New Year. New Me. (5:2 My Life)

So I am just going to get straight to it. I know that it is pretty much the end of February and that means we are 2 months into a new year but I am going to start my resolutions now. Well I'm not sure whether it is a resolution or a change of lifestyle because lets face it a lot of us don't really follow through with the whole New Years resolution thing. (Well I know I don't anyway :/) So this year I am taking on the challenge of improving my life. But anyway, lets hope this works and maybe I will be able to inspire some other people to try this challenge.

Right, so basically during the week I saw an article on the Independent website about how the Guardian Journalist Emma Cook had take the 5:2 diet and applied it to different areas in her life and wrote a book called 5:2 your life. The basic premise is that you spend 2 days a week doing something in your life totally different and the other 5 days doing it the same as usual. The premise behind the 5:2 diet was that you would fast 2 days a week and the other 5 days would be normal days. But if you apply it to the rest of your life you can apparently make a lot of changes for the better that you may have never thought about trying before. For example the author said that she cut out screen time for her and her family 2 days a week and found that even though it was very difficult to stick to in the beginning after awhile she found that the family were talking more, it improved her relationships and made her much more productive. I know that this is definitely something I need to improve on because I find myself checking Facebook or Twitter all the time even though I just looked at it and nothing has changed.

So at the moment I am reading the book and am going to try to implement some changes in my life and I will be writing about my experiences and about what I think is working or not working (or how I make it work for me) (Obviously not on days that are screen free.) And I hope that it does work for me and that I can maybe inspire someone to take the challenge with me. One change that I am going to put in place straight away is 2 days a week will be healthy vegetarian meals so that I can cut down my meat intake and improve my health. If anyone has anything they do in regular life that they think could be helpful to my goal of becoming, healthier and more efficient, I would really like to hear it and would appreciate the help :) And if anyone else has read the book or is reading it now and wants to set a challenge for me or just tell me how they are getting/got on I would really like to hear from you :)

Stardansheill o7

Christmas Day Charity Swim

So as per usual I have left it an awful long time since I last wrote anything on here but I have been working on this one for Quite a while :) So basically what I am writing about is the Cope Galway Christmas Day Swim. For people who aren't aware of what Cope do, they are a Charity that help people who are homeless, elderly people or people who have been the victims of Domestic abuse. They rely solely on donations from people and lately people have become reluctant to donate money to Charity in Ireland, with good reason. But that doesn't mean that the people they help should suffer so I am trying my hardest to raise as much money as possible to help out. Every year Cope organises a Christmas Day swim which is really just where people jump of the diving boards in Galway and swim to the shore but it is a fun experience and a lot of people get helped out in the process. 

I have been trying to do this swim for years but something has always gotten in the way. My fathers family live in Donegal so for the last few years we have been spending Christmas up there so sadly I was away on Christmas day and couldn't take part. But this year I can :) Cope do some amazing work and help a lot of people. Everyone deserves to be happy and have a good life but unfortunately that isn't the case and that really makes me sad. I would love to be able to help everyone who needs it but unfortunately like everyone else there is only so much that I can do. But with the help of fundraisers Cope can help more people than I can and they will be able to make a lot of people very happy at Christmas and for years to come. Now I know  a lot of people are probably saying why the hell am I writing this and what is the point?

Well the answer is I am writing this to make people aware of what is happening and to inform people about Cope and their Service. And to ask people if they could sponsor me to do this swim, I have been collecting money from friends and family for the last few weeks but someone told me about the website idonate and that I could use that to try and raise more money so I created a page. Now I know a lot of people get annoyed when people come asking them to sponsor them for things. But I believe that this a very worthy cause and I would really appreciate anything that you people could do to help me help out this wonderful charity. You can find my page here ---> idonate.ie/pacman656. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads this and tell you that you are all awesome people :)

Stardansheill o7

The Week Ireland Began To Melt

So this week in Ireland we have had the hottest summer in 8 years with some places reaching 30+ degrees which is rather insane for Ireland. I personally do not deal well with the heat because I am a naturally warm person and I begin to melt when it gets too hot. But I do like to see the sun once and awhile so I am enjoying it. Unfortunately I had to work for most of it which meant being stuck in a car for hours in the hot sun and then working inside a warm shop for hours. The only relief was getting to count the walk in fridges and freezers that stores have. Staff were actually requesting to count the freezers and fridges which is very unusual because no one likes the cold usually. Well except me :)

We went to Donegal on Tuesday. We left Galway at 4:30 am and it was already 18 degrees which for Ireland is bloody insane. We got to Dungloe County Donegal at 7:30 and the heat was already getting to me. Luckily when we started at 8am the shop was rather cool. But throughout the day it got incredibly warm and unbearable in our work body warmers which we have to wear while we are in the shops :/ We finished the shop early enough which was good. 5 of us were staying in Dungloe that night because we were working in Annagry which was only 20 minutes away the following day. We got to the hotel at about 1:30 but couldn't check in until 4 so we went to the local supervalu and bought some cans and sat on the pier for a few hours cause it was so warm. And you must drink cans on a pier during the warm weather when there is nothing else to do. 

The tide was out while we were drinking so we couldn't go swimming like we had planned but we did get the bright idea to try and walk across the bay. Well when I say we I mean we all thought it would be a good idea but needed a guinea pig and I ended up being that guinea pig. None of us wanted to do it, but the longer I sat there looking out the better and idea it became. As you can see from the picture of my feet it wasn't exactly the best idea. I got about 10 feet across when it became to squidgy to walk in. I would have kept going as I didn't think I would sink any further than my calves but I was begging to lose balance and the lads were throwing stones at me to make me fall so I turned around. And because the tide was out I had nowhere to wash my feet :/ So I had to let it dry in and then brush it off. Was rather disgusting. But thankfully we got checked in at 4 and I went straight to the shower to wash the remaining dirt off my feet. Spent the rest of the day relaxing and headed to bed early to get up for work at 6. 

Awesome Humans part 7. One that is rather close to home.

It appears I haven't written about those humans out there that inspire me to be a better person and those who are just plain awesome. Well this particular human is both those things. His name is Aidan Breen (<<< Link to his twitter handle) and I actually grew up with him, but we seem to have lost touch lately. Note to self, correct that. Sorry, where was I? Oh yes. Well Aidan is a local singer song writer from our lovely little village of Oranmore and he has decided for some insane reason to attempt to play 32 gigs in 32 Counties in 32 days. For as long as I can remember he has been playing music and is a great singer and musician. He is part of a band known as Cotton Ball Three. But Aidan is doing this challenge all on his own. He has already done 8 Counties but has a lot more to go and I wish him the best of luck to it.

He did a Radio interview today and is looking for all the support he can get. So now for the real reason I am writing this article. Aidan is a brilliant musician and I would really love to see him succeed in this challenge. He just decided one day after exams that he was going to do this challenge. He just wanted to take a summer after college to do what he loves before he has to get down to being an adult and get a job. So I am appealing to all the people who read this blog that may know someone that owns or manages a pub in Ireland to please try and help him out. For anyone interested in his music here is a video he made of one of his original songs. You can find his Youtube page here. Here's to Aidan on the rest of his journey :)

Stardansheill o7

Saturday Sounds

Today was one of those days that I was home at a reasonable hour from work but didn't have anything to do so I started listening to music and reading and decided to share some of my music with people. This is just a playlist of some of the stuff I have been listening to today. Lately I have been reading a biography about Dave Grohl so a lot of it is foo fighters or other bands he has been associated with. But it is best listened to on shuffle. Hopefully people enjoy it :) Music is always something that brings people together and I personally love music and listen to it as much as possible. Let me know if you enjoy it or if there is any music you would recommend :)

Stardansheill o7

My absence and ideas for the future of my blog.

So like I always say every time I come back here to write a new post, work has been crazy busy and at times I think my brain is going to explode and leak out of my ears. Sorry, that's kind of disgusting.

 But I can't keep using that as an excuse for not posting on here. I have a massive back log of stuff that I want to write about, but whenever I get home from work I am usually exhausted from being up early and working all day. But I have come up with a solution that will hopefully help me get back into the rhythm of writing and posting more regularly. I hope that it will also work my brain so as I can concentrate longer and be less tired in the evenings. I find myself getting home from work and wandering around my house like a zombie, I know I have things to do but I can never remember what they are.

Movies, music and life in general

So it's been nearly a month since I posted last (again). It's been one of the busiest months of my life so far and also one of the most fun. This is just going to be a short post about something that happened on my life recently.

2013 has had a great start for me. I have decided to make a massive change in my life. I've basically decided that I really don't care what people think of me, I'm me and if someone has a problem with me or doesn't like me well then I don't care because that is their problem. I'm always going to be me and I amn't going to change that to please someone. With work I meet too many people everyday to try and please everyone. I think it's the best thing I have ever done in my life. My life is so much less stressful now and I sleep so much better. I should have done this years ago, but I think a lot of teenagers do that kind of thing because they are afraid people wont like them and they will become an outcast but I have found that you actually get on better with your real friends who know the real you when you stop trying to please everyone.

I explained this to someone recently and they thought I sounded like an old man who had given up on life. It really confused me. Is this person right, am I just an old man that doesn't care anymore or does this make sense to people?

Stardansheill :)