christmas is all around. this makes me smile.

yay, it's almost christmas time. my favourite time of the year.

almost everyone is on holiday at the moment, and the christmas festivities can definitely be felt. shops are busy, buzzing with people frantically trying to finish last minute christmas shopping before the big day (me included), but being the pressure driven individual that i am, of course i wouldn't have it any other way :)
i love the feeling of excitment mixed with intense frustration within the shopping malls. people fighting with shop attendants, followed by stores handing out little free gifts to kids, or the infamous 'photo with santa' stall. i love it. and i love the people in my country.

although where i am, snow is impossible, so we have a very warm christmas, i really wish to one day experience the thrill of a white christmas. however, we are right in the heat of our summer, which i too love. the beach, tanning, and of course, little summer outfits, all look so beautiful in photo memories christmas leaves us with. and don't you just absoultely love all the christmas movies that the television stations broadcast over the holidays. and the music. aahhh.

christmas, for me, is a time to give and be with family. a time where stresses and worries are non-existent guests, and everyone is simply, happy. family (who sometimes never see eye to eye) gather under the same roof, and put their differences aside to enjoy a lovely christmas eve dinner, or christmas day lunch. this is what happens in my family.

this year i am spending christmas eve dinner with my boyfriends family and friends, followed by christmas lunch with my own. so excited.

as for gifts, i must admit for me, giving is way more fun than receiving. don't get me wrong, i love presents. but the whole process of shopping, wrapping, and then the feeling you get watching someone open a present you took the time and effort to put together, is the most amazing part of it all.

so here's to wishing everyone a happy christmas, wherever in the world you my be. may it be a special time with friends and family, filled with love, happy memories, good food and unforgetable moments.

and of course, loads of presents that make you smile :)

learning to appreciate

isn't it funny how often we take things we have in our lives for granted? i have recently, or should i rather say i am currently undergoing a mind and body cleansing process whereby i am forced to focus entirely on my own thoughts. this is what i have learnt.

quite simply. appreciation.

take food for example. we live in a world where there is so much food, freely available - in excess - which we have access to at a dial of the phone, or a quick drive to the supermarket. i, on a daily basis, would simply jump in my car and take a drive to the store as soon as a craving hit. a feeling millions of people around the world will never experience. we, as fortunate and blessed as we are, forget what it means to be truly hungry, to know what it is like to go days without food. despite this excess of readily available food, there are still communites where there is a absence of food for days on end. we forget that food is something to appreciate. and we never will appreciate it, until we have none.

appreciation stretches out to any aspect in life really. in fact, i think the thing we most take for granted in life is not people (although everyone is guilty of doing this) but rather, life itself. we wake up each morning, unaware of our beating hearts, or automatic breathing, and we go through the motions of day to day activities, almost always without taking a step back to appreciate the fact that we woke up to experience another day, see the people we hold close to our hearts, do the things we enjoy, eat, drink, laugh, love. all of which we could never do, if these things that keep us alive had to shut down during our slumber.

so often we worry about silly, insignificant things in the greater picture of life. accounts, deadlines, work, fashion, beauty - and don't get me wrong, all of these day to day things are important, but at the end of the day, when you look back on your life, i guarentee you that you will not think about the account deadline you didn't make in the month of december 2010, or the way your teeth may look after spending thousands on teeth whitening. no, you will think about the people your have loved, and who have loved you back and the memories that were made, most of which were no thanks to monetary gain. your life, the fact that you wake up every morning able to see, breath, walk, listen, talk, feel, smell. simple things which we take for granted, but are the greatest blessings in life. learn to appreciate them. and when you learn to, make sure you make your appreciation known. verbalise it.

"if you don't think everyday is a great day, try going without one" - jim evans.

lifes simplicity

so often we as individuals over think absolutely every intricate detail of our lives. we try super hard to make sense of situations in our minds, that we somehow end up confusing ourselves.  we worry over things, that at the end of the day, ultimately wont matter. ten years down the line you are not going to remember who said what, and people will forget mistakes you made. everyone is trying so hard to put on an act so that they don't come across in a negative light to others, that no one is actually paying attention to what you do. so the sooner you can forget about them (and stop caring about what other people think about you), the quicker you can move on and start living your life. happy.

as my blog entry says. happpiness comes from knowing who you are.  once you find your passion, and feel a sense of purpose in your life you will be happy. and until such a time comes, you are going to find yourself in this place. a place full of confusion, an exhuasted mind from trying to overthink things and ultimately a sense of an unfullfilled life which can only lead to a lack of confidence and self esteem.

so i say stop. stop over analysing what people have said, stop overthinking what people do. your mind has the ability to bring amazing things into your life, if you only give it the chance to be still and do so.  find a passion. surround yourself with things you love, people who inspire you, activities which make you happy. dont try too hard to control your thoughts, for when you do that it'll never really work. it's going to happen without you even realsing. and then you are going to look back and wonder how you even managed to have such negative thoughts in the first place. trust me. you just need to stop thinking so much, and just be. be optimistic and positive.

life is simple. what you give out, you get back and your thoughts become who you are, so start thinking positively, you will be a better person for it.

my happiness list for summer

i woke up this morning with a beautiful sunrise, and a day of sunshine ahead and it made me remember all the finer things in life which makes you smile, and one's spirit feel lighter. so i have decided to make a check list for my summer holidays, of things that make me happy, and i hope that if i am blessed enough, i will be able to experience them all again.

- making new friends, and finding out they are family life has sent your way to teach you about yourself and the world

- hearing someone say something nice about you, or receiving a compliment from a stranger
- seeing people in love, or watching a family enjoying one anothers company and feeling the love that radiates from them

- feeling confident and beautiful 

- watching a sunset

- camping in nature, and waking up to the sound of little animals and birds singing

- laughing until my stomach hurts

- the feeling of falling in love for the first time (or experiencing a deeper love for someone you are already in love with)

- sitting outside and feeling the morning sunrays on my skin

the world is a beautiful, beautiful place with wonderful, kind-hearted people. sometimes we just need to learn to appreciate these things, and we will be amazed at how they will be drawn to us, and us to them. these summer holidays i am going to be able to spend a week camping in nature with my family, which i am really looking forward to. i need to learn to be more in touch with my environment, and being in nature will definately bring me closer to earth.

remember, plant your seed of happiness right now and if it needs to grow slowly, let it be, thats okay. rather be a little happier every day than too much in one day, or not at all for the whole week, which could turn into a month, then even a year. every journey starts with a single step. and happiness, it is a journey

eat. pray. love.

so it has almost been 3 weeks since i last wrote a post, but i have been doing a lot of time consuming activites - all of which make me happy, so there has been little time to really sit down to blog.

this afternoon i went to watch the movie, eat. pray. love (i know i have been very delayed in this matter, but it was definately worth the wait for me and it certainly came at a suitable moment in my life). i truly felt moved by this film and it definately spoke to me in many ways. i am a person who is easily touched by such inspirational films and i feel the emotions and experience them deeply. one thing about this film which i found myself wanting to reach for my notepad and jot things down, were the philosophical sayings and quotes. this is my favourite by far:

"balance is not letting anyone love you less than you love yourself".

this has stuck with me and had me thinking about the meaning for hours after. we so easily settle for second best, putting down our self worth and allowing ourselves to be treated a certain way by others, simply because we fail to believe that we deserve better. and sure, how can we be loved in the utmost way, if we do not love ourselves to a higher degree. so this is what i want to work on, and have sewn tightly onto my heart and mind - and tha is to firstly love myself unconditionally. and secondly, not to allow anyone to love me less than i love myself.

another thing this film opened my eyes up to, was the benefits of meditation and vows of silence. okay, so sure we can't all take time to get away and live in india or bali for a few months, but we all can (yes, you can), set aside a few minutes a day, either in the morning, or before bed, to simply sit and clear our minds and open our hearts - after all, as the film tells us, only when we do this, will the universe be able to enter and fill your mind with its healing powers and energy.

"if you could clear you all that space in your mind, you would have a doorway. and you know what the universe would do? rush in."

finally, it has reminded me to appreciate the simple things in life. things we take for granted, and ultimately will only truly appreciate if we ever had to be without for even a minute. these are things like sight, touch, smell, taste, breathing. then they are people like parents, grandparents, lovers, friends. and even non-objects like time, love, personal space, yout thoughts, and life.
appreciate these things in your life. they are blessings not to be overlooked or taken for granted. they are what makes living bearable, exciting and worthwhile.

wear sunscreen

today has been a very happy day for me. despite being woken up before the scheduled time, by my cat meowing for a reason i will never know, my day turned out wonderful.

i took a drive through to a beautiful suburb, about 20 minutes from where i stay to visit a good friend of mine. we then both went to a womens day function held at a local community centre, which included every possible opportunity to pamper yourself from your head to your toes. hair stylists, make-up artist, mani and pedi's, aromatheraphy massages, reflexology, you name it, it was there. champagne and strawberries welcomed you as you arrived, and directed you to a room full of healthy eats and treats. it was such a wonderful opportunity to spoil myself, and thank my body for everything it does for me every day. we often forget to do this and it is so so important. we all need days like this. a chance to over indulge (which i did) and treat yourself to the best that pampering has to offer.

i, myself began my afternoon talking to a lovely women about health and nutrition and she did a full analysis of my weight, body mass breakdown and general health. it was fascinating and i learnt a lot. i then progressed to receving a manicure - which had me looking at my hands and smiling for the first time in a while (my nails are always in such bad condition. a sign of a hard worker i guess. hands are amazing features, what we would do without them, i have no idea. they hold the hands of those we love, touch the faces of those we admire and are the very parts which open the doors, literally, to our world.

after my manicure, i had a much needed (but somehow painful) back, neck and shoulder massage. apparently i hold onto my stress internally, and that is something i am going to aim to change. thereafter, i had my final treatment, which was reflexology. oh. my. word. it was my first time having it done professionally, which made me realise how much i was missing out on. if you have never had a reflexology treatment, please do yourself a favour and book an appointment for yourself first chance you get. it will change your life. besides, you owe it to your feet - they are the very essence of your life's journey. they take that first step for you, and are with you until your last. this is the part of out body i believe we abuse the most. so treat them.

so the womens day was amazing, and i dont regret a single cent i spent today. i spoilt myself and i deserved it. these are things in life which are essential to our wellbeing and happiness. and you cannot put a price on happiness.

so the sun is shining on my city this evening, and nothing can remove the sense of content i feel within myself today. and to add to this mood, i watched my favourite youtube video of all time. and i want to share it with the world (or at least those very few who have yet to see it).

class of '99 - wear sunscreen by baz luhrmann.

wear sunscreen

nostalgia

oh wow. there is not much else to be said after one has spent an evening rummaging through old letters and photographs contained within two flimsy old shoe boxes covered in outdated wrapping paper. letters and photographs captured from several years back, which kept me entertained for a good few hours. nostalgia was on the menu for tonight, and i got handed a huge serving. not that i am complaining, but there were definitely bittersweet emotions felt this evening.

there is something about this secondary emotion that is drug-like. so i took it upon myself to find a proper definition of the word. this is what hit home for me:
"a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time".
oh my word this could not read more true for what i experienced tonight. now don't get me wrong, i am in love with my current place in time, but there is something about the past that is, as i said drug-like, finding you yearning to go back, just for a moment to relive some of the feelings and have those conversations with people, who have since changed too much for you to relate to anymore like you once did. and you find yourself missing them.

letters are the best things around. i believe in this whole-heartedly. they are time captures, raw and real. there is no e-mail, no text message or any other modern technological device that could replace receiving a letter from someone. and when you go back and read it, years later, you see their handwriting, their scibbles in the corners of the page, you feel as though you have been taken back in time to the moment when you first received it, and all the feelings that came with it. and you miss who you were, and who they were, and the friendship you two once shared. well thats at least where i have found myself. its sad how people change, and how when before you had so much in common and the chemistry was so real, how suddenly you can just wake up one day and its gone. nostalgia i tell you - "a sentimental yearning for a happiness of a former place in time"

gosh. but all of this makes me sound like i am at a terrible place in my life which i want to escape, which i am TOTALLY not. i love my life, and the people in it and appreciate everything that has brought me to where i am today. it's just, i find myself wishing that some things, some relationships from the past, could have turned out differently. but hey, life is life right, and everything happens for a reason (gosh, i hate how cliche i sound).

so nostalgia, has taught me something tonight. and that is, if nothing else, learn to live in the moment everyday and capture everything you experience with a happy heart. don't ever let yourself regret anything, because before you know it you'll be wishing you could go back to that time in your life. appreciate every person that comes into your life, and don't allow them to become a character you wish was never cast in your script. and remember that it is a good thing to feel nostalgic every once in a while, hey its a sign you have lived a good life. just make sure not to dwell for too long - you might just miss out on the incredibly possibilites for happiness in the present.