The Importance of Positivity


"Being positive", "staying positive", "having a positive attitude" -  we hear these phrases thrown around a lot. An endless flow of motivational books write about it, psychologists discuss the topic in papers, and I'm sure we've all heard it at times. 


This topic is incredibly important to me and something I feel like people should be aware of. I've done so much research on it, I wrote essays on it during high school, I constantly search for quotes that remind me about it; so, if in a month, or three months, you see a Positivity Part 2 post on this blog don't be surprised! Hahaha. I have SO much I could say on this topic but for now, I just kind of want to introduce why, in my opinion, it's important. What does it mean to be positive?

In grade 10 I read some information about a research study conducted by Dr Masaru Emoto using water crystals. Dr Emoto carried out a study on how thoughts, words, energy and music affected water. He started off by freezing tiny amounts of water (taken from all over the world) and photographed their molecular structures. 

Basically, he discovered how saying, even thinking, words of gratitude and love around water, changes its structure - likening it to the form of beautiful snowflakes. He also found that saying and thinking about negative words could make the structure of the water appear splotchy and eroded.

Additionally, he taped words such as "peace", "hope", "I love you" and "Thank you" to glasses of water; as well as the words "sick", "you fool", "hate". Both had profound effects almost immediately.

 Via
Um...AMAZING.

The thing is - science has shown us for a long time now that everything can broken down into (and is made of) energy.

If we break things down, we see that matter is made out of atoms.

If we break down atoms, we see that atoms are just vibrating energy.

Dr Emoto's study showed that it's the same with water, and it's the same with our bodies as well. Think about it like this for a moment: Approximately 70% of the average person is made up of water. Doesn't that mean our thoughts and words can have an enlightened effect on our bodies too?

Building my mind on positive thoughts and continuously feeding it with more is so meaningful to me. What you put out and what you focus on is what you get back.

Let's get something straight: Negativity is pointless. Why am I saying this? Not only does it just invite more negative thoughts into our lives, but have a read of this story

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she enquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

Via  
She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." 

She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything."

Negativity living in your mind just breeds more negativity; similarly, positivity breeds positivity.

I know a lot of people who have gone through, or are going through, incredibly hard and tough times in their lives. By NO means am I marginalising the validity of the negativity they feel towards whatever they're dealing with, or even asking them to suppress it. It is inhumane to not feel pain or sadness - positive thinking does not equal emotional suppression.

The thing is - we all have problems. But to lose out on happiness just because we are placing too much focus on our problems, that's not ideal. Positive thinking IS NOT about waking up positive everyday or being positive 100% of every day, for the rest of your life - it is about making an effort to focus on the good things. We've all heard the "You are what you eat", so I'm going to say it right now that, "You are what you think".


Once something has happened you can't really change it, but you can definitely change your attitude towards what you're building next. Once choice at a time, you can build a new start - build it with positive thoughts.

When you do have your dark periods, allow yourself to feel what you need - feel sad, rage, cry into a pillow, sulk for a few days - bask in your emotions. It's okay and it's normal, we're human. But, also try and remember and accept that period as a gift in your life - it'll allow you to appreciate the light more.

And…

When you are blessed with great periods, revel in that! Celebrate it, get as much positivity out of it as you can!

I am big on promoting what you love, instead of bashing what you hate. Personally, I think that it is SUCH an easy way to start focusing on positivity instead of negativity. It's something that many people can really struggle with on social media - I saw this photo yesterday and it really makes you think, hey?


We all have one life to live, one set of footprints with which to leave an imprint on this world, why not make it something positive?


Beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from negativity. You feel happiness, you put yourself onto a different wavelength; you feel bouncy, bright, content, chirpy, effervescent, enthusiastic, joyful, lively, optimistic, upbeat, about life. Life gives you back more things on that same wavelength.

So, to your lovely self who happens to be reading this today, remember this:

Your thinking has the biggest potential to transform you - for better, or for worse. So…

Be mindful of your mind, and know that:

Positivity is a choice.
  
 Via

Is today a great day? There's no reason it can't be! Here’s to hoping we all appreciate it ❤️ Today, try to count your blessings instead of your problems.

If you’re not sure where to start, let me help you out with these  ☺️

"Did you ever realize how much your body loves you? I mean its always trying to keep you alive. That’s all your body has to live for. Your body is making sure you breathe while you sleep, stopping cuts from bleeding, fixing broken bones, finding ways to beat the illnesses that might get you. Your body literally loves you so much."

"Your breathing. The beating of your heart. The expansion of your lungs. Your mere presence is all that is needed to establish your worth." - Iyanla Vanzant

New blog post will be up next wednesday!
P.S. I know I promised photos from my weekend away in last week's post, but because I didn't want this post to turn into any more of an essay than it already has (hahaha whoops...sorry about that!) I'll put up a short post tomorrow mainly with pretty photos! :) 

Until then, you can follow me on - 
They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

Have a great rest of the week!
❤️, Raashi

Can I also just say one more thing (and then I'll shut up I promise! Haha) - thank you so much for reading this post, this one means a lot to me - and please, share it with someone who you think could be uplifted by it, someone who needs a little positivity in their life right now.


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Holidays!

When you guys are reading this I'll either be:

 A. Sleeping before my last exam for this semester
  B. Prepping for my last exam
C. Taking my last exam
D. Finished with my last exam and be going out with my friends (!!!)

There is no question about which one of these options is the most exciting haha. 

At the end of today I have four weeks of holidays! :)
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I am sooo looking forward to this break, exam block really took it out of me this time!
My work sent me this message when I was giving them my exam unavailability:


Hahaha excited to be able to do this now! But let's be honest, who manages to sleep by 10pm every night!?!

I want to spend some quality time with my family and friends, organise my life a little, be productive - I want to make good use of these holidays!

For the last two university breaks I got I didn't go away anywhere; I just stayed at home and chilled, which don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourite things to do - BUT, this break is a teeny bit different and I'm super excited about it :)

I'm kinda going away on two short trips this holidays:

  1. This weekend, four of my friends and I are road tripping and going camping for a night. Hopefully I'll have some cool photos to show you in next week's blogpost!
  2. In a couple of weeks I'm going to Melbourne for a bit of an extended weekend away and
I. Am. So. Excited. :) I can't wait for that blogpost!

Those are two things which are definitely going to be fun this time around! Apart from that my holidays are a bit of a blank canvas right now. There are some random things I already know I want to do:

  • Get back into the gym

  • Work on my blog - I have some ideas you guys will hopefully be seeing soon ;)

  • Get cooking

  • Watch some new movies that came out (Jurassic World and Inside Out are on that list!)

  • Marathon old movies (Hello lots of Disney!) and TV shows with friends. Did any of you guys watch Lizzie McGuire back in the day? :P My friend and I are totally going to revisit the 90s! :)

  • Trial netflix! Which means I will most probably drown a way a lot of my time...(If anyone's getting netflix or has netflix, check out Rose's blogpost on her recommendations of what to watch!)

  • Spend lots of time with my mumma - it's her birthday in July so I definitely want to plan a nice day for her :)

  • Explore the internet world, find some new blogs to read and read ones I already follow (I love checking out Cathy Nguyen's cool blog!)

  • Chill with friends. A lot. We all missed each other SO MUCH once exam study started. Time to make up for that!

  • Do some volunteering

  • Go for a hike

  • Get into dance

  • Go for drives

  • Organise some birthday presents

  • Clean. My. Room. (And sort. And organise. Everything). It always ends up trashed after a semester, so it's time to fix that!

  • Speaking of organising, I need to organise my computer files and folders - my desktop has gotten out of control!

  • I also want to organise all my photos into albums and folders ☺️


I was literally just listing a bunch of things I wanted to do off the top of my head - I didn't realise I had already accumulated so many things I wanted to do in these next few weeks!

But, what do you guys like to do during your holidays!?! Give me your suggestions! Like I said, I am going to make these holidays productive :)

P.S. When I say 'productive' that definitely includes lots of sleeping in :P Can't believe I forgot to add that to my list!


New blog post will be up next wednesday!
This next one is very important to me and I would love for you guys to check it out next week.

Until then, you can follow me on - 
They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

Have a great rest of the week!
❤️Raashi




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Life Advice?



My friend sent me this message the other day:



 #goodadvice for life? Seems pretty smart!

The advice above, it focuses on doing things you love, doing things that make you happy. Anyone who knows me will know I am very, very big on being positive, finding the good, being happy - all that jazz ;) Seriously though, the more positivity in your mindset, the more positivity in your life.

So with that being said, do you have three hobbies you love?

For me,

One to make me money:
I currently work in a retail fashion store, although it's not my ultimate, dream job - I really do enjoy it! I love interacting with people, helping them buy things for events in their lives, dressing them up to make themselves feel good - just talking to them :)


I also tutor a Grade 5 student in Maths and personally, I love this hobby! My student has dyslexia, hence why she needed the little extra help in maths, and seeing her growth in concentration and confidence while I've been with her has been incredibly rewarding!

One to keep me in shape:
Sooo, not gonna lie, I probably have to step up this hobby! Haha. The thing is, when it's holidays I'm really good at being active, I joined a gym at the end of last year with my mum and I actually really enjoyed it. We did a lot of fitness classes, got used to all the equipment…but when university and all my other commitments start back up, this tends to be the first hobby to go haha…whoops.


BUT, one more week of exam block and mark my words - I will be back into exercising! Hahaha (now that I've posted this here I have to keep to it!).

Andddd this will be me :P
Via

Another hobby in this area that I absolutely adore is dance, to me, it's a really fun workout. I have done dance since I was three years old (my first performance being Wiggles themed).


I have tonnes of proper dance photos, majority of which are incredibly embarrassing and cringeworthy, so this one is the best option for now haha. I've done most styles of dance at one point or another - from jazz, to hip hop, to ballet, even bollywood. Although I still do classes and performances from time to time, I really want to get back into it properly now :)

One to be creative:

As much as I would l LOVE to be able to say that I can draw or paint, I didn't really inherit that family gene…

How talented is my brother!
How talented is my mother!

But, I do love being creative in other ways!
Creating dance choreography is probably one of my absolute favourites. If I'm in the car with someone listening to a song and I'm completely silent, it's cause 99.99% I'm putting together a full-blown routine in my head haha. What? Not normal?

I am not a fashion designer, or stylist, or anything like that - but I do love fashion! I love putting together outfits, creating a whole look based around one accessory or a piece of jewellery that I saw - it's just fun to visualise it and play around with it all. Definitely one of the main reasons behind why I love Pinterest so much! You can follow me on it here: https://www.pinterest.com/raashiagarwal/  :)

Amen, Blair Waldorf.
Via

(Disclaimer: By no means am I really trendy, always super dressed up, or putting together cute or sophisticated outfits all the time - PJs and hoodies are my best friends. I just really appreciate fashion as an art form.)

Here's a random photo I sent my friend one day when I was trying to decide what to wear. Do you guys ever do this to check that your outfit is appropriate? Haha.


Last but not least - blogging. This is definitely one of my newer hobbies but I've always loved the creative aspect of writing. With blogging I get to write, create content, piece together words and pictures, edit, personalise - it's really exciting for me! So thank you so much for reading the random things I justify writing about ☺️

This is definitely going to be me when my holidays start! :)
Via

Speaking of my blog...I just realised yesterday that the way in which my blog was set up, for you guys to comment you had to have or create a google+ account - I know that not's ideal for everyone, so I changed it! You guys can now also comment with a first name or anonymously :)

So, what are the hobbies that you guys love? Leave a comment below, I would love to see other people's answers :)

(New blog post will be up next wednesday!) 

You can follow me on - 
InstagramPinterest: raashiagarwal
Tumblrhttp://reflectionswithraa.tumblr.com

❤️Raashi




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Female Empowerment

“I believe women are at our best when we support each other." - Taylor Swift

When I started this blog, there was one topic I wanted to discuss that I had in mind from the beginning. Something I feel incredibly passionate about, something that has really brought about an uprising recently, something that I think is a very positive force. 

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT.

Now, those two words above are very closely linked to the subject of Feminism. It is a subject that I believe is incredibly important and has many facets to it. I have been working on a post purely devoted to it (and other terms that inform and feed into it - gender equality, sexism, misogyny etc.) for quite a while now. Because I do feel that it is such a critical, meaningful and far-reaching topic of conversation I don't want to bring it into today's post because I'll end up writing a 2000 word essay for you all to read its own separate post will be up soon!

Today, I'm looking at female empowerment amongst females ourselves. Girls supporting each other. A sisterhood.
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You know, a pretty epic, badass sisterhood, that casually struts in front of an explosion in slow motion. Duh.


Ok, but seriously.

"She's not that pretty." "She only listens to Top 40 music…" "Did you see what she was wearing?"



I'm sure we've all heard and/or used similar phrases at some point.

I've always loved the saying “Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate”. Similarly, the idea of cheering girls on, instead of tearing them down, is something I'm ALL FOR.

I try not to see girls who I think are smarter than me, more beautiful than me, more talented than me, as threats. I try to see them as people I want to be around. I want to appreciate just how great they are and make them realise it themselves. 


I lose nothing by encouraging/applauding them, and gain everything by having their presence and energy in my life. I will openly say there are so many girls that I admire and obsess over, and I will happily tell that to them as well! 


What amuses me sometimes is how hard of a time some girls have acknowledging another girl is beautiful! How does saying another girl is pretty detract from your own beauty?  (The answer is it doesn't. Not even the tiniest bit. In any shape or form. Promise. Haha.)

The thing is, now more than ever before, females tend to be pitted against each other (quite often by ourselves), in every aspect of life. 

"I aced all four of my subjects but I heard she only passed two of hers…" 

"She just posted a new Instagram photo and she looks so slim, I look nothing like that…"

Or even, 
"She has more likes on her photo than I do..." 

Comments like these stem from comparison - ideas that society, and we ourselves, create about what girls "should" be like, act like, look like - what we "should" have achieved as females.

One type of comparison that has really impacted our generation to a whole other level is the rating of girls by their appearance. 

"Who's hotter?" "Who has the better body?" Things like "Gigi Hadid vs. Kendall Jenner - Who's sexier?"

Gigi has it so right. 
Via
 

We are all so different, there is no comparison.

I tend to reference Taylor Swift interviews and quotes quite a bit (Refer to the opening quote. Case in Point :P). Besides the fact that I just generally LOVE HER, I think she's so intelligent, eloquent and relatable - and in this case, it's no different:

“If we continue to show young girls that they are being compared to other girls, we’re doing ourselves a huge disservice as a society. I surround myself with smart, beautiful, passionate, driven, ambitious women. Other women who are killing it should motivate you, thrill you, challenge you and inspire you rather than threaten you and make you feel like you’re immediately being compared to them. The only thing I compare myself to is me, two years ago, or me one year ago.” (The Rolling Stone Interview)

I don't think anyone could say, or sum it up, better. 


I've always said I've been blessed to grow up surrounded by very, very strong and intelligent women. They've been through a lot in their lives, and I've been fortunate enough to listen to their stories and learn from their experiences. They've maintained a sense of dignity and respect in the way they've carried themselves, and if I can say the same for myself in 20 years time I will be happy.

I also know that I'm lucky enough to have an epic group of  girlfriends in my life that own it in their respective interests and talents; from engineering to pursuing music, to studying science, or working towards becoming an occupational therapist. 


Both sets of the females I've described above inspire me endlessly - not sure if they realise it all the time, but I want to learn from them, support them and follow them as they continue to achieve their goals.

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT. 

It's really started to take on a force of its own, thanks to quite a few individuals - whether they be people you know in your own life, or people in the spotlight that you've seen or heard. It's really changing and advancing, and it's so uplifting.

Let's all be kind to ourselves and supportive to one another.

P.S. I swear I don't only believe in supporting females, I have a lot of respect for the males in my life as well! Haha but that's for another blogpost :)

(New blog post will be up next wednesday!) 

You can follow me on - 
Instagram & Pinterest: raashiagarwal
Tumblr: http://reflectionswithraa.tumblr.com

❤️Raashi

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A list of the little things in life


One of the perks of where I live is that we have this river running down the middle of the city and a ferry system to complement it. It is honestly one of my absolute favourite ways of getting around the city and I try to use it any chance I get! Last week I was at uni with a bit of time to kill, so I decided to hop on a ferry and visit my friend whom I hadn't seen in forever for lunch :)


HOW PRETTY. I don't know how to describe it - but it was such a beautiful day to be outside - it was so relaxed and chill, and I was just sitting there taking it all in. It randomly made me so, so happy - it just made my day. It got me thinking about how some of the best moments are little, random, unexpected things. 

As a lover of all things French, I thought of this straight away:
Translation: Life is full of little pleasures. 

For me,

I love randomly going and grabbing dessert with family or friends.


Yummmm!  
I love contagious laughter.

I love feeling the sun on my face. 

I love wearing one of my absolute favourite scarves that my friend got me - and feeling all cosy as a result. 


I love getting to hang out in a playground.

I love random text messages back and forth at 1am at night.

I love when I manage to paint my nails neatly.

 
I kind of managed to do that this week :P 
(Fun fact: I almost love the name of nail polish colours more than the actual nail polish haha. This is a new one I got recently - Revlon's 270 'Cherries in the Snow'.)

I love having really good banter with people.

I love if it starts raining as I'm about to sleep.

I love when my favourite song comes on the radio. 

I love getting into a freshly-made bed.

I love random, deep conversations that come out of nowhere.

I love blue skies and pretty clouds.


I love a good hug.

I love crossing things off of my to-do list.

I love when someone I'm thinking about or missing messages me.

I love when people randomly reference anything Beyoncé.

I love when my friends and I quote the TV show F.R.I.E.N.D.S. without giving it a second thought.

I love when a bus driver is friendly and happy.

I love getting into my pyjamas as soon as I get home (well, preferably staying in pyjamas all day :P) 
Aren't my panda ones so cute!?!  
I love standing outside and staring at the moon and the stars.

I love seeing an elderly couple holding hands.

I love wearing a big, comfy, warm jumper.

I love quality time with people I love.


I love randomly dancing.

I love seeing people walking around with a bunch of flowers.

I love realising that I can go back to sleep when I wake up too early.

It's the little things. The 'leaving you feeling warm and fuzzy' variety are the best.
Life is filled with lots of unexpected, random, little things and I feel really grateful for that.

What are some of the little things that make you guys happy? 

Here’s to the little things in life!

(New blog post will be up next wednesday!) 

You can follow me on - 
Instagram & Pinterest: raashiagarwal
Tumblr: http://reflectionswithraa.tumblr.com

❤️Raashi


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