New Year: New You????

Dear Sarah of 2016,
I am sitting here writing this post at 11.15pm on New Years Eve 2015. It is a time when realistically most people will be with their friends or family wanting to bring the new year with a set idea of what they want to achieve. I suppose I am also part of this, like you I have 50,000 things that I want to achieve and narrowing them down to a small amount is completely unlikely. Some people will tell you that New Year's resolutions don't work and others will tell you that they do. But for most people they might last the few months and then break them. I know that I am overly rubbish at this, I try so hard to achieve things, but the reality is that I am gonna fail at least half of these things.

It's ok to fail, and I know that. This post is more for myself to look back and know whatever I do if I fail ultimately who cares? It is so easy to fail and live by other people's standards and even easier to disappoint your self. This past year I have discovered my love to write, like most writers I am impulsive.  Always finding another distraction and this is why I suck at sticking to things. I will start a project or have a dream that might last a few months. Every year I make a list of the things I want to achieve and I try to keep them. My problem is that alot of things won't be achieved by the end of the year. And it's not because I don't care about them. It's because everything on my list is either simply unachievable or I just don't get round to it.

I have wanted this blog to be so many things but it never seems to fit them. Rather Coral Sunset is turning into a place where I seem to share what is on my mind and be done with it. For me this seems to fit my personality to a tee. I always write what I feel on here and so this year for the blog I am going to just see what happens, and see where that takes me. That way whatever happens I am not failing, but I have also realised it doesn't matter whether I fail or achieve because whatever happens I will eventually get there. This is not me giving myself a lecture or you about resolutions or even failure, I suppose this is just me accepting myself and seeing what happens. Let life take place and see what curveballs it throws at us!

So Happy 2016!!

Christmas Blues

Over the Christmas period it can be hard to find the wood from the trees. We can get so overwhelmed with trying to capture the joy of Christmas, into one day forgetting the true meaning of Christmas. With all the stress that it brings, Christmas is about family; whether you believe in God or not and the story behind it. Christmas should be a time of love and care.

For some of us Christmas can be even harder, like the January blues, people can often find Christmas stressful for the same reasons.  Whether you have a form of anxiety or suffer from loneliness or a mental illness it can be hard. I know this from experience, I wanted to write this piece to encourage anyone who is suffering this Christmas to talk to someone about it. For me talking about my problems can be hard, because I felt that there was no one willing to listen. But you will find that there is amazing amount of people who would be willing to share and listen to you.

I have often been my own worst enemy, stopping myself from doing something or finding a way to express myself. Don't ever restrict yourself, for you are amazing!! This Christmas please find someone who you can share with, and if you have no one to share with I have enclosed a few links at the bottom.

Give your self the best Christmas present possible by not being afraid.


Sarah


List of Links:
The Samaritians
http://www.samaritans.org/

Childline
https://www.childline.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

What do we really need to make us happy?

I suppose in life in the 21st century it can seem to be so easy to know what we want. In a century where we have so much choice, technology, and freedoms. It can seem easy to be overwhelmed by the this choice, where do we go to university, how do we communicate with one another? Is it important too....

So many questions in a such a small space and time. In a way we can lose a sense of who we are and be overwhelmed by the amount of decisions we have to make in a daily basis. Some decisions are instinct, like to eat when we are hungry or to cry when we are in pain. Other decisions can take a lifetime to make. We can be so overwhelmed that we have no idea which way to go. This always for me seems to come to the question: What do we really need to make us happy?

I could answer this question in so many ways, and I know for some of us it is our families. Who take precedence over every one else. For others it is material things, or just simple events of everyday life. Happiness can be defined in so many ways that it means millions of different things to lots of different people. I asked in an earlier post What is happiness? At that time I was trying to seek answers for myself.

Normally I plan the posts I write however today at quarter to 12 at night I just decided to write this. For me this question has no answer, and I feel like this blog is turning into something bigger for me. A place to discuss the thing and issues that I don't always have the answers to. This question has been eating at me for a while, in three weeks I finally graduate and have to begin my new life. Its scary for me, but  it has made me think about this question. As I have had my head stuck in books writing essays, it has been burning in my mind.

For me time never seems to stand still and the only way I can see to answer this question is to think about the things I love. In some ways this makes it easier, I know I love my family, friends and the feeling of the breeze through my hair and watching a coral sunset (hence the name of the blog). Sometimes it can be so hard to answer. In 21st century Britain we are kept so busy it is hard to remember what is is important to us. Decisions can be the hardest and cruelest things in our lives but there is no need to be afraid. It is just important to remember the question: What do we really need to make us happy?

Please share what it is that makes you happy, I would love to know!!

Sarah x

A letter to those who just don't know: Don't be ashamed of who you are!!

Everday I wake up wondering what life will bring.  On this blog I don't really talk much about my faith however today I have been inspired. It is hard in the modern world to know to freely share your beliefs or ideas without being criticised. There will always be some one who who critices you is as part of life.

In the wake of the attacks in Paris in the last week or so it has got the Western world thinking about freedom of speech. But I think the idea is bigger than freedom of speech, more to do with identity. In modern Britain it can be so hard to know who you are, what you believe and how to get there. As a teen I searched for yours trying to understand who I was, until it hit me that I would always be changing yet the same. Parts of your character and who you are develop over time influenced by who you are with and events that happen to you. That's why I believe that being your self in the moment is the most important thing.

Whoever you are or wherever you are everyone is in tilted to their view whether it is something we agree with or not. So don't let people in your life push you towards something you don't want to do. You have the freedom to be who you are, have your own interests and believes.

For me my faith in God is extremely important, believing in a God who sees and hears everything is amazing. I am not ashamed of this, neither should you be . And if you are not sure what to believe in then remember that it's ok not to know because gradually you will. Take each day at a time and remember to enjoy life and your soon find who you are. I still am not sure what I want to with my life, but I know that one day it will come.

God Bless
Good Luck
It's not about what others think but what you think of yourself that counts!!


Sarah x