Reflections - things I learned from 2017

Here is the second instalment of 2017's Reflection series. If you didn't see the first post - click here.

If you want to see previous posts then the links are below:

Favourites of 2015

Favourites of 2016

Lessons of 2015

Lessons of 2016

• Always, always, always listen to your gut 

• It's okay to let people go

• Tough love actually works

• I cry at weddings

• If you let your guard down and people in, you can be rewarded 

• Despite the above, you do sometimes need to keep your guard up

• You can still be empathic and a shoulder to cry on without taking on everyone's troubles as if they are your own

• Every cloud has a silver lining, and with every difficult experience comes a lesson or a little more knowledge about life, yourself and people

• Be honest when you need help AND ASK FOR IT 

• Don't get a massage just before exam and revision period

• First, second and third impressions can be wrong

• You can miss someone you don't even really know 

• Imposter syndrome is pandemic 

• Sometimes you just know when something has to end 

• If you want something to happen - don't be afraid to go for it

• Working > studying 

• Having a place to call home is more important than I realised 

• I'm ready to stop going to the hospital 

• I can sorta, kinda "run" a 10k

• Tea-pickled eggs are not as enjoyable to eat as they are to make 

• I'm still making rookie mistakes 

• The idea of someone or something is often better than reality

• Reality is sometimes better than the idea of something or someone

• People can disappoint you and let you down

• You can expect too much from people so you end up feeling disappointed and let down

• Figuring out what you don't want is as instructive as figuring out what you do want 

• Puns are a universal language

• I could be a professional secret keeper 

• Baked goods are a great ice-breaker 

• I no longer enjoy Twitter 

• I will never grow tired of life, or of living 

• There are a lot of compliments I need to practice accepting 

• Some people don't want advice, even if they ask for it

• Some of my favourite people think I'm one of their favourite people too

• You can be surprised by who your favourite people end up being

• You can curl your hair with hair-straighteners

• Storage heaters are more complicated to understand than a law degree

• I need both the City and the countryside to stay sane

• Libraries are actually a good place to study

• I am very lucky 

• Life is still an incredible, surprising and wonderful thing (and far too much has happened this year for me to neatly sum it up in these lessons)

What life lessons did 2017 bring for you?

How to get in touch:
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Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
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Reflections - some of my favourites of 2017

As I have taken to do at this time of year, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the past year. Two posts will follow - this one of some of my favourite things of 2017, and another one on things I've learned in the last year (coming soon). I will try not repeat too many of the same things from previous years' posts, but be warned there may be a few similar!

If you want to see previous posts then the links are below:

Favourites of 2015 

Favourites of 2016

Lessons of 2015

Lessons of 2016

As I said last year (and the year before)...without further ado, and in the immortal words of Julie Andrews, these are a few of my favourite things (from 2017)...

• Red wine

• Reunions

• Rooftop bars in London

• Walking - both for perspective and health

• End of exams - especially if someone else pays for a celebratory lunch

• My gut instinct

• Getting braver, and going for what I want

• Polaroid pictures 

• My friends and family 

• A summer of work

• An actual cat burglar 

• Re-watching my 1SecondEveryday videos 

• Month In Review videos - even if I don't film them every month...

• Playing join-the-dots with freckles

• Pimms/Beer/Cider/Picnics at the cricket

• Impromptu plans - although I don't think you can actually plan anything that is impromptu...

• Being a pedant - see above

• Trying (and failing) to (temporarily) dye my hair purple

• Friends trekking across London to provide sustenance of more than one kind

• Texts that start with, "Do you want to come round to mine for dinner?" and end with "I'll cook".

• Perfecting my party trick of pill-swallowing

• Staycations

• FINALLY getting free coffee(s) at Pret

• Kumquats

• Telling stories about kumquats

• Being teased about my stories of kumquats

• My being-discharged-from-hospital anniversary being renamed my squirrel anniversary

• Reaching four years since I left hospital

• Puns - forever and always one of the ways to my heart

• Well-timed, freshly-boiled kettles

• Good grammar

• Good manners

• "Good morning"s

• Good referencing - in life, not just in essays

• Making time for self-care

• Sheet masks

• Yoga – especially Child’s Pose

• Early nights

• Late nights

• A dazzlingly coloured wireless speaker

• The Eiffel Tower light show

• Being the hostess

• Being the hosted 

• Being mistaken for a Parisian

• Being afraid of an answer, but asking anyway

• Robing rooms and court rooms (as always)

• Having one of my idols as a mentor

• The notification "xxxx has tagged you in a comment/post"

• Voice notes

• Screenshots and a flurry of messaging

• Still having more favourites than not, despite a roller-coaster of a year

...and so much more...

What are your favourite things of 2017? 

How to get in touch:
YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Month In Review: SEPTEMBER 2017

September 2017 in review, featuring the importance of boundaries, saying goodbye and the deliciousness of lamb tagine.
How was your September?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life 
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co...
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Month In Review: AUGUST 2017

August 2017 In Review - featuring salads, anniversaries and interruptions.
Anniversary post

How would you sum up your August?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life 
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co...
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Month In Review: JULY 2017

July 2017 In Review - featuring Rihanna quotes, homemade muesli and the power of change.

Granola recipe - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/a-healthy-start-to-day-breakfast.html 

How was your July?

How to get in touch:

YouTube 
Twitter
Instagram
Email
Facebook

Month In Review: JUNE 2017

June 2017 in review, featuring batch-cooking, 'going for it' and saying hello.


May In Review : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssjxy... 


How would you sum up your June?


How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life 
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co...
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Month In Review: MAY 2017

May 2017 in review - talking feeling the fear, asking for help and revision schedules.

March In Review

Mood-boosting foods video

What are some of your lessons from May? Have you got any goals for June?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life

Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/

Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Month In Review: MARCH 2017

Quote of the month: "You get in life what you have the courage to ask for." - Oprah Winfrey

Healthy meal/food: supplement regime

Lesson of the month: Don't burn the candle at both ends

Healthy thing: group exercise

Goal for April: routine of good food, exercise, study/work and being outside with friends

What was your favourite thing about March? How would you sum up the month in a quote? I'd love to know if you have a goal for April!

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life 
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co...
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Reflections - things I learned from 2016

Here is the second instalment of my 'Reflecting on 2016' series. If you didn't catch the first one, listing some of my favourite things click here, and if you want to read my life lessons from 2015, and see if I repeat any (I did have to check myself) then click here...

• Being a student isn't all laughter and hanging out with your mates

• Being a student isn't all studying and hanging out in the library

• You can't make yourself feel more for someone than you do, however much you may want to

• Grief can hit you out of the blue

• I don't like my family living in different countries

• Change is good

• I'm learning to love LinkedIn

• My intuition/gut instinct is spookily correct

• Law degrees are hard work

• Goodbyes are never easy

• I somehow know enough about make-up that I got offered a job at Space NK on a window-shopping trip

• Just because someone has done a "bad" thing, it doesn't make them a "bad" person

• Sometimes you have to go further into something to get closure/know where you stand/know how you feel

• I look younger than I am

• 'Feeling the fear and doing it anyway' is harder than it sounds

• I'm more comfortable with being wrong, or looking silly, than I ever have been

• I don't always practise what I preach

• When you know, you know, and don't let anyone (including yourself) convince you that you don't

• I have a fantastic NHS doctor (not a new lesson)

• It takes me a while to open up, and that's okay (another not new lesson)

• I love an afternoon of batch-cooking

• Flu over Christmas and New Year is the worst

• I'm one of life's feeders/looker-afterers

• It's enough for things to be 'good enough'

• It's okay to feel like you've made a mistake 

• I'd rather try than not

• I'm still finding my balance

• I'm still finding my health

• I can be made speechless

• I can achieve things I thought were impossible for me

• There is always a positive to every negative

• This year has far outweighed my expectations

• I am now sufficiently enough of a grown-up that if I get a bad haircut, I don't cry

• I am not sufficiently enough of a grown-up when it comes to needing help with my CV

• Inside me is a lioness that I am able to tap into more and more

• Life is still an incredible, surprising and wonderful thing (and far too much has happened this year for me to neatly sum it up in these lessons)

What life lessons did 2016 bring for you?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life