One of the things pinned to my summer to do list is to read at least 10 books during the holidays. Due to the fact I study literature I very rarely get to read anything I actually want to, and to be honest I'm a pretty terrible student when it comes to reading anyway. For my first book I decided to go with one I'd heard a lot about, that being a lovely yet tear-jerking novel by John Green. I knew I had to make time to read it before deciding whether or not I could bear watching the film: the answer is no, but I will watch it anyway! 

If you haven't read it already, I would highly recommend you do. The book arrived on Thursday around 11am in a lovely package from Amazon along with some more Paul Auster to guide me through my dissertation ideas. By 1pm I'd finally got around to reading it out in the garden with not nearly enough sun cream on. A few breaks were had in between to play with the cat or clean the kitchen, but by 6pm I found myself curled up on the sofa at the very tear-jerking end of the novel. Now, for those of you who don't know me very well, you won't understand how much I've come to find reading a chore. I can't bring myself to sit in the peace and quiet, usually because what I've got to read isn't something I've chosen, but having given The Fault in Our Stars a go, I can definitely say it's a wonderful yet heartbreaking book that I was completely absorbed by and has allowed me to truly enjoy reading for pleasure once more. 

I wept on more than one occasion and once I'm no longer feeling the heart break I'll reread it and probably shed a few more tears. I'm looking forward to reading more from John Green and perhaps I'll even prepare myself to watch the film of The Fault in Our Stars...and weep some more.

As said previously, I would definitely recommend this book!

MissIsGoode

This post is a little late but the past week was my last one in Keele for 3 months and it was a little chaotic so my priority was certainly not blogging at the time. But now I'm settled back into life in Cornwall it's time to show you all the cute little monkeys we spent last Sunday with...

It wasn't until the end of last year that I discovered the existence of the Monkey Forest only 20 minutes or so from where I live in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. We waited patiently for it to reopen for the Spring and a sunny day to go. We somehow managed to wake up at a decent time after a late night of BBQs, drinks, music and a 3am wonder around the woods involving climbing steep hills and piggy backing Faye over a river - just call me Wonder Woman. But, there we were waking up from 9am onwards with the sun shining. We decided today was the day to get out of the house and join the monkeys. We'd all missed breakfast so a big lunch was in order, and once we parked up and got into the monkey forest, they had a lovely picnic area for us to tuck into our lunch.

We ended up spending more time then intended munching away but we're all big lovers of stuffing our faces, and we knew the monkeys would understand and wait patiently. And that they did:

This chap was from the French section of the Forest, with the monkeys down the hill being German - which my friend Sara pointed out was a little controversial, but these monkeys didn't appear to have any qualms...or any interaction at all for that matter. He sat posing away and gave us all the chance to get a selfie with him - I think he quite enjoyed the attention to be honest!

It wasn't exceptionally busy but just enough to have a good look at all the monkeys. There were plenty of guides around to answer all our questions about the monkeys and the forest itself. It was definitely fun for all the children that were there and the parents, and of course, myself and my bunch throughly enjoyed it!

It was such a lovely day and we spent a good few hours there with the sunshine on our side. I'd highly recommend it for a day out if you live in or visit the Stoke area as the guides tell you loads of interesting facts about the monkeys and the jobs they do there. You learn a lot and you get to look at cute little monkeys (with very big teeth) all day long!

MissIsGoode

I think this life lesson ties in nicely with my previous one about being yourself.

In my opinion, envy is a pretty evil thing, with it being one of the seven deadly sins of our lives. Whilst I admit that I get jealous of peoples lives, I think it's a shame that we do. Being envious shows that you're discontent with your own life. It can tear relationships and friendships apart. It can hold you back from your own achievements, because you're constantly comparing your life to someone else's, and feeling disappointed that yours is nothing like theirs.

There's not always harm in feeling jealous, sometimes being a little jealous can motivate you to be better than someone, or work harder at something, but I think envy can make you into a particularly competitive person, and not necessarily in a good way, and it can also make you over look the good in your own life. You can become so concerned with how someone else is living theirs, wishing it were your own or working your arse off trying to make yourself equal to (or better than) them, and end up missing the important moments in your own life. A person may be rich and famous, surrounded by wealth, but will being envious of them get you their life? No.

Inspiration is instead what you should take from someone. Whilst I believe it's important for you to inspire yourself, having people that inspire you is also a good way to keep you motivated. If a life of wealth is what you seek, don't envy someone who has it, push yourself to reach your goals. If you want to have a fit body and feel confident in yourself, don't be jealous of someone who already has that, allow them to inspire you and work hard enough to become your own inspiration.

According to Dante's Purgatory the punishment for the envious is to have your eyes sewn shut with wire...so don't let green be your colour of choice, instead take pleasure in what you have. You may not be the most beautiful, the wealthiest, the healthiest or the most successful person in the world but you're alive and in control of your own life. Happiness is more important than envy.

MissIsGoode

I think this is one of the most important lessons I've ever learnt, and it took me 20 years to manage to understand it. I spent a long time liking things because other people did, following the crowd, doing what I thought I was supposed to do and what I thought people expected of me.

But suddenly I realised I didn't have to try and be someone else any more.

source

Do you ever find yourself wishing you looked like another person? Had the figure of someone else? The brains? The life? If you spend all your time wishing to be someone you can't be, you'll never be your own person. Because, whilst you spend the time acting like the person you're trying to create, you don't even realise you have your own qualities, you don't realise that you don't always want to do the things your perfect creation is expected to, you don't wear the clothes that suit you as a person, because you're dressing to be someone you're not. 

In life you'll always find people better looking than you, smarter than you, having achieved more at your age, but that doesn't mean they're actually any better as a person. Everyone has a different life, some are born with a silver spoon, some with talent to get them wherever they want, and others are born into tough situations or mind numbingly normal lives. You can't change the life you're born into, you can only build upon it and be the you you want to be, not the person you want to be. By being yourself you can achieve all your own greatest goals, you can climb the ladder to success and you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not whilst doing it.

In the past I never used to challenge peoples opinions. I'd start off saying something and when they'd argue against it, I'd instantly back down. Because I was so afraid I was wrong I became a person that just let people walk all over me. I've come to realise I'm stronger than that and getting rid of people in my past has certainly helped me to let go of the person I was acting like, and allowed me to see my true self and my true worth. And everyone deserves to see that. 

There's enough fake people in the world, people who hide things from themselves and don't truly understand what they want in life but you don't have to be one of them. The more honest you are with yourself, the more you'll be yourself. And if people don't like you for who you are, are they even worth having in your life?

MissIsGoode