Sometimes you have to just step away

Did you ever just go on social networks and feel like it is nothing but a barrel of negativity? Yes? well you are not alone. The last few weeks I have been finding this more so on Twitter than Facebook. I just scroll through my feed looking for news and see things like someone has punched someone else for whatever or no reason, someone mistreating an animal, the BLM debate, the coronavirus etc. These are all very important topics to talk about but I think we have to ask ourselves is this really worth taking up our whole day to write 10 or 20 posts about a particular topic or will 1 or 2 posts do and then move on to something more positive.

The reason I am writing this post personally is because sometimes I scroll through twitter to find out some news and more often than not when I am finished scrolling I am left feeling more anxious and sad especially about the coronavirus. It seems to be everywhere. That is one of the main reasons I rarely post on this topic. I did recently but before that I didn't in a long time. I think during this difficult time especially we need more good news in our lives and newsfeeds. We be doing something positive in our lives like maybe gardening or even putting up a positive post on Facebook or Twitter.

Yes serious topics need to be talked about but do they have to be talked about so much that it nearly takes over our lives and our news feeds? These topics will all fade away in time but negative thought and feelings from these topics can last years. When I 1st started Facebook and Twitter back in 2013. I used to write lots and lots of posts every single day that would mostly be about the Catholic Faith or the abortion issue. It was like I was on a crusade to convert people and I had to do whatever I could to convert people to Catholicism and if they disagreed with me I wouldn't just leave it I would respectfully as I could try to direct them in the way of Truth but that became so unhealthy for me and possibly for others too and often times I would spend many hours going around in circles with people who disagree with me and I would nearly take their comments personally. I know now they were never personal attacks on me. Now I rarely answer comments that disagree with me because it is ok to disagree with people. It would be a boring world if we all agreed with each other all the time. 

I remember I would put up loads of posts on the 1 topic and looking back on it now and sometimes seeing it in my memories on Facebook I wonder how I did such things and how my friends didn't unfriend me or become sick of my posts because without intending to my posts came across as pushy and radical and had no balance what so ever now thank God I have changed that a lot and I post about my many different interests now with the odd post being about my Faith and where I stand on life issues because that is still part of me. 

That is why I just stepped away from social networks for a short time. Today is the 1st day of my break and it has done me wonders so far. When I was on Twitter I felt it was pushing the coronavirus topic too much which I don't think is good. Yes we need to keep up to date with the virus but not to the point where it is taking over our whole lives. I tried to get up some good news in Ireland today and the latest good news I could get was from April or May and it is a pity because there is so much positive thinks going on in the world but it is overtaken by coronavirus and BLM. It is so hard to find good news but I think if we don't see good news we should try and post something positive that is going on in our lives. It could be anything from what you see, what you smell, what you hear, what you feel, a picture anything at all. You would be surprised as to how it would make you feel and how it would make others feel. Go on just try it post something positive on your social network and/or blog. I will start now and I might keep posting positive things on my blog as much as I can. It is great to have it so bright up to 10pm at night time now. Now it is your turn. It is easy.

                         

Animal Crossing New Horizons my thoughts so far

I have played 185 hours of Animal Crossing new horizons so far since April. I share my island with my brother and togther we own and run Kolbe Isle named after St. Maximillian Kolbe. I love the graphics in this game and the different personalities of the different animals staying on the island. Currently we have Phoebe who is an ostrich. She my favourite, Biff who is a hippo, Barold who is a cub, Patty who is a cow, Merengue who is a rhino she is probably my least favourite, Pietro who is a sheep that looks like a clown, Lucha who is a bird, Alli who is a alligator, Truffles who is a pig and finally Lopez who is a deer.

One of the 1st things i generally do when I 1st start the game is shake all the trees on my island because bells or items can fall from the trees. When doing this make sure to have you net in hand as some trees can have a wasps nest and when the tree is shaken the nest can fall and you can get stung by wasps unless you catch it with you net. Another thing I do everyday is to check around for money rocks. 

I think the update this month came just in time because the game for me was getting a bit boring with doing the same thing every day. The events can be interesting with the bug and fishing events. I did the bug one but not the fishing one.

I generally keep any bugs I catch in my inventory until I see Flick around because I think he buys them at a higher price than if you would sell them in the shop. I do the same with weeds and wait for Leif to come and I can sell them to Leif.

I find some to the dialogue's very long for example Blathers in the museum and Orville in the dodo airlines. I like the swimming, I only caught Perl so far though.

In my opinion I think the hype of animal crossing new horizons is beginning to go down now. I love the game and I play it everyday but I feel it is starting to get repetitive and a bit boring now so hopefully with the 2nd update in August it will give some more oomph to the game again.

I really like the fact you can visit friends islands. Typing can be tedious on the switch so messaging friends can be a hard and slow process in my opinion. 

I love the flowers in this game. They are beautiful

Animal Crossing New Horizons is definitely one of the best games in a long time and I think it has really brought out people's creative side at a time when creativity is most likely at an all time high due to the current pandemic. The game came out at the right time in my opinion with more people at home and playing games. It is a game that I hope will last a long time.

 

                        

                           

Easy bake, Quick and Healthy 3 ingredient rolls

No doubt this recipe was taught up of by some one else but 1 day I just wanted to not follow a recipe and follow my own initiative for baking rolls as the recipes I would research would usually hours. So I just decided to do my own thing and it turned out so tasty. You won't believe it until you try it. For this recipe I did not measure the flower or the water I just used as mush as I felt I needed.

Ingredients

• Wholemeal Flour
• Dried Yeast
• Warm Water

Method

Now get ready to have your mind blown by how easy this is.

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3
2. Mix the Flour and yeast in a big bowl
3. Put in as much warm (not boiling) water as you think you will need to the mixture but not so much that it becomes watery because you will want to be able to pick up the dough later to shape it
4. Mix it all together into a dough. I use a spatula to mix it together
5. Shape the dough into either long or circular rolls. Today I just did circular rolls.
6. I know this sound kind of strange but I use a wire rack in a pan to bake the rolls so I don't have to use oil on a baking pan. Just to keep it as healthy as I can
7. Bake for about an hour.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool
9. Enjoy.

Here is how mine turned out.

I found that the rolls would come out heavy. What I found went really well with these rolls is spread and cheese slices (yummy). As you can probably see I don't like measuring too much but I have been baking for years so I kind of know how much to use of ingredients and I think it is good to work on your own initiative and see how things work out. It is all trial and error. Baking can be great fun too. Hope you enjoyed this recipe. If you have tried this recipe let me know how you got on in the comments below. 

90's Retro T.V I'm rewatching

Kids of the 90's you will all know what I'm talking about here when I mention some of these programmes. I mean we grew up with them and yes I am re watching them over and over again.

Full House: Well to be honest with you now I never heard of Full house until about 7 or 8 years ago when clips of it used to come up on youtube when I would type in Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen so technically I didn't grow up with full house but because I grew up watching the Olsen twins on 2 of a kind, so little time and of course the movies they were in like Switching goals, It takes two and passport to paris etc. and when I saw the clips of full house on youtube I knew I had to see it. I got the DVD box-set and we watched every single episode from season 1-8. I think I watched the whole 8 seasons twice. I loved all the characters Danny, Jesse, Joey, Becky, D.J., Stephanie, Michelle, Kimmy, Steve, Nicky and Alex and not forgetting Comet the dog. In my opinion the 1st maybe 4 or 5 seasons were the best I think after that it started to go down hill a bit after that. I think it is because all kids were getting older and the dynamics of the show were starting to change and I don't think the show was able to handle the fact that the kids were growing up into teenagers. I felt too that a lot of the later season episodes were very dark at time in comparison to the earlier seasons. I think it just ran out of steam but it is one of my favourite shows to re-watch from time to time.



Saved by the bell: Now this was a show I grew up with and loved to watch with characters like Zack, Slater, Screech, Kelly, Jessie, Lisa, Tori, Mr Belding, Max, for a few episodes Stacey, Mr Carosi and teachers like Mrs. Culpepper who was nearly blind, Mr. Dewey who reminded me of an adult version of Screech, Mrs. Simpson who was nearly deaf, Coach Sonski who was sceptical to let Kristy try out for wrestling, Mr Tuttle who doesn't like Mr Belding after Mr. Belding got the job as principal and not him and Ms. Wentworth who helped her class teach Zack a lesson about the wrongful use of subliminal messages in a Bo Revere tape. The characters were great. Lisa was my favourite. I am not currently re watching this but in the last year or two I have rewatched the seasons lots of times. When I was younger I didn't really like the summer episodes with Stacey and Leon but re-watching it they are now probably one of my favourite episodes. Like full house I think as the seasons went on it started to run out of steam. Lets not mention Saved by the bell the new class oops,sorry forget I mentioned it


Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: I did grow up with Mighty Morphin but to be honest growing up it was more my brother's thing but re-watching it as an adult I see it in a different light. There are some great storylines to it and who wouldn't have liked to see Tommy and Kimberley get together. I really like all of the characters in the seasons of Mighty Morphin but my favourites would probably be Kimberly, Tommy, Ninjor, Lord Z and Rito Revolto. I also liked Cat after she became good.


The Fresh Prince of Bel air: Now you kids of the 90's know you want to do this so lets's get it over with before you read on "Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air

In west Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
She said, "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air"


I whistled for a cab and when it came near The license plate said "Fresh" and it had dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, But I thought, "Nah, forget it" – "Yo, home to Bel-Air"


I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8 And I yelled to the cabbie "Yo home smell ya later" I looked at my kingdom I was finally there To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel-Air" to get the extended version click here


Now we can move on. The Fresh prince was another great sitcom that I grew up with. Uncle Phil, Aunt Vivian, Carlton, Ashley, Hillary and Vy who was Will's mother. The series touched on some very serious topics such as racism of both black and white people, the death of Trevor and the fact that Will's father didn't want him and put his job over spending time with Will. That scene between Uncle Phil and Will was brilliant. It was acted out great and really got the emotions correct. But in each episode no matter how serious a topic is in the episode there is always something to have a laugh at. There is always a character that eases the tension in the scene by using a one liner. I love how at times Will looks at the camera, especially the look he gave when the actress that played aunt vivian was fired and they got in a new actress to play her part and Jazz says "Mrs. Banks, ever since you had that baby, there's something different about you." that was just priceless. I am currently re-watching this for maybe the 4th or 5th time on Netflix.


Lois and Clark the New adventures of Superman: This is another programme that growing up was more of my brother's thing but as an adult I am enjoying it more. This series is more of a dark series but that is ok because that fits with the theme of superman. The characters in this are great too. Of course you have Clark and Lois but you also have Perry, Jimmy Olsen, Johnathan, Martha, Kat, Dr Klien, Lex, Tempus, Lucy, Ellen, Sam etc. My favourite villan in this would have to be tempus has great comedic effect. I love the line he says to Lois "Hello! Duh! Clark Kent is Superman!" I think it is because he says what we all feel that she really should have recognised by now that Clark Kent is Superman lol


All of these programmes have one thing in common. They are not just for young people they can also be enjoyed by adults and that is what makes these programmes great.


There are other programmes I would love to re-watch and I hope too also and they are Kenan and Kel, The rest of the Power Rangers seasons, Boy meets world, Sister Sister, Hang Time, E.R., Baywatch etc and when I start to do them I will do another blog post on this also.

Sonic the hedgehog 2020 movie review

I love the new look of Sonic. He looks cute but strong at the same time. My favourite characters were Sonic voiced by Ben Schwartz, Tom Wachowski played by James Marsdan and Dr. Robotnik played by Jim Carrey.

I love the action and adventure in this movie. I thought the growing friendship between Sonic and Tom was really good. Jim Carrey played a really good and often funny bad guy. The secret of this movie was the character was wade whipple the awkward, clumsy policeman with a surprising ending which I don't want to spoil here.

I would really recommend this movie to anyone really. It is fun for the kids and adults alike.

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Novena to St. Francis Xavier (4th of March to the 12th of March 2020)

Most amiable and most loving
St. Francis Xavier,
in union with thee
I reverently adore the Divine Majesty.
The remembrance of the favours
with which God blessed thee during life,
and of thy glory after death,
fills me with joy.
I implore thee to obtain for me,
through thy powerful intercession,
the inestimable blessing of living
and dying in the state of grace.
I also beseech thee to obtain the special favour
I ask of this Novena.

(Make your request here...)

But, if what I ask is not for the glory of God,
and the good of my soul,
I pray and desire that
which is the most conductive to both.

Amen.

Pray for us, St. Francis Xavier.

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray.

O God, Who didst vouchsafe,
by the preaching and miracles of Saint Francis Xavier,
to join unto Thy Church the nations of the Indies,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that we who reverence his glorious merits
may also imitate his example,
through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

Amen.

Pray three times the
Our Father... and
Hail Mary...
in memory of St. Francis Xavier's devotion to the Most Holy Trinity,
and tens time the Glory Be To The Father...
in thanksgiving for the graces received during his ten years of apostleship.

• Link where I found the novena
• Image Credit

Self Confidence and How it has affected me

I done this blog post a few months ago 

One of the main reasons I have anxiety is because I have low self confidence. My low self confidence is more so in the way of my ability in being able to do future tasks rather than in how I look. Some nights I ask myself questions like how will I cope tomorrow if I don't sleep tonight?, will I be able to do the task I set out for myself tomorrow? therefore telling my self that I am not strong enough in such a situation. That sort of thinking lowers my self-confidence.

This still happens me at times but now I try and tell myself that no matter what it will be ok. I am strong enough to deal with it. If I feel I am too anxious to think that way I talk to my brother and he tells me they are just thoughts, I will be strong enough to deal with it and then it reassures me that it will be ok and I will get through this.

The last few weeks my self-confidence has gotten better and I am taking on more tasks. I feel I have a new found freedom. I used to believe that I shouldn't do things it case I can't sleep that night for example I would get anxious if I drank coffee or coke after a certain time in the evening because I would fear that the caffeine in it may keep me awake. Now I drink coffee if I want and enjoy it, in fact I drink it most days now and as a treat I drink Coke. What got me out of the caffeine anxiety was one night I was at an event and after the event someone put a coffee in my hand (now bare in mind this would have been around 9pm at night) and I didn't want to be impolite so I drank the coffee and although I was a little anxious about it I got on very well that night and from then on I started to drink coffee more regularly. I would also not do things before bed like use my phone. I don't really use my phone in bed anyway but the odd time I would feel like watching some youtube videos. Now if I feel like watching them I will watch them. I also wouldn't watch TV too late, now sometimes I do. I would also look at the sugar content of cereals we have that night in case it would keep me awake. Now to be honest I still check the cereals but it is a work in progress. There was also a time in the past that I set myself a time to go to bed usually 10pm and if I went to bed any later than that (even 5 minutes later) I would feel anxious and get worried that I am not giving myself enough time to sleep. Now I try to go to bed between 10pm and 10.30pm but if it is later I might feel a little anxious but I wouldn't go into full blown anxiety mode. I just tell myself it will be ok. Fear of letting other people down comes in to my lack of self confidence also as I fear that if I have to do something for or with someone else (even family members) I fear that I will not be able to do the tasks ahead if I don't sleep. I suppose in a way I have a fear of commitment that I still need to work on.

Now you might be asking yourself what got me into such an obsessive state, well it all started when I started researching on the internet about how to stop being so anxious at bedtime and on some websites it would give advice such as don't use your phone before bed, don't drink caffeine after 2pm, go to bed at the same time every night etc. and I thought to myself "oh if I do all this I will be able to get my sleep back and my anxiety will go" and of course I know now that that advice is generic and doesn't work for everyone. It got so much so that I became too obsessive about it and I had to stop because it was ruining me in other ways.

What I have really found out for myself is that my anxious feelings and thought are just feelings and thoughts and they don't represent reality. If I do drink a coffee at 3 or 4pm in the afternoon it does not mean that I will be kept awake. What it all comes down to is that if my mind is not fully wound down before bed I will find it a bit harder to sleep and if I can accept that then It is ok and I will sleep eventually. If I don't accept it, that is when anxiety comes and I definitely won't sleep then. I can't let my sleep define me or what I do. Anxiety has taken so much from me but I have taken so much more back and each and everyday that passes I am taking more and more of my self confidence back and kicking crippling anxiety out of my life forever.

Everyone has a normal amount of anxiety. It is inbuilt in us and protects us in dangerous situations. It is our fight and flight response but when it starts to takeover our lives like it has for me, that is the time we may need help so don't be afraid to seek medical advice. Trust me it maybe the best thing you ever do and the 1st step on the road to reducing your anxiety.

Right now I feel good. I was talking to a psychiatrist recently and she referred me to a support nurse. I take a small dose of mirap, 15ml to ease my anxiety at night and I feel right now, while I still feel a bit over anxious, I have a new found freedom. I just do whatever I want and try not worry about if it will affect me that night. I pray at night and try to leave my worries to God. It works most of the time. It is a work in progress.