What a day I’ve had!

You know when you have one of those days that just….work? Everything seems appropriate and suddenly you’re re-enthused about life in general.

Well my today was exactly that.

The big day had finally come around…I was to share my TED talk about ‘Changing Perceptions – who you are can’t be defined by a number’

I will share a little secret with you…It was the most nervous I have ever been! I’ve never been so nervous before that I’ve felt myself becoming physically ill, but today showed me what that would feel like. The 40 minutes leading up to my entry were the most daunting and elongated moments of my life, however during that lapse of time I had some of the most thought provoking and interesting conversations with other key speakers.

A 19 year old girl, Catherine Mooleschot, who is passionate about inspiring young people to achieve their full potential, published her first book at age 13, attended multiple seminars during her VCE years, interviewed incredibly successful people, gave motivational speeches from the age of 17 and is now almost finished editing her second book. Oh and did I mention that she has her own business? INCREDIBLE!! I was so inspired by her and her love of life….the best part was how happy she was all the time, and how warmly she welcomed me despite never setting eyes on me before in her life.

Another lady I met was Dr. Fiona Lander. Having worked with the UN and WHO, she now works half the week as a Doctor, the other half as a Lawyer and is a human rights advocate in places like Afghanistan. Personally, what I loved most was her sense of humour! She was hilarious and wasn’t afraid of making jests about herself or situations, Her lighthearted and gentle humour really lightened the mood and made me feel much more comfortable with myself.

Interestingly enough, 5 minutes before I had to go on to open the event and give my speech, I felt this extraordinary sense of peace over me. It was a strange sensation, seeing as the 24 hours prior to that I’d basically been hyperventilating…but I suddenly realised that in this exact moment I am where I want to be.

Never had I thought that me, a 17 year old, would be giving a TED talk on the things that she is passionate about. Never had I thought I would meet such incredible people. Never had I thought people would be so interested to hear what I had to say.

As a result of this “mini-revelation” I was able to go onto that stage and speak from the heart, passionately and comfortably.

It was the fastest 8 minutes of my life!

I wanted to do it all again as soon as it was over, and thankfully I was able to stay and enjoy the other insanely wonderful speakers as well.

 

One thing I really took away from today’s experience was that “your future starts now”. You don’t have to wait for someone else to do it for you, because your future is unique. And so I am proud to tentatively announce that I’m reshaping this blog to something far more substantial and relevant.

I want my blog posts to be formed around inspiring young people to seek alternative ways of discovery and challenge, so that everyone has the opportunity to reap the most benefit out of their unique lives.

As I’m in year 12, it might be hard to keep up a steady post flow, however I really will endeavour to do so as much as humanly possible.

I hope that all of you out there reading this can be encouraged to take your future into your own hands and run with the ball vigorously *chuckles*….. I don’t know why that phrase made me laugh!

Please please continue to comment and send your feedback, because it is VITAL for me!!!

as always,

 

Alice

Here goes nothing…

Well, it’s holidays now, and the past two weeks have probably been the most jam-packed, stressful, non-stop weeks of my entire schooling life so far. And I’m only in year 11. *insert painful grimace*

Basically, that thing has happened to me that happens to practically all girls when they’re under stress and barely have a minute to spare. I’ve put on weight. Now…before you all go judging me, this is a choice I’ve made entirely myself. There’s no-one around me saying I “should” loose weight or I’m looking “a little flabby”, I’ve simply decided that my current lifestyle is not on, and I have complete control on how I change it!

Here’s a little background info for you:

About two years ago, I weighed 68-70 kilos. Doesn’t sound too drastic? Yeah, well I’d been like that for about a year and a half…so that was when I was 13-15 years old. That is simply not healthy.

I’d tried SO many times to loose the weight, but the stress of it and the pressure I put on myself was way too unrealistic and I basically went downhill. I tried to loose 10 kilos in 2 weeks once…didn’t happen…not a happy time of my life.

One day, I cracked. I realised that I wasn’t going to be happy with myself when I just sat around complaining. It was going to be hard, exhausting and take a long time, but I was filled with determination.

I ran everyday for months, regulated what I was eating and made sure I kept track of my weight.

Not only did I loose so much weight, tone up (minutely) and feel stronger, my mental health improved in leaps and bounds. It was my stress relief! It was the best time of my life!

I never quite made it to my goal weight of 55kgs because I was happy at 57. Mum told me I would look too skinny at 55 and I took it on board happily.

Now…I’m on the slow rise… So many times I’ve noticed myself slipping into bad habits, but I can confidently tell myself that I can and will be able to get out of it. 

So this is what I’m doing! I’m starting a new section of my blog that will follow my health journey. Possibly only for the next two weeks until school goes back, but in that amount of time, I can be feeling so much better about myself.

If I could give someone trying to loose weight a piece of advice, it would be this: Don’t do it for anyone but yourself, and keep things in perspective!

Sadly, we don’t get to recycle our bodies, and we only have one life, so as long as you’re happy and feeling healthy, that’s all that should matter. Scrap supermodels and tummy-tucks…self-empowerment is what we need.

Stay happy,

Alice

Fear

I was planning on writing a post about everything that’s making me feel fear…I actually drafted it and then deleted it straight away, mainly because I didn’t see the point in validating my fears.

So instead, I wanted to take a different approach and try and get my thoughts down on how to combat fear.

It’s such a natural human instinct, we’re perfectly designed to respond to potentially threatening situations in a way that will most benefit us, and it’s my belief that this “fight or flight” response is an incredible tool in our daily survival. But social and emotional evolution over the years suggests that it’s now snowballed into a more prevalent and debilitating form of fear, that comes as anxiety or depression. These can sometimes be brought on by irrational things…things we really shouldn’t be so afraid of!

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the short life I’ve already lived, it’s that fear can consume you if you allow it to. That’s the unfortunate truth.

But on top of that, I’ve learned that it is possible to develop ways of overcoming this tendency to fear.

Life shouldn’t be full of garden paths and marshmallow clouds…life should be full of challenges and marathons…that’s what makes us who we are!

Diamonds cannot be made unless you apply heat and pressure. We can’t be expected to face the fire and not take on the fear that accompanies it. One has to come with the other. That’s inevitable.

Perhaps you’re questioning where this is going…the plain and simple message that I want to get across is that fear and difficulty isn’t subjective…everyone experiences it! Whether you’re wealthy or poor, young or old, white or black, religious or not…it’s going to happen. After all, when you get past the skin and bones, we’re all human. In fact, our skin and bones are made of the same things!
Biology (although it’s one of the things I’m currently fearful of) has opened my eyes to the incredible fact that everything….EVERYTHING is made up of four things. Guanine, Thyamine, Adenine and Cytosine. The nitrogenous bases of our DNA.

That should set aside your fears of discrimination and racism…what’s the point? Just because the genes for my skin colour is expressed differently to that of someone living in Africa doesn’t make either of us any less of a person!

Fear doesn’t look at your DNA though..it doesn’t care about your circumstances. It’s like light in a way; light doesn’t choose who it will shine on, nor does oxygen deny some people the right to breathe!

This shouldn’t be freaking you out (hopefully)…all I’m trying to convey is that you’re not alone…and you shouldn’t be afraid of fear. Take the bull by the horns, or so to speak…I’m not sure I ever want to take a literal bull by the horns…

but on top of that…learn to appreciate and love each other for our faults, differences and independence. We’re made of the same stuff, but we should rejoice in our unique abilities.

 

Until soon,

Alice

A little about happiness

What is Happiness after all?

I suppose, at the end of the day, it comes down to our perception of it’s significance. Whether the idea of happiness seems vital to a situation or not. You can be happy to see a friend that you haven’t seen in a while, or you can be happy to see that same friend survive cancer.

However, happiness is imperative. After all, your other options aren’t nearly as uplifting or gracious.

Humans, as a whole, have created many materialistic ideas of what happiness can be, in order to implement barriers to the opposite, detrimental sadness. But what can truly contend with the innate response of being happy?

Think about this….do you really make a conscious effort to lift your spirits when someone buys you flowers? Or when you hear your favourite song being played?

Trust me though, these innate pleasures can be stolen from you…easily…unfortunately. Depression is a real and serious condition, that is in no way “weak” or “attention seeking”. It’s when someone becomes complacent with this depression and no longer seeks to improve their mental health, using it as a crutch to their dreary and broken lives…that’s when it becomes more of a problem.

What does happiness mean to you?

Before you can answer this question…you have to truly know who it is that you are. What does your personality say about you? What are your likes and dislikes? Are you aware of the things you naturally gravitate toward? Would you say you’re an optimistic or a pessimistic person?

These questions, although generally difficult to answer truthfully, are fundamental when it comes to improving your “happiness muscles”.

The Myers Briggs personality test is by far the most competent and reliable test I’ve ever come across. It gives a detailed outline of your personality type upon completion of the questionnaire…not just addressing general character traits, but delving into career types etc. All based upon the 4 letters principle. This does not by any means limit you to what comes up on that page, but it does, however, give you a bit of a taste for your personality and their general tendencies.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

In the book “emotional intelligence”, (pg.36) it explains the concept of a “meta-ability”. Basically, it means that each part of our personality builds how we react to things in life and how we use our talents specifically, including that of raw intellect. The same principle can be applied to our personalities vs. ability to be happy.

Some things to remember about happiness.

1. It’s sort of like fitness – everyone is different! For some people, it takes longer, whereas others seem completely natural at it. The best thing to keep in mind is that it is attainable to everyone, and shouldn’t be a privilege denied to some.
2. It’s cumulative – So…when you feel happy, you can build on that and enhance that if you make the effort to do so.
3. It’s important – always. Never forget that!!

It’s been a bit of a big post..hopefully you’ve enjoyed it…I certainly enjoyed writing it!
Please leave me any comments if you have any input…

Keep smiling!!

Alice

The Game Changer

Today was a tough day!
Just the general slog of life, no one particular thing, but rather a whole twisted jumble of annoying, crummy stuff really got in the way of me enjoying my Tuesday.

During lunch, I was (not unusually) down in the music department, practicing the piano for my performance on Thursday, and I found myself quite emotional.
My emotions tend to go on this kind of downward spiral:
1. Confusion – often I question things waaaay more than necessary
2. Pity – I basically put myself in the worst possible mood by doing the whole “woe is me” thing
3. Sadness – everything (and I mean everything) makes me sad
4. Anger – this is probably the worst thing to end on. I hate being angry, and unfortunately when I’m like this, everything and everyONE tends to get on my nerves

Well now that you’ve had a detailed insight into my “chasm” of a brain, here’s what I left the music department thinking (by the way, next I had two hours of mind-boggling methods—I had every right to be annoyed!)

“The whole world is full of angry people, looking for a way to break each other down, even though what they are truly searching for is someone willing to fix them”

Yeah…I know…depressing.

After texting my mum, asking her to pray strength over me for the afternoon, I recieved a text that I’ve dubbed “the Game Changer”

Philippians 2:14-15 “do all things without complaining, that you become blameless and harmless children of God. Without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

How AMAZING and PERFECT!

I can’t describe exactly how this verse changed me, but it did.
We are called to be an opposite wave in the ocean;
Where everyone else has become so used to pain and complaining, we are the ones who should encourage determination and faith.

At times, we find ourselves caught up in the “crooked and perverse generation”, perhaps behaving like them or not actively fixing our ways…but so long as we remember that we shine a LIGHT, we can always come back to the extraordinary peace we will find when we adopt this “Game Changer”

Hopefully, I’ve encouraged you, now go encourage others

Alice,