THREE MONTHS LEFT

We're almost done with 2014! Only a countdown left of three months and I. AM. EXCITED.

Not because of the cliché, 'new year, new me' but because it means I'm getting closer to half way through my degree, I would've already done half of my first degree (early childhood) I'll be in YD Life (young adults ministry), my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, I get can my green Ps, maybe by then I'll already have a part time job. So much to look forward to!

However, it is still 2014 so #yolo. Jokes. Gotta make the most of it these last three months. So I've set a few goals that I want/need to reach by the end of this year. Here are my main goals:

- Get more than one Distinction for my subjects

- Get through a blogilates ab workout without stopping

- Meet the parents of the children I'm working with at prac

- Finish reading the Hobbit and A Million Little Ways

- Finish reading David

- Clean out my closet

- Finish my journal

It's not the end of the year yet and it is also not too late to do something new. We have three months to make the most of what is left for this year! Trust me, so much can happen in a matter of months. Imagine looking back on this whole year. Crazy how time flies but, my friend, you just better get your cape on and keep up with it too. 

Update Through Squares

So currently my life has revolved around birthday celebrations, uni assessments, food, YD golden girls and reading. These few photos sum up the past two weeks or so which have been hectic. Hectic in the way that it has been busy with the feelings of stress and joy.

Overall, things are great. Everyday I'm finding more ways and different reasons why my day is 'good.' And I think that we all need to do that, make it a habit to find the good in each day. I know I've said this before but there's this need in this 'me-first' culture for us to just appreciate what we already have. If you're able to buy your regular coffee each morning, see the sunrise, drive, work or study.. appreciate that. Be thankful that you can breathe, walk, talk, hear, see, smell, touch, feel. There are so many things, in fact a million little things, that you can be thankful for.

Creating a Filter

During my 'early' internet usage years, also known as year seven to year ten, I had always been active with social networking. When I say active, I mean that I spent more time scrolling through a feed than I did creating posts. It was later into my senior years that I begun posting up more. However I still found myself scrolling through the feeds just as much as I posted. Certain images and ideas begun to flood my thoughts and did take a toll on me. Images of particular styles, ways a teenage girls' body should look like, quotes that were 'on point' to what I was going through, all soon became poison to me. I knew deep within me that it wasn't me to desire to have this type of body, to think these thoughts. It was when I started university that I decided to create an internet filter. I got rid of tumblr and ask.fm as they were the places that didn't do anything more for me than feel terrible of myself. I deleted the pages I had favourited of 'how to get skinny' and 'how to loose weight.' After doing so, a whole lot of baggage on my shoulders was taken off.

The above image are my current issues of my favourite magazines: Yen, Frankie and Dumbo Feather. Each of these magazines present substantial ideas, unique individuals, quirky articles- these I found better than reading Dolly or Girlfriend. What makes these reads different is that you don't see on the cover 'models' or huge slogans that say 'tips for getting that summer body.' Reading what was amongst these lovely pages helped redirect my view of beauty. They turned to creative, inner and intellectual beauty. Therefore filtering out all the unrealistic standards that had previously poisoned me.

There may be something/s in your life that are like poison to you. You know it for yourself that they are no good for your thinking and being. It is never easy to just remove something that you have held onto for so long however it is not impossible. So, what can you do to filter out what is poisoning you? Take it step by step (this was my way of doing it):

> Identify the poison
> Identify why it is poison
> Ask yourself: What is it doing to me?
> Think of ways you can filter it out: perhaps find another outlet to vent, unfollow.
> Filter: take action to get rid of the poison

Trust me, filtering is hard but it is worth it!