Maya encourages us all to think about what inspires us, and how we can use it to all get a little bit more positivity into our lives.

I was recently added to a Facebook group called ‘How to heal a fractured world’ which was created by one of my close friends. She created the group with the aim of individuals sharing videos, articles, pictures, and anything else that inspires them, in the hopes that we can change the nature of posts that come up on our Facebook feeds. At this time of year in particular, I feel that we could all use some motivation to keep going. So I thought I’d share with you all things I have seen recently that inspired me.

Live, Don’t just Exist: The first was a quote I was introduced to by one of my friends. She had the words: ‘To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all’ tattooed on her ribs. I personally love discovering new quotes. I think that sometimes we all need to hear some words of encouragement or positivity to set us back on the right track. Above this tattoo was a picture of a globe, which really got me thinking about the endless possibilities we have in life. We just need to be able to recognise them. It’s very easy to get comfortable just living, becoming content with where you are at. We should be living, not just surviving.

The second was the film La La Land. Without giving away any spoilers, the film focused on the main characters’ pursuit of their dreams. The characters displayed true determination to go above and beyond to be able to follow their passion. At the same time, you also got to experience how difficult it was for them to succeed. I find this one of the most common struggles we all face; when we begin reaching for goals we have the motivation and excitement to persevere, but the moment things get hard we begin to question ourselves. We need to change our perception of challenges, nothing worth having comes easy.

Remember the Little Things: The third and final thing I’d like to share is another quote I saw at Trafalgar Square. A street artist had written in chalk, ‘There once was a man so poor, all that he had was money’. This quote reminded how there is so much in life we don’t appreciate.All the little things such as good friends and the unconditional love we receive from our families, that most of us are lucky enough to experience. We have grown up in a generation where everything has been given to us effortlessly, which sometimes leaves us feeling entitled. It’s important to take a step back and recognise how lucky we all are. This quote also inspired me to try and dedicate more of my time to volunteering.

We are very lucky here at LUU to have so many brilliant societies offering us a huge, creative range of different volunteering opportunities. So I’d like to end by encouraging you all to check them out and get involved. It’s very easy to get absorbed with our own problems, but it’s amazing if we can have the ability to overlook this and help others.

Maya Sterrie

(Image courtesy of http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/moviemom/2016/12/la-la-land.html)