10 good things that happened in 2016

2016 was a bit of a rubbish year, many celebrities died, we had the whole Brexit problem (it's ok I'm moving north if Scotland goes independent) and I feel like sometimes I live in a society that isn't understanding of others. There is hope for 2017 I think but I thought I would start 2017 with a post about 10 good things that happened to me in 2016. This is a carry on from my 18 things I've learned in 2016 post if you haven't read that one you should. Here are 10 good things that happened in 2016:

1. I helped organise the first This Girl Can award evening in Newcastle. 

I was really lucky and got asked to help organise Newcastle's first This Girl Can award evening after being an ambassador for over a year I couldn't have been more excited to help. It was a great event with over 200 women all there to support each other for the work they had done in their community.

2. I got my first real job.

When I say real job I mean a job that is related to my degree. In April I became Newcastle's Ping Activity Officer, my job involves me looking after table tennis across Newcastle and developing a free program across the city. I love it, I've had my moments with it but I think I've found my feet and can't wait to start 2017 program. 

Me and my colleagues at the launch of Ping in Newcastle

3. I passed my driving test the first time and I got my first car.

This was a big step for me in June I passed my driving test and got my first ever car. Driving for me was more of a necessity than a pleasure. I have a love/hate relationship with cars I'm on to my second car after my first one decided to break 2 weeks after buying it and as I'm writing this my second car is in the garage after breaking down. Who knows I might have a better year when it comes to cars in 2017 but I do like driving and I'm glad I've done it now. 

4. I got lots of amazing blogging opportunities.

I was a lucky girl this year with the number of opportunities I got through blogging. I was able to go to the Mineral House at the Crowne Plaza to do a review of the spa. I've been to a number of ElleFluence event that the lovely Laura runs for Northeast blogger and who I must say is an amazing lady. I've been sent amazing products to try out including some Adidas products from Blacks and even got to trail out anytime fitness in Gateshead.

5. I tried out 2 new fitness classes.

This year I got to try out 2 very different types of fitness classes. The first one was a trampette fitness class that was run by the lovely Nicki at Great Park Community Centre and the other was the Extreme Air class at Newcastle's new Trampoline centre. 

6.  I started going to church.

2016 was about learning and this year I learned that I needed to do things for myself. For around a year, i had been thinking about going to church but I didn't go because I felt that people around me would think differently of me. In August I watched one of Louise's (Sprinkle of Glitter) video about religion and how she had taken the step towards becoming a Christian. I think that was what helped me take the leap and about a month later I took my first step into the church and Christianity, I went to a 4:30 pm service and I never turned back. I've started to find what I was looking for and I think its helped to make me a better person. I even finished a 7-week course called Christianity explored which was a massive help for me, I'm excited to see what my next step is. 

7. I ran my first 10K 

One of the many opportunities, I got this year included the chance to run the Mo run. I talked all year about how I wanted to run at least one 10k this year and I did. You can ready about it here.

8. I went on my first ever winter holiday to Poland.

This was 1 of the main highlights this year. I had never been on a holiday abroad in Winter and I was really excited when my sister agrees to go to Wroclaw with me. It was amazing, I'm in the middle of putting a photo diary together so keep an eye out for that in 2017.

9. I ran my fastest 5K with a personal best of 27.57

The 10th December just before Christmas I ran my fastest ever 5k at Newcastle's Parkrun. I was going for around a 30 minutes finish after not being able to get below that. I somehow was able to not be far behind the 28 minutes pacer and absolutely trashed my last personal best by a whole 2 minutes. I felt that this was one of my biggest achievements this year.

10. I met Mr. M. 

If you've read my 18 things I've learned in 2016 you will know that I was very lucky and met Mr. M. I'm not going to go into loads of details about him because I want to try and keep some things private, that might chance later on but for now I like our little private bubble. What I will say tho is that meeting him was definitely one of the highlights in 2016. We already have quite a few plans for 2017 which I'm definitely looking forward to. 

It's strange because I thought I would find it really hard to write this post hard as I thought that actually not much good had happened to me in 2016 but it shows that even the littlest of things can make you happy. 

18 things I've learned in 2016

I wanted to do a couple post about 2016. This is my what I have learned over 2016 and I'm going to do a What I loved about 2016. There are many things that happened and I think I learned more about myself in 2016 then I have in the other 24 years of my life. The reason behind this post is I wanted to see written down that even when I hated 2016 and I wanted it to be over that there were positives to this year and here it is my 18 things I've learned in 2016:

1.      Even shit years have positive times.

2016 was a tough year but there was part of it that were positive, towards the end there was definitely more positives than negatives. I’ve learned that looking for positives in a day is how you keep going through the negatives.

2.       The dark place does have a light; you just have to look for it.

There have been many times when I’ve let myself go into that dark place, that dark place is sometimes just staying in bed for a few days but a friend once told me that dark places have light switches you just have to be ready to switch it on.

3.      Your sister can and always will be your best friend.

I and my sister haven’t always been the best of friends, but when I need her she stepped up she was there when I need to cry or I want to go for a drive for no other reason other than to get out of my house she didn’t ask why she just did. That’s what sisters do when you need them most.

4.      The unexpected will happen when you least want it to and accepting it, is hard. 

This is something I learned in July, I learned that people aren’t what they seem and the one you think will be your forever won’t be. One afternoon I was happy the next day I lost what was my world, I was alone and I had to very quickly learn that. I accepted that we weren’t the forever and it was hard, it broke me but I decided I had to accept that what I thought was forever just wasn’t.

5.      Help is out there, you just have to be brave enough to ask for it.

This is one of the hardest things I did this year. I knew deep down something wasn’t right but with other things happening in my life I just looked over it. It was when my best friend asked me straight did I need some help then she could give. That’s when I took the step and made an appointment to see a doctor.

6.      Your best friends are your best friends for a reason.

I think this says it all, you choose your best friends because they get you and for reasons only you know.

7.      You don't need to be the loudest/funniest/most confident person all the time.

I’m one of them people that fill the silence because I hate silence even if it’s just with a laugh. There was a time when I couldn’t be that person and I couldn’t fill that silence anymore and I became alright with that.

8.      Spending time alone isn't as scary as you think. 

Alone time was something I wasn't really a fan of I always wanted to be busy and doing something. This year I started running and walking more. I did a blog post about how I wanted to walk more because it was simple and taking time out for myself.

9.      Beauty is and always will be everywhere.

Nature, people, and life can be beautiful and it’s everywhere you just have to open your eyes to see it.

10.   Learning to forgive helps.

People make mistakes if that the way they do something or what they do. You can’t change what happened but forgiving someone for their mistake is sometimes the only thing you can do.  

11.   The mind is the operation centre for your body, look after it.

We look after our body all the time but we never stop to think about the main organ of the body our brain. I discovered that looking after your mind is just as important as your body.  

12.   Family won't ever let you down when you need them most. 

My family is small and when I mean small I mean really small. It’s me, my mom, my mom's partner, and my sister. It doesn’t matter what the matter is they are there as that is what family do.

13.   Your greatest achievements might not always be your biggest. 

You always think that your great achievement has to be this big show but actually it doesn’t. This year I showed myself that many of my great achievement can be something small and simple. Does it have to be a huge achievement to be your greatest?

14.   5-year plans aren’t for everyone.

I always thought that you had to have a plan if that’s a 5-year plan or a 10-year plan that you had a plan. I had a plan and then that plan went down the drain. It turns out that the plan I had wasn’t the right plan for me. I decided I didn’t need a plan for my life that my life wasn’t going to be about what was going to happen in 5 years’ time it was about the now and living in the moment.

15.   Live in the moment.

Like I said above, I’m sick of having plans that are over years that’s why I’m living in the present. I understand that you have to plan some things but them things will be holidays I want to go on, places I want to see, places I want to eat but it won’t be plans like when I’m going to buy a house when I’m going to have kids. There not the plans I want to make at this moment in time.

16.   Take a chance; you'll never know what/who is around.

2016 had a lot of downs but there was quite a few up were in there as well. I tried new things, I met new people and I met Mr. M. They say taking a chance is always a good thing and I will say I totally agree. I took a chance and 2016 will end on an up and 2017 will hopefully start on a high as well.

17.   You can be happy when you let yourself be.

I took a chance with someone in 2016; I fought hard with myself to not take a chance with him. I didn’t want to get hurt like I had in the past plus I wanted to learn to be alone but there is something about Mr. M that makes me happy. He made me smile when not much made me smile and he made me laugh when I hadn’t laughed in a long time.

18.   Someone will always be there to pick you up when you fall.

Someone sent this to me and it was just what I need in 2016

‘God is within her she will not fall’ Psalms 46:5

That is my 2016 and all the lessons I learned. I grew up in 2016 and I would like to think that it made me a better person. I don't shout at people anymore, I ask more questions and I look at things in a new way. I have my eyes set on lots of adventures in 2017 and I hope I learn even more lessons I just hope that they aren't as painful as some of 2016 lessons were.