I was on the tube a few months ago, the woman next to me was reading a self help book but had covered the front to hide what she was reading. Some may say, she doesn’t want people knowing about her personal life but she wasn’t reading a book about dealing with serious issues she may not want to share, after peeking over it was just a simple steps to happiness book.

This got me thinking. There is often a slight embarrassment or shame in society in admitting we have problems to deal with, or need help with. Truth is don’t we all have something within ourselves, which affects our lives, that we should try and face to lead a happier and more understood life.

Why are you the way you are? Why do certain things? What has happened in your past to shape who you are today? Why did you do something you regret?

I look at self help books, or any other form of ‘help’, as learning to understand yourself so you can improve your quality of life. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, it’s far stronger to seek help, take control and deal with things, rather than to lie ourselves and others.

You may not like what you discover, sometimes we’d rather put our head in the sand. In my opinion though whatever you learn and face, is a relief. Relief that you can piece together why things have happened or why you’ve felt the way you have for so long. More than anything by having this knowledge you can often find the answer on how to live a happier life, the life YOU want, free from problems that have effected it previously.

Anyway, I was watching a film called Frenemy the other night and the funniest scene came on which summed up what I would like to do in this situation…

It’s funny and slightly disturbed, as was the film, watch it below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8qMH2aHR68

People who talk in the cinema - I didn’t pay to hear your opinion on the film, what don’t understand or something funny you want to impress you’re friends with. Do us all a favor, shut up and leave.

People who use Facebook as if they’re a celebrity - Facebook never fails to annoy me. You can always spot a show off, someone trying to paint a picture of themselves as if they’re so original and cool. Letting us all know something they’ve done with the sole purpose of showing off, no one cares.

Selfies - If there is a purpose to this, such as sharing a haircut or something, fair enough. It’s the stupid pictures people post of themselves (after clearly spending hours on their hair and make up) captioned ‘good morning’ or some meaningful song lyrics underneath, that are completely pointless and attention seeking. To make things worse, you get some fellow loser who feeds in to this attention seeking with a fake compliment, ‘Babeee, you look so hot!.’ eughhhhh.

People who feel the need to let us all know THEIR opinion - We all have strong opinions on something but some people seem to feel the need to have a passionate view on EVERYTHING. It’s as if when they’re droning on, they think people actually care. Along with enforcing their opinions down everyone’s neck, they often feel the need to ignorantly argue yours as if they have something profound or smart to say, bitch please.

People who talk about money – It is SO boring, from both ends of the spectrum. Anyone who feels the need to casually drop in their income or any other form of financial status with me, needs to jog on. This may just be me but nothing puts me off more than someone trying to impress with money, so cringe worthy. On the other hand people who are always whining about lack of money or seem overly impressed by money, are just as embarrassing. Show some dignity.

People who think they’re wild when they drink - I have no opinion on people who drink heavily every single day. It’s the people who feel the need to let us all know about it, who I can’t stand. No one cares how much you had to drink, what you did when you were drunk or how you ‘can’t remember anything. It actually makes me cringe for them, as if they’ve never had a drink before. They seem to think they’re the next Bradley Cooper, living out their own version of The Hangover, it’s so embarrassing. 

Let me know what kind of things people do to annoy you below

I thought I’d share 5 of my role models today. I don’t believe in trying to shape yourself to be somebody else but I think having people to aspire to be more like, in the way they live life, is a good thing. These are people who have inspired me to want to be a better person in every way and whenever I’m looking for motivation, they’re a great start.

1. Jillian Michaels – Through a period of very poor health I came across a box set of her fitness DVDs, unopened in a charity shop, called The Biggest Winner. I had only ever seen snippets of her on the US Biggest Loser but didn’t know much about her at all. I now think I was meant to find the DVDs, no one has ever inspired me more to want to take the best care of myself that I can. I like that Jillian’s approach to fitness is about aiming for more than that bikini body, it’s about being strong, healthy and making time for yourself.

This doesn’t paint her in the best light but it made me laugh!…..

2. Tony Robbins – I first saw him in a cameo role in the film Shallow Hal, “Devils come out!” Anyway, a few years later I was lucky enough to attend a three day seminar of his at the Excel center in London called, ‘Unleash The Giant Within’. Even after all these years later, I can still say it was three of the best days of my life, no exaggerations! Not only did I learn so much about living life positively but I got to dance like crazy and walk on fire! He is completely inspiring, I could listen to him all day. Anything I’ve read or watched of his since has always been brilliant. He makes you realise if you put in the work, you can overcome and achieve anything and better yet start making things happen NOW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e97VrOhsczI

3. Tiffany Hall – This is a less well known choice for those in the UK. Any of you who don’t know, Tiffany Hall is an author and television personality in Australia. I first saw her on Gladiators and The Biggest Loser Australia, she’s promotes strength and health. With her fitness roots starting within martial arts, her philosophy is first to train the mind and with that focus you will be able to achieve anything afterwards, “motivations fades, but creating a healthy mindset lasts a lifetime.” I find her positive attitude and strength infectious, I also think she is a fantastic role model for young girls to aspire to be; intelligent, confident and strong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ZeH3K-vSE

Today’s 5 Favorites is actually only three! I got to number four and was stuck, I could think of other people to include but it took me time to think of them. I think a role model should be someone who instantly spring to mind, inspires and motivates you, not just someone who should or sounds good.

Please share your role models, if you have any, with me below

Fantasies aside, it is a dream of mine to see him live and even better attend the Kokua Festival in Hawaii, to watch him perform. Here’s a video of him at the festival in 2010…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdyigY9orew

I tend to love all his stuff, some albums more than other. I love listening to the lyrics in his songs, they all have meanings, lessons or a story. This is one of my favorites from a much older album, I found this live version just now and loved it….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gleTEA8eHY

Let me know your favorite Jack song if you’re a fan

Love all the songs off the recently released EP, Truly Yours, but I think this is my favorite. I never get excited for artists to release new albums but I can not wait for his upcoming album, Born Sinner, later this year.

To listen to the full EP on YouTube….click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZakAmlcL9w

When I’m told, people have been through worse or someones hit rock bottom and come out the other side, it means nothing to me. I understand those things 110% but does it change my life at that moment, no.

I think the reason it’s never been of any use as motivation to me is, I have no emotional connections to these ‘people’.

As heart breaking as it is to watch a starving family in Africa or a natural disaster destroy lives forever, it’s never going to hit as hard if you’re not connected in anyway to it, bar compassion for another human being of course. There’s a big difference to hearing about disaster on the news than hearing from it straight from the horses mouth, it’s raw and it’s real.

When I heard a story of someone close to me overcoming an unthinkable situation, that I could not even to begin imagine, it really struck me to feel hope about every aspect of my life that I doubt. Even through an unbelievably hard time, this person was determined to fight to make it better because they value their life that much. Not to strive for any kind of life, just fight for life itself. No matter what, always remember how treasured any human life is.

Many of us say we appreciate our lives but do we honestly ever stop to think how lucky we really are, no matter what, we are alive and have the chance to live, explore and discover so many incredible things.

I remember seeing this picture ages ago and looked it up today to remind myself. Whenever you feel the world’s out to get you and you have the worst luck, remember, just by being able to read this you actually have the absolute best luck

It wouldn’t be top of anyone’s list to describe themselves as judgmental but we all are more than we realize, every single day. Even if you’re just flicking through the television, within a split second you’ve judged yes, no or maybe on what show will be good and worth watching. 

The same way you  decide within seconds of walking in to a room of people who you like, who you don’t and who you feel indifferently about.

This categorizing of so many things in our everyday life is completely judgmental and wrong yet we’ve all been guilty of it, some of us everyday. What gives anyone the right to decide if another human being is worth their time or on the other hand if they are not. I think this type of arrogance can lead to an unsettled inner peace, if you can learn to try and accept people as equal, you will feel more at ease and carry less negativity throughout life. 

The middle ground can be just as wrong when I think about it. Deciding that you don’t have a problem with someone but they’re of no interest to you at all, before you’ve even spoken, is still ranking people in order of importance. You can’t SEE people’s minds, souls or personalities, the traits that should be valued. Instead we make judgments on things such as clothes, hair, speech and how similar they are to yourself. People tend to gravitate towards common ground in others, as it’s less threatening.

It’s hard not to make assumptions on people but it’s far more interesting to discover a person through getting to know them yourself, rather than judging from afar or from what other have said about them. Practice having an open heart and mind to everyone you come in to contact with. Being kind and compassionate to others is a step to true happiness and inner peace. 

“If there is love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost, if you continue to see other beings as enemies, then no matter how much knowledge or education you have, no matter how much material progress is made, only suffering and confusion will ensue.” – Dalai Lama

This is my little cutie called Kendra, I’ve had her for almost two months now and am completely in love….

As I follow a vegan diet myself, I would rather her eat the same. You wouldn’t want your pet to be killed, to feed another animal.So why should another animals life have to be taken, to feed your pet? Also, I don’t like all the nasty stuff they put in packaged pet food so I either make her meals fresh or feed her this dry food I make myself.

I tried a few recipes but this one was Ken’s clear favortie! It is 100% vegan and the parsley helps to naturally freshen breath. Which is handy because as hard as I try with a baby tooth brush and tube of milk teeth, she’s not a big fan of the whole situation!

Support animal welfare while caring for your pets by making them these vegan treats. For more information on protecting the right’s of animals and how you can help visit www.peta.org.uk

Recipe

Ingredients

• ¼ cup of peanut butter 
• ½ cup water 
• 2Tbsp oil (I used organic sunflower)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup of plain white flour
• 1 Tbsp of dried parsley 

1. preheat the over to 180′C or 350′F. Line a baking tray with foil or paper and lightly grease.
2. In a mixing bowl combine the peanut butter, water and oil. Mix until peanut butter has blended in. 
3. In a separate bowl, mix the white flour, whole wheat flour and the parsley. Slowly add a little flour to the wet mixture, stirring well each time to avoid lumps. Repeat this until mix is combined. If mix is too dry, add more water slowly as needed.
4. Use your hand to form a dough and knead. Roll out evenly depending on how thick you want your biscuits, use cutters to make shapes and transfer on to baking tray.
5. Place in oven for 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown. Store in an airtight box, mine were gone in a week but due to the ingredients I’m sure they’d last longer. 

5 Favorite Films -

• Silver Linings Playbook – Despite what I put before I actually would say this is one of my favorite films of all time. It was such a moving and true to life story about the kind of challenges people can face when suffering with any mental illness. Jennifer Lawrence is my favorite actress at the moment but I thought Bradley Cooper made this film what it was.
• Lawless – Can’t remember when it was I saw this but I thought it was amazing, such a great story. Tom Hardy’s also one of my favorite actors so that made it all the more watchable Looking forward to seeing it again on DVD.

• Think Like a Man – I’ve massively gone off rom coms in the past few years but I found this film hilarious. It was romantic but not in a cliche way, very funny and interesting too.

• The Avengers – Wasn’t a dull moment throughout, glad I got to see it at on the big screen rather than DVD.

• Frankenweenie – This was a bit of a wildcard choice but I thought it deserved a mention. I always enjoy Tim Burton films but this was very different to anything I’d seen of his before. The entire length of the film was in black and white and I loved the music throughout.

I haven’t rushed to see many films so far this year, as I haven’t been too interested in a lot that has been on. I am looking forward to a few films this year though including The Hangover 3, I loved the first two so I’m really excited to see how they wrap the story up in this last one.

I like a spin on a fairy tail so I’m looking forward to seeing James Franco in OZ. The original is one of my favorite films from when I was younger, this will be completely different but I’m looking forward to seeing how they do it. 

Animation wise I’m excited to see Monsters Inc 2 (Monsters University) I’ve always loved Pixar films and even though Monsters Inc isn’t up there for me with Toy Story, I still liked the original a lot. No ones ever too old for a Disney film!