This is your world.

You have the power to create, change and improve your own life. You have to take charge, this is your life- make sure that you are in control of it. Everyone else has their own life to lead, their own choices to take and sometimes even their own mistakes to make. Don't let someone else change who you are, that can only be done if you let them, if you give up and let them take over. Decide who you are. This may be done through mistakes, experiences and challenges... But you will get there. Every single thing that happens to us in life helps shape our world. It is up to the individual to decide if you let it overcome you or if you take the pain, the hurt, the confusion, the challenge and USE it.

To Improve.

To Change.

To Grow.

To Learn.

To Let go.

To Move on.

Use it to become the person you want to be, or to validate who you are.

This is your life, are you going to live it? Are you going to give it all you have got? I hope so.

That is my plan, for every bad day, I will be that much more determined to wake up, get up and grab life with both hands and show it what I am made of. This is my life, based on my decisions.

And it is happening now.

Kooklah Xx

sometimes it is hard not to believe in the fairy-tale

I think sometimes it is hard not to believe in the fairy-tale.

To believe in everything that is just and good and right. To believe that our stories will end with a happy ending. To find the one, our prince or princess, the ever elusive soul mate.

We were almost raised on it, through tales of princesses who go to sleep only to be woken by a kiss, fall in love with a beast, who kiss frogs, leave glass slippers and look into mirrors. Where birds help you get ready, everyone has perfect hair and good people struggle and then come out victorious.

And I can understand how it happens, what a wonderful thing to exist in a world that is full of wonder, imagination and hope. Where the impossible becomes possible and the characters follow or are ruled by their heart, instead of their head. To live to the full making the most of every moment.

Real life, I think can struggle to live up to the expectations of this world- we become so weighed down with daily stressors of work, finances and home. Been single, while I mostly love it, can have its drawbacks-bad dates, boys who don't call when they say they will, times when all your friends seem to be matched up or in love.

It doesn't mean you aren't happy with your life for the most part, but sometimes that need, the baser instinct for human connection creeps through. Sometimes all we need is someone to laugh and share our deepest thoughts, feelings, fantasies and secrets with.

So have that moment, the one where you dream of different skies, think about wandering to greener pastures.  But don't let it define you, the search I mean. I really think that the more you look for something, the less chance you have of finding it. If you stress out about finding the perfect guy, all you are going to see are imperfections and you will miss out on all the wonderful experiences you could be having. Like wandering and exploring the world, kissing cute boys on nights out, finding yourself, making mistakes that will help you find your way, enjoying time with friends and family and appreciating getting the chance to spend time on your own.                                     

            

I think it really comes down to using the fairy-tale as a source of inspiration or motivation, something that will help move you through difficult days in the real world and keep you dreaming at night. When you find the guy, you will know... But for now, you have the chance to make your own fairytale, that resolves around one character. You. So go on, create it, be a modern day princess. Make your own happy ending.

Kooklah, Xx

Alone does not mean LONELY...

This is something that very little people realise. Been alone, does not have to mean that you are lacking, that there is something 'wrong' with you, or that you are in fact lonely. It just doesn't.

For me, been fully single again, I am loving it. My decisions pretty much revolve around me. What I want. What I need. What I dream. I don't have to check in.

It is also the best chance for me to really work out what I want out of life, where I see my life going and how I want to spend my time here on earth. But also, to find myself- discover what I like and don't like, what I love, what my dreams are, the experiences I want, the goals I have.

And I have questions.

Is my chosen career really for me? I am not totally sure... I used to be, but now I am not totally sure.
Should I do another degree, or a course?
What kind of place do I want to buy?
What qualities do I look for in a partner? Which of these will I compromise on? Which will be non-negotiable- and therefore highlight dealbreakers?
Who are the people in my life who really matter and treat me like I matter to them?

I will be using this time to sort these questions but also to discover who I am and become the best possible version of that. I want to travel and see the world, I want to express my beliefs and support them publicly, do a good deed everyday, write down three positive things from each day, experiement with hair, makeup, clothes and accessories, and most of all spend time with my friends and family who make my world better.

Kooklah Xx
-here is something to put a smile on a single girl's face

to do this summer

Since the end of December I have been working at completing a list I wrote, a summer bucket list if you will. I have 130 items on my list. I have completed around 44 of them with plans in place for the next few days to ensure I tick a few more off the list as well. Here is the list, I will update it tomorrow as to what I have completed already. It has been a really fun experience, and has encouraged me to make the most of every day and to appreciate the smaller things, particularly those I haven't done since I was a child.

So here is the list!!

1. Go on a picnic

2. Get up and watch a sunrise

3. Watch a sunset

4. Lie under the stars

5. Sleep under the stars

6. Lie on the grass and look at the clouds

7. Dance in the rain

8. Climb trees

9. Make a daisy chain

10. Water fight

11. Hand-feed an animal

12. Go on a hike/long walk

13. Watch Fireworks

14. Sleep on beach

15. Go to a pool party

16. Plant something

17. Walk Charlie (my dog)

18. Build a sandcastle

19. Look through telescope

20. Go on a boat

21. Dump a bucket of water on yourself

22. Mini golf/aqua golf

23. Walk along the beach

24. Beach at night

25. Jump on trampoline

26. Watch storm

27. Make a new friend

28. Girls night with Isabella and her 'chosen crew'

29. Play indoor

30. Cocktail night

31. Watch silence of the lambs with mum

32. Have/go to a bbq

33. Sleepover -old fashioned style

34. Start watching all of Seinfeld in order

35. Birthday dinner with Laura at Silo

36. Cook dinner for family

37. Photobooth pictures

38. Put message inside balloons and give them to someone

39. hang out with someone you haven't seen in ages

40. Hug someone each day

41. Read 10-15 books

42. rearrange/redecorate room

43. Write a chapter/multple pages of Violet story

44. Go to a movie alone

45. See a psychic

46. Create quote wall

47. Have a remedial massage

48. Have a facial

49. Paint nails all different colours

50. Scrabook event/friend/holiday

51. Develop Melbourne photos

52. Daily log photos on facebook

53. Time capsule

54. Stay up all night

55. Laser tag/paint ball

56. Send message in a bottle (or equivalent)

57. Create a summer playlist

58. Dance to the playlist in loungeroom or outside

59. Tie a secret to a balloon and let it go

60. Volunteer somewhere

61. Regular gym/fitness workouts

62. Do a good deed

63. Scream (empty room/isolated beach/roadside)

64. Send a postcard

65. Master five new hairstyles

66. Perfect a braid

67. Write a will/directive

68. Donate blood

69. Go to a fair

70. Have an ice cream spider

71. Put glitter hairspray in hair

72. Fingerpaint

73. Blow bubbles

74. Wear glowsticks

75. Watch 5 disney movies

76. Finish watching supernatural

77. Colour in

78. Climb on a jungle gym/play equipment

79. Skip with skipping rope/hula hoop

80. Go iceskating/rollerskating

81. Play truth and dare

82. Play fifa and kinect on xbox

83. Play board games

84. Play twister

85. Play bowling/yard boulee

86. Learn how to make a piece of origami

87. Make and fly a paper aeroplane

88. Play with a puppy/kitten

89. Buy someone a meal

90. Make iced tea or sangria

91. Donate money

92. Have a fondue night

93. Have/help with dinner party

94. Spend a day baking

95. Make homemade beauty products

96. Go on a mini road trip

97. Go to jets game not at newcastle

98. Go to a museum/gallery

99. Stay in a hotel after a night out

100. Go to a gig

101. Go to a market

102. Go on a gaol tour

103. Visit tourist spot near own home

104. Go through an open house

105. Go to an expensive store and try on clothes without buying anything

106. Send/give someone flowers for no reason

107. Write someone a letter

108. Tell someone how much they mean to you

109. Rent/watch history boys and two hands

110. Buy something from a yard sale

111. Meet a celebrity/near celebrity

112. Write letter to newspaper/magazine/ politician

113. Restore/revive blog

114. Revamp/create something with old clothes

115. Go to a Greek restaurant

116. opshop/vintage shop on a budget to create an outfit

117. Write a fan letter

118. Old movie day

119. Hippie day

120. Rockclimb

121. Go out and kiss/use a pick up line on a guy

122. Repaint my room

123. Tell a stranger they are beautiful/look good

124. Have a bubble bath with candles and a glass of wine

125. Go on or book a hot air balloon ride

126. Spend one day without using electricity

127. Send away for a passport

128. Start planning overseas trip

129. Create an Autumn list

130. Begin a bucket list for life (put a big piece of cardboard on door and write everything and anything that I think of)

I hope this list motivates someone!
K, Xx

Making your Mark...

For the past two years I have returned to my old year 7-10 high school as a mentor for the current students. Mainly I have done this through attending the Year 10 Retreat. Whilst it is a Catholic school and God and the Bible are all included in the teachings or the activities at this three day Retreat, the emphasis is on focusing on the way that the decisions and choices we make will actually influence not only the person we become but also shape how other people see us.

The three days that make up this Retreat can be really special. You see some kids come out of their shell, or truly let others see them for who they are, some kids learn to step outside of the label or image they have branded themselves with (or maybe the one that they were branded with) at school. They accept challenges, try new things, talk to different people- which takes many of them out of their comfort zone.

Through activities, questions, listening to songs or watching a movie and then having to think about the meaning behind it, hearing volunteers or staff talk about relationships in their life or struggles they have overcome the kids are encouraged to think about the choices they make and the ramifications they have for their own lives as well as everyone they are connected to.

One of my favourite activities that we do is called "Make your Mark", we tape a line on the floor and the kids pick one person from their small group to go up and whilst keeping their toes behind the line put a piece of paper as far as they can without falling over or touching the floor with more than one hand. Whilst its fun, the idea is that everyone should have the chance to make their mark on the world. To be appreciated and remembered. Following this we then encourage each of them over the course of the three days to put their own mark on the retreat cloth-something they could be remembered by, something they learnt or something they will take with them and use in the future.

Today on my way home from work, I was thinking about retreat and how I cannot wait to go again next year, when the perfect song came on the radio. The song is called "I Was Here" written and performed by Beyonce. The song is exactly what we hope every retreatant (staff, volunteers/mentors, students) will get out of life. Making my mark is so important to me, I want to have meant something but to also have helped someone make theirs. As Beyonce sings "I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here...I want to say I lived each day, until I died. I know that I had something in, somebody's life. The hearts I have touched, will be the proof that I leave. That I made a difference, and this world will see- I was here...I lived, I loved, I was here..."

My leaving message for you all is, make an impact on the world and most importantly make choices that allow you to be the person you want to be. This is how you will leave your mark.

K, Xx