Tag: Winston Churchill

#ArkayInTheUK: Day 5 Check-In.


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What’s crack-a-lacking people?

If you follow me on Instagram you would know that i’m in London and am doing quite a bit of exploring and walking about. I’ve made my way to this cozy little coffee place on Charles II Street called The Borough Barista after a good 2 and a half hour walk from Waterloo over the Waterloo bridge, walked down the Victoria Embankment, back over the other side via another bridge to the Jubilee Gardens and then back across the Westminster Bridge to Big Ben and the Parliament Square, where i bumped into good old Winston Churchill and later on Abe Lincoln; they weren’t in a very talkative mood though, oh well.

Image“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin #franklin. Landed safe and sound, enjoying a Mocha at costa while waiting for the cab. Slept through most of the flight, immigration took 5 minutes & my bags came out pretty quick, so all in all, pretty good flight. #Day1 #ArkayInTheUK

Anyway, i then continued walking, even though my feet were in all sorts of pain, and made my way to the beautiful St. James Park, unfortunately i couldn’t spend as much time as i would have liked due to my howling feet and very empty stomach, so i continued walking until I saw this little sign saying “British Coffee” and I just had to take a look 😉 (note, i essentially had no idea where I was walking, i just went with the flow).

Image“Your daily behaviour reveals your deepest beliefs.” Robin #Sharma. So after being confined to my sisters house for a little over 3 hours I’m finally getting to explore Kingston. After more than an hour of walking around #kingston i’ve made it to the #LocalHero = #coffeetime ️ Kingston is a beautiful little town and I’m really enjoying my walking about .#Day1 #arkayintheuk

So yea, one good ham sandwich and Piccolo later i’m sitting here with Ivy (my MacBook) out rambling on about how I spent a lot of time walking about London toda…. wait wait… circular-spirally-thought path alert.

ImageHaving my first beer in #London with my sis  #Day1 #hellolondon2013 #arkayintheuk

Anyway, it’s now Day 5 of my trip, #ArkayInTheUK, and i’m thoroughly enjoying myself, despite the cold, the 4:30pm sunsets and aching, aching feet. Kingston is my primary base and a lovely little town at that. Spent the first 3 days exploring and walking about; didn’t find any good coffee but i found plenty to see 🙂 I finally made me way out of Kingston and into London yesterday, and i was not disspointed at all with my day. Lunch with my uncle and aunt, where i was force fed a lot of rice and chicken curry ;), was followed up by a 2+ hour walk from Bethnal Green to Covent Garden, which hurt a helluva lot, but which i have no regrets about.

Image#day2. Chilling at the park in the cold, watching families play in the park, people walk their dogs, kids playing football on a nice pitch one side and watching two local teams battle it out on this side as the last of beautiful leafs fall. Sometimes I can’t belief I’m actually here and fear that it’s all a dream & I’ll wake up.  Thank you so much for this mum & dad. #day2 #arkayintheuk #hellolondon2013.

During my 2+ hour walk, that went through Holburn, I saw the transition from Old London to Central, which was amazing, it was like a journey through time. My favourite part so far of London has been the parks and the architecture, the old grand building that I only say in movies growing up, and the fact that i’m actually here, looking at them with my own eyes, takes me way back and i find myself feeling like a little kid in awe of this big city. It is something that I partially cannot believe, half expecting to wake up and find myself back at home in bed.

IMG_4339#Day3:”The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy of life lies in having no goals to reach.” -Benjamin #Mays– Just sitting at this cafe, #pickeldpantry, sipping my flat white & observing the street & the people. Kingston is a really beautiful town, especially now with the autumn leafs . I just love walking around, getting lost and then opening up Maps to get me home 

This city is so old, so full of history and class, yet so vibrant and new at the same time.

IMG_4818A#Day4: I’m at a slight loss for words right now.. 3 floors of awesomeness apple stuff & more! So many third party things too!!! #london #coventgarden #hellolondon2013 #arkayintheuk #nofilter — at Apple Store.

I know it’s still early on in my trip, but I’m really really really loving it so far and am so excited because there’s still so much to do! So much that sometimes it feels a little overwhelming, but i guess that’s better than underwhelming, i’ve just got to plan it all out and i’ll be good :).

IMG_4851#Day4: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” #gandhi.
I am certainly enjoying myself in London. Walked from #BethnalGreen to #CoventGarden, a good 2 hour 6.7km walk. It was amazing to see the transition from old London to the City to Covent, and walking thru all the parks, taking in the architecture. Felt like a kid 
Anyway, this pic was at 5pm at #coventgarden and I was thinking twice about having coffee because of how dark it was haha. Finally found a good latte. #day4  #london #arkayintheuk#hellolondon2013

I think i’ve rested up enough, going to get back on my feet, and like Johnnie, keep walking. Check out my instragam, @arkaysthoughts for more pics of my trip so far, and my walking paths.

Cherrio 😉

#KMF

 

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A Rekindled Spirit


Good morning everyone,

A month or so back, mornings weren’t very good, in fact most days weren’t very good. Days felt dark, life didnt have colour, I felt down, I was in pain, always tired…. my spirit was broken.

I was just riding life, letting life act on me instead of it being the other way around. I was a shadow of the person I used to be. That ambitious & positive 18 year old that left for India but came back broken.

“Great effort springs naturally from a great attitude.” – Pat Riley”

From the time I came back from India I rode waves of highs and then longer and meaner waves of lows. I would fight back for a bit, after reading a good book but eventually the motivation would wear off and I would be back in a rut of self-pity, negativity and some depression. I felt like a failure a lot of the time. And this went on until a couple weeks back. Funnily enough I started feeling a lot better after coming home from a week in a Mumbai, maybe India gave me back what was once mine?

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake.” – Elbert Hubbard”

Actually my mood and attitude started picking up after I read this book by David Schwartz, “The Magic of Thinking Big,” given to me to my 21st birthday by Zoran & Cheryl, a couple that I have much respect and admiration for. The book was the spark I needed to rekindle my spirit. It opened my eyes and made me realise how different I was, how much I had lost, the ambition, the big dreams, the fire,the person that I used to be. I started to feel alive again, cause it really did feel like I was in a coma, just drifting through life one day at a time, wasting my time doing god knows what. But anyway, once I came back from India I felt more alive.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

How poetic, that I regained my spirit from the very place that stole it from me.

“If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt”

So why am I telling you my sob story? Because I believe that are so many other people out there, that were just like me, facing problems, looking at the world through misted windows, feeling that there’s no hope, no point, feeling like failures. But we must remember, that the most successful people are also the ones who have tasted defeat more than most, they just don’t let it win.

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill

The most important thing in our life is our attitude. Whether we are more positive or more negative. It will shape our view of the world and how we act towards it, I became quite negative when I came back from India in 2010, and once I realised how bad things had become, how low i had gone, I made a conscious effort to be more positive, and it is paying off. I feel much better, life is good, my blog has been active, I’m enjoying writing, I’m more outgoing and I’m pursuing a few things. yes, I still get tired, and I am still in pain, but they dont seem as daunting as they were when I was feeling like shit, I’m not as tired and the pain has decreased.

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” – Anatole France”

I once again believe that I can achieve great things,
I know there will be mistakes & failure,
But that doesn’t mean I should stop trying,
I’m going to act on life, not let life act on me.

If you need someone to talk to please don’t hesitate to contact me. The most important thing when you feel down is to have someone you can talk to. My email address is arkaysthoughts@icloud.com

Straight from the Heart,

Arkay 6

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