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.