Monday 29 January 2018

so I decided I was going to have a really good week...

...and here's how it went.

Sunday night, before my second week back at uni after the christmas holidays. I was feeling good, better than I'd felt in a long time. I was looking forward to lectures and meeting up with my friends and eating delicious food, and to be honest, I hadn't been feeling the best about myself nor my reality for the weeks previous. I'm not sure what it was, maybe the iron supplements I'd started taking (again) or the feeling of being back in a place of security or the new modules in college- but I felt almost back to myself again. And I decided I was going to do my utmost to make the week ahead the best week ever, because I deserved it, you know?

So what were my criteria? I decided that a good week was a mysterious balance of seeing friends, keeping up with my uni work, relaxing, eating good food and doing things I wouldn't normally do, like visiting galleries, going to the cinema, going for walks or to the gym (lol). And I would follow my instincts and do what I felt like. That was the plan.


On Monday morning I made a good start on some reading for my degree, had lunch at home and then headed in for my one and only lecture. Afterwards, I went to the gym for the first time this year, and also the first time in a long time. I've never had a gym routine, and it's definitely something I want to get into, so even though my workout was all over the place, I was glad to have gone. I rewarded myself with a protein bar. Overall, it was a good day- not the best, far from the worst. The best thing about it was the feeling of productivity.


Tuesday is always the busiest day of the week for me in terms of class. This week I had four lectures/tutorials spread between 9am and 5pm. It didn't give me a lot of time to treat myself, nor do any extra studying for my then upcoming German exam! However, I was determined that I'd do it all somehow. I had 4 hours off in total, and spent the first catching up with one of my new friends. By the time my next break came around, I decided to grab myself some lunch. Seeing as I was alone, I decided that I'd grab something to go rather than sit in a café. So I discovered Marks and Spencers' new vegan range, and got a vegan protein salad which was actually pretty tasty. I finished it off with some pineapple, which was delicious up until the last couple of bites before my tongue started stinging a little bit. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.


So I calculated that if I went all the way to the Hugh Lane Gallery, I'd have between 15 and 20 minutes to look at a painting (there was one in particular I wanted to see). It sounds kind of daft to pay for public transport and do a fair bit of speed walking for fifteen minutes in a gallery, but I wanted to treat myself, and one of my favourite paintings ever is in that gallery. I visited it once last year, and wanted to make sure to see it at least once more before it moves back to the National Gallery of London. I don't know when that will be, but it was on my mind as something I'd like to do, and so, I did it.

Honestly, it was so worth it. The painting in question is Les Parapluies by Renoir, a section of which is the second photo. The painting is an impressionist one, and almost looks unfinished in parts. But the subject matter, which is umbrellas, the predominant colour, blue, and the little girl in the bottom right corner have been the object of my fascination ever since I w as a child and saw a reproduction of it in a story book. When I went to see it last year, I was a bit underwhelmed as the colours aren't as vibrant as I expected. Going back to it, however, was a different story. I really felt like I could appreciate it properly, and just wanted to look and look. I also looked at some other pieces from the collection. The first photo is of Monet's Waterloo Bridge. I really hadn't the time to stay, which was a pity, but I'll find another time to go back soon I hope!

Tuesday was a really good day. I checked off a lot of things off the list, even if there were challenging/boring classes and early starts and pineapple burns. But that's kind of what life is. I knew it would be impossible to fully control a week to be amazing, but some amazing things happened that day, and for that much, I'm happy.


Wednesday was possibly the least fun day. And by least fun I mean it wasn't very fun at all. My classes were interesting- they weren't the issue, but I had a stomach ache that bothered me all day, meaning I couldn't enjoy good food(!!) nor go to the gym as I had hoped. I knew my next couple of days would be really busy, so I wasn't sure when I'd be able to go to the gym again, but I decided to forget about it and take a quick walk for the fresh air. Then I journeyed home, ignored the studying I should have done, and watched an episode of Black Mirror instead. Oh well!


Where can I begin with Thursday? I went for lunch in Yumo with my best friend and it was amazing. I got a free ice-cream sample, she bought me a Lindor truffle. My three-in-a-row classes that I wasn't looking forward to went really well and really quickly. Funny things happened in each of them that we talked about for the rest of the day. Just before our German exam, myself and two of my new friends went and actually got ice cream. We spent the whole time laughing and having pure fun. I felt so so lucky to have made friends of those girls. My exam was difficult as I expected but in ways it wasn't as bad. I don't necessarily know how it went, but I was so relieved to get it out of the way.

But then night fell. I was supposed to spend some time with my mum in the evening, but when I met her she told me that my grandmother was in hospital. I cursed myself for deciding to have the best week ever- some higher power was surely laughing in my face. We went to visit her and it broke my heart to see her so unwell. We got takeaway chips and a veggie burger on the way home and I drank two glasses of white wine with it.

Thursday was an amazing day in that I spent time with so many of the people that I love and care for, and I had a lot of fun with friends and ate a lot of delicious food. It was also a bad day because it ended with a really massive challenge for me, one outside of my control.

To have a really good week is to enjoy yourself despite any difficulties you might face along the way. I couldn't enjoy the nighttime because it was tough. But I won't let the unknown worry and sadness take away from the gratitude I felt.

Friday was a bit of a chill day for me as a result. I had plans half made to meet up with a friend but decided to postpone them so I could take care of my self a bit. I only had one class, and it wasn't until the late afternoon. So I went for my first run of the year to clear my head, and it went really well honestly. I felt more fit than I realised and enjoyed being out in the fresh air. I also treated myself to an episode of Black Mirror (USS Callister for those of you interested) and grabbed a really nice lemonade and sandwich for late lunch. Class was unfortunately tedious as we were going through the test and none of us really wanted to know about it.


On Saturday I made the spontaneous plan to meet up with my best friend and get crêpes. This was a big deal in that a. I don't do spontaneous and b. I'm a massive introvert and I wasn't even sure I wanted to see anyone that day. I'm so glad I decided to be spontaneous though, because we ended up having a nice time together, and it was definitely much more exciting than anything I would have otherwise done. I don't like to admit it, but it's true that I rarely look forward to plans because  the thought socialising when I'm tired or not in the best mood ever makes me even more tired. However, I usually end up having a lot of fun when I meet up with my friends because I love love love people and hearing what they have to say. I'm a walking contradiction. I know.


Sunday was a pretty chill day. It's the day that I usually do homework and reading for the week ahead, and so that's what I did for a couple of hours in the morning. Before that, I slept in until 10:45 and made banana nice-cream for breakfast. Which I balanced with a doughnut. Oops. I didn't get dressed until the late afternoon, but then went out to the shops and made a really nice dinner of falafel wraps. A good day by any measure, as it felt good to get stuff done as well as to take things at a slow sunday pace.

In conclusion, did I have a really good week like I intended? I'm not sure. I think the extra effort I put in to do productive things as well as fun things made it a much more interesting week than it might otherwise have been. Visiting the gallery, spending way too much on food (I'm so sorry wallet, so so sorry), seeing some of my friends- all of that made for a week of variety and fun. I confirmed that things happen that are out of my control. I learned that sometimes there really isn't anything you can do to make yourself okay with that. Some things simply suck, and having a positive attitude about them hardly makes a difference. However other tiny mishaps or inconveniences truly are made into a bigger or smaller deal by how you act.

Will I try to have a really good week again? Sure I will. I should probably try to have a great week every week and not let my life feel like it's falling into monotony. One should be kind to oneself always, and we should never forget that.

So tell me, how did your week go? I hope you enjoyed reading about mine!

Love, Anna x

12 comments

  1. this is good. having a positive outlook in life. getting what we want-- with some extra effort from ourselves of course. xo

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  2. Whenever I try to have a good day, I end up being in bed reading or watching... which makes me sad whenever I think back to it (idk why).
    But this is so good! I'm happy for you that you did this! xx

    mia | chaotic tales

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  3. It's amazing how having a positive attitude can really change your day sometimes. (Othertimes, things just happen that are out of your control.) I tripped a little bit going up the stairs to work yesterday and remember thinking, "Oh no. This is a sign of a bad Monday." But that was just me being pessimistic. It's thinking like that that MAKES your Monday bad. (The day, as it turned out, wasn't bad. A little stressful, but not bad at all.)

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  4. fantasy violet29 May 2018 at 20:30

    I'm glad you had a great week. Also, I hope your grandmother gets better x
    https://sykirah.blogspot.my

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  5. GO YOU! Your week sounds like so much fun! Sometimes we just need that push to do something really great with the time that we have. Having crepes with your friend sounds like something I would enjoy! I enjoyed reading about your great week!
    Simply Me

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  6. I think I'm going to try to get more things done this week, I have been in a bit of a rut. Reading about you getting your stuff done is inspiring. It also made me hungry. Sorry about your Grandma, hope she feels better.

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  7. Thank you! It think so too.

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  8. Yesss, so true. I'm glad your day turned out alright in the end- the power of positive thinking can work wonders.

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  9. I'm glad you think so, and wish you the best of weeks! Thank you so much, she's doing a lot better now. xx

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  10. Thank you Mia! I suppose it can be a bit pressurizing too to tell yourself you HAVE to have a good day. However, days in bed being 100% relaxed are good for your mental health too. x

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  11. Aw thank you Vanessa! Thank you so much for reading <3

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  12. Thank you! I really appreciate that xx

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Thank you for your words x

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