A letter to my sixteen year old self

A book of celebrity letters written to themselves as 16yr olds got me thinking...

Dear me,

Don't worry about what others think so much, especially the supposedly 'cool' girls at school. You will find out they are not that cool. Don't worry about what boys think either, they are just as scared as you underneath. It is more important to be loved by your friends and family, they will stick by you for the rest of your life and you will discover that is priceless.  Be true to yourself. Don't be afraid to make mistakes but be brave enough to admit it when you do. Start writing now and believe in your dreams, only you can make them come true. Have confidence in yourself, don't let others put you off by their interpretations of what life is. Practice compassion with yourself and with others, it is a strength not a weakness. Nothing worth doing is ever easy, so if it is hard, it is probably worth it. You are young -  enjoy it, you have a great adventure ahead of you. Do it, take a great big bite, it is there for the taking, no one is going to hand it you on a plate.

Lots of love 33 year old me. x

Neither up nor down!

It is time to come clean. The name for this blog is both metaphorical and physical. You see I actually live half way up a hill. Everyone outside my front window is walking a 45 degree angle - it gives a rather strange and unique perspective on life as I watch them bent over and battling against the wind and gradient or else free-wheeling towards the bottom.  The top of my hill (or any hill) is seen as a destination, an achievement, a place where the view is better, so I started to think that is where I am heading to in life. It's just that I seem to have been stuck around the tricky steep bit right in the middle lately! I am trying to write a book, to write my way out of the darkness and have something I can call my own. I hope it is the one thing that I am good at. I am trying to discover my potential and as Oprah would say 'live my best life'. So you see that is why I often feel just half way up the hill. I keep aiming for the top, for the day when I can stand tall and appreciate the view, whilst still remembering that beauty is all around me now and however good it is to have dreams I must not pursue it at the cost of reality.