As you may or may not know, a few weeks ago I came home from my first year at university. Pretty much as soon as I got back I started working in Starbucks again. In between seeing friends and working, I barely had time to think. I then got ill almost 2 weeks ago with what turned out to be tonsillitis. I am only now feeling better and am still on antibiotics. Just before I got ill however, inspiration hit me. I suddenly felt a burst of determination to do more and to be more. Then I got ill and was bed-bound and losing money from not working for a week. But now I am back, and it has made me think how it would be so easy to just sit back and let life slide past, but that is too easy. I wanted to write something about determination, and about doing more, and being passionate, because this in itself is something I feel passionate about.
I'll let you in on a secret: I am the BEST at procrastinating. Getting me to start an essay, do my reading, do revision, tidy my room or even do my food shopping is an almost impossible task. But after I do it, I feel so so good. I know so many people who feel like this. After getting home from university however, it hit me how many people just let good opportunities, and the chance to be productive slide past. It also hit me that sometimes in life, we have to make our own opportunities. I believe that to an extent everything happens for a reason, but we need to make stuff happen too. I have seen so many people who are still in the same job they were when we were at school, apart from it is their full time job. They aren't on a gap year earning money for uni or travelling. They aren't doing anything on the side, and they aren't working their way up in the company. They simply are. I see them and talk to them and nothing has changed. Its like i'm back in school and not a good way. We need to grow. We need to develop. And we need to strive. I believe everyone is capable of anything we can set our mind to, within reason of course, and that we can make our own dreams come true.
I love writing. Writing is all I want to do, yet lately, I don't write that much. Why? I say to myself when I graduate good things will happen surely. Then it dawns on me, I have to make stuff happen. In this economy and this day and age I can't just walk in to a top magazine and be handed a job on a plate. Just because I love writing it doesn't mean it's easy. I still procrastinate. But all it takes is a little drive, a little energy, and we can do exactly what we want to do. Anyone who has lost someone close to them will know that life is short, but life is good. It is fleeting and beautiful, and there is nothing to be afraid of. People are scared to go and do exactly what they want, whether it's starting up a business or travelling the world, in case it goes wrong, in case they fail. Well the truth is we will fail from time to time. The business may not start up straight away. You may run out of money half way through travelling Asia. You may change career and struggle at first. You may start a blog and not have much of a readership. But that is OK! Mistakes are lessons, and failure is just a reason to strive further on. Nothing in life worth having comes easy. That's a lesson I learnt when doing my A levels. I worked my absolute bum off to get the grades and get to uni. I did it. But that's only because I knew I had to work for it. Unless you are very privileged, your every want and need will not be handed to you on a plate. But working hard for what you want in many ways makes it worth it. It makes it feel even more special and deserved.
People are inspired by different things. For me, I am inspired by people who have achieved their own dreams. I am inspired by people who are different and won't apologise. I am inspired by my mother. I am inspired by getting up and being productive, even if it's something like clearing out my wardrobe. Stuff like this inspires me to do more and be more.
The other day I watched the film The Best Marigold Hotel. If you haven't watched it I really recommend it. It's about 6 pensioners who go to India. It's inspiring and life affirming. One line from the film which really stuck in my head was this, or something like this: 'If you risk nothing, do nothing, you'll have nothing'. Life is nothing without a little risk and a little hard work. We could all sit down, relax, do the job we're all secure in even though we hate it, live in the town we've always lived in because it's familiar, or we could break the routine and do something exciting.
From now on I want to be able to write every single day, via my blog or not. I hope that this post will inspire you to do exactly what it is you want to do, whether it's something huge, or simply a small task you've been putting off due to incurable procrastination. And just remember, always smile.
all these images have been collected from tumblr.com
No comments:
Post a Comment