Your First Heartbreak

The truth of the matter is that you will never see it coming, you will never expect it. When it happens, you'd probably have been thinking you were doing fine. You'd probably have spent months on end being happy, indulging in retail therapy and the ritual ice cream tub and chick flick movie nights to "heal" and move on. 

But the real heart break will hit you when you least expect it. At a time when you think you've let it all go and you're free from the memories. Everything will come flooding back in just one unfortunate moment, the scents you had come to love, the music you played, even the colours you loved during your time of love. You'll even start dreaming about it and reliving each moment in some torturous walk down memory lane. To put it bluntly, it will hurt like frok. 

It will be like walking on hot charcoals with pointy nails sticking out of them. Each step will hurt and bruise and sting. You will shed fresh tears, and these will also be painful to release. You will be broken to tiny little pieces to the point where you start to question life itself, your purpose on earth and also if you'll ever get over it. Everything will be dark and gloomy, and you will love the cold, dark and stormy days when you can lock yourself away from everyone and stuff your face off or starve yourself thin. Then while you're in the midst of that chaotic nervous breakdown, somebody usually comes along, accidentally changing your story. They will help rebuild you, pick up all the pieces for you and repair them like a potter repairing his favourite pot. You have hope again, you're happy again, and you might even love again once the walls you've built have fully crumbled down. You can go through that cycle over and over again, because, you see, the other real truth of the matter is that love doesn't hurt, heartbreak does. Falling never hurts, landing does, and yet, we get up, dust ourselves off and carry forward! Regrets and mistakes will shape us up; they're lessons to learn, that's just the way it is. I've heard this too many times and I still love it: "It's better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all." Love is a beautiful thing, cherish it.

xo

BREATHE!

When life's demands are drowning you in a pool of emotions, 
don't forget to come up for air...

In the midst of all the chaos

All the countless deadlines and all that

pressure from life

The fear, the disappointment, the pain, the

anger or any negative emotions

Don't forget to BREATHE...

"What is Pretty?" - Final Day

It's been a lovely week altogether. I've been so busy trying to balance school work, part time job, a social life AND taking care of myself with some "me" time. I started doing the "What is Pretty?" challenge in order to train myself to love myself just the way I am. I also wanted to understand exactly why some girls simply cannot step out with no make up on. During the past few days when I've been trying hard to sleep on time but also do my assignments, I realised that sometimes one simply doesn't have enough time to sleep if they're chasing their dreams, so they wake up looking like a panda. Some people simply cannot casually stroll past hundreds of students looking like that, but I decided to brave it and just go with it, because this is exactly who I am. And I'm happy because not once, not twice, but three times I got hit on at work when I thought I looked my worst, with bags slightly showing under my eyes. I'm happy because I never hexperrerit :P Not getting big-headed or anything, it just felt good and boosted my self-confidence, even if it was only by a tiny fraction. But still, you get my point.

I have also learnt that there's nothing wrong with wearing make up. Make up is fun and it's fun to play around with different shades, different looks and try out different brands! However, the whole point of this was to show somebody out there, anybody reading, that you shouldn't wear make up because of the pressure around you. You shouldn't wear make up to please somebody else. If there are insecurities that you're concerned about, fair enough, but my message to you is "embrace yourself!" If you do wear make up, make sure you wash your face thoroughly but gently before going to bed to avoid spotty, blotchy skin. Eat well and drink at the very least 1 litre of water every day.

I've also realised that my skin was getting too attached to make up that it no longer has that smooth feeling it used to have only a few months back. Even my eyebrows, they're shedding because of manipulation with them brushes and eyebrow kits. Make up actually ruins my skin and makes me become more reliant on it, buying more and more products in an effort to "look good". (Swear these manufacturers are smart, aye? Get you addicted and hooked for the rest of your life. Business will ALWAYS be there.) Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I should start taking greater care of myself, take in more and more water for that smooth skin and try to leave my eyebrows alone whenver possible. I plan to only wear make up when I feel it's necessary i.e. when I'm dressed up or when I look like a Halloween mask, or maybe just for bants. My final look for today is this:

Do I feel good about myself now? Heck Yeah!

I'm wearing a smile because I know that at the end of the day, somebody out there somewhere is going to have to take me as I am, and I'm going to have to embrace myself and love myself even more without feeling less of a woman or less "glamorous" simply because I have no make up on. Make up is a mask; I'm choosing not to wear mine every single day of my life. Hope you've all had a lovely weekend and I do hope somebody is even the slightest bit motivated to look after themselves better! The problem isn't make up; the problem is society making us feel as if we're inadequate if we don't have make up on; the problem is the photoshopped model in the magazine setting unrealistic standards of "beauty"; the problem is that we're not taking care of ourselves enough hence we do feel inadequate at times! :D

xoxo

How To Look Good Naked - "What is Pretty?" - Day 5

Today is the fifth day of the challenge and, well, same old story. I'm feeling great and taking better care of myself. I do miss make up sometimes, especially when I wake up in the morning looking like  panda! But that teaches me to try and sleep on time and not waste my time idly, doing nothing useful. 2 more days to go and I will nominate someone else to try this for a week!

Do I feel good today? Take a guess :P

xoxo

How To Look Good Naked - "What is Pretty?" - Day 4

Today is the 4th day and I'm really happy! Not once have I succumbed to the temptation to at least fill my eyebrows in as they carry on looking all patchy! As for the healthy-eating part, I need to up my water game because at the moment I'm only consuming 1ltr a day, which isn't enough. I'm going to push it to 2ltrs a day, that's 4 bottles. Last night I washed and cleansed my face and I feel alright today :D

Do I feel good today? Yup

How To Look Good Naked - "What is Pretty?" - Day 3

It's the third day of my "How to look good naked" challenge today. Once again, last night I didn't do anything to my face before going to bed *sigh*. However, I did get enough sleep and drank some water before bed. Yesterday I resisted the urge to eat chocolate late at night before going to bed, since I'd had my dinner of mixed leaf salad (rocket, watercress and spinach), balsamic vinegar, a sliced mini frankfurter, cherry tomatoes and a sliced boiled egg. I ignored the urge to stuff my face off and drank plenty of water instead to stay hydrated through the night. This is what I look like today:

Do I feel good today? You bet I do!

How To Look Good Naked - "What is Pretty?" - Day 2

Today is the second day of my "How to look good naked" challenge. Last night I didn't do anything to my face before going to bed, which is bad. I also slept with my face pressed against the pillow, so I was really expecting to see dark circles and crinkles on my face. I didn't get enough sleep either (only about 5 hours), but I did drink some water before bed. This is what I look like today:

Do I feel good today? Oh yes :)

I don't see changes in my skin because it's early days yet, but I'll try to stick to my meal plan, drink plenty of water and get enough sleep! I've fought the temptation to eat chocolate or spread nutella on my bread this morning, which was such a challenge as chocolate is one of my weaknesses. I'm proud of myself so far, although last night I'd almost forgotten about the healthy-eating part and nearly ordered a takeaway. I ended up having a mixed leaf salad (rocket, watercress and spinach) with balsamic vinegar as dressing and slices of roast pork chops to add flavour. I quite enjoyed that meal :)

xoxo

How To Look Good Naked - "What is Pretty?" - Day 1

So, last night I set myself a challenge to go a week with no make up on. Today is the first day. Last night I cleansed my face and moisturised before going to bed. I got my 8 hours of undisturbed sleep and drank water before I slept. This is what I look like today:

Do I feel good today? A little bit. Slightly concerned about my eyebrows, but oh well :)

How To Look Good Naked

You must be very curious as to why I chose this title for this post. Well, read on... When people hear or read "someone was walking down the road naked", they immediately imagine embarrassment, shame, people mocking said naked person, they even try to put themselves in said person's shoes and their faces screw up in horror! Nowadays, it's such a shame that a lot of us feel "naked" when we walk around with no make up on. It's almost the same kind of notion that comes up with people literally walking naked in the streets. Heck, I've met girls who REFUSED point blank to come out of the house with not a bit of make up on, let alone venture into town! (*gasp* God forbid!) I'm still uncertain of the root cause of this, but what I do know is that society plays a vital part in this catastrophe. Which brings me to the first and possibly main point of this post. What is pretty?

Is "pretty" being covered with layers upon layers of makeup? Is "pretty" painting yourself into an unrecognisable individual just so society can accept you as a normal human being? Is "pretty" what you see in magazines, those airbrushed models photoshopped to perfection? What, really, is pretty? I know plenty of people have very low self-esteem when it comes to how they naturally look. We all have insecurities. Those who know me well know how insecure I am sometimes about my bra-size and how much I wish I was different, but one thing that keeps me going is knowing that nobody is perfect. Everybody, even the Angelina Jolies and the Lauren Londons of this world have their insecurities and plenty of things they'd like to change about themselves. How then, you may ask, can you look good naked? It's psychological.

The way you project yourself to the rest of the world is exactly how they view you (kind of like a reverse self-fulfilling prophecy). Those people who just automatically become confident around new people tend to find it easier to settle in with others than those who shy away at first. When you walk with your head high, people admire that confidence that they look past your "flaws" and embrace you just the way you embrace yourself. I mean, who's going to want to love you when you don't even want to love yourself? Ponder over that. This week, I'm going to challenge myself to spend the whole week with no make up on, and FEEL good about it. I wasn't born wearing make up and make up is now distorting what I was naturally blessed with. It's all about taking good care of yourself! I do understand that some people have major self-esteem issues which date back to maybe their childhood or some traumatic unfortunate event or the other. However, I believe in rising above it rather than admitting defeat. Society will always have an opinion, so, I suppose, do what makes YOU feel good. And I hope you don't feel "good" when society feels good, when those "likes" keep rolling in as you're hiding behind that mask. MAKE THEM see you the way you truly are. Make them accept you as you are, don't let them change you into what THEY want you to be. Just be you, BEaUtiful.

How am I going to achieve this, walk around naked and actually feel good about it? Well, I am going to drink plenty of water as I know it helps your skin to become smoother. I am going to eat clean and healthy (so, no chocolate, no crisps, no junk food) and best of all, I'm going to sleep on time. Sleep is vital because if one doesn't get enough sleep, one wakes up looking like a panda (I know how that feels). However, please please please don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look "pretty" or wearing make up. I'm going to carry on wearing make up once in a while when I feel like it. I just don't want it to dominate my life to the point where I cannot allow anybody to see me "naked". I'll be posting a photo daily showing how I look "naked". I shall groom myself, of course, and that always makes me feel good on the inside, which in turn makes me feel like I look good on the outside. This is a challenge as I have patchy eyebrows, but I am going to learn to deal with them, brush them well and present them well so they look "half-decent". Let's do this!

#WhatIsPretty

#JustShannersChallenge

xoxo

Fish Can't Fly

I meant to complete this post last week before A-Level results, but I'm just in time for GCSE results. I remember back in the day when I was sitting my GCSE exams, after which I had a loooooong, relaxing 3 month break before I had to collect results. I remember on results day, walking into the assembly hall at The Grange School, watching my peers all in tears; some tears of joy, others of disappointment. That really made me a little anxious. So, I know exactly what some of you are going through right now but I just wanted to share a few words.

Many people will judge you by your academic achievements, because, let's face it, a good education is the "most priceless possession one can have". However, what our society tends to forget is that, we can't all be good at everything. Imagine this scenario - A fish and a bird were arguing about who was better than the other. Wise owl was watching this from a distance with much interest and fascination, so he decided to teach them a valuable life lesson. The fish and the bird were challenged to do two things in order to decide who was "better" than the other. The first test was to get to the top branch of a tree, however they wanted, as long as they didn't get assistance from anybody else. Effortlessly, the bird lifted its wings and flapped a few times and UP it went, plonked itself onto the branch. Meanwhile, poor fish wriggled and wiggled on the ground to no avail. So the result was that the bird was actually better than the fish. The fish, crestfallen, started to retreat to its pond, when owl reminded him of the second test. He told them to swim underwater in the pond for 5 minutes without coming up for air. The fish's face lit up as he thought, "Now, that's my thing!". He dived into the pond and so did the bird. However, within a couple of seconds, the bird came up for air, choking and coughing away. So the result was that the fish was indeed better than the bird. Puzzled, they both turned to the owl. "We've both won a round each, so who is better?" The wise owl looked at them with a smile on his face and said, "Neither of you is better than the other." You see, judging from the ability to get to the top branch of a tree, the bird was better than the fish, but judging from the ability to swim underwater for 5 minutes, the fish was a star! The thing is, they both thrived when they were "in their zone", doing the things which they're best at.

The point of this adapted short story of mine is that, we can't all be good at everything. You may not be academic, but you've got other equally important talents to exhibit to the world, such as singing, dancing, sport, etc. Don't let your grades define you because Fish can't fly, but they sure as heck can SWIM! Good luck to those collecting results and others awaiting life-changing decisions.

Have a great week

xx

"Let go and let God"

I came across a thought-provoking Instagram account on which the owner posted a textgram saying "Let go and let God is basically doing nothing and allowing "god" to do it for you? Good luck with that". It got me thinking how wrong and misled he or she must be, but it also got me thinking how wrong some believers could be. If anyone believes that the phrase "let go and let God" means "Sit your behind down and do absolutely nothing and a miracle will happen", this post is for you. Some call it faith, but in my opinion, as a believer myself, that's stupidity for lack of a nicer word to describe such atrocity. Here's why I say so, and this is just one way of viewing it. There are plenty of ways one can see or understand the phrase, but this is how I see it. 

Imagine you're a fashion designer and you've come up with this brilliant idea that's gonna break new grounds. As a believer, you let God know about this great idea and thank Him for bringing it into your mind or for giving you a creative mind. After that, you sketch it, find the right material and make the piece, advertise it in every way possible, but NOT FORGETTING to pray about it, asking God to "bless your hustle" (lol). You then stop worrying about it because you've already "Cast (that) burden unto Jesus, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). Now THAT is how I would interpret the phrase "Let go and let God". It doesn't mean sit down and do nothing and expect God to perform a miracle and a physical garment would just appear from your imagination. It doesn't work like that. The phrase is a simplification of 1 Peter chapter 5:7 (Cast your burdens unto Jesus for He cares for you) or perhaps even Matthew 6:33 which says "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you". That means, stop worrying, leave it to the cross. It doesn't mean, "Don't go to work, just wait at the end of the month and your bank balance will miraculously reflect a fat paycheck." As if! So in case you've not been practising this just because you misunderstood or misinterpreted that phrase, I hope now you're going to be able to Let go and Let God. Have a great weekend!

In it to win it

I remember when I was just a child, there was a very popular event called the OK Grand Challenge Jackpot Promotion, hosted by the big supermarket chain OK (not sure if they're still in business or not). One year, to promote the event, they made a very catchy advert that's been on my mind for over 10 years! The slogan for the ad campaign was "You've gotta be in it to win it!". People had to enter the prize draw or competition or whatever it was, in order to win the jackpot. That phrase has also stayed with me for a very long time. True, sometimes I forget about it and rarely apply it to my own life, but recently I've realised what a great life lesson this is. 

In life we have so many goals, so many things we want to achieve and make a name for ourselves. We've got so many talents that we wish to improve and use for fun, for good or to improve our lifestyles. We watch the Oscars, BET awards, all these prestigious events on TV and say to ourselves "One day I'm going to get that far. I'm gonna chase my dreams until they lead me to this." Yet, 10 years later we're still sat on the same couch in the same house watching the same programme uttering the same statement. Why? Because we forgot the most important part of making goals: we actually have to DO SOMETHING in order to get that recognition, achieve those goals or walk on that red carpet. You can't expect to win the lottery without buying that ticket, you can't win the dance competition without actually competing, and guess what? You can't achieve those goals until you start ACTING upon them. You've gotta be in it to win it! You've gotta start doing something to achieve something. 

Have you ever seen a farmer with a large piece of land who waits all year round for crops to come out of the ground? First, he has to plant the seeds, then water the plants and remove weeds. He also needs to apply fertilisers or pesticides, tending to his crops throughout the season until the harvest season comes. Without sowing the seeds, the farmer has no harvest. The same applies to your life. If you do not make an effort and do nothing at all, you will reap exactly that: NOTHING. That being said, I resumed my journey towards fitness yesterday, starting with a 40-minute session of P90X cardio workout. I hope to achieve my goals by the end of the summer, by being consistent with my eating habits and exercise! Let's make it our motto/mantra this week: "I've gotta be in it to win it!" 

Enjoy a productive week! xx

Confessions of a Bitter Person

I've been holding on to a lot of pain, harbouring so much anger and bitterness that now I feel like I'm poisoning myself. I feel choked and suffocated, all the clean fresh air has been sucked out of my life and replaced with this dark, painful atmosphere. It all stems down to a situation that was never confronted; a wrong that was never righted. I've been battling myself, trying to prepare myself for the great confrontation but the more I think about it, the harder it gets. I can't seem to let it go. 

Yet, there's a voice inside me telling me to cast my burdens unto Jesus (1 Peter 5:7), then another voice tells me that this is something I must take care of myself. My mess, my responsibility. However, I know what I must do, but doing the right thing isn't always easy. Today I've declared that I'm going to start the journey towards forgiveness. If I don't forgive, I won't forget. And if I don't forget, I'll never heal. So, if there's anybody out there suffering from anger, pain or whatever negative emotion, I urge you to let it go. Join me on a journey to setting ourselves free from the entrapment of dark emotions. It doesn't happen overnight or over a few days. It takes time. It could take months or maybe even years for us to get past it all, but we gotta let it go and carry on living a happy and healthy life. Don't beat yourself up over what other people did to you, because that battle is not yours. What goes around comes around and they will get what's coming to them. They may seem happy on the outside (just the same way you pretend to always be happy on the outside) but deep inside they could be reaping what they sowed. 

You feel like you've been knocked down to your knees, but believe me that's the best place to be in prayer. If need be, SHOUT it out, scream out LOUD, cry your eyeballs out until they are red and your nose is runny. But promise yourself that at the end of the day, you shall wipe those tears, blow your nose and clean yourself up. You've got to pick yourself up. You've got pick up the pieces and carry on. You've got to be resilient! Because when you hold on to anger, it is you who feels the pain. You constantly think of that person or that situation, and that depresses you even more. Therefore, your anger deepens. You lose yourself somewhere along the way and sometimes you feel like you've gone too far off the course to turn back. But it's never too late; you're never too far to go back to who you are destined to be. Let it go!

Facing Challenges

This year I vowed that I'm going to try my best to try something new every now and again, live a little and "expand my horizons". Having spent the past 20 years of my life living the average life with little to no excitement, climbing Kilimanjaro was a huge stepping stone (quite literally too) in my life. One reason why I took up this challenge (besides charity), is to open my eyes to my own capabilities. The day that idea was conceived was the beginning of a chain of events that have led me to where I am today. By far, I'm not yet where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be this time last year - confused about what I really want in life, fresh out of high school and living on my own for the first time with a full-time job that required me to become a responsible adult.

I have a passion for art, writing, singing and fashion, more so art and writing than fashion but nonetheless, these are my passions. In this world full of talented people working hard trying to realise their dreams, sometimes you feel too small to begin anything. You feel as if if you have no connections in the big world, you can't make it. Which is true in some cases. So you end up sitting on your talents because it's too challenging to pursue your dreams. Facing challenges can help to build you or break you, but I think it comes down to you and how much you want it to work. Earlier today I was reading an article about the interview between Oprah and Tyler Perry. Tyler opens up to Oprah about his past, his challenges, having to be rejected and disappointed 8 years straight while trying to produce his first play after investing all his savings into it, being abused and using his anger and past as a motivation to do better for himself. For 8 years he was a nobody, but what appealed to me the most about that interview is when he said that dreams don't die; people just give up. Sometimes it is a choice you make to remain "a nobody" or to become somebody. Don't give up.

That being said, I've promised myself that I'm going to work hard to realise my dreams, finish writing my first novel, finish designing my first piece and finish writing (and maybe even producing) my first song. Because each challenge has to start somewhere. Once one thing has passed, it will be challenging to carry on, but at least it's one giant step towards my dreams. If I sit there all day watching TV or reading a novel or listening to music, dreaming of the day when my own material will be published, that dream would just rot and never come to fruition. I'd lose that talent sooner or later, while watching others live to see their dreams realised. I don't want that, so that's my challenge for the month. What's yours?

Enjoy the rest of your day x

Self-fulfilling Prophecy vs. Self Sabotage

"You're stupid!"

"You can't do it"

"You're too weak"

"You are good for nothing!"

These are just some of the phrases many people (if not all) encounter in their lifetime, whether at home from their parents, with friends or out in the Big Scary World. The most obvious reaction to such horrific words and diminishing behaviour is to feel worthless indeed; to feel like a failure. One ends up not putting in any effort at all because they know that everybody is expecting the worst of them. That is what some would refer to as a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, I beg to differ.

I'm no psychologist at all, all my words are based on the study of Communication and Culture in high school and also some cases I witnessed first hand. That being said, my analysis is based on a small scale and mainly personal opinion, so I declare in advance that this may not be true for your case. Let me argue my case against my own opinion to begin with. The thing is, one can argue that no matter how much we deny it or how much we feel otherwise, we live in a very controlling world. There is no complete freedom. You can express yourself but only if it doesn't offend someone else (and it does, all the time). You can say whatever you want just not this particular thing or the other. Even those "rebels" who do not like to "follow the crowd" aren't completely free either; they have to obey the laws and a part of their being is still attached to mainstream society. The words and opinions of others greatly influences our behaviour, whether we like it, realise it or not. So what people define you as, you become that. That is very true - in some cases. Now, my argument is that, although the previous statement may be correct in many cases in everybody's life, no matter how much society can influence you, you still have a choice. Your mind is so adamant that it can help you to have that determination to prove people wrong. That's your ego right there. That is why rebels rebel in the first place - to try and remove themselves from the clutches of this "malicious" and controlling world. So when I see people letting go of their dreams, I just can't help but think that they are sabotaging their own success. Success doesn't happen overnight; neither does it always occur at first trial. Many people have had to keep trying and be turned down before they reached their goals and beyond. They often heard, "Sorry, you're not good enough", or "Sorry, you can't do it" and many other negative comments that may have belittled them and made them think less of themselves. However, a true winner knows that you gotta get up and try again and again and again. You will fall, but you must be resilient. You will lose, but you must try again next time. (Read the biographies of Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey and Albert Einstein for references)

I know a person who is capable of greatness. When I see this person, I see determination and passion over what they do, I see a dream so beautiful they cannot wait to see it come to fruition. But when I look a second or two longer, I see fear and self doubt, possibly generated from outside influence. They've got the potential and all, but they keep listening to the voices. After a while, though, I start wondering, is the voice coming from other people or is it a seed of negativity planted within them by other people's comments, which germinated into this thorny bush, making sure that each time their heart thumps with a great idea, it gets pricked and hurt and retreats back to its shell and the dream gets buried in the back of their mind along with countless other projects dumped mid-process. It makes me so sad that indeed sometimes I am one of those people; sabotaging my own progress for fear of failure and because of people telling me I can't do it. I let myself down the moment I let myself believe that I can't do it without even trying. That is why I call is self-sabotage. You see, people may call you stupid, they may call you a failure or a liability to society and you believe it and your mind believes it so it limits its abilities, but you shouldn't do that! You should not sabotage your own success and claim you're not meant for it. Perhaps your family has never succeeded before in that field (or any venture for that matter), but there's a first time for everything. You could be the one to break that cycle. You tell yourself your family was doomed to fail, yet you haven't even tried, for crying out loud! How will you know? You've failed once or twice and then gave up? And then you boldly say that it was your dream? If it was your dream indeed, you would get up and keep trying til the end of time, because that is what you're passionate about. Stop making excuses and start making it. 

Too Young To Make a Difference

Sigh. Writing the title of this blog almost drained me of all my energy and dried up my mouth. I am officially lost for words! Right, first of all, I am a 20 year old girl who is currently on a gap year, awaiting the start of her first year at university in September. To not beat about the bush, I am what most people would call "young". As a young lady, I've been told many times that I'm "too young" to do this, "too young" to focus on this; basically, I'm constantly reminded that I am young. Unfortunately, most young people live up to the standards people set for them e.g. "You're too young to achieve such a huge task". Sound familiar? Well, fortunately for me, I choose to ignore such negativity in my life, well, 90% of the time it is plain negativity to be honest, and allow myself to let my being determine just how far I can go, how much I can do with the "little experience" that I have of life. When I decided to take a gap year, many voices told me it was the biggest mistake ever and that I should just go straight to university. The whole purpose of this gap year was to discover myself, discover my capabilities and discover what I really want to do with the rest of my life. Plunging straight into the university hype with little to no knowledge of the real world seemed (to me) a greater risk than taking things slow, one step at a time. So I went ahead with the gap year and I experienced so much in just 1 year. I moved out for a job for 3 months and lived on my own, a time during which I got an idea of what being independent is all about, I went on an adventure teaching in Tanzania, I climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and went on safari: I can truthfully say it was the best decision of my life so far. I just wish more young people would feel the same way and not limit themselves by setting goals so low; afraid of failing because society says they're "too young" to achieve anything great.

The reason why I am writing this post right this moment is because I've been inspired. Yes, who hasn't, you may say, but I haven't been as inspired as I am today. On Saturday the 14th of June, I had the privilege of attending the first ever Zimbabwean International Women's Awards (ZIWA) ceremony at the Macdonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham, courtesy of Simba, a man who believes that young people like me can achieve great things if they put their mind to it. I met many women who have achieved phenomenal things I couldn't keep my excitement in! At the ceremony, a young girl of 16 called Maud Chifamba received an award for her academic achievements and how inspirational she is to young generations; she started university in Zimbabwe at the fresh age of 14!  I was mind-blown. I mean, at 14 I was more concerned about "Do I have enough food in my trunk? When is the next visiting day?" and all kinds of trivial issues most teenagers think about. But this girl, (You can read her story here or here), against all odds, worked so hard to achieve great academic achievements, such that they made her carry on to higher classes and eventually end up at university at just 14. Many people might have possibly told her something like, "You're too young to go to university, who do you think you are?", but she showed them and the rest of the world that age, poverty or lack of support is never a barrier between you and your dreams; it is your attitude towards life and your capabilities that stands between you and your goals. If you're passionate about, work hard for it. If you work hard for it, you will always find a way forward! So if you're a young person reading this, what excuse do you have for not being awesome? You are never too young to make a difference; the fact that you exist on this planet means that you are an integral part of a great network - without you, society is handicapped. Don't limit yourselves, guys; go on and be awesome!

Have a great week

xx