LIFE IS A GIFT

Its January, its cold, its dark, it's depressing. We're all skint, bloated, tired and fed-up with no holidays or anything to look forward to in sight. Nobody can believe its 2019 already. Everyone's miserable and on a diet. Cheese and wine have been replaced for stampede's of new year runners and green smoothies... It's all you've been hearing at the moment right? What a bleak time of year! Or is it?

What if we turned it on its head and utilised January for all that its good for? A clean slate, the first out of 12 months of brand new opportunities, and the turn of another page in your book. I feel like if we stopped and took a look at our lives more, and really analysed our blessings and what a gift it is just to be inhaling and exhaling, we would have a different opinion on things that don't matter like the bleak month of January.

I was brought up with a Mother who didn't have the gift of life, or at least not a long one anyway. She loved the world around her, she made the absolute maximum out of every single day because she knew that one day her time would be cut short. She so badly wanted a longer life. As the closest person to her, it was hard for me to watch, seeing someone you love so much go through that and be totally helpless in being able to fix that problem for them. It puts a knot in my stomach. But her biggest wish was for me, the apple of her eye, to live a happy, fulfilled life that I made the most of every day. That's the only thing I could do for her, I held her hand and promised her I would and I had to make sure I continued to live a life she would be proud of after she'd gone. I can hand on heart say, that because of my Mum, I feel so blessed to be alive. The moment I wake up I'm filled with motivation, I smile at strangers and I'm obsessed with seeing as much of the world as possible. I try my hardest everyday to see the good in every situation that comes my way, good or bad, and that's because of her. I'm blessed that she was my Mother, how lucky I was to spend 19 years by the side of such an incredible woman. That alone is enough reason for me to wake up every day with a smile on my face.

January can be the best month of the year if you change the way you look at it. Try a new hobby? Clear out your house and donate to a charity shop? Organise your goals and dreams and make a plan to achieve them? The opportunities are endless. My Mum struggled to walk up a flight of stairs without losing her breath most days, and you would still never hear her give up, moan or be negative, even though she had every right to! She would dance and sing and laugh and be silly, and it didn't matter to her what month of the year it was, she was just ecstatic to have woken up another day. I wish more people would be like that. I look around me sometimes and want to shake people, tell them to wake up. Of course its hard to be happy and positive all the time, and believe me there are some days where I feel like I've had enough, but I know how lucky I am in the grand scheme of things and I've taught myself how to let things go and get over it. No bad situation is ever worth taking up too much time being upset or worried over, so lets at least try and stay positive this month, lets try to make it count. Set the tone for the rest of your year.

If you woke up today, you have a roof over your head, fresh clean water to drink, food in your fridge and a generally healthy able body, you are among the luckiest in the world. Find joy in the little things, I love the way the sun shines through my window on a Saturday morning, the smell of coffee coming from my coffee machine, the way the freezing cold winds make the trees dance. I'm so thankful that I have this beautiful day ahead of me, because tomorrow is never promised and 2019 will go quicker than 2018 did, so don't get too caught up on the irrelevant and see life for what it really is. A GIFT!


I hope you have an amazing January!!!


Lots of love,
M xx