Here’s to another!

Heya guys!

Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking of what kind of post to come up with as the last blog post of the year. Should I go the route of hating on 2016 and being thankful that it is finally over like most or should I look back over the past year and appreciate it for everything that it was or wasn’t? The former doesn’t make much sense in my opinion. It’s not been a bad year, contrary to the general consensus. There have been just a few really bad things that have happened (and I’m not talking about events that seem ‘potentially’ bad like Brexit or an unprecedented president-elect, I’m talking REAL bad like the multitudes who’ve lost their lives in Aleppo and so on…) But that shouldn’t overshadow all the good that has happened. In all honesty, one could count the bad things that took place in one hand, whereas the good things are practically uncountable.

For me, 2016 has been a year of a whole load of learning and growing and I’m entirely grateful to God for that. There have been a few mishaps here and there but then again, life wouldn’t be interesting without those. I could summarise what I’ve gotten from this year in five main points, so here it goes:

1. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Now this is really important especially if you, like myself, tend to make big problems out of nothing (read petty ?). Whenever you’re facing an issue that you seem to be blowing out of proportion, ask yourself; will this matter 5 years from now? Will this even matter a year from now? If your answer is no then you need to rethink the amount of effort and time you are investing in that situation.

2. You cannot control everything. Life is not fair and so bad things are bound to happen to you once in a while. Therefore, instead of catching the “why me?” syndrome you could always say this small prayer that I believe has helped me a lot:

God please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

3. It is okay to have a small circle of friends. This one took a long time to wrap my head around, to be honest. We need to let go of this high school mentality that the more friends you have, the happier you’ll be or the better your life will be. That is a fallacy, plain and simple. As you grow older, you realise the people who’ve been there with you through it all and who will continue standing side by side with you until the very end. I’m grateful I’ve found mine. ☺

4. You cannot make everyone happy. This goes out to all the people pleasers out there. The people in this world are too varied. Everyone has their own way in which they view life and in which they would like to live their life, including YOU. With that in mind, you can’t expect to see eye to eye with everybody. It’s just not possible. In short, YOU DO YOU.

5. This last but definitely not least point is a bit cliché. You’ve got to enjoy the moment. I mean the actual moment you are living in right now. Like for me, I’m fully enjoying typing this out on this last day of the year. I’m not missing my deadline and I’m fully aware of that- haha! If you are drinking a cup of excellently made tea ?, revel in that. Don’t spoil that moment with the worries and the troubles of the past or the future. It could very well be your last! I’ll leave you with a quote I saw while watching a beloved movie (gangster-movie fans, you might recognize this):

Enjoy yourself – everyday above ground is a good day.

ANONYMOUS, MIAMI 1981.

Thank you for reading my blog over its past few nascent months, there will be more to come in 2017. The love is immensely appreciated. May you all have a happy and fruitful new year!

*Shoot location: If you haven’t visited this quaint restaurant and coffee shop in Loresho, please do so! It goes by the name of Wasp & Sprout. Their iced coffee was heavenly and the decor can leave you seated in that restaurant for hours. ??

Knitted sweater – Atmosphere

Boyfriend jeans – Forever 21

Ankle boots – New look

Don’t forget to like, comment and share!

— Ivy xx