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. 

Walking, it’s just that simple!

I hear people talk about wanting to get fit or lose weight all the time. Some people think you have to make massive changes to get fit, but sometimes little changes are just as good and even sometimes, simpler. One of those little changes you can make is to WALK MORE. I have to say I do walk quite a bit; I don’t have a car at the moment so even walking to the bus stop is better than nothing.

With spring just starting and the weather picking up, I thought this would be a great time to talk about making little steps that can help you start of your fitness journey.

I was looking through the #NEbloggers hash tag on twitter and found a blog post by Samantha from North East Family Fun (link) about how she was adding a 20-minute walk into day mainly on her lunch break to help her get fit (blog post here).  This got me thinking, as I said I already walk quite a bit what could I do extra, then it came to me DOG WALKING.

Everyone knows that walking for a certain amount of time or doing 10,000 steps a day can be beneficial but what can walking actually do for you?

Well here are 6 benefits of walking:

1.       Can strengthen your heart: Walking is a form of cardio exercise and it’s a great form it can lower levels of LDL which is bad cholesterol which then increases your HDL which is your good cholesterol.

2.       Lowers risk of disease: if you do regular walks you can slashes the risks of type 2 diabetes by around 60%.

3.       Can help you lose weight: if you walk for around 30 minutes at a pace of 2mph you can burn 75 calories or if you walk 4mph for 30 minutes that is 150 calories (that is 3 Jaffa cakes and a jam doughnut) you can burn.

4.       Boosts Vitamin D: A lot of people in the UK have a vitamin D deficient which can have an effect on things like your bone health or even your immune system. How do you increase you vitamin D, by being outside and what better way to be outside than walking.

5.       Can boost your energy: Walking is a natural energiser and the best one there is. Walking boosts your circulation and increases your oxygen supply. It also can make your feel more alert and just feel motivated.

6.       It just makes you feel happier: In case you didn’t know exercise can boost your mood and studies have shown that a simple walk is just as effective as anti-depressants in mild to moderate cases of depression as your body releases feel-good endorphins.

So how am I going to add more dog walking into weekly/daily routine, well anyone who knows me know I’m in love with my dog Oscar (King Charles Cavalier) and he is definitely one of the most important living things in my life. We already walk him for around 20/30 minutes a day at our local Park but I wanted to do more. I’ve decided that at least once a week I will be taking Oscar away from are normal walking routes around the park and go further a field and explore.

For the last 3 weekends in we have been to 3 different places, these places are Newburn (with my mam), Jesmond Dene (with Euan) and Tynemouth Beach (with Euan and his family). I thought I would do a new little series on my blog all about the dog walking routes that we are doing. Some weekend it might not be so exciting and just been walking through the local dene but I’m excited to get out more and get to explore some places we might have never been to before.

First walk will be up to Newburn and hopefully it will be up on Thursday, expect a lot of dog pictures and some pretty scenery.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Why don't you leave you comment where you think your favourite place to go walking? or Do you walk a lot and if you do how far do you walk?