Hope

I had a lump in my throat after watching the video below, despite personally being straight. The optimism and strength of these people is something I think we can all learn from regardless of our sexuality. You can see their raw emotion when they're speaking about their experiences, and it's clear how they've grown from them. After all, I believe our past doesn't define us: it's our present that does; it's who we are now as a person that's really important. If it gives even one person the confidence to stand up for and be proud of who they are, that's all that matters. 

Hell, it might even be a stepping stone to making the world more accepting and tolerant. Here's hoping. :)

 

The 85-Year-Old Test

Found this on t'internet earlier, and thought I'd share it:

Imagine that you are 85 years old. When you look back on your life, you feel happy and proud. You were, most of the time, the best person you could be. The world, or at least the part of it you lived in and the people you touched, is better off because of you. 

How did you live your life?

Thanks for dropping by...

Is it just me or does the title of this blog sound kind of sinister? Like it should be read in Alan Rickman's voice and accompanied by an evil laugh? Anyway, for whoever's reading this: firstly THANK YOU, you've made my view count go up and given my self-esteem a little boost as a result, so you've done your good deed for the day ;) I've just set this blog up, and will put up short stories, reviews (music, books and films) and general thoughts/opinions/observations on stuff in the coming weeks which I hope will be interesting to someone. When July rolls around, I plan to be documenting my experiences of teaching at a summer school in Romania for 2 weeks, as part of the ScRoLL scheme at my uni! In my opinion you should stay tuned for that at least. Then again, I'm slightly biased.

Any comments, ideas for future posts or just leaving a comment to say hi and introduce yourself would be muchly appreciated; I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone seeing as I'm a newbie to the blog community! :)

Life, the universe and everything.

It’s easy to take being alive for granted. Too often we fail to realise just how lucky we are to even exist; how fragile life is. But I know someone who does. 

What would you do if you had a long-term illness that was slowly making you weaker? Skydive, swim with dolphins, travel the world? We’d probably get things done a lot quicker instead of putting them off till tomorrow. Some people are just trying to make it through today. One of my close friends, who suffers from a tumour that is gradually eating away at him, bought himself a motorbike. Always on the go and instantly likeable, he is the personification of optimism; there isn’t one time I haven’t seen him smiling. Even now, as he’s undergoing treatment and has lost all his hair, confined to a wheelchair and enduring fits of coughing, he takes it in his stride. He is not afraid to make jokes and invite friends over because, of course, he’s still the same person and they accept him no matter what. It’s only the outside that’s different. Unfortunately, the increasing severity of his condition means no more motorbike racing for the foreseeable future. He doesn’t let this get him down, though. There’s no way he’s giving up that easily. 

Despite not having a clue about what’s going to happen tomorrow, this week, month, year, he’s embracing life and all that it has to offer. Personally, I think we should all take a leaf out of his book. If we dwell on things too much, we forget to just live for today. Instead of retreating into the internet – comfortable, familiar, safe – and writing ‘FML’ due to the most trivial of things, we should get out there and make the most of our lives. If someone criticises you, don't internalise it: prove them wrong. Do something nice for someone anonymously. Help those less fortunate than you - not just because you get self-satisfaction from it, but because you actually want to improve their quality of life. Do something that scares the hell out of you. Find a cause you're passionate about and fight for it. It might sound like I'm being preachy, but really I can't see anything negative in any of these things - can you?

It's true that the only opportunities you regret are the ones you're afraid to take. And there's no better time to start than right now. You can either get to the stage where you're looking back on your life, shaking your head sadly and thinking 'if only...' or look back only with the happiest of memories.

Your choice.