A letter to 26 year old me | 2018

Dear 26-year-old, Jade.

I'm writing you this sat at my dining table, after having a horrible day. I'm hoping you're smiling reading this and embracing the fact that you're happier than ever, without a care in the world.

How are you? I hope you're well. I hope your depression and anxiety is very minimal now you've moved on with life. If not, don't worry - you'll get there. You went through years of hell, you deserve to be happy and I'm pretty positive this is the case. I've always had faith that you'd find happiness, especially throughout the darkest days. Life has a funny way of testing you doesn't it?

I bet you got that job you wanted/dreamt about, making the big numbers and kicking ass every day showing people how great you are. Don't forget how much you've grown in the last three years, there's still a lot of work to do, of course. Just promise me this; Never lose sight of happiness or your dreams. Don't let anyone take away your smile & certainly don't take shit from shitty employers, that is in the past!

Pretty sure you're at your peak in life, whatever road you're currently down. It's exciting thinking about the future and what it holds. I have high hopes for you, Jade. Strive to be the best at everything you do and never settle for anything less.

26 eh? blimey, that went fast. I couldn't be more proud of where you are now. You've handled life better than I thought you would and I'm so proud.

What's next for you? I'd love to hear what 26-year-old Jade is doing and how she is.
Can't wait to hear from you.

Love always,
23-Year-old, Jade xxx

5 ways to overcome a tough day

Photo Credit: Jaydee Kelly (me)

What do you consider a hard day? How do you unwind?

These are the questions I ask myself when I have had an unsettling day. Whether that's at work, shopping or spending the day at home. A hard day can also just be suffering from mental health which happened to me quite a lot in the last couple of months. 

1. Step away from social media

Whether you're watching Snapchat stories, reading on Twitter/Facebook or scrolling endlessly on Instagram, put your phone down and step away from any aspect of social media. I recently found myself on social media after a hard day and all I did was tear myself apart, comparing my "crap" life to other people's and to be honest, it's just not worth it. Nobodies life is perfect and social media is a false representation of what people live like. So step back, put your phone or laptop away and find other ways to focus your mind. 

2. Listen to your favourite music 

A song that has really helped make a hard day more bearable is Move you by Kelly Clarkson as the lyrics are just... comforting. As sad as the song is when you're singing you just forget everything. This song has helped me recently through the transition of leaving a job which destroyed me as a person, took away the excitement from my life and just drained me mentally. My boyfriend introduced me to this song & now I am obsessed. Highly recommend it to anyone who is finding it difficult to unwind after a tough day.

3. Read a book 

The best books to read are the ones you can get lost in, those that leave you in awe. I am a HUGE Nicholas Sparks fan and his writing just makes me feel so happy especially dealing with a difficult day. One of my all-time favourites is "A walk to remember" - read it and you'll see why :) 

4. Take a very long shower/bath

Washing the stress you feel away is the best feeling in the world. Spend those extra 10 minutes washing your hair, or singing so badly your housemates/neighbours bang on the walls to shout "shut up" to you, give yourself a nice soak in the bath and throw as many bath bombs in as you can. Just have that time to bring yourself back to normality and relax. 

5. Write it all down 

If you have a journal, great... write in it. Or if you have a blog, then write it down. Personally, I put all my stresses into scriptwriting. I turn my "hard day" into a story and expand on it for the characters I have created. I explore my creative side and use it to my advantage to make myself feel better & to dramatise some plots for my scripts. It's definitely a good way to focus your mind creatively and to spend time doing something you love. 

Thanks for reading!

Find me here: 

Instagram: @jaydeekelly 

Twitter: @crashl0nelystar 

xo

2015 | HAPPY NEW YEAR.

2015, hasn't been the best year for me at all and I'm not writing this for sympathy. If anything, I'm writing this because although I lost some great people forever, I lost 'friends' & got used, manipulated and broken down by people I was once close with. Big shout out to those people, because I'm stronger than ever :) 
This year has been nothing but drama, stress, anger from beginning to finish and there's so many things and people that are being locked within this year and it's for the best. I'm not interested in what people say behind my back, you have fun staying behind me, I'm cool with that. I'm no longer associating with people who cause uncomfortable situations for myself and those around me, who act like they're not the problem etc. I don't want to continue living my life in that vicious circle. Have fun staying in this repetitive cycle but count me out. It's being locked in 2015 because I'm done with the people who do nothing but cause hurt, sadness and drama. It's not how I want to live within 2016. It's all thats happened this year and I can't wait to see the back of it. 
My point of this post is, I'm moving forward with my life and I no longer have the time of day for those who drag me down, who hurt me maliciously and who hold my 'past' mistakes against me. I have a great circle of family and friends, I'm finally back on track with my studies and also have a positive outlook on life for the first time in years. I don't want anyone in my life who tries to stop me living peacefully. Unfortunately some things / people will NEVER change, it's not surprising at all but some of us actually want peace and happiness without others ruining that for their own satisfaction. I'm most definitely not saying 2016 will be a "New me" because it won't. If anything, I'm going to learn from this mess of a year and cut out all the bullsh*t people and things that don't / haven't made me happy. I've finally found the courage to close the door on so much, because there's no point in being angry anymore and some situations aren't worth dwelling over ever again. 

2016 starts now, more adventurous, ambitious, PEACEFUL and happy than the past two years. I'm glad this year didn't go the way I wanted it to, because I've learnt so much about those around me, about myself and about life in general. Got to say, it's not been an easy year, but it's finally over and I've never felt so happy to go into a New Year. Here's to those who stuck by me this year, thank you so much. Regardless of all the negativity, I've had some upbeat amazing moments in-between it all :)

I have so many goals in 2016 that I want to achieve, my blog being once of them. Hopefully in a years time, I'm writing so many positive things, not bashing on the year ;) lol. Have a great start to the New Year everyone, I hope you all find happiness throughout 2016 :) 

Thanks for reading, if you did :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! <3