PMA..Positive Mental Attitude

After I finished my blog 23 things to do before 23 (www.23b423.blogspot.com) I decided to take a little break from blogging. Even though it was hands down the best experience of my life and my proudest moments, it was also emotionally draining! Recently I have had a bit of a tough time with feeling down. I have never been a person for self pity or feeling negative but after pulling out the London Marathon it really did have a big effect on me. Whilst I would moan at every opportunity at running in the cold and dark, as soon as I couldn't do it I missed it (story of my life wanting what I can't have!). I am the sort of person who tends to make everything into a domino effect, if I have a bit of bad luck I look at the bad in everything and before you know it you're getting sucked into a black hole of negativity. I HATE negativity...I am strong believer that a positive mental attitude can change your everyday life and the only person that can do that is yourself. No matter what people say to you if you don't want to do it yourself that's half the battle lost...

...So in order to make myself feel a bit more like the old Grace I have wrote a list of all the things that make me happy. Number one was BLOGGING! I loved writing, its like having a conversation with yourself and getting everything out in the open certainly makes me feel better. I'm going to make sure I blog once a week even, and least then it gives me the motivation to make sure I have something worth writing about :-)

I recently lovely weekend with my friends drinking tea and eating cake, I felt like I hadn't seen them in so long. You can forget sometimes how long it has been since you have properly spent time with people as you speak all the time through text and see whats going on facebook. Ahh FACEBOOK, my guilty pleasure...it can annoy me so much how addictive it can be. I definitely don't think its healthy how I feel the need to go on there everyday and how judgemental people can be by what others write. Don't get me wrong I love seeing pictures of my brother in Australia etc but lets face it- half the time we are being nosey at the people we haven't seen in years from school! So for lent this year I am giving up facebook. 40 days and 40 nights of no facebook at all, I will delete the app from my phone so nothing can get through!

Other things on my happy list-

• exercise, its amazing how therapeutic it can be and even though I cannot run just yet I am going to look into starting a yoga class for something to help me relax. I'm also partial to a walk (when I can get people to join me) so every month I'm making sure I make that time to stretch my legs!
• travel, I have a lovely trip to Manchester to look forward to and my parents caravan in Wales re-opens at the end of the month so I am going to spend as much time as I can there this year.
• date night, my lovely boyfriend and I have been together a year soon and we've made a promise to ensure we have a nice night out every month.
• bake, I do love a little baking session and I am currently trying to perfect baking a heart inside a cake. Ive also purchased some lovely edible vintage buttons I'm going to be using for some birthday cakes soon.
• getting creative, i LOVE making things and going to try and make personalised items for every birthday and celebration this year.
• payday treats, I'm currently saving for my own house which can feel like torture but I'm going to make sure every payday I allow myself a little treat to keep myself sane!
• having a bath & painting my nails, now I'm back at my mum and dads I can finally have baths in a nice big tub and I'm going to ensure I have one every Sunday followed by painting my nails. I'm not very experimental with bright clothing but anyone can carry off a different nail paint
• old school music, music has the ability to take you back to any moment, happy and sad. When I was a kid I loved nothing more than coming home from school putting on my latest single (yes single!) and dancing to the same song repetitively. Ive just added my old Ashlee Simpson albums to my ipod and its making my journey to work more bearable. Next one on is my old b*witched album (yes really!)
• doing NOTHING, i find it impossible to sit and relax sometimes but I'm making a conscious effort to allow myself time to recharge my batteries and not feel guilty about it!
• coin flipping, when I lived with my best friend Alison we would constantly make decisions by flipping a coin. Whether it be what we ate that night, if we went out, what to wear etc etc. It certainly added a fun element to our lives and sometimes we would end up going somewhere we had never been before. But remember when the coin has spoken you have to follow its decision! :-)

They make sound silly, petty things but think how often you do things that make you really happy. Its so easy to get wrapped up in life's everyday worries but always make sure you make the time to do the things that make you smile. Its your life and you get to choose how you spend it!


Happy reading & keep smiling,

Grace xx