Staying Positive!

Recently I have been so inspired. I've been speaking out on my opinions a lot more and receiving more negative comments than positive, now if I was in this situation 3 years ago the outcome would have been incredibly different. As some people may already know I have struggled with self-esteem issues, anxiety and depression in the past. Not really from events in my life but more from social media. Don't get me wrong social media is a lovely thing and I really enjoy using it but some people think its acceptable to be keyboard warriors and turn into incredibly nasty human beings. Cyberbullying is by far the worst type of bullying, there's no escape from it, it surrounds you. It's like you're drowning. In real life when you're being bullied, it's easier to avoid it; you can avoid the bully, walk away, tell someone you trust. But when it's online it comes at you from all angles due to the fact the bullies can't actually see your reactions, also when someone sees someone else doing it they jump on the bandwagon and join in because they think if everyone else is doing it then it's perfectly fine. However, from past experiences of being bullied and cyberbullies myself it's honestly changed me for the better. In the past when I did something online that I thought was good, or uploaded a photo where I thought I was pretty, there would always be someone somewhere who would have to comment on it making fun or being nasty. People don't understand how much words actually hurt, then the cycle of self hatred and self doubt begins, and this cycle is never ending. You don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You begin to doubt everything you ever thought was good in yourself. For example (I know I'm no where near fat) but I have been called fat names in the past and it made my self esteem so low that I wouldn't wear certain things that showed the "fat area" of my body. Now, if someone has something negative to say about me I know it's because they cannot stand to see me succeeding in what I love, they can't stand to see my confidence and they can't stand to see that I love myself. It strikes up jealously and envy bringing out all their negative energy which they then try to share with me and bring me down. If this happens to you block EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE PERSON FROM YOUR LIFE. No negative opinion matters, good on them for taking their insecurities out on what you're secure on. I know a lot of people read my blog and watch my youtube videos to find mistakes, find errors and prove me wrong but how can an opinion be proved wrong? It's a thought process and honestly everyone should be thankful that they can think. Just keep your negative thoughts to yourself. I've started doing this thing where whenever I think a negative thought about myself or someone/something else I change it into a positive one. For example a few days ago I got out the house and realised my eyebrows where odd and rather than dwelling on the fact they were odd I complimented myself on something else which happened to be my eyes, which I really love.

Like I said in the previous paragraph I've suffered a lot with my mental health and been in countless self hatred and self doubt cycles but now I don't understand how or why I ever hated myself! Even when you have nothing else you'll always have your skeleton to support you, your feet and legs to help you walk and get places, your eyes to see the beautiful things around you, your tongue to taste all the beautiful foods, your lungs to inhale fresh air. Your body does so much for you that you don't even realise, it fights off disease (a lot of the time before it can affect you), you don't have to think to carry on breathing. All the memories you have from your life, all stored in your cerebral cortex. Be thankful and be grateful for yourself, for your body and for your life. Without you the whole world would be so different. At the end of the day you have to love yourself because if you don't, if you end up with nothing there will be no love in your life. You've been blessed with this life and you have a purpose, you can change the world if you put your mind to it. Proceed in what you love, for example I love Instagram, I love Youtube, I love veganism and I love blogging so I am carrying on with this as after 5 years of being in a self hatred self doubt cycle I have finally escaped and I am following my dreams by doing everything I love.

Become more aware of everything around you. Be grateful for it. Next time you go out take time to look up, we spend so much time looking down at our phones that we never appreciate the natural beauty of our planet! Smell the fresh air as you inhale, admire all the trees, notice small details that you didn't before. Make sure you take at least 30 minutes of your day and dedicate it to being outside, being thankful and grateful for everything you have and that is around you. Be compassionate and generous. When you pass someone in the streets notice them, acknowledge them and say hi. It can make someones whole day. Remember to live life in the moment as you only have this moment, this moment and this moment. That was all in the past and now this is too. Life's only boring when you make it boring so take the time to find something you enjoy and get off your butt and do it. Let peace and love flow through you, this way it will come out of you and flow through others around you. Surround yourself with true friends, who are all positive and who you love. Love is so important to feel positive, you must have love in your life and I can't express how important it is to love yourself!

Connect with the earth, feel the energy around you because it's constantly there and flow with it. My story on how I connected with the earth is from veganism. First of all I made the connection all lives matter, then I made the connection that nature keeps us alive. Once you're in touch with that side of yourself you're enlightened and see a whole new side of things. A few years ago I saw walking my dog as something I had to do, now I really don't mind taking my dog out because he appreciates it and it gives me time to reflect on myself and my day so far. Next time you feel bad about yourself remember that you're made up of the same atoms as the stars! Literally once you're connected it's hard to disconnect. The good always outweighs the bad.

However saying all of that, I still do have bad days. They're never as bad as they used to be because now I know 1 bad day doesn't mean it's going to be a bad week or 1 bad week doesn't mean it's going to be a bad month! I'm finally free from that restrictive mindset and always look forwards to waking up tomorrow as tomorrow is a new day and you never know what's going to happen. During your bad days say to yourself "I am smart, I am beautiful, I am caring etc". Change your negative thoughts into positive thoughts and soon enough everything will start looking up. Carb up, the less carbs you have in your system the less energy you will have! Eat lots of fruit, rice pasta, potatoes and get your greens in. Also don't be afraid to treat yourself because everyone deserves a treat once in a while. Some people don't realise how important it is to eat enough (vegan) food, drink enough water and get enough exercise. Your health and mental health will literally rocket.

I'm sharing all of this online because I want to help someone, I want to inspire someone and I want someone to know that even people who have been through hell have come out the other side, better than ever, changed for good. This time last year I never thought I'd be as happy as I am now, I never thought I'd be loving life, but here I am, living proof that everything is only temporary (which can be 1 day or 10 years) and there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you have to spend ages getting to it, eventually you will find that tiny spec of light and everything will get better, take it from me!