Everyone :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So this is the first "official" post of 2017 and it feels good. I'm so excited to get going with this blog again, and I have a lot of exciting things coming up this year that I can't wait to write about.

2016...
What a crazy roller coaster ride of ups and downs, eh? So in 2016 I started off not living at home (I was doing a 1 year theology course), I got discharged from physiotherapy (and all things knee related WOO HOO!), I had 3 jobs, and I also moved back home in July. It had it's share of good and bad moments and really made me grow as a person and learn a lot about myself.

It's always good to start with the highlights of the year, and this year had a fair few of them!
So I saw 5 Seconds of Summer for the 5th time on their Sounds Live Feels Live Tour back in April. And they were incredible (as usual, what else is new?!). They create such an amazing atmosphere in the arena and everyone has the best night of their lives and just forgets about everything else that they've got going on. And that is why I love concerts! I also brought one of my best friends with me, and it was her first concert! So it was super special to be able to share that experience with her too!
I also saw Busted this year too, on their Pigs Can Fly Tour in May. I had been looking forward to this night for quite some time, as some of you might know that I was meant to go see McBusted in 2015 but couldn't go because I had my knee operation (which you can read about here). So when I heard that Charlie was coming back to Busted and they were touring again, I just had to go! It was an insane night! It brought me right back to my childhood, and they sang all of my favourite songs and all of their lyrics came straight back to me. I saw them with my sister and we honestly had THE best time just acting like we were 5 years old again and jumping around our living room. It was all VERY exciting! I am also seeing them again this year in February.
The final highlight of this year was when I moved home in July. Don't get me wrong, I loved living away from home, getting to be semi-independent for a year and living with my best friends. But after a year of doing this I was more than ready to get back home to my family and back to normality, of some sort.

Now for the lessons...
This year I faced some pretty big challenges in my life but it meant that I learnt a thing or two about myself. 
Firstly, I learnt that I am capable of a lot more than I think I am, and that I am stronger (not in the "do you even lift bro" sense, but mentally) than I thought I ever could be! This became clear to me as I was completing my physiotherapy sessions. I used strength and determination that I didn't know that I had, and when I felt like giving up; I would find that extra push from somewhere to keep me going! And that is something that I will keep within me for a long long time yet!
The other thing that I learnt this year is that when you get knocked down, you have to get back up and be stronger than you were before. But a piece of scripture that I read during a hard time this year really kept me going. And that was "Don't worry about anything: instead pray about everything" (Philippians 4:6), this really reassured me that everything was going to be OK and that God is for me, not against me and that He is on my side.

My hopes for 2017...
Now I didn't enjoy 2016 all that much, but instead of sitting and complaining about it, I'm going to make some changes and set some goals for this year so that I don't make the same mistakes.
My number 1 thing this year is to JUST HAVE FUN!! To not take life so seriously and make the most of every single day. Along with this I want to try and be a more positive and happier person, even when things don't seem to be going right or when times get hard.
My final hope for this year is that I can just be myself and just do what I want to do, and not worry about what other people will say or think about me. I've been thinking about this goal for a while now, but I finally feel like I'm in a good place in my life for me to finally take this seriously. It's the start of a new year and I am ready for what life has in store for me!

A Canal in Amsterdam

Finally, my plans for 2017...
This year is going to be great, and I believe that if you declare it, it will happen!
There are a few things that I am pretty excited about, one of those being that I am going to Amsterdam in March - which is going to be AMAZING!! I'm going with one of my best friends and I haven't been on holiday in about 4/5 years, so it's going to be great to explore a different country and get to experience new things.

Another thing that I am excited about this year is that I'm seeing Busted, and in my hometown too WHOOP WHOOP! Along the lines of music, there is also going to be new releases from some of my favourites in the music world this year; from the likes of Ed Sheeran, The XX, and John Mayer. And I cannot wait for those, and from what I've heard already, it's going to be a good year.

I hope you're all having a good start to 2017, and that it will continue throughout the whole year!
What are some of your resolutions/goals for this year? Leave me a comment and let me know what they are.
Happy New Year everyone!

Jess x

I'm Back....Again!

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year :)

Well look who's back....
It's been quite a while since I last posted on this blog, and to tell the truth I have missed it dearly! But this post is just to quickly say that I am back and that I have some plans for this next year (and onwards, if all goes well haha!)

The next few posts from me will be pretty old, as they are ones that I've had drafted for over a year but just haven't published yet! So I want to get those out of the way first, before I move on to the new ones. 
I am also hoping to give my blog a new look at some point as well, just to keep it looking fresh and a bit more modern.

So this is it, I'm back! And it feels SO good.
Keep an eye out for my next few posts.
And stay positive and keep on being you x