Please read x

This blog post is not about the usual light-hearted make-up/beauty topic that I usually delve into. I thought I'd get a little more serious today without trying to get too deep and meaningful so as to scare everyone away! If you continue to read on, even half way through, I salute you. I'm writing this for my own benefit really and if anyone feels cheerier by the end then that is brilliant too. So what am I actually going to ramble on about?

Being happy.

Oh god I can hear you say. That old cliche! Sometimes though it is necessary to step away from the world and take five minutes to stop and think. I'm glad you've chosen your five minutes to read this post.

Being happy is a strange old thing and sometimes it takes something horrific in your life to make you appreciate every little thing that is positive. OR, it can go the other way. Something horrific can happen and then you cannot escape the sadness you feel like you will endure forever. I've experienced both. Let me explain. When I was 16, my Dad sat me down and told me that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. This is the most horrific thing to have happened in my life. I experienced true heartache if you will, true sadness and felt what it was like to cry so hard that it hurt. Now, I'm not saying this for sympathy. I'm saying that I understand what it is like to feel like you will never be happy again. My dad was somebody I thought I would never lose and when he devastatingly passed away, it hit me hard.

However, it also made me realise that life is precious. Anything can happen. Eight months passed and my Dad was gone. If anyone had told me a year prior to my Dad's death that he would die of cancer the following year, I would have laughed in their face! He was healthy, active, a non-smoker, an occasional drinker and he ate well. 

Three years later and I feel like I am starting to fully understand that you can't be sad forever. Of course, some days I feel really sad and I think about  my  Dad on a daily basis. That's normal and natural. What I'm trying to say is, if something has got you down, try and remain positive. Easier said than done I know but what else is there to do? Sometimes you have to train yourself into a different way of thinking. I know people who really can't pick themselves up from their heartache and it is so damaging. 

Just try. 

Yesterday, I overheard a conversation between two women. One of which appeared to have cancer.

The first woman was moaning about how Christmas decorations/cards etc are in the shops now, something that is moaned about a lot. The second women then turned round and replied "well I didn't think I would be here this Christmas so I love it."

Is this not the perfect example to appreciate small things? I usually dislike Christmas without my Dad and usually do dread it but this year I feel like I've turned a corner. I'm not necessarily looking forward to the day but I'm looking forward to seeing the decorations in town, seeing my little cousin all excited and all of the general small things that come along with Christmas. 

Nobody knows what is around the corner so learn to appreciate life even if you are having a bad time. Things do look up eventually however big or small. Don't hate life, hate whatever bad thing has happened to you or is happening to you but continue to try and enjoy the small things in life. There is no point in remaining upset or angry forever no matter how hard it is not to. It will just make you feel more miserable.

I hope my rambling has made sense to somebody.

Love Leah x