5 Quotes To Live By May 2016
5 Quotes To Get You Through May 2016.
How HOW is it May already?
May last year was huge for me. I celebrated my anniversary as always just this time a few hundred miles from my boyfriend, I finished my final term at uni, I completed my graduate show, I moved out of my house and my town and I moved back in with my mum and dad and a week later my niece was born so it was pretty full on.
This May I am celebrating the anniversaries of all these things! Next weekend I'll have been with my boyfriend for 6 years, in the middle of the month I'm going back up to Wrexham just a few days before the day I left last year and at the end of the month it's my niece's first birthday.
Isn't insane how much can change in a year?
1. Beyonce Wasn't Built In A Day.
With the release of Ivy Park for Topshop and Lemonade in the last fortnight, it's safe to say Queen Bey is having a moment. Beyonce is SUCH an inspiration and role model for so many girls and women I thought it could only be appropriate to find a quote from her to kick off this list but when I saw this one top of the grid on Pinterest I thought it was perfect. Bey is slayin right now and has been for 2094735793 years but it's important to remember, she wasn't born wearing the crown. She had to go through Destiny's Child and a few too many camo outfits to come out on top and you will too. I'd like to refer back to this quote whenever I am having a down day this month and feel like i haven't achieved my dream career/my ideal body weight/all the life goals I thought I would have by now. Our days are coming, I can feel it.
2. Have A Great Day.
I have mentioned this COUNTLESS times now but I have a stash of quotes saved at all times to my camera roll to use as wallpaper on my phone. I change my backgrounds up quite often because I get bored and I like having something new to look at and sometimes it can make you feel like you have a whole new phone. Quotes (especially inspirational ones) are a really good background to see every time you lock and unlock your phone and I think this is a really good one. Not only is it formatted for that screen size (ain't nobody got time for a square quote on a portrait phone), it's illustrated so it looks cute and I think it is the type of daily mantra we all need to see when we unlock our phones in the morning.
3. The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off.
I know this quote is about the truth but...SO TRUE?! Everybody is prone to a little white lie like all the characters we tell children about, like faking something to get out of an event you don't want to go to, like why you haven't done your work for uni...it's human nature to lie a teeny tiny bit. But on the whole I try and lead a pretty truthful life. I have those parents who I PHYSICALLY cannot lie to, you know the ones who just KNOW things? Like the information seeps out of you silently and they just always know? I am a big believer in forgiving not forgetting and trying not to make the same mistake twice because whilst I think forgiving is important, it is not in our nature to just 'forget' when someone has wronged us and some of the biggest things I haven't forgotten is being lied to. This month try to be a truthful (and tactful) as you can, don't commit any big lies you can't back down from and above all, accept the truth when it's shown your way...but also accept it'll royally fuck you off initially. And breathe.
4. Do No Harm. But Take No Shit.
This quote I chose because I thought it tied in nicely with the previous quote. Forgiving is a sign of compassion not weakness and I think weakness is something we all try to avoid because "gurl I'm a strong independent woman" but actually something we all experience - and that is ok. Women have been seen as the weaker sex for as long as man has been walking the earth but I think we need some better words. Words like compassionate, passionate, vulnerable, emotional...words that don't mean we can be walked over but words that show it's ok to get a little weepy, get a little angry...get a little emotional. You can absolutely lead an altruistic life and be lovely and kind and spread positivity, without being a pushover and without taking any shit and that is why this is my motto for May.
5. There Is No End To Education. It Is Not That You Read A Book, Pass An Examination, And Finish With Education. The Whole Of Life, From The Moment You Are Born To The Moment You Die, Is A Process Of Learning.
I really wanted to find a quote that summed up how I feel about education or university and this was the perfect one. As I mentioned in my intro, it'll have been a year at the end of the month since I finished uni and boxed up my belongings and moved out of town. May signifies the end of something for university students, even if you aren't ending your education, it signifies exams and finishing term and for most, moving back home, even if only until September when you start again. I had a real struggle with leaving university and in the last six weeks dug my heels in, decided I desperately didn't want to leave and spent the best month and a half celebrating with my friends, working damned hard and exploring and having adventures. If you're graduating this summer and you aren't ready to move on in life, stick this quote up somewhere in your room or on your desk or where you work to remind yourself that change is ok and there are exciting opportunities ahead.
I hope your May is filled with daisy chain crowns and sunshine and you're not too swamped with dissertation work or that your summer holiday sun seems a long way off. You got this!
If you liked this you might also like "10 Books You Need On Your Book Shelf"
Follow me on Bloglovin here to have all my posts sent to one handy place!