Tips and Tricks for Self-Love

Hello !

On Tuesday I talked about how to treat you body and a few ideas on how to feel better about yourself from the inside out ! ( If you missed it you can read it here ) So Today lets talk about a few simple bits and bobs that you can incorporate into your everyday life to increase your happiness and self esteem :)

• Make a positivity book ! Buy a small notebook and keep it by your bedside. Every night write one good thing that happened or made you smile each day no matter how bad your day was. When you look back through it, you'll see it was a pretty good life :)
• Just let yourself live. Get rid of the endless routines and scheduling ( I speak from experience here ) I got to a point where I had to have a schedule and if it went wrong then I'd get panicky but that meant it had to be planned to the minute which made me feel overwhelmed and snowed under ! Neither of these are good. I found the best way to break off from this is to make a list of 3 things each day that you'd LIKE to achieve. Just little things and it doesn't matter if you don't do them. I just find it helps me give my day a sense of purpose !
• DRESS FOR YOU ! I can't highlight this enough. Dress however you feel most confident. This is about making you feel good in yourself. Take some time to go shopping, try on lots of different clothes and don't buy anything unless it makes you feel ready to take on the world ! There's a brilliant chapter on this in Louise Pentland's new book, Life With A Sprinkle Of Glitter . A book I would happily recommend to anyone :)
• Do something you're good at ... or find something you're good at :) It's really important to have a hobby that makes you feel good about yourself , it could help you meet people, build your self esteem, help you relax and way more ! If you haven't already got a hobby that you enjoyed ( If you have one already but you don't enjoy, just leave it. If it's not making you happy it's not worth your time ) then don't sit there thinking that your useless with no talents. You are talented but you're not going to find out what at , if you don't go out giving stuff a go <3
• Do something you're not good at ! ... Seriously, try something new . You're not going to be good at it at first but stick with it and you can do it :) I really wanted to start yoga for ages and then the other week I joined a class and I was AWFUL ! I fell onto the woman next to me. I fell flat on my face. Honestly, you name it, I fell on it hehe :) But I'm going back because I want to be good at it and that's going to take a long time but it will be worth it :)
• Self Date. I've only started thinking about it recently but I've found it really beneficial . Take some time to get to know who you are without the influence of other people. Buy a new book and go to the local coffee shop and treat yourself to reading with a yummy hot chocolate and extra marshmallows ! Or plan a perfect duvet day just for you . ( YOu can find my post " How to ... Duvet Day " here ) Dress yourself up and cook yourself a fancy meal for one ! Because you are worth it ! Let me know your ideas for self dating in the comments :)
• Be compassionate. Be kind to others and you will feel so much happier and warm and fuzzy in yourself ! Try leaving a few hopeful notes a week or smiling at that stranger who you walked past this morning .

Finally, work for what YOU want to achieve. Many people realise way too late that they have been making their life choices especially with choosing careers, around what is expected of them ... no . You are better than that ! You are an amazing, complex human being and you can make your own choices and work to become whatever will make you happiest within yourself :)

I really hope some of these tips are helpful ! Let me know your favourite in the comments or if you have anymore tips feel free to share them :) And be sure to come back tomorrow for the final post of Self-Love week, I'm doing a DIY on how to make yourself a Self-Care box for those days when you're feeling a little crappy and need a lift or just a bit of TLC <3

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Loving Yourself Inside Out!

Heyy !

Welcome to day two of Don'tBurstMyBubble's Self-Love Week ! Yesterday we talked about what self-love actually is, why it's important and some common misconceptions about it. If you missed that then you can find it here :) Today I wanted to talk about little changes you can make to things like your diet, exercise regime and sleep routine to make you feel happier from the inside out !

Self-love is at least 50% an inside job involving things such as healthy eating. But this can go one of two ways. One is really positive and an act of self love and the other ..well, isn't ! It's really important you choose the right way and it's pretty easy to tell the difference.

Starting healthy eating should not start with you standing on the scales crying " Oh my gosh I hate myself , I'm fat and ugly and I'm never going to eat Chinese takeaway again " that's definitely not what we're taking about . You're worth way more than that . This should start with "I love and accept my body so I will give it the nutrients that it needs to stay healthy and perform at its best "

This is nothing to do with losing weight, that isn't what self-love is about. It's about accepting your body and allowing yourself to be happy, stop judging yourself and to see the beauty that I'm sure people often point out to you and almost as often you brush off. We're going to stop that because you deserve those compliments and you should feel like you can accept them :)

So how can you get there ? Here's a few tips !

Inside

Meditate ! It's a great way to increase mindfulness which means you'll be more aware of all the good little things in your day that could make you so happy, but regularly go unnoticed! There are some great free apps around for guided meditations .. especially if you're like me and have no idea what you're doing hehe :) Try "Calm" it's a great app where you can choose either 2, 5 or 10 minute guided meditations or a 7 Day's of Calm ! All for free :) You can also get extra meditation options if you pay each month .

If you can tempt yourself out of bed ( I know it's hard ) then you could try doing even just twenty minutes walking on the running machine to get you up and raring to go for the day ahead ! But, if you really can't drag yourself from under the warm haven of your duvet twenty minutes earlier, try doing a few stretches each morning like you would when warming up for the gym ! I guarantee you'll feel way more energised :)

Get LOTS of sleep ! It's super easy to find negativity in everything when you're tired and lets be honest grumpy. With barely enough energy to function, you're not going to be feeling at your best. I recently decided to start having early nights and scheduling about half an hour of wind down time before I sleep. I turn my phone off and read but you could colour, listen to calming music, whatever takes your fancy !

Up your water intake. We all know that we should be drinking around 8 glasses a day ... we also all know that we probably don't do that ;) Try increasing it a little at a time. At first make sure you drink two 500ml bottles or four glasses and then add a little more each day ! You'll be more hydrated, feel better physically, have better focus and it will help your skin stay healthy. What's not to love ?

Try to eat a lil bit healthier ! I always feel much better about myself when I know I'm giving my body the nutrients it needs :) I few of my go to favourites are stirfrys, stuffed peppers and pasta salad. If you'd like to see some recipes for healthy meals up on this blog then let me know in the comments ! It's something I'd love to try out doing ! On the same note, eat when you're hungry .. until you're full. Eating little and often is seriously underrated. It saves you from feeling hungry or bloated. Neither make you feel great about yourself :)

Outside

Cleanse, tone and moisturise your face each morning ! I always find it make me feel really refreshed and awake . It doesn't have to be expensive ( I used boots own range for years . They're always on 3 for two and they're only £1.50 each, making it £3.00 for a full set ) or if you're willing to splash out a little more; I recommend Liz Earle's Young Skin Try Me Kit for around £24.75 . It makes your skin feel super clean and soft. Plus, the moisturiser smells gorgeous !

Have a go to outfit that never fails to make you feel beautiful, for those days when you're feeling pretty crappy. For me this is a skater skirt and stripy top or my Lacy white top and Dark blue acid wash jeans.

What makes you feel good when you're feeling crappy ? How do you give yourself a confidence boost ? Do you have anymore ideas for how to feel good from the inside out ? Let me know in the comments !

I hope you're having a brilliant day and if not, I hope it gets better :) Check back tomorrow for lots of inspirational quotes all about self-love !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

What Is Self-Love ?

Hello ! 

Welcome to Self-Love week ! I'm really excited about this project. It's such an important topic and I can't wait to talk to you about it :) I'm going to be posting everyday for the next five days about different things to do with self-love. From quotes to self care boxes and little ways you can incorporate it into your day to day lives, We've got it all ! I mean we even have a snazzy little logo for the week hehe :) 

So today I thought we'd talk about, what actually is self-love? First lets get rid of a few misconceptions, here's what self-love isn't :

• It's arrogant 
• It's pointless 
• It's vain 
• It's for people that are stuck up 
• Selfish 
• It doesn't matter 

Wrong, WRong, WROng , WRONg, WRONG ! 

Here is what self-love actually is, by dictionary definition :) 

self-love

noun

1. regard for one's own well-being and happiness.

Self-love is about being comfortable, confident and happy within yourself. It can be difficult to achieve, especially with all these horrible misconceptions surrounding it. But I'm glad to say it's becoming more accepted and more people are talking about it and coming to understand that it's not vain it's necessary. 

It can play a massive part in helping people ( male and female - many people think this is only important with women ) gain more self confidence as it increases their self-esteem and lets you accept yourself for who you are, making you more comfortable with yourself. This opens so many doors! Either to being happier doing the things you already do or to try knew things you never thought you'd have the confidence to ! . You can't tell me that's not important ?

When I broke up with my boyfriend for a while about a year ago, although it was a sad time for me, after a few weeks I began to notice something new. I started to look at myself in the mirror and think : "You know what ? I'm actually looking okay today .. no I look pretty .. I'm actually quite pretty!" This was a massive moment for me and I honestly believe it was because I became too reliant on needing somebody else to tell me I was beautiful and that should not be the case . Once I got back with boyfriend, although I was and am happy, that confidence again became reliant on him. I'm telling you this for two reasons:

a) People often think of Self-Love as something that only single people need. form of confidence so that they can see their happiness should not depend on being in a relationship ( which it shouldn't ) . But what people forget is people who are in relationships also shouldn't have all of their happiness and confidence depend on their boyfriend or girlfriend. This is something It took me a long time to get to grips with. Yes my boyfriend is lovely and sweet and makes me extremely happy and yes he regularly tells me I'm beautiful and all the rest. BUT there's also a lot of other things that make me happy that are completely separate from him and I am trying to get to a point where I have enough self esteem to not need his reassurance that I look nice . 

b) There's no reason that somebody else telling me I'm beautiful should be worth more to me than accepting my body and allowing it to be beautiful to me . In fact , I'm living in here ! Surely I should have more of a say than anyone else on what defines my own standards of beauty !

So , give yourself time to love and accept yourself. To stand in front of a mirror and say "You know what ? Its not that bad . Actually I'm kind of pretty looking !" Allow yourself to be comfortable, make a list of things you like about your personality and a list of things you like about your body ! You can find lots of little challenges like this in my " 30 Day Happiness Challenge " Let me know 3 things you like about your body and three good things about your personality in the comments !

You could ever take it a step further and use a sharpie to write positive words over your body ! I saw this recently in a post by Rainbow-Rose Blossom ( She's a brilliant blogger who frequently promotes self-love and you should definitely check her blog out )  that I'll link to here . I thought it was a really empowering thing to do !

Anyway, that's it for today ! It would mean the absolute world to me if you could share this around however you can because I think this is a really important topic and I'm so excited about raising some more awareness of it ! Check back tomorrow for the second instalment. It's all about how to make yourself feel good about yourself from the inside with lots of tips on everything from healthy eating to getting descent nights sleep !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Email : MyHappyBubbleXx@outlook.com 

Self-Love Week !

Heyy!

I've been really excited for this project and really hope you enjoy it, share it around and most of all get something beneficial from it ! August 20th-24th will be Don'tBurstMyBubble's Self-Love Week !

There will be posts everyday for the next five days highlight different aspects of self-love and hopefully helping you feel better and more comfortable with yourself :)

I can't wait to share this project with you !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx
Email : MyHappyBubbleXx@outlook.com

Smiley Hedgehogs

Heyy , 

There's been loads of super cute stuff floating around pinterest this week so here is my top ten :)

Talking of cute ...guys , this hedgehog is smiling ! ^.^

This is the sweetest thing I've seen all day :) 

I have got to try this ! It actually looks pretty easy :) I can't get enough of the step by step DIY stuff on pinterest! If you want to see more of this sort of thing you can follow my DIY board here <3

Such an important message, it's all about how comfortable you are in your self because that will be reflected in how you act and how happy you are. I know it sounds extremely cliché but people can see when you're in a state where you've completely accepted yourself and they pick up on it and it's infectious ! So spend a little time with yourself, get comfortable, become happy. For you and everyone you're around :)

How can something that AWESOME be this simple ! :D I'm definitely going to try this. It would be the perfect cupcake, birthday cake for my sister who loves watermelon ... who doesn't ? 

I have the original, Big Bang Theory version of this on a top that my boyfriend bought me for valentine day , so this made me giggle :) 

I assume they mean be classy and confident .. not my approach of tripping over and face planting before .... because that's not always considered attractive ;) Who'd of thought, eh ? 

Oh Rory .. everybody wants a Rory ! THE FEELS !!! 

This mug screams hopeful ! ( If you don't know who the hopefuls are they're the subscribers and supporters of Carrie Hope Flecther, I promise I'll move a most I did explaining who they are on my old blog super soon ) It would also be really easy to do yourself with a cheap plain white mug and a permanent marker :) 

This is definitely one of my favourite positivity quotes ! 

Leave a link to your pinterest in the comments because I love to see what everyone's interested in :) 

I hope you have a lovely week, 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of Love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

The Man Who Didn't Tut...

Helloo,

Today I wanted to talk about something that happened to me ( Or rather didn't ) at the gym today :) I was at the gym on the exercise bikes when a man walked in and as he walked past me to get to the running machine, I thought I heard him tut at me. At this point I needed to have a serious talk with myself . This man did NOT tut at me .

a) Why would he ? I wasn't doing anything that would provoke disapproval, I was just using the gym like everyone else . 

b) He couldn't care less what I was doing ! Why on Earth would he ? The man just wanted to use the gym , just the same as I wanted to . I didn't care what anyone else was doing in the gym because it didn't affect me, just like I didn't affect him . 

What actually happened was I was, I saw a man walk in and was probably feeling a little self conscious because sweaty and exhausted is hardly my best look ;) I forgot for a few minutes, like I expect everyone does, NOBODY CARES ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING .

Obviously I don't mean that in a mean way I'm sure lots and lots of people care about you're wellbeing and happiness, but my point is that strangers don't care what you're doing, what you're wearing or whether your hair is slightly out of place! No one even notices.

Do you notice everyone you walk past and all their faults ? Do you waste your day thinking about that person who walked past you twice because they went the wrong way and had to turn around ? Did you even notice ? I didn't think so <3

People aren't judging you . Not everybody is out to get you. You don't need to be self conscious and constantly looking out for someone giving you a funny look. Trust me if you have better things to do than judge strangers, then so do they :) The only person that's stressing out at you is yourself and you're worth more than that, I pinkie promise :)

 In short, people aren't trying catch you out, you're loved by those who know you and those who don't know you aren't looking for something to dislike about you, they're too busy <3

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful
Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Things I Like About Myself ( Tag )

Hello,

I was sitting in bed, not doing anything in particular ( specifically not being at the gym .. but shhhh ;) ) and reading through some new blog posts being a little too tired to be paying proper attention to anything, but there was one that caught my attention . A blogger called Spring Baby ( You should definitely check her out she's lovely and a great writer ) had started a tag. I don't tend to do tags because my blog is aimed at promoting positivity and well-being but I couldn't not do this ! This tag is very simple, you have to come up with 8 things you like about yourself . However it's not so simple when you're trying to do it, which ties in wonderfully with the aims of The 30 Day Happiness Challenge I posted the other week :)

I really can't express how important it is to find and recognise the fantastic, wonderful, incredible things about yourself ! It's not arrogant, it's being kind to yourself and honest <3 So without further a do,  8 things I like about myself :

One : I can see things from other peoples point of views 

Two: My eyes are a bluey-grey colour 

Three: I song-write and it makes me happy 

Four: I'm Short but not as short as my best friend ( I'm winning by a whole centimetre ! WOOO ! ) 

Five : I'm good at working out what colours look nice together 

Six : I can wear flower headbands and I think they look nice 

Seven : I can always find a silver lining no matter what :)

Eight : I can play drums .. I mean it's not very well but regardless, I enjoy it :) 

Wow ! That was a lot harder than I thought it would be ! Now, it's your turn :) So either comment eight things you like about yourself or if you have a blog, YouTube channel, newsletter or any other way of getting things out to the world then go do the tag :) I literally tag EVERYONE because this is something that affects everyone. You are worth compliments just as much as your friends.why do you highlight every wonderful detail of them but ignore your own beautiful traits ? If you do this on your blog or any other platform, I'd love to see it so leave a link in the comments !

Specifically I'd like to tag : Be Nice It's Tuesday and Never Grow Up 

I hope you have a lovely week,

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)
Lots of Love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful
Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

30 Day Happiness Challenge !

I personally believe that happiness is very important for a persons well being ( hence the positivity blog ) I also believe that happiness and kindness go hand in hand . Not just kindness to others but to yourself ... but also others because you wouldn't believe what a lovely feeling it is to make a random stranger smile :)

" If your compassion doesn't include yourself it's incomplete"

So I thought I'd put together a months worth of simple little challenges to see if they can make you, me and any strangers who get affected by some of the challenges, HAPPIER :) Wouldn't that be lovely ? 

Day One : Leave a hopeful note somewhere ( If you don't know what they are click here )

Day Two : Make a list of three things you like about your body

Day Three : Compliment a friend

Day Four : Treat yourself ! Let yourself have an extra scoop of that chocolate ice cream, or get yourself a new book , whatever you fancy, you deserve it because you're awesome :)

Day Five : Start a notebook where you write one good thing that happens everyday , no matter how rubbish the day, you have to find something .

Day Six: Make a list of five things you're grateful for

Day Seven : Have an early night, just turn your phone off an get some rest

Day Eight : Make a list of four positive words your friends would use to describe you

Day Nine : Make a commitment to accept all positive compliments ( It's not arrogant if anything it's way more polite than disregarding someone's positive opinion of you )

Day Ten : Make time for breakfast ... How about Nutella on toast, YUMMY !

Day Eleven : Find three positive quotes that you like

Day Twelve : Think extra carefully before you speak .

" If you propose to speak, always ask yourself. Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind ? "

- Buddha 

Day Thirteen: Make a list of three things you like about your personality

Day Fourteen : Have a little bit of "me time " . Why not just snuggle up with a good book or have a duvet day ? As long as you're happy :)

Day Fifteen : Woo ! You're halfway there ! Celebrate by buying some new clothes that make you feel good or a new accessory .

Day Sixteen : Make a list of five things that you're grateful for

Day Seventeen : Write a positive letter and leave it somewhere random for a stranger to find !

Day Eighteen : Let someone you love.. well, know that you love them ! You'd be suprised at how much your mum or best friend or even that boy who you keep staring at in class needs to know :)

Day Nineteen : Let you know that you're loved ! Take a few minutes to think about all the people who care about you

Day Twenty : Find three more positive quotes

Day Twenty-one : Leave some money in the change part of a sweet vending machine

Day Twenty-two : Tell who-ever serves you at the shops or in a cafe to have a nice day

Day Twenty-three : Get some fresh air  ! Go for a quiet walk and clear your mind

Day Twenty-four : Make a list of five more things you're grateful for

Day Twenty-five : Make a list of one thing in each month for the rest of the year, to look forward to

Day Twenty-six : Tell someone that you like there outfit

Day Twenty-seven: Make a list of five things you're good at

Day Twenty-eight : Leave another hopeful note

Day Twenty-nine : Compliment a stranger ( The person next to you on the bus, the person who serves you at the till, whoever's behind you in the que , ANYONE )

Day Thirty : Write up all the lists, quotes and stick pictures of any hopeful notes you left in a notebook to look back on when you're feeling down !

I really hope this helps add a little extra sunshine to your month :) if you try it out then let me know what you put on your hopeful notes, in the comments !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)
Love, Marianne xxx