A Reality of Life that Makes me Sad

Hey guys! I hope that you're all ready and set up for a new week ahead!

I was thinking recently about something that really upsets me in life and it made me realise how much I love fantasy worlds too because it feels like other people in the past have realised the same things as me and have tried to rectify them in their stories. In the case of this one thing, J.K. Rowling seemingly has an answer.

The thing I don't like about life is the fact that we forget. It makes me so sad knowing that I could have the best day ever and in the space of as little as two weeks perhaps, or a month, forget how awesome the day was and just how happy you were. Or just important moments in life like when you meet someone for the first time or any other first times that are so awesome and you want to remember but you know that inevitably, you're probably going to forget.

It feels like in this way, life screws us over countless times.

It also means that, in the future, you may forget what your younger years were really like because you'll have forgotten and that makes me sad because being an eager historian, it's great to be able to have the benefit of hindsight but that only helps if you have all of the evidence in front of you. That certainly isn't possible if you've managed to forget most of it, it really isn't.

I think that was one of the main reasons why I started daily blogging but I found it really hard to keep up with once I started school so for the moment, I've abandoned it. I think I may start doing a post, perhaps once or twice a month on this blog to let you know some little things that have affected me for yay or nay and I hope that you guys can gain something from it and perhaps share your own so we can remember for years to come!

The one thing from Harry Potter that would also be useful in this endeavour would be a pensieve and I absolutely love the idea of having one, being able to relive and relive a moment. I guess the only thing is, you can't be yourself and I guess it would be odd reliving it too much because it could then change the way you see it which may not be the best thing.

Nevertheless, I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! As always, the comments are open for your thoughts so empty below if you wish and I hope to speak to you soon! Take Care!

Putting in The Work

Hey guys! I hope that you're all fine and well and dandy and all those wonderful things!

Right now, I'm in the second week of my A Levels and I feel like because I'm aiming for the highest grades, I'm not yet putting enough effort and putting extra effort into my work and that is quite disturbing because feeling like you might already be putting yourself at a disadvantage before you've even started isn't probably the nicest feeling ever.

However, I do feel like I can get better and that's what's important because let's face it, I'm not even a month into my studies - there's still plenty of time for me to find out what I can do to become a whizzo and then I feel like, though I may end up with even less time than I've already got, I may end up feeling a lot better having done extra work and really becoming familiar with the subjects and the topics that I need to understand.

Moral of this little worry on paper being, if you want to change something about yourself, try and do it sooner rather than later because the later you leave it, the more stress you can end up putting on yourself and the more unhappy you can end up becoming. Now, wish me good luck for organising my time and actually becoming a more happy and content human being! I wish you all the same too!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! If you did or didn't, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below and I hope to speak to you soon!

Lessons I've learned from work

Hey guys!

So, last Saturday, after two weeks away from work, I returned, tired from school but still rearing to go. Nice one Zainab, nice one.

It was a tiring day but it was definitely rewarding because I feel like the shop that I work at, though it's small, receives some of the nicest and most interesting people off of the planet and they make my day so much more wonderful.

It's especially wonderful to hear people with different accents because, as you guys may or may not know, I absolutely love accents and being able to just fangirl on the inside when someone talks is just wonderful. I've heard Australian accents and South African accents and Scottish accents and Spanish accents and Italian accents and German accents, all from the most lovely of people and honestly, if you like me have a ginormous appreciation for different accents, you like me, would be in heaven.

It's especially great because I live in a really small town and that means that on the outside, it doesn't look like we have much racial diversity but when you look closer and learn more about the people, you can come to really adore where everyone comes from and what that means about what kind of people they are. A lot of people are wonderful and not stuck up like a lot of people become the closer you get to London.

I'm not really sure what this post is meant to be aha, but I really feel like, though my work is really tiring, it gives me my biggest boost in faith in humanity because a lot of the people look wealthy and you can tell that by the money they're willing to spend or the cars that they drive. For some of them, it makes them as nice as hell and I guess that's because they want to meet people who are genuine and not people who are just being friendly with them because of their money. Other wealthy people can be quite stuck up and it's not the nicest thing to see but I guess you can't have everything in a person.

You also have the other end of the scale where people feel like they can't pay for our services and end up scrounging around for a deal and sometimes it can make you feel quite bad but sometimes it feels quite rude, especially when they know what quality you're providing them with. The shop I work at is really quite reasonable and it feels like people try and undermine the kindness of my boss without good reason and it's horrid to see.

I hope that you guys thought something of this post. Feel free to leave those thoughts in the comments below and I hope to speak to you soon!

From Another Walk of Life

Hey guys!

This little subject was bugging me, so I thought I'd talk to you guys about it and see what you think :)

I find it hard when people don't try and empathise with other people when they've come from a different background from themselves, especially sometimes when they've come from an extreme so a really wealthy background or a really poor background. It hurts me because they act as if the people are acting inconsiderately or are acting really self-involved and in a selfish manner whilst whatever they're experiencing or have experienced is just the way life has been for them from wherever they've come from.

It also annoys me because these comments and judgements are often overlooking the good parts of the person's personality which are often in much larger abundance than the other parts of their personality and what makes them who they are that other people may have a problem with.

It annoys me most because of the fact that they expect people to be able to find exactly the right way to say something when that's practically impossible because you can't always be considerate and you can't always find the 'right way' to say something. Some things will always have negative connotations or a specific connotation and there's nothing much that can be done other than to try not to see it in that way.

All I'd like to challenge everyone here is, if you hear something negative or say something negative, always try and think about how the best way of having said that would be. If there's no other way of saying it, don't take offense or be surprised if other people are offended by it. It always pays off to think that way so you don't feel as if you're constantly being offended. Also consider other factors like how much time the other person was given to come up with their response, that can always change the way they word things too.

Finally, also try and accept people for their flaws and that sometimes people don't always have the eloquence or the quick wittedness to be able to express the way they think or the way they feel adequately. Don't judge them for it because if you know that if you were them, you wouldn't want to be labelled by your flaws either. Instead, try and label people by their strengths. I personally find this makes me a much happier person because then you end up feeling less horrified and more appreciative of the people around you and their talents :)

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments below and I hope to speak to you soon! :D x

Appreciating Everything

Hey guys!

One thing I realised within myself definitely was the fact that I don't actually appreciate everything that comes my way and I always pray for it to be perfect, when, in fact, I'm incredibly lucky to be in the position that I am.

I feel like that comes with the fact that we know that we're lucky but then it's case of maintaining and raising where you stand in the world and that means that anything that can take you on your way is something that becomes more of a necessity rather than a luxury.

For example, a few months ago I got a new laptop but unfortunately, it didn't have Microsoft Office downloaded on it. It did have a package called Libre Office on it which did the job for a little while but then I honestly felt kind of trapped by it. I didn't know how to do more than the basic things and I didn't like the fact that I didn't have the same control over what my work looked like like I would've done if I had Microsoft Word to play with.

This also shows that the culture we live in also expresses a sort of dislike for change and a dislike for discomfort which is really unfortunate because of the fact millions and billions of people face discomfort every single day. It shows that we only feel comfort when we control as many aspects of our lives as we can and it can be quite detrimental wanting to do that because there are many things that we can't control in life.

However, especially living in the privileged position that we do, it does seem rather wrong to not make sure that we take as much advantage of it as we can and this shows the main predicament the modern human being faces - you've got to keep living and keep moving forward but you've also got to look at the head start that you've got that all of those people don't have - and don't forget it.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below freely and I hope to speak to you soon!

Optimism and Happiness!

Hey guys! I hope that you're feeling brilliant and beautiful!

This post, is in fact being written later of the same day as the last one and I feel like I've changed my outlook a bit.

Sometimes I feel like being invisible is a great thing, other times, like when earlier today, I feel like I don't really matter but I think I often forget that it's the worth that you give to yourself that often matters the most because changes will always happen and just because you don't make friends that are really close, doesn't mean that you can't just make more friends that you can talk to when there's no-one else to.

I feel like, especially with social media, we forget that every contact that we make with another human being is really special and we should always try and forget that they could just be talking with someone else and perhaps having a more excited conversation. It's especially valuable, I think, to remember that just because they may change the way they stand with other people, doesn't mean that the way that they stand with you and the way you stand with them has to change.

Simple friendships can often mean everything, especially when you're in a new environment and just a person to talk to and to feel comfortable can be so important.

So, to wrap it up a bit earlier than some other posts, don't be afraid to lose friends because the people who matter will stay and the people who go aren't bad, they're different, just like you! :) Appreciate the similarities you find with other people and cherish them because there are billions of people who are all different, so finding friends who understand something about you is really something I personally marvel :)

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! I feel like it compensates for the less happiness that I felt in my earlier post but please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below! I hope to speak to you soon!

Unpopularity - frustration, blargh

Hey guys! I hope that you're all well!

So last week, I began the next phase of my education - Sixth Form. This is where I'll spend the next two years of my life and where I'll complete my A Levels.

The main problem I feel like I'm facing in this new phase of my life is keeping new friends. I've met some new people but what I feel like is my main problem is that I feel like I have no more to say, I feel like I'm inadequate and that there's no way for me to hold onto new friends because sometimes I don't have the right interests to be able to discuss anything further with them.

For me, this can be for a couple of reasons.

1. As part of my religion, I don't listen to music and this means that a subject that lots of people can slip into quite easy is blocked off for me which means that I can't really use that as a way to get to know a person.
2. I hate gossiping and over the past few years I've come to realise how easy it can be to say something small against someone, especially if they're a teacher because it feels like a role of being a secondary school kid is to always bitch about your least favourite teacher. Though it's definitely a normal thing in student culture, I now feel a lot more hesitant to say much against teachers unless it's something about their teaching style that's going to directly affect the grade that I'm going to get at the end of the year. This means that I don't tend to go down the route of saying something against someone else route to start a new conversation.
3. I don't really watch many TV shows either. That's simply because I know that I'll end up getting sucked in and I'll lose a heap load of time I could've been using else where. It also begs the question that how much can you talk about one program? The only thing I can use to justify this question is if new episodes have been airing and I think that's one great thing about YouTube because there's always new videos going up and there are always new successes and comedies to be enjoyed and celebrated.
4. I'm a hermit and don't really go out much. This means that I can't really have many new experiences with new friends to become better friends over and can be quite detrimental to me making new friends which is rather sad.

On a side note which links to my second point, someone once told me to always watch out for the way that someone speaks about other people because this is often the manner in which they will talk about you to others. I'm lucky enough to not know if anyone talks about me (probably not anyone really at all because I'm practically invisible) but that is something I prefer not to see in other people because knowing that they get conversation from other people's mistakes and faults isn't really something I want to hear.

As a conclusion, I feel like whenever there are people who are funnier than me and know of more bands and more TV shows, they're never bound to stay with me because I'm nowhere near the kinds of people that they could be becoming friends with.

I have no idea what you guys will think of this post but please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below and I hope to speak to you soon! 

p.s. If you'd like to me to do a post on my thoughts on Sixth Form so far or any other requests. please do feel free to leave a comment and I'll be happy to look into it :)

'To This Day' - Inspiration

Hey guys!

Today a certain Rad Haggis off of YouTube tweeted out this inspirational video from vimeo. And despite the fact it feels like sometimes there are many representations of depression and bullying, this one really struck home because of the way it was portrayed, as anyone who's ever felt alone or felt like a misfit.

The metaphors and the art that are used in this video are just phenomenal and even if you've never felt that extreme of emotion, like myself, or if you've ever felt alone, even if that was for a few moments, or an hour, you'll be able to relate to this video.

The typography and the way things move around is just beautiful and the message and the way the man who voices the video speaks really strikes home, especially seeing as though he can go from sounding quite calm to shouting. It really affected me and I would strongly recommend that you watch the video, if not for anything else but just for the experience.

As the video is around 7 minutes long, I can't quite include everything in the video myself but the main message of the video is that if you feel like no-one's on your side and you feel like you've finally got to the end of your line, always remember whatever kept you going for so long? Which part of your brain convinced you that all of the names and the disappointments were wrong? Why did you not believe them for so long? Why did you keep trying if you're going to give up now?

Always remember why they were wrong.

It also really focusses on the effects of your words on other people, how names can stick and how they can impair how a person sees themselves for the rest of their lives. It feels like it's easy to say that you're calling someone a name as a joke but the way you make them feel isn't always going to be something you find out though it may plague them for years and years and years.

I hope that you guys will enjoy the video as much as I did! Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below and I shall hopefully speak to you soon! :)

Third Visit on Holiday - The National Museum of Scotland - Edinburgh

Hey guys!

I hope that you've been enjoying the pictures so far of my holiday that I've been able to show you! I had an absolutely wonderful time! For the day that we spent in Edinburgh, we went to three main places so here's the second place: The National Museum of Scotland!

I loved the place though
we were pretty tired and in need of food when we arrived. The building itself was absolutely stunning and we found some pretty interesting artefacts such as Dolly the Sheep! I also bought a beautiful ring for myself and it was a great memorandum for our visit!

Here are some of the pictures! :D

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! If you did or didn't, please leave your thoughts in the comments and I hope to speak to you soon! :)

My Thoughts on Compliments

Hey guys!

I don't know if it's just me (I suspect it's probably not) but I never really know how to take compliments.
It's often just because I don't know if I deserve praise because often it's just me doing what I'm supposed to be doing, in which case, is what I'm doing really that spectacular? Do I really deserve praise?

However, having said that, I can completely understand why people give compliments because I do it myself and it's often for encouragement purposes. For example, I was helping to train a new member of staff last week and she was absolutely brilliant and was great on the ball and making sure every step of the process was done. I think the reason why a lot of us sometimes feel like we should compliment people is because it can sometimes feel like it's a lot easier to criticise people than just to accept that they're pretty amazing at something. Not saying that you would just focus on the negatives but I think it's great to have that encouragement to know that you're going in the right direction, even if you're just doing what you're supposed to be doing.

However, I think the point is that sometimes you can feel obliged to give someone a compliment to make them feel better and I feel like sometimes this can happen more often with kids because they're a lot more sensitive. If a kid is making a lot of mistakes and you have to keep telling them that they're making the mistakes, you can feel like you need to tell them about the things they're getting right so that they don't feel like they're not making any progress and getting everything wrong.

I think, personally, the main problem I have with compliments, whether it be on your work or on your physical appearance is exaggeration. I hate feeling like I can't accept a compliment because it's too over the top and not realistic when, in fact, it might be. It's one reason I find it hard to give compliments because I feel like the way I see reality isn't good enough to warrant giving a compliment that would serve to encourage a person. I wish I would have enough confidence to be truthful in my compliments and not over indulge. I don't want people who are like me to feel like they can't accept compliments because they're probably too good to be true.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments below and I hope to speak to you soon!