100th Post

"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more, and all good things will be yours." - Swedish Proverb
Since this year has begun, I have tried to live a more simple more. One where I am content with fewer things, fewer people, the only thing I have picked up on is more responsibilities. 
The thing I began to realise was having more didn't necessarily do anything for me, and people do say that all the time. Having more does not necessarily mean having more, and more is not always good. 
We have been blessed with more food than we can consume, is this a good thing?
We have been blessed with more choices and paths in life than we could ever have imagined, is this a good thing?
We are blessed with so many people in our life, connections, acquaintances, is this a good thing? 
Admittedly, some things that are good for some may not be good for others. Having more for some, may actually feel like more. For me, it just became more of a burden.
I felt the need to constantly have more. I used to always want more of everything. More money, more attention, more connections, more clothes, just in general I wanted more. It didn't necessarily make me unhappy, it was just putting me in cycles of losing time doing things that were a waste. Wasting time online shopping, spending time on places like Tinder etc. 

When I came across this quote it just spoke volumes, because you can have and want more of something, but just choose the right things to want more of. I think for anybody it is okay to want more, just choose wisely the things you want more of. 

On a side note: Winter has finally come. It is beginning to get really cold during the days and freezing cold at night. It is just nice to be inside nice and toasty and just enjoying being in peoples company without being around crowds of people. It makes me so excited to return home for the holidays and just spend several weeks enjoying the food and company of my family and friends from home!

Learning to Love University

There are times when University gets tough. Being in a completely different place to home is daunting and frightening, learning to navigate the town, the people. The people may not be the type of people you've known back home, and they sure as hell will differ from the array of international students you will meet. University isn't all it's made up to be all the time, there will be boring days sat by yourself watching Dexter on repeat, days you'll be doing this with your housemates, days you will be stuck in the library doing work, pointless days walking around campus laughing with your friends, eating dinner out every night can even be a bit much.
But there is also a bright side to the very different experiences you will get from University.

• Those times when you are so bored in your room whilst everybody else seems to be frantically trying to meet their deadlines. Cherish these times because it might be the only alone time you'll get, the other nights they might be trying to persuade you out, or eat dinner with them, or just to simply entertain them. 
• Times when you yourself are bombarded with deadlines. It might be the only time you actually feel busy at University, make the most of it, because it most likely counts, and that £9000 you're paying, you'll be glad you had something to answer for it.
• Those horrible people you meet. That you can also forget and never see again if you don't want to, sure you might bump into them, but a little hello never hurt anybody. You'll realise how much you can tolerate people, and how good your temper actually is. Good practice for the working world I hear.
• The dirty kitchen, toilets and rooms. You'll finally learn to take care of yourself, after days of not having cutlery to use, after the bins are so filled you are having to move around THEM. The dishes you or your housemate didn't wash start to smell, this when you learn and start to appreciate home comforts and looking forward to moving out, and the only time you are looking to University to finish.
• So many people and opinions. You learn to take criticism like a real boss, you also learn to give it to. A little bit of constructive criticism goes a long way, even if sometimes you have to mentally re-word their harsh words into becoming "constructive". 
• Never ending invitations to society events/fundraising events/house parties/club nights. You learn what things to prioritise and which things are just a load of b***. You're major sense of FOMO also decreases by miles! Lord knows it is tiering if you are still suffering from FOMO during your final year of University.

All of these things can be seen as a negative, but actually things are pretty sweet when you're a student. All this extra time to either sleep, study, watch television, exercise, eat, or actually be productive with your life. It is endless. At the start it can be difficult missing familiar people, places, foods and smells, but it definitely gets better. Change is good. 

Sussex Downs

There's a great thing about being at Sussex University. It isn't until you live in a place that you can explore all the little and big things they can offer. If I'm honest, one of the reasons I came here was that every year they place a massive christmas tree in the Library Square, this enticed me, A LOT. Sad, I know. But the campus it self is beautiful as well. I didn't even know we were so close to Brighton, I didn't know what Brighton was known for until I got here.

I found out that apart from London, it has the most alcoholic spots in one area. This would explain the incredible night life we have the chance to enjoy, every night is a party night, well a potential party night.

On the other side of things is the beautiful countryside of Sussex. Over the weekend I had a little time to explore, do some hiking, and find some time for myself. With Autumn coming to an end, I wanted to hike through and just get some fresh air.

It's so nice to get away from the busy streets of brighton, the busy roads and people walking everywhere in town. Especially after a night out, it makes you feel refreshed.

Oh hey foot shot, probably not the best shoes to wear on the hike when it looks like it is about to rain.

It looks a whole lot drier than it actually was, but the muddy route made it slightly more fun.

People along these tracks are also super friendly, I'm not sure whether it's because there is a small connection that you are all doing the same thing, but people are just more open and friendly in spaces like this.