All By Myself…

I found this GREAT article on 50 things you can do by yourself…I am doing it this year! I’m going to try for at least once a week, doesn’t have to be in any particular order.

50 Things to do by yourself

All credit belongs to Jo ChunYan

• Start your own vegetable patch in your garden. Or plant them in larger planter boxes if you don’t have the space.
• Bake something that you have never made before.
• Spend a day at a museum or art gallery.
• Meditate – sit, be still and devote time to listening to your breath.
• Review and update your core desired feelings.
• Have dinner on a your own in a nice restaurant – take time to really enjoy the food.
• Read your favourite chapters from the books you love.
• Go to a farmer’s market, basket in hand and stock up on fresh, seasonal, organic produce.
• Go for a walk – in nature, outdoors and enjoy breathing the fresh air.
• Make some popcorn, add your own toppings (be creative!) and have a movie marathon.
• Listen to an album from start to finish without doing anything else. Or find a playlist that resonates with what you are feeling.
• Go out for a long Sunday brunch.
• See a film at the cinema on your own – you won’t have to share your popcorn.
• Do a grocery shop at your favourite organic grocers and splurge on something you don’t have very often. My local organic grocer also offers personalised tea blending. I just tell them what I kind of tea I want and they create a herbal blend from various organic herbs.
• Start a herb garden that will sit on your windowsill. This is perfect for small apartments. Also, most herbs are quite hardy and will last throughout the year.
• Create a mixed tape or playlists for all your different moods and occasions. I have ones for running, yoga, studying and working.
• Take your bike for a leisurely ride and go your favourite cafe.
• Rearrange your wardrobe and discover old clothes again.
• Clean and organise things around your home.
• Visit the florist and pick out a bunch of flowers for your bedside table. Use your good vase!
• Create a calming space in your home for working on your hobbies or projects.
• Create a beautiful meditation or spiritual corner – make a little altar for your crystals, meditation bowl and candles.
• Take all your old clothes, books and furniture and donate these things to charity. Make room for the new by clearing out the old.
• Paint, draw, sketch, write – let your emotions and intuition guide you to with this one.
• Make a terrarium from a selection of succulents and moss.
• Go somewhere in the city that you have never been before.
• Go to a gig, enjoy the music and dance like crazy.
• Read up on your horoscope or consult your tarot cards, angel cards!
• Send a handwritten letter to a friend, lover or family member.
• Create a Pinterest board to help visualise and bring your next adventure to life.
• Make an Acai bowl, topped with fruit, yoghurt, super foods and granola.
• Light a candle, take a relaxing bath – try adding some essential oils and herbs like sage, camomile or peppermint!
• Journal. Write up a list of things you would love to do, declare your dreams and intentions or simply empty out all your thoughts into your notebook.
• Do a face mask. Make one from the ingredients in your kitchen! Combine 1 tablespoon of honey, a banana and a few drops of lemon, mix it up and apply to your face.
• Roll out your mat and do yoga to rejuvenate, energise and relax.
• Think of 50 questions that you want the answers and consult Wikipedia.
• Do a juice cleanse for the day.
• Rearrange things in your room using Feng Shui to bring more light, flow and harmonious energy to your space.
• Give an old chest of drawers some fresh paint or replace the door knobs in your house with vintage ones.
• Give yourself a mini retreat weekend – eat healthy food, go for a massage, spoil yourself and really relax!
• Sleep, doze or power nap as much as you need to.
• Sip a cup of tea and look out the window.
• Go to the park, pack some homemade sandwiches, bring a picnic blanket and a good book.
• Catch up on all your favourite blog posts.
• Travel. I love travelling on my own because it really pushes me to live outside my comfort zone, to trust my intuition and to learn more about myself.
• Give yourself a manicure – try a different styles like Leopard prints, marbling effects, dots etc.
• Wake up early to see the sunrise. Or make time at dusk to catch the sunset.
• Go for a jog or walk by the beach. Breathe in the salty sea breeze and watch the waves lick the shore.
• Study. I love studying in my spare time. Sign up for online courses on any topic you have an interest to learn more about.
• Take a photo to depict each hour in your day.
• Make a gratitude list.

Challenges

52. Did the Challenge change you?

I don’t think that the Challenge changed me, but it definitely did make me think more. I loved doing it because there were definitely times during the weeks that it made me think about things that made me happy. I needed that this year! A couple of times, as well, it got me too write something when I just wanted to lie on the couch. It got me up, thinking and writing and that I am VERY grateful for!

I am now currently in the process of trying to find a new Challenge for 2018.

 

100 miles

51. 100 things to be thankful for…I got up to 20 because I am grateful for a lot in my life, but it’s so hard to think of 100 individual things.

1. Honestly, just feel grateful to be alive and starting to feel a lot better.
2. My family…They have helped me to not feel so alone and isolated through all the horrible things this year.
3. SafariLive just in general – YouTube clip.
4. I am SO thankful for music! Whatever mood I am in, it can either make me feel better or make me feel like someone out there has gone through what I have and I don’t feel so alone.
5. I am definitely grateful for living in Australia, everything’s a little nutty. I still think we are pretty lucky here in Australia.
6. I am grateful for being able to have a nice shower when I can.
7. I am grateful for everybody I have met…Good or Bad…They’ve taught me something that’s made me stronger.
8. I guess I’ll go with I am also grateful for every good and bad situation anymore.
9. I am grateful that I got a couple of years with my Great Grandfather. Even those couple of years have influenced me my whole life.
10. I am glad that Net Neutrality has not come up in Australia…Seriously, that stuff is whack!
11. I am VERY grateful that my partner lives near a cafe that looks out onto man-made wetland. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great place to walk around and get out.
12. I am so grateful for my pets! I like to call them both my “unofficial anxiety helper animals”. They have helped me out so much! What makes me sad is that they’ll never know!
13. I am glad that I even have one thing to be grateful about.
14. I am glad my country isn’t voting about Net Neutrality, or against it.
15. I am grateful for technology keeping me in touch with family and friends overseas (even if social media can be toxic at times).
16. I am grateful that I am able to walk by myself. Ever since my panic attack I have taken up walking nearly every day (some days are just too hot at the moment). Walking was my first way out of the house and decreasing my chances of getting agoraphobia on top as everything else as well.
17. I am grateful that I actually have at least one thing to be grateful for.
18. I am grateful that I can read.
19. I am grateful for my ability to have a backbone and stand up for what I believe!
20. I am glad for the heart that I have. It’s a kind one.

Life Lessons

52. Life Lessons learnt this year

Well this is definitely no small topic! It’d be easier to write about what I haven’t learnt this year!

• It’s during the hard time that you truly do find out who loves you and who your friends are.
• Read something that makes you feel uncomfortable, but makes you understand more.
• I think we need to start taking our health more seriously. Even when we’re young, we do take a lot of it for granted.
• Have an extra circular hobby! There’s nothing like being sick and not being able to get out and having nothing to do. Nothing to concentrate on when you are stuck inside!
• When you are feeling blue…Watch a comedy! Don’t listen to anything sad or miserable. Watch something that really makes you laugh.
• If you don’t sleep well it can really screw up your day…Ever since I started taking my anxiety medication, I have been having real trouble falling asleep.
• Although this may sound very depressing. Learn to take care of yourself, with the real important things. Don’t rely on others too help you.

 

Video killed the Radio Star

46. Technology

This was an such a coincidence that this topic is about Technology. My partners computer went a bit funny this week and we had to use our phones to figure out what might be the problem. Which brought up the conversation about how when my computer went down I also had to use my phone to work out what to do to fix it.

What would we have done if we didn’t have our phones? We’d have to take it physically somewhere.

Can’t live with it, can’t live without it either.

I am grateful for technology in that it keeps me in contact with my family and good friends. It has also been useful for my anxiety, in that I can watch funny videos, I can play games on my phone and keep myself distracted. I try to remind myself of the good things that technology provides us with when I see use it for bad.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

45. What you do for fun

This was such a fun blog post to write, because I got to write all about the fun things that I love to do! Which…Who doesn’t love that?!

• Well you probably know, especially if you’ve been readers of mine for awhile. That I love to watch and chat with other at #safarilive
• There are two games that I play pretty constantly on the PC. The Sims, which currently doesn’t work and I have to get a whole new game, just in time for the Pets games! The other game that I love to play is Guild Wars 2.
• I also love those nights where I get them all to myself and I just love to play YouTube and dance along to the videos. I sometimes will also just let my iTunes just play.
• I follow a few people via “Twitch“. It’s pretty much watching other people playing computer games. They do do other things, some, for example, some will Cosplay and live feed as they make their costumes. It’s a live feed, interactive way to pass the time.
• Of course I loooooooooooooooove to read! Sometimes I can just get so lost in the book.
• I am very lucky in that my partner lives near a man-mad type park/pond. I love just walking around and taking a seat and just watching life go by. There’s a lot of people who walk in the area and sometimes I get freaked out, but generally I really enjoy just walking around. Then I pop into the lakeside cafe and grab something yummy.

Mentor

43. A great Mentor or Teacher

I instantly knew who I was going to write about when I saw this one.

If you read my “Share Your World” post this week, you probably noticed that I wrote about my difficulties in High School and how it was difficult for me as I had learning difficulties i.e. Dyslexia, but none of the teachers recognised this…Except for one.

My Classical Studies teachers noticed that I had really good ideas, but it was my sentence and grammar structure that just seemed a little off to him. So instead of just ignoring that what we did was every time I had a huge project or written assessment come up. He would take the time to sit down with me for about an hour. We would go through what I had written so far and he would help me to correct any mistakes I made. It was the only class where I ended up with B’s AND A’s and no C’s.

Since he helped me I have had this love for anything ancient, so Ancient Rome, Egypt, Greek etc. I think he has a lot to do with that. It made me feel smart and made me feel like I wanted to be there and learn even more.