Am I the next Ebenezer Scrooge???

Hello everybody !

'It's the most wonderful time of the year...'   those are the words that Andy Williams once said about Christmas, however I was wondering whether Christmas time is actually as wonderful as all Xmas songs tend to tell us.

Recently Christmas atmosphere is becoming more and more about a commercial boom rather then an actual time spend within your relatives and the ones that you love.
People are going crazy about buying gifts as if it was the only aim; who gives and receives the best Christmas presents.
Preparing a Christmas dinner is way to overrated, not many people are capable of preparing the food in a nice and calm atmosphere, they are even less likely to actually enjoy the division of Xmas tasks such as cooking,baking, cleaning, putting on and decorating a Christmas tree, wrapping up gifts and so on...

Some people have to work even on the Christmas Eve, at universities, well they give you a Christmas break, but you have so much homework and so much to study for that you can't even ...

 You know what ... WHATEVER ! I LOVE CHRISTMAS


Even though, my mum is so stressed out when it comes to preparing Christmas, my sister and I are always complaining about the cleaning, my dad is moaning about how much money is wasted during this period and my brother is just being lazy I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CHRISTMAS.

Because no matter what, this is maybe the only time of the year when we actually get to spend time together, sing carols together, eat fancy food, laugh, drink. watch for the x time Kevin Home Alone and just be together. To be honest with you, my Christmas is nothing like those ones in the american movies, where everything is so magical, but I would have changed them.

My family can be really messed up, but guess what I Love it and that's why I adore XMAS, as simple as that :)



Merry Christmas everybody!!!!







   

10.12.1948

Hello there !

Here I am again, I'd like to share with you a fact that most of us don't even pay attention to, however we all enjoy its achievement every day.

Sixty eight years ago on the 10th of December the organisation of United Nations approved the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights (UDHR). Back then it was a milestone for humanity as it was a first document to concede those rights to all people and all nations without any exceptions. What is more, it was made by group of a people who represented a variety of legal and cultural background from all around the world.

It is worth remembering that so far it has been translated into over 500 hundred languages, which means that not only it has been introduced in countries that are well developed but also in those where access to education is insufficient.

We all shall celebrate this day by choosing a path that leads us to a world yet more equal.

.

Not good enough ...

Talent vs Skills

Today’s blog will be quite short. If you think that I’m being lazy and that’s why I’ve decided to shorten it, that’s not the case. I just thought that sometimes it’s better  to say less when you're trying to explain things. Moreover, the more coherent it is the better you guys will remember it. Because as someone said the wisdom is not what you learn from one day to another but it’s what stays in your head. After that introduction let me ask you something:  

How many times have you complained about not being gifted? What I mean by saying 'not being gifted' is that you think that you’re not talented enough. We as humans we tend to look for excuses for our laziness and failures.

Allow me to put one thought in your mind; talent is not necessarily a synonym for success. Only people who can combine talent with skills will be 100% fulfilled and satisfied with their success. As a matter of fact, successes that are easily achieved don’t normally fulfil us with pleasure and proud of hard work.

Talent is something that you’re born with. However, skills are gained throughout our lives by working hard and pushing ourselves harder and harder to make our goals and dreams reality. 

  “The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft." - Will Smith

What would you like to do before you die ?

Bucket list

Hi there, today I want to talk to you about a very special list, a list that you might have heard of but if you have not then stay with me! Firstly, I’ll explain to you what a bucket list is all about and later I’ll tell you why it’s so important to make your own list!

So, by definition a bucket list is a list of things to do before you die.

However, recently it has attained a stronger meaning. It’s not only a simple list of things to do but it’s a long process of designing your dreams and making them a reality.  I believe that we all have dreams, nevertheless not all of us are determined enough to carry on pursuing our dreams when we’ve failed to achieve them the first time. The typical human behaviour is to give up on their goals the second they’ve tried and didn’t make it. It is vital to remember that sometimes the experience we gain during the hard times and struggles we face while getting closer to achieving our destination is more important that the goal or the dream itself.

Throughout all the process of getting what you want, what is the most adventurous and enriching of all? The fact that you finally got what you’ve always dreamed of or the whole journey that led you to achieve it? Think about all people that you met, the new things you experienced and the all the new knowledge you gained. Whenever you’re exposing yourself to something new… don’t be scared and give it a shot! It may just be one of the best chapters in your life!

A very wise man, Paul Arden once said :

‘It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't.’

By the way you should definitely know where that expression comes from; well it derives from the term "kicked the bucket" which means to die.  Let me give you an example, so that you can remember it better :

“Didn't you hear? He kicked the bucket - had a heart attack, I think.”

Okay, I wouldn’t like to make this blog too long so let me tell you :

Why it’s important to make your own bucket list:

1)      It will keep your imagination going – the more you visualise your dreams the more they will become reality! J

2)      Just by writing down your dreams you’re keeping your life goals alive!

3)      You’re pushing yourself harder and harder in order to complete your bucket list as you feel positively motivated to tick each item of your list!

4)      This empty space is for you, you can put your own reason ;) ……………………………………….

And remember, DON’T EVER LET ANYONE tell you that you can’t do something neither ever give up on your dreams!!! You’re the one who is creating your own life, make the most of it, make it beautiful! J

Love Alex  

Exercising you brain

Exercising you brain

Did you know that you can exercise you brain?

We’ve heard so many times that exercise is good for your body and overall health but have you ever heard that our brain just like others organs in our body in order to stay healthy needs regular exercise?

Studies show that you can boost your brainpower with simple activities, and guess what, it doesn’t matter what age you are.

There are 4 different areas of mental activity:               

*language
* number skills
*reasoning
*creativity

As I know that most of my readers are studying some kind of philology let’s focus first on:

*language : Do you find learning vocabulary difficult or maybe you enjoy underlining new words and writing them down to add to your word list? Like it or not it’s one of the best and most effective exercises to keep you mentally alert. Plus the more new vocabulary you use the more people will notice it and trust me using a sophisticated vocabulary is a sign of intelligence and wisdom.

Small exercise to  start with : get yourself a good dictionary, check even those words that you think you know on the side write down synonyms  it will approve your abilities to communicate with more specific language.  At least but not last read many books it will automatically increase your intuition and sense of good grammar

*Number skills – nowadays everyone is using a calculator and I guess you’re happy that you left those long hours of Maths behind but counting in your head is amazing when it comes to memorising things. One exercise that you should keep in your mind is : whenever you go shopping try to sum up how much you’ll be spending on the counter. Not only it will help your budget but also It will keep your brain fit

*Reasoning skills – Are you familiar with logically valid argument and an invalid one?  You might be confused as normally : when conclusion is reached people tend to think that it is logic but careful it’s not about the fact that conclusion is reached but  how it is reached. 
The conclusion should always follow the premises.
And oh well, sorry to say that but you don’t have to always agree with it

*Creative skills – What does creative even mean? Where is the limit of being or not being creative? Many of us can ask themselves if we are or not creative but let me say something all of us have some talents but being creative is knowing how to develop talent into skills.
A good exercise for creativity : when you do something often try to do it in a different way, for example when you’re cooking a typical dish when you’d normally use a recipe this time try to make it your own way by adding new ingredients . It might turn up worst than usually but what if it will be a new mouth-watering version of your old dish – it’s worth giving a shot ! 

Poppy Day

Poppy Day

11^th of November of 1918 is the date when the First World War, also called the Great War ended.

In Poland on the same day we celebrate the National Independence Day commemorating the anniversary of, just as the name says, the Polish Independence. It is worth mentioning that Poland basically didn’t exist on the maps because for 123 years we were partitioned by Austria-Hungary, Germany (at that time Prussia) and Russia.

However, this is not what I wanted to talk to you about. Have you ever heard of Poppy Day, if not, stay with me and find out what it is!

The 11^th hour  of the 11^th  day of the 11^th  month

Poppy Day, also known as Remembrance Day in Britain and Veteran's day in America is part of British culture, customs and tradition, although it’s  not only celebrated in Britain. 

Every year people gather together to commemorate not only the sacrifice of soldiers, servicemen and nurses but also the pain, hunger and death of civilians in times of war.

Traditionally, there’s a two-minute silence on the eleventh hour of eleventh day of the eleventh month, so it would be the 11^th of November but nowadays in the UK we can also observe ceremonies on the Sunday following November 11th.

During that day there are many church services around the UK and wreaths of poppies are placed on war memorials all around the country. Moreover, individual people place small wooden crosses in Gardens of Remembrance as a sign of memory and respect for those who died during the war.

But what brings the most attention is the fact that you see many people in the streets wearing little poppies on their coats and jackets and also you can see poppies placed on cars. It’s a beautiful way of saying that they remember the people who gave up their lives so that we could live in a peaceful world and will always be in their hearts.  

You probably wonder why a poppy is the flower that is associated with that day, well there’s an appealing story behind that wonderful tradition that I would like tell you shortly.

Colonel John McCrae wrote a poem called 'In Flanders Fields' where he captured the image of British people who were waiting for many young soldiers who didn’t get the chance to return. He died in a French hospital but before that he had said to the doctor "Tell them this . . . If you break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep."
In a reply to those words an American woman Miss Moina Michael* wrote a poem and to commemorate those who died, she brought 25 poppies and wore one herself as a way to say that she won’t forget. After that, a French woman came up with an idea to make artificial poppies and sell them in order to help ex-service men and their dependants in need. And that’s how it led to Britain's first Poppy Day in 1921. All the money raised was given to help the children in war-devastated areas. Nowadays, The Royal British Legion produces poppies in its own factory. The goal is to provide help in time of need to all those who have served in the armed forces, their widows and dependants.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

     Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow            
In Flanders fields.

 * The Flanders Fields Red Poppy was first created as a symbol of remembrance by an American teacher; Miss Moina Belle Michael.

One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman

One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman

The feminism -  a notion that recently has acquired very negative connotation. Many people criticise feminists without even knowing exactly what they’re fighting for. They tend to think that it is very radical activity that not only fights for women’s rights but often is associated with men hatred, let alone is trying to show the superiority of woman. This is what worries me the most. How on Earth people, who have no idea what feminism is about, dare to criticise or fight against believes of feminists? Speaking of which, feminism by definition is the belief in a gender equality which means that both men and women should have equal opportunities and rights to be treated equally in all fields of life such as work, home activities, society relations etc.

How many times we have heard ‘for being a woman you drive really good’ or ‘women are supposed to sit at home and raise children’ or going further ‘men will never be as good as women’ at raising children. Why society depending on our sex is deciding or judging whether we’re good at something or not? Just because someone was born a man or a woman doesn’t mean that he or she will do something better or worst. Or how many times we’ve heard that men should be strong and brave so they are not supposed to cry and on the contrary that women should be fragile and delicate. Both men and women have rights to be vulnerable or strong, there’s nothing wrong with men who cry nor with women who are confident and powerful. 

We should be evaluated by our skills and capacity to do something and not by our gender. Even
though we live in a 21^st century and so many changes have already been introduced yet we daily hear about women who can’t decide about their own bodies, about bosses who are using their power to look for a little bit too long and come a little bit too close, about violence on women, let alone feminicide . Sadly yet we cannot say that there’s a country in the world where full gender equality has been achieved. Recent events have shown that even one of the most active country when it comes to a fight for gender equality, US has in their politics a strong individual that yet disrespects women as it said Michelle Obama ‘he has said so many different things about women that are so shocking, so demeaning […] we saw this candidate actually bragging about assaulting women’. This only shows that yet there are many things to change and we can make that change. As Emma Watson said: ‘If not me who, if not now when’ 

That’s why I strongly believe that we have to spread that thought. That it is not about being better or worst then anybody it’s about being a woman or a man it’s a about human rights that are given to everyone without any division.

Here, as a conclusion I would like to share with you a short youtube video that made me realise that feminism doesn’t have to be an unpopular or negative word and that gender equality is worth fighting for because we all deserve to be treated the same way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9SUAcNlVQ4&t=300s

Love,
Alex

A story to be told

A story to be told…

Throughout all our lifes we discover so many different things; facts about food, people and places. We learn and we teach, we read and we write. They say you learn throughout your life and yet you die stupid.

         Even though over 70 years have passed since the Second World War there’s still so many untold stories, heroes undiscovered and mysteries unsolved. I’ve recently read a book, which by the way I highly recommend (it is called Lo Que Mueve el Mundo) and I found a very moving story that I had never heard before and I thought I would like to share it with you.

            As most of you probably know the Second World War finished on 8th May 1945. It was the most dramatic military battle that a human being fought in terms of lifes that were taken. Statistics say that over 60 millions were killed. The death is inevitable but war changes the meaning of death ...

         On the 3rd of May one of the worst shipping catastrophes of all times happened; where almost 5000 people died. The ship was called Cap Arcona and it was a German ocean liner that was used for exclusive trips from Germany to South America before the Second World War began. Later on, German soldiers and civilians were being constantly transported on board of Cap Arcona while escaping from the Red Army. Finally, it became a prison ship where people from the Nazi concentration camps were held.

 The end of the war was in the air when British Royal Air Forces threatened German militaries on the ship and told them if they didn’t leave the Lubeck Bay on the Baltic Sea they will start the attack and bombard their ships. Unfortunately, they didn’t listen and the RAF began the attack. 

 Couple of hours before the attack The Red Cross found out that there were almost 5000 prisoners from concentrations camps held on the ship and although they sent an SOS message to the RAF it didn’t make it on time and it was too late.

Around 1000 prisoners managed to escape from the burning ship, they managed to survive many atrocities such as the Holocaust along with hunger, cold and other attacks only to later be killed by hundreds of Nazi soldiers waiting for them on the land. Only 300 survived from that terrifying ordeal.


  

             It is only one of many stories that the war brought us and I believe that somehow we owe those people who died at least our thoughts and memories. 

When the weather .... about a powerful drink

When the weather…

When the weather outside is nothing but making you feel as you want to stay all day long in bed people tend to be grumpy and depressed. Even though autumn can be that period of time when you catch a cold and flu; there’s one thing certain; it is not an excuse to start being lazy and let those illnesses put you in bed.

How can you prevent this from happening? Obviously there are many different tablets available on the market that not only cost money but also are likely to be packed with chemicals and preservatives. However, there’s no need to buy them, let me tell you about one amazing remedy for a cold.
Make your own home-made medicine by adding to warm water, some honey, lemon juice and a slice of ginger.
Drink it every day first thing in the morning right before your breakfast and I promise you will soon see the difference.

Find out more about the benefits that this beverage has on your body:

1) Even though lemons are acidic they naturally help reduce acid in the human body and that helps to fight diseases

2) Ginger and lemon are amazing when it comes to boost your immune system, as they are packed with Vitamin C

3) It is also proved that ginger helps to reduce craving for carbohydrates and fatty foods as it normalizes sugar levels

4) Honey is incredibly beneficial for your skin and hair and has many other benefits such as natural antibacterial properties among others

I could go on for so much longer about this but your should go do your own research and see how good all this is for your health.

Let me give you some simple tips on how to make you own, homemade drink :

1) Take your favourite mug and pour some warm water into it (remember it shouldn’t neither hot nor boiling as honey loses its properties in hot water)

2) Add one tablespoon or two (if you have a sweet tooth) of honey and stir – let it melt

3) Add freshly squeezed lemon juice – ½ lemon

4) And to add more vitamins add 2 slices of ginger

It’s a perfect drink for that cold outside!! It warms you up, gives you energy in the mornings and also boosts your metabolism!

Enjoy xxx