Just have a little perspective

Image credit Travellers Point - via Pinterest

Today in one of my classes we were discussing the topic of well being. The tutors got us to write down a list of positives that have happened in our lives, negatives that have happened, and why. We went through some rather big events in the positives, I wrote down things from getting accepted into university to having a lie in, but the negatives were a little harder. My group and I talked about the tiny first world problems that have a negative impact in our lives, breaking a nail or your iPhone, however we weren't confident I guess is the word to share the bigger ones.

After all of this our tutors got us to look back over our negative lists and see what we could've done differently so that they wouldn't have happened, but also what we could do now to make our view on them different. To look at it from another angle so to speak. For example my group and I talked about getting a bad grade or turning a project in that you weren't happy with. We decided that although it might not be a great grade it was only one grade. One grade out of a whole heap of them we'd get at uni we might as well think about what else we achieved from that paper, that we'd learnt lots, and learnt how to do things different next time.

It made me think more about my life. I'm pretty happy with my life; I have a great family, great boyfriend, great friends, great kitten, great house, what more do I need? Unfortunately there are a few small things that get me down but I feel that if I put it into perspective from today's class then maybe I may be able to sort them out. For a start I should put all the bad stuff behind me and never look back. Stop searching for things I know will put a downer on my day.

I'm no expert but some key advice I will say would be to PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE, DON'T SEARCH FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE YOU UNHAPPY, DELETE ALL NEGATIVE PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE - some maybe as easy as unfollowing that jerks Instagram, some might be harder.

Eleanor & Park ~ Book Review

Image from DeviantArt user candy8496 ~ check out her other work it's great!

I've read Rainbow Rowell before and not being a big fan of Fangirl as much as anyone else I wasn't too sure about how I'd like this one. But after seeing it again and again mentioned throughout the internet I decided to give it a go. I wasn't that disappointed to be quite honest, I hadn't read any blurb about it so after diving in and finding it was another abnormal couple love story I had my doubts but I did enjoy it. I wasn't really keen on the ending and thought it could've been dealt with differently but I won't go giving away any spoilers. Sold as another 'star crossed lovers' book it's expressed in the early pages that Eleanor, your average unpopular redheaded girl, that she's not fond of Romeo and Juliet's story at all calling them 'shallow, confused and then dead'. So it's ironic that she finds herself in her own shallow confused love story with Park, the dated the popular girl in primary and then became invisible boy, all because they shared a seat on the bus to school. This book seems to be similar to those teen love story library books you rent, read once, and return never to read again. I personally would say go for it if you want to read it but although I enjoyed it I probably won't be reaching for it to read again.    

With the wave of a wand everything could be different.

image from mugglenet.com

“You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.” He held out his hand to shake Harry’s, but Harry didn’t take it. “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,” he said coolly.”

There's just something about this scene in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that set the scene from the start, in declining Draco's offer of friendship he gained himself an enemy before he'd even got himself into the main castle. What happened in that little room off the great hall could have changed Harry's entire life, well maybe not the entire life as his seemed to be destined from the start, but his Hogwarts life with Draco would've been entirely different than with Ron and Hermione.

It got me thinking last night about times in my life when things like this has happened and if I'd have done the opposite of what I'd done then my life could be totally different. I in fact had this same exchange as Harry in year 8 when I'd just moved to a new school. I'd been placed with these two girls in my class to hang out with and learn where my new classes were and some other girls in the class came up to me and asked me to hang out with them instead. They included the fact that they were more popular in the class and that I shouldn't be hanging out with the people I were at the time. I declined their offer choosing to stay with the two girls I'd been making friends with, even though they seemed a little weird they seemed more like me than these popular girls. When I think about it now I wonder what my life would be like if I'd have said yes and hung out with them. I probably wouldn't have lasted, I'm not exactly the coolest person on the planet but maybe I might have, maybe I might have stayed friends with them up until now partying every weekend. Maybe I would've dropped out of school in year 11 or 12 to pursue a job rather than getting into University. It's a scary thought. 

This is one example that stood out to me in my brain as it was so similar to Harry's but I wonder what else in my life would have been different if only I'd chosen a different answer... 

Twenty Fourteen

I know a lot of New Year posts may be overkill but I feel like 2014 is going to be my year. Although I've already had some ups and downs and I know it's going to have one awful death in the family but it seems I've finally found my place.  

I'm really excited to move back down to uni, less because of work but more because I'm flatting with my friends. Last year I lived in uni halls which were 5 bedroom flats so I didn't know my flatmates before I moved in with and it was so lucky that I got on with them and I got on with two of them so much they were like family by the end of the year it was fabulous. I don't know if living in the same flat as my friends will now make it a bit awkward as last year I had some where to go to to get away from if I needed some Sophie time and now I wont. I'm sure it'll be fine though as they all lived on their own last year so they'll be wanting their own time too. Think we'll have some great memories in that flat and hopefully stay there for the next three years of my degree. I'll also be living with my boyfriend which we'll see how that goes as we agreed to live together before actually getting together as I'm really for the whole not living with people you're dating but we'll see. 

I'm hoping my second year at uni will go much smoother in classes having got past that freshers first year of learning all the new things and will finally crack down on classes specific to our degrees. I'm incredibly excited for a class I'm taking called 'Character Design' and really think it'll be so much fun as all I love doing in my spare time is drawing Disney so if I'm able to go down that kinda style route of animation I'll be so happy. I really hope to take my confidence to the next level and allow myself to actually ask for help and work while people are around me and let them see my progress works instead of hiding away until I finish my final piece.

Last night I made a huge purchase which has taken me years to finally cave into something I've really wanted ever since using one for the first time about 4 years ago; an iMac. Frankly I've heard some really good and really bad things about apple and I just wanted to make my own decision about it so just went for it. Deciding on a desktop instead of a laptop as my laptop is still pretty decent but my desktop really does need replacing as I never bother using it as it's useless. I'll just leave it up here when I move back down so I can use it in holidays and not have to bother carting my laptop back and forth as it's a bloody nuisance. 

As for my resolutions it's now the 8th and I'm doing pretty well at most of them, as you can see from this post.. well better than I thought I would personally.