A few months ago I received a gift. It was from a friend who lives a long distance from me; I think it was supposed to be a late birthday present. Anyway, the present was a book. More specifically, a sort of diary. "A Q & A a day: a five-year journal". The purpose of the book is simple, each page represents a new calendar day. And underneath the date is a question. It might be, 'Who made you smile today?', or 'What is the recipe for creativity?'. Whatever the question is, underneath you have five spaces. The idea is that throughout the year, you answer the question at the top of the page in the top space. Each year, when you get to the date, you answer the same question. So you end up with five answers to each question, spread over five years. When you have filled in the entire journal, you can see the evolution of your answers over five years, so you can see how much you have developed, be it friendships, jobs, relationships...there are questions on all aspects of your life. And some which just extract your thoughts. They may or may not change over the time you write, but that's the excitement of seeing how much you have changed!
But the arrival of this journal got me thinking about the evolution of life. At the time of living our life, the changes we go through are unnoticeable. We don't notice each day that we are getting that little bit older, or more spotty, or cleverer. It is only several years on that we look back and think; wow. I used to be so young, and I thought I knew everything. But when a couple of years have passed, and we become nostalgic, sadly we tend to look back at a younger version of ourselves in a more critical manner. We analyse our choices and try to understand why we made them, and what our life would be like if we could go back and correct that mistake. We think, ending that relationship was a stupid idea. If only I'd thought a bit more before giving it up. But of course, it is only with hindsight that we can see things for what they truly are. Truth be told, hindsight is a useless tool. We cannot change our past actions by thinking of different endings, we cannot tell our past self that they are making a stupid decision. But given the chance, would you really choose to? All of your past decisions have shaped who you are today. The choices that then seemed so insignificant had bigger consequences than you could ever have realised, and so even just changing one could have massively altered your future paths. Similarly, there are things which at the time seemed terribly important, such as exam results, or a lie you told, but five years on you realise that it had no major impact on your life; in fact it was completely insignificant!
The only way to use hindsight positively, is to look back and recognise that although you made some silly decisions and cannot change the consequences of those, you can learn from your mistakes and move forward with them. Without those choices, both good and bad, you would never be who you are today, and that is a thing to celebrate. Of course, there will always be times that you regret decisions you made in the past, and they will always stick with you. You may not ever be able to view them in a constructive light. And that's okay. Because we, as humans, all make mistakes that evolve into regrets. And with times where you were hurt, or you hurt others, hindsight may seem like a cruel gift. But just remember - sometimes people with the worst pasts can create the best futures. Because they have the ability to learn from what they have lost. You can too.
L xx
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQacsqQ2Gdg The Vaccines - 20/20
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Monday, 14 September 2015
Saturday, 20 September 2014
THE FUTURE
The Future. My Future. Those words have been haunting my mind, and deciding my life choices, for the last few years. When I was younger, at around the age of 5, the answering phrase to the question "What would I like to be when I grow up?" was simple. "A doctor, so I can make people better. Also a vet, so I can stroke animals all day. And I want to write books because I really like making up stories." I knew exactly how I wanted my life to go, and I figured that it was simple to achieve. However as we grow and mature into children, and teenagers, we are told that we need to be "realistic" in deciding our future careers, and that we need certain skills to progress in our chosen profession, of which we can pick just one. So twelve year old Liberty sat down in her bedroom and began to think about what she really wanted from a career, because it's always an advantage to think ahead, right? She was already under the impression that she was a young lady, and definitely old enough to make a decision as important as what she wanted to do as a job for the rest of my life. She couldn't be a doctor, because you had to be good at science for that and she really didn't like science at all. A vet seemed a plausible option, but there would always be the part where you had to clean out rabbit cages and that didn't seem very hygienic to be doing for the rest of her life. So that left a writer. Well, she did enjoy Literacy, and Mrs Johnson said her stories were very interesting and she always seemed to write so much more than everyone else in the class. So, she spent the next few years content in the belief that her future was sorted.
When you start secondary school, you reach a point where you begin to be asked the same question. Except this time, you are expected to give serious answers, with a defined pathway in mind to reach your goal of that job which has been approved by your teacher. Gone were the aspiring astronauts, the prospective painters and the dozens of doctors. Instead, we had teachers, engineers, plumbers, journalists and businessmen. At this point, 16 year old Liberty (having decided that being a writer was a precarious profession and didn't count as a real job) was set on passing her GCSEs and A-Levels with flying colours in order to become a first-class psychologist. Yes, that counted as a realistic job - you had to be clever, go to university and get a degree, and I found psychology interesting which was an added bonus. So, having achieved all As and A*s at GCSE she chose a range of academic subjects to continue at AS Level.
In year 12, big decisions such as university and jobs come around very quickly, as you start to be invited to open days and events to help you make up your mind where you are going post-A Level. At this point, choosing red-brick universities which excelled in the field of psychology seemed a very valid option, so score-chart in tow, 17 year old Liberty ran off to Bath, Cardiff, Southampton, Birmingham and many more to see what university life would have in store for her. It was very exciting. And when it started getting towards the end of the academic year, she had all the answers ready. "Where would you like to go?" Somewhere in the top 20 for the subject would be ideal. "What would you like to do?" Psychology of course, "What would you like to do after university?" ........ Ah. Her plan hadn't accounted for that question. She had ruled out the option of becoming a world-class psychologist, because for that you needed many, many years at university, and that would cost a lot of money and not leave much time for anything exciting. And apart from that, there wasn't much else to do with a psychology degree. Her plan had been foiled, and now she didn't know what to do.
She spent the summer holidays worrying about exam results, starting year 13, and The Future. She was back to square one, which wasn't a good place to be with only one year of schooling left. So yet again, she began to think. She thought about what had consistently been her favourite thing to do at school. She thought about how university isn't the best option for everybody, and most importantly she thought about the career options she had discarded when she was younger. She spoke to her parents, to her teachers, to her friends, and she thought long and hard for weeks and weeks. Maybe psychology was not what she really wanted to do. What was the point of studying a subject for three years, and then not using it in her future career? Why waste three years at university, when you can spend that time experiencing the world, and what role you play in it. And suddenly it came to her, just like it did all those years ago. Writing! She wanted to be a writer. Of course.
So that is the next step in my life. Figuring out how to make this work, how to be successful, and how to do it while having an amazing time.
Stay tuned.
L xx
Avicii - Wake Me Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcrbM1l_BoI
When you start secondary school, you reach a point where you begin to be asked the same question. Except this time, you are expected to give serious answers, with a defined pathway in mind to reach your goal of that job which has been approved by your teacher. Gone were the aspiring astronauts, the prospective painters and the dozens of doctors. Instead, we had teachers, engineers, plumbers, journalists and businessmen. At this point, 16 year old Liberty (having decided that being a writer was a precarious profession and didn't count as a real job) was set on passing her GCSEs and A-Levels with flying colours in order to become a first-class psychologist. Yes, that counted as a realistic job - you had to be clever, go to university and get a degree, and I found psychology interesting which was an added bonus. So, having achieved all As and A*s at GCSE she chose a range of academic subjects to continue at AS Level.
In year 12, big decisions such as university and jobs come around very quickly, as you start to be invited to open days and events to help you make up your mind where you are going post-A Level. At this point, choosing red-brick universities which excelled in the field of psychology seemed a very valid option, so score-chart in tow, 17 year old Liberty ran off to Bath, Cardiff, Southampton, Birmingham and many more to see what university life would have in store for her. It was very exciting. And when it started getting towards the end of the academic year, she had all the answers ready. "Where would you like to go?" Somewhere in the top 20 for the subject would be ideal. "What would you like to do?" Psychology of course, "What would you like to do after university?" ........ Ah. Her plan hadn't accounted for that question. She had ruled out the option of becoming a world-class psychologist, because for that you needed many, many years at university, and that would cost a lot of money and not leave much time for anything exciting. And apart from that, there wasn't much else to do with a psychology degree. Her plan had been foiled, and now she didn't know what to do.
She spent the summer holidays worrying about exam results, starting year 13, and The Future. She was back to square one, which wasn't a good place to be with only one year of schooling left. So yet again, she began to think. She thought about what had consistently been her favourite thing to do at school. She thought about how university isn't the best option for everybody, and most importantly she thought about the career options she had discarded when she was younger. She spoke to her parents, to her teachers, to her friends, and she thought long and hard for weeks and weeks. Maybe psychology was not what she really wanted to do. What was the point of studying a subject for three years, and then not using it in her future career? Why waste three years at university, when you can spend that time experiencing the world, and what role you play in it. And suddenly it came to her, just like it did all those years ago. Writing! She wanted to be a writer. Of course.
So that is the next step in my life. Figuring out how to make this work, how to be successful, and how to do it while having an amazing time.
Stay tuned.
L xx
Avicii - Wake Me Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcrbM1l_BoI
Saturday, 1 February 2014
LIFE EXPERIENCES
At the age I am now, I find myself suddenly sitting back from my increasing pile of revision, and I just sit, and contemplate my life achievements. I'm actually quite disappointed that my 'life experiences' can be counted off on one hand. Here are the only things I have done with my short life so far that I believe hold value that I will appreciate when I am older:
1. My National Age Groups 2012 win. I recently ended my competitive synchronised swimming career, however in December 2012 I competed in the team event among 9 other girls, swimming for Bristol Central. We did amazingly well, and claimed 1st prize, beating 14 other teams. I consider this a life experience because it shows that if you work hard for something (which we did - 12 hours a week for a year) then it can pay off and you can achieve your dream. It proved that even if something seems impossible, if you all set your mind to it then the outcome can be wonderful. Walking onto the poolside, about to begin our routine, I felt a sinking feeling in my heart, because before my eyes flashed all of the problems our team had faced over the last year - my ear infection, having to cut down our routine, and all other problems which involve getting 10 girls to swim a four minute routine, underwater half the time, with no goggles, staying in a specific pattern, and having to do all this precisely in time with each other. But to come out with 1st prize over all of England, Scotland and Wales, was one of my proudest moments of my life.
2. St Lucia. I understand that sharing my amazing holiday experiences on here could be seen as shallow and pathetic, however this was the most life changing of my holidays. For those of you who are culturally dumb (no offense intended) St Lucia is a small island, part of the Windward Isles, in the Caribbean, which stretch down the edge of South America on the East Coast. I was just 12 years old when my grandparents announced that they were treating our family to a holiday in St Lucia, so I was unaware at the time of the impact that it had on my life. I would like to share with you one of the encounters that we had with a resident of Soufriere, the closest town to where we were staying. We drove into Soufriere and drew up outside the town's only supermarket, but as we made to open the doors of the car, a half-naked man with missing teeth and a severe skin infection rapped on the window. He cupped his hands in a gesture that resembled a bowl and garbled at us incoherently, spewing phlegm all over the outside of the window. My grandfather, wound down the window ever so slightly, and the man pressed his lips, blistered from the sun, against the gap. He repeated probably one of the only words he knew in English, ‘Dollars, dollars, dollars,’ all the while with a plaintive expression on his face, conveying the lost emotion of a man reliant on tourist generosity. My grandfather slipped a five dollar note out of the open window, and we drove on, struck to silence. Now, little did I know at the time, but many towns in St Lucia, such as Soufriere, are struck with abject poverty due to the lessening numbers of tourists on whom their income relies so solely on. Now, when I look back, I remember things that we saw, such as young children playing on the roads who should have been in school, and it hits me hard in the chest that they are so far away from help. This life experience taught me that although I take for granted my life now, I must remember to think about people in third world countries who do not have the same privileges.
These are the only experiences which I think have changed my life in more ways than just increasing my contentedness with life, which makes me exceedingly depressed. My main mission in life is to now try and find more of these experiences, so I can live my short life as much as possible, and make it the best it can be. You should too.
L xx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrXIQQ8PeRs Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
1. My National Age Groups 2012 win. I recently ended my competitive synchronised swimming career, however in December 2012 I competed in the team event among 9 other girls, swimming for Bristol Central. We did amazingly well, and claimed 1st prize, beating 14 other teams. I consider this a life experience because it shows that if you work hard for something (which we did - 12 hours a week for a year) then it can pay off and you can achieve your dream. It proved that even if something seems impossible, if you all set your mind to it then the outcome can be wonderful. Walking onto the poolside, about to begin our routine, I felt a sinking feeling in my heart, because before my eyes flashed all of the problems our team had faced over the last year - my ear infection, having to cut down our routine, and all other problems which involve getting 10 girls to swim a four minute routine, underwater half the time, with no goggles, staying in a specific pattern, and having to do all this precisely in time with each other. But to come out with 1st prize over all of England, Scotland and Wales, was one of my proudest moments of my life.
2. St Lucia. I understand that sharing my amazing holiday experiences on here could be seen as shallow and pathetic, however this was the most life changing of my holidays. For those of you who are culturally dumb (no offense intended) St Lucia is a small island, part of the Windward Isles, in the Caribbean, which stretch down the edge of South America on the East Coast. I was just 12 years old when my grandparents announced that they were treating our family to a holiday in St Lucia, so I was unaware at the time of the impact that it had on my life. I would like to share with you one of the encounters that we had with a resident of Soufriere, the closest town to where we were staying. We drove into Soufriere and drew up outside the town's only supermarket, but as we made to open the doors of the car, a half-naked man with missing teeth and a severe skin infection rapped on the window. He cupped his hands in a gesture that resembled a bowl and garbled at us incoherently, spewing phlegm all over the outside of the window. My grandfather, wound down the window ever so slightly, and the man pressed his lips, blistered from the sun, against the gap. He repeated probably one of the only words he knew in English, ‘Dollars, dollars, dollars,’ all the while with a plaintive expression on his face, conveying the lost emotion of a man reliant on tourist generosity. My grandfather slipped a five dollar note out of the open window, and we drove on, struck to silence. Now, little did I know at the time, but many towns in St Lucia, such as Soufriere, are struck with abject poverty due to the lessening numbers of tourists on whom their income relies so solely on. Now, when I look back, I remember things that we saw, such as young children playing on the roads who should have been in school, and it hits me hard in the chest that they are so far away from help. This life experience taught me that although I take for granted my life now, I must remember to think about people in third world countries who do not have the same privileges.
These are the only experiences which I think have changed my life in more ways than just increasing my contentedness with life, which makes me exceedingly depressed. My main mission in life is to now try and find more of these experiences, so I can live my short life as much as possible, and make it the best it can be. You should too.
L xx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrXIQQ8PeRs Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
Thursday, 16 January 2014
JOURNEYS
Our lives are a series of journeys. Our days are made up of smaller, literal ones; going to school, on holiday, to the fridge to get some food. But our lives, in the bigger picture, are made up of longer, metaphorical journeys. We don't realize the importance of these adventures until we look back, because most are so integrated into our lives that we don't notice they are there. For instance, I am about to traverse down my most important path yet; the road to university and my impending career that will follow. I am trying not to take this decision lightly, as it will affect the rest of my life if done properly. However, I am also aware that I am 16 years old, and I have a long way to go yet before I enter the realm of adulthood, which will be when my career choice will be most needed. Everyone has their own journey and path to follow, everyone will have fluctuations of important times in their lives, but it is very rare that you will meander through your short spell on Earth with the same relaxed attitude that you adopt to choose what drink you would like with your meal. So, I ask you to consider; what journey are you currently undertaking, or preparing to undertake? It is important in life to step back for a moment, stop, and think about where you are heading. I have made the mistake over the last few years of living a relatively meaningless, trivial life where I exist in a cycle of school, homework and eating, but it's now time for me to evolve and escape my cosy cocoon. When I take the next jump in my life, I want to be ready for it, and leap on to the wagon to see where it takes me. I know this is a very short post, but just think about the message I am trying to convey, and how you can apply it to your own life.
Liberty xx
Liberty xx
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