2016 started off horrifically. I was in hospital for depression and anxiety at the end of January and lost not just one but two of my best friends (they didn’t die, we just went our separate ways), after this I was in counselling and on medication which didn’t exactly make university and work easy, this difficult period lasted for about four months and left me in a slump. But during this time I discovered that I had friends in places I didn’t expect, my first year at university I didn’t make that much of an effort with people due to low confidence and generally feeling not good enough for people (completely my own issue, the people in my course are all amazingly lovely and didn’t cause me to feel like this in any way). When I confided to people in my university course they all rallied round and helped me feel so loved and cared for which I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I went on nights out with my uni friends, performed in society showcases and went to another society’s formal, I felt better in myself and more motivated to do things.
Summer came around and I started to feel the best I ever had since I can remember. I went on my first holiday overseas, to Paris, without my mum and devoured this new culture. I watched my cousin get married. I ran in the cancer research mud run, which I’ve wanted to do for ages. I saw Fall Out Boy and You Me At Six in concert. And I climbed the tallest mountain in Northern Ireland on my own (not much of an achievement but it really cleared my head). I entered into my third year of uni and things got better from there, I performed in “Jake’s Women” and in a musical theatre showcase, I got a promotion at work, had a party for my 21st and had an amazing Christmas and New Year surrounded by people I loved.
So where does this leave 2017? I welcomed in the New Year while working at an event for the club I work at followed by party at my friends house, in the morning I jumped into the sea for Cancer Focus with friends supporting me and came home to a lovely dinner with my family, so it’s been a good start so far. I’ve had a think about what I’d like to achieve this year and it is as follows:
- Be better to my body – in 2016 I discovered I had a very unhealthy relationship with food and exercise, I was not eating enough and exercise far too much for the calories, or lack of, I was taking in. This changed over summer as I discovered a love of food, so naturally (and thankfully) I gained weight. But now I want to focus on having the healthiest body I can. Taking in loads of fruit and vegetables and having a strong body. My mum bought me a yoga mat on the 1st January and I’ve started my mornings doing a quick 10 minute yoga routine, so I hope to keep this up.
- Challenge myself – I have a couple of ideas how to do this. I’ve signed up for Italian lessons, gotten an audition slot for a musical and plan to sign up for some runs.
- Go on more adventures – I’ve already booked a holiday to see my friend in Liverpool next week and I’m hoping to go on a holiday with my university friends at the end of this university year as it is our final year together. Other than that I just want to explore everywhere I can as much as possible, and take as many photos as I can.
- Sing more – I am on my second diploma in singing and I love doing it, so I’m going to look for ways I can do this more.
- Read more – whether it’s books about my course, books about space or geography, or even fiction books. I want to broaden my knowledge and reading is a good way of doing this.
- Blog more – Writing my thoughts down or being creative always helps me feel less stressed.
- SAVE MONEY – this is more a demand to myself, rather than a hope that I’ll do this. I am planning to do a masters degree in 2018, but the course I want is in London so it’ll be expensive for me to live there and pay for tuition which is why I need to start saving now.
- Make it the best year possible – everyone has crappy times, sadly it’s not something we can really avoid, but I want to throw myself into this year and make the most amazing memories I can make.