The Goodway

change (verb) - make or become different

(noun) - an act or process through which something becomes different

Things never go as planned. Life changes. Friends come and go, you leave school and either attend college or start the journey in the world of work. And, probably the most significant of all, YOU change.

Whatever the situation one thing's for certain - change scares us. We're scared of changing into a person that we never wanted to be alike, afraid of not living up to other's expectations and petrified by the thought of a friend or family member asking "What have you become?".

Change is like a never-ending road trip, really. Driving at different speeds. At some points in your life, it may feel like you're driving slow at others maybe faster. Every once in a while it's as though we're speed raising through an event. Sometimes you're sitting alone behind the wheel other times you're in the company of some friends - but the people and their positions are constantly changing.

You also must take care of the car. After some time you may have to change a tire or refuel the tank. In other words, you need to take care of yourself or else the car won't have a driver. Nurture your body and make sure you're comfortable with yourself.

The simplest of things can scare the wits out of you when they change. Just like suddenly having to use a different technique for something that you have done in one way for years. I, myself, am a kind of person who prefers to stick with the tried-and-tested.

Or, maybe, you think that everything I have just said is complete and utter bullshit because you're not scared of change at all. If that's the case, then hats off to you but I don't believe it. In a way, all of us are afraid of change, whether you actually acknowledge it or not.

Even if fright is always lingering within ourselves awaiting the moment to come forth when things are changing here's something I can tell you: Change is GOOD. It's inevitable, to say the least, but yes, ladies and gentlemen, change is actually and truthfully good for us.

Why you ask? Because if our surroundings were to be the same at all times we could never blossom into the person we were truly meant to be. And, what would you do if you wouldn't change? If you had the same frizzy hair, the same crooked smile on your face, the same attitude towards your parents, the same desire to be like everyone wants you to be, the same character? Life simply wouldn't be life anymore.

So go out there, take on the challenging task of having to deal with learning new ways. Welcome new people into your life and say farewell to old friends which want to hop off at a stop on the road trip. Embrace the change, be yourself and enjoy life to its fullest.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. - Socrates

Mary going offline xx

Change & Other Scary Phenomena

5 TV Shows Worth The Binge

Inspiration is like the sun; it comes, goes and on cloudy days a ray of sunshine may peak through. When feeling inspired we automatically get motivated to do something and to achieve some of our goals. But what exactly happens on the rainy days? If there's no inspiration we'll lack motivation.

As human beings, we are constantly striving to improve ourselves and our lives in order to reach our full potential. That's natural human behaviour. But when you're feeling deprived of creative thoughts, unmotivated to do anything and feel saggy because of that, one might find it hard to push themselves to outgrow the best. So, I am here today to talk about a few things you can do to gain back your inspiration and thus get motivated to make a change in your life.

1. Stream of Consciousness

Grab yourself an ordinary piece of paper or a fancy notebook and a pen and start writing down your thoughts. Unfiltered, not thought through. Just write the words down in their raw and pure form as they popped into your head. You can set yourself a timer to do this for a specific amount of time or just simply let your hand flow over the pages until you feel like you have emptied every compartment of your brain. Take a thorough look at what you have written down and see if there's anything that connects with your wretched mood. Then it's up to you to find a solution to make your day happier and to go on about the day with a whole new mindset.

Sometimes our head is cluttered to the brim with a million thoughts which can lead to being uninspired and unmotivated. For the most part, we don't even acknowledge everything that is going on inside of our head; so by writing down and physically being able to see it all can really help to get you back on track and to sort things out you may not have put as much thought or effort in to begin with.

2. Clean & Scrub

This is a crucial step for me. Cleaning my room and scrubbing the floor squeaky clean is one of the best cures for an overwhelmed mind. I don't know about you but whenever I'm feeling particularly moody and stuck all I have to do is take a look at my room. That might sound odd but when my mind's a mess; my room's a mess and vice versa.

Making it a habit to clean your room, flat or house will do your mind some good. You can clear your head and you'll notice your concentration level rising steadily. If we're already talking about the positive effects then let me just say that your flat will benefit from this one too.

3. Embrace the Modernism

A fair few things can be responsible for a creativity block. Possibly you could just have no clue what to post on your blog, what to cook on this day or something as simple as what to wear. How profitable that we've got this really clever thing called the internet. Take advantage of the modern times we're living in and scroll through Pinterest, Tumblr, WeHeartIt and whatnot for a few hours - no one's going to blame you. Watch some of your favourite YouTubers or try to find a new channel which specifically concentrates on motivation and getting your life together. One of my favourites being Kalyn Nicholson aka my favourite person on earth.

Constantly coming up with brand new ideas or your own twists to already existing ones is hard. By looking at other people's creations you may be able to find some inspiration to do something similar or it may untie a knot inside your head and sooner than you might think, you will burst with creative self-made ideas.

4. Read Yourself Smart

This and number three kind of go hand-in-hand. Search the internet or have a stroll around a million bookshops and hunt down inspirational books. If you are trying not to spend too much money this year (although books are an investment for eternity in my opinion anyway - inner bookworm speaking) then just read the books you've got at home. The point is that you should read every single day, might that be just a few pages or devouring an entire book in a day. Reading is important to keep our brain cells active and put our minds at ease.

Some books are made as a guide to help you with your life organisation but even fictions can include some things you may not have known beforehand. By reading every single day you might learn something new every day but you will only find out by doing it.

5. Don't Be Too Hard On Yourself

Most likely to be the hardest one out of all the mentioned above. Even though it is our nature to try and be better than we are and to improve our lives just that little bit more, it's important to not beat yourself up if you fail at some point or are stuck. Take a step back, have a look at what lies in front of you and start appreciating what you have got. Being patient is hard and annoying, we all know that. But rushing things and blaming ourselves won't help us to the improvement we're longing for. At the end of the day, we're human - it's okay to make mistakes.

Hopefully one of the tips aforementioned can help you regain your energy and get you pumped for what's to come.

You learn more from failure than from success. Don't let it stop you. Failure builds character. - Unknown

Mary going offline xx

How To Get Your Motivation & Inspiration Back

Hello, you beautiful people all around the world,

and a very warm welcome! How was your week everyone? You okay? I do hope so! I have actually had my first ever full week at university, it was weird, truth be told, but I also kind of enjoyed it. It's just very much different to school but, I guess, that's a good thing. Anyways, enough rambling, why don't you grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and enjoy reading today's post?

I know pretty much everyone here knows that Autumn is my absolute favourite season, favourite time of the year and that if I had one wish it would be to have Autumn all year round. How many times can one say Autumn in two sentences? With the colder months upon us, everything around us changes: leaves change in colour, the weather gets chilly, warm drinks become an essential wherever we go and dark lipsticks make a comeback into our everyday lives. But one thing doesn't change - stressful daily routines at work, school or university. Let's be honest, stress is inevitable and we all aren't quite fond of it. So, is there a way to ease our minds and mend those knots in our shoulders without having to book an expensive appointment at a spa?

The answer is Yes! By creating your very own spa at home. The best thing about it? You can personalise it and you have the control over what you use and what you want to do. Candles, bubble baths, tea, hot chocolate, crumble, books, movies and cosy blankets, doesn't that sound more than appealing? Well, then let me show you how I like to pamper myself to calm down and forget all of the stress from that day.

First things first when coming home is changing into comfy clothes. This might be a bit TMI but there's nothing better than discarding the bra after a long day, all the women out there feel me, right? Oversized jumper follows the first warm drink of the evening, which on my part is, to no surprise, tea. I'm freaking obsessed with tea, I probably drink around 5 to 6 cups a day. Don't worry, I don't just sip on regular black tea with milk, I love all sorts of teas. Oh, how could I forget, one of the most important things during the Autumn season is warm scented candles, I'll just leave you with one of my favourite quotes here:

The only thing getting 'lit' this weekend are my fall scented candles.

Very accurate, am I right? Now let's move onto, most probably, everyone's favourite part - the food. I don't know about you but as soon as it gets a tad colder outside all I crave is chocolate porridge and warm comforting crumbles. Being the health addict I am, I like to make my versions as healthy as possible whilst still tasting absolutely divine. So today I have decided on a Mixed Berry Cinnamon Crumble, which doesn't just look good and is only made out of good ingredients, oh no people, it also tastes like heaven. Not that I would know what heaven tastes like anyway, just metaphorically speaking. Let me know if you'd like me to do a separate post on this crumble, I could definitely do that! I really enjoy baking even on a pamper evening as I find it so relaxing, do you like it too?

It wouldn't be a pamper evening without some sort of relaxing bathroom time. Whether you're a bath person or just like to take long hot showers, this is your time. Usually I would opt for a bath anytime, however, after a long day, all I want is to cuddle up in bed and read a good book or watch a nice movie. So instead a hot shower with my Autumn body care essentials is all I need. The Body Shop's new Vanilla Pumpkin range is absolutely perfect for this time of year, besides it embodies everything I love in one: Autumn/Halloween & Christmas (Yes, I did just say the 'C' word *daring Mary*).

If you want to go all out then you can also choose to put on a mask. I love masks, simply because they are great for your skin and so fun to play with all at once. By that I mean, that you can customise your masks to your needs, just put on different masks on different areas of your face. My most recent addition to my collection is this Japanese Matcha Face Mask by The Body Shop, again (I swear this is not sponsored, I just love their products and what they stand for!). This is a great one if you feel like your skin needs to be clarified, but the great thing about this mask is that it's also soothing on the skin. You guys know how much I love my Matcha, so you had to see this one coming. If you want to know a bit more about the amazing abilities Matcha has then click here.

After having endured in vanilla pumpkin goodness and my face is all nice, clean and has my skincare on it's time for a movie. Would it be Autumn without a Harry Potter marathon? I don't think so. Hence me cuddling up on my bed in my Gryffindor jumper with my fairy lights turned on and watching Harry Potter on my Laptop. You can't forget about a nice hot chocolate, whether you make a Pumpkin Spice one or a regular one is totally up to you but I recommend the Pumpkin Spice one, just saying... and a bowl of my crumble with a scoop of Chocolate Salted Caramel Ice Cream (sugar free and minimal ingredients by Booja Booja *highly recommended*).

In case the movie wasn't enough just yet, I also like to read a few pages of the corresponding books just before going to bed. That way my mind can fully relax and my eyes aren't facing those blue lights from electronic devices.

Let me just say another thing. Autumn is also the best time, in my opinion anyway, for dying your hair. Changing your look seasonally has never been easier. But I know that it's extremely expensive when having it done professionally and you might not find your perfect colour at the drugstore. Here's my suggestion: eSalon. They don't just let you pick your ideal colour, no, they actually reach out to you and work with you to work out exactly what you want. With accessible and cruelty-free products and their amazing customer service, you're ought to find your perfect colour.

They are also really into relaxing after a stressful day, so if you want to have some more inspo then check out this graphic.

And that's it for my relaxing evening with an autumnal twist to it. I hope you enjoyed reading it and that I made you want to do at least two of the things I mentioned above. If you did like it then please make sure to let me know that by sharing this post and maybe you want to stick around? Just follow me so you can keep up with my posts! Oh and don't forget to let me know how you like to relax by leaving me your stories in the comments down below, I'd love to read them!

Mary going offline xoxo

A Relaxing Autumn Evening After A Stressful Day

Hello everybody,

and welcome back! Or if you're new here, well then hello nice having you here, I hope you'll stick around. I do hope that all of you are doing absolutely fantastic and that you had a good start back to school or to uni, I have just started uni life myself. Anyway, without too much rambling today, grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and keep on reading!

If you follow me on Instagram, then you will know that I have a cat, used to have two but, sadly, Charlie ran away last year but I don't think I ever shared a proper photo of my dog, can you believe it? I love him so much, his my little teddy bear, well maybe not so little but you get what I mean, haha. His name is Hachiko, nickname Hachi and he is 7 years old turning 8 in November. And yes he's an Akita Inu and his name is based on the real story and the movie of Hachi which, I'm pretty sure, everyone knows of.

Wanting to address the importance of another being living with people and how they can truly make our lives a whole lot better, so I have come up with my own list of things I personally think my dog has had a positive impact on my life.

Loneliness - What's that again?

After living with your family for years, moving out can be very hard, especially when you have to deal with the fact that you're on your own now. Or even if you still live with your family and they just went away on holiday or something, being alone is no fun and it can be scary to some people. Through my dog, I luckily never had to experience the feeling of loneliness since we got him. With him being with me, I feel safe and sound and not so alone as I would if there was nobody around.

Tender loving care for your soul

We all have those dark moments of our own when we feel like the world is crashing down on us and we just want to cry. Usually, one would like to be alone in this kind of situation but it's not very wise. A dog knows when you are sad and comes to your rescue, trying to comfort you and telling you that everything is going to be okay and that you are not alone. By stroking your loved one you can practically feel him talking to you. So guys, if you ever feel alone or down, don't shy away from your dog!

Responsible Acting

This is more based on growing up with a dog or any pet for that matter. Children with a dog learn to respect their environment and nature by simply walking their dog or learning more about them. Oh and let's not forget about them also learning to respect animals. All that raises their awareness of which responsible acts they have to participate in in the household, e.g.: dog care, feeding or walking the dog. Personally, I can say that I have learned to more responsible by growing up with pets, but honestly, I wouldn't know the opposite as I always owned pets for my whole life. Have you ever had pets? If not, what's your opinion on this?

Easier learning

This might seem a bit weird at first, but dogs are scientifically proven (by Behaviour Scientists) to improve children's ability to concentrate. Shy and silent kids open up in the presence of a dog, and hyperactive or aggressive kids calm down and hold back. In addition to that dogs can also positively influence a child's development at school. I have noticed that my half-siblings, who are growing up with two dogs, have definitely profited from it as they both started speaking way earlier than a child is supposed to. So I can 100 percent agree on this one! Have you had any experiences like that?

More activity and fresh air

I reckon this is very self-explanatory since walking your dog requires you to actually leave the house, walk and breath, hopefully at least. It's also a good chance to interact with other people and to get to know someone, trust me, dogs are great "awkward-silence-breakers".

If you want to know more facts of how dogs improve our lives and have a positive impact on our daily routine, then you can check this graphic from PuppySpot out!
PuppySpot is an amazing company which tries to get loving families to choose their ideal lovely puppy to have a happy life. They offer their service in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and more states across the entire United States.

This is just a small list which definitely can be extended, so if you have any additional facts then leave them in the comments down below or if you want me to include it in the post then drop me an email! I hope you enjoyed this post about our furry friends if you did then make sure to share it over on social media. Do you have a dog yourself? Or maybe another pet? Let me know your story in the comments, I would love to know them!

Mary going offline xoxo

Human's Best Friend - A Superhero

Hello everybody,

and welcome to today's post! I hope all of you are doing absolutely great and that your holidays are going well! Without much rambling for once, grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and let's jump straight into today's post!

Source: http://www.sunrisephotos.com.au/

Do you ever have those flashbacks of your teenage years, where you were all naive, partly stupid but also carefree? I've got those all the time, and some of them are pretty damn embarrassing where you just think "God, I wish I knew that back then!". Pretty sure all of you know what I'm talkin' about here!

Obviously, school played a huge role in my life at that time (talking around 12 to 18 years old), you know like the things you learned about life, the world and people. Everything.

Well, now all of this got me thinking of what the top things were which I would tell my teenage self. Would it have been better to study that Saturday instead of going to the cinema with my besties? Should I really have spent my last twenty bucks on something I knew I'd never use? Let's have a look at my advice from my older self to my younger self, shall we?

Keep on studying my dear...

I know this might sound stupid to some of you, but really all of us know how much teenagers like studying. Yep, you guessed it 0.0%. But it is so important to fill your brain with as much knowledge as you can get and to really inform yourself about the things going on in this world. And after all these years, I can say this one thing without a doubt: The hard working hours studying paid off.

Don't leave it to someone else!

Whenever I found myself in a difficult situation or I simply felt uncomfortable doing something I had this easy solution: just letting someone else take care of it. Now looking back, I wish I would have taken these opportunities, opportunities to grow on and to improve some already existing skills and actually done some things myself instead of someone else.

I'd rather say no.

Now, just for clarification purposes, I do not mean to say no to your parents, nope. That's what 98% of our teenage lives are spent with anyway, no need to tell you that. But you know, it is okay to say no to your friends, to something you don't want to do because you don't like the idea of it. I wish I did this more when I was younger! I was one of those girls who always did everything she was told to, forced into it or not, I did it. I never wanted to be the outsider, which, sad story, I already was, so there was no need for that. But even if you're not the Miss Popular at your school, always remember - you ARE allowed to decline.

Friends are everything!

Finding good friends isn't easy by all means, especially not as a teenager. But even the once that stuck around for only a period of time were everything to me back at that time. So no matter how long someone stays in your life, as long as this person means something to you at that very moment everyone's worth the time spent with them. I used to be so scared of getting hurt by people since I already had been quite a few times before, but honestly, I don't regret any "friendship", fake or not. Those moments have only helped me grow and understand what actually matters in life.

Do NOT walk into that sweets shop!!!!!!

I had to laugh whilst typing that headline, hahaha. I guess it's no secret to humanity that teenagers are not very good at handling or managing money. There's a reason why we only ever got a limited amount of pocket money, trust me. So, yes I a hundred percent wish I didn't walk into that sweets shop oh so many times just to leave my money on their counter. Not just was it a complete waste and super unhealthy for me, but the money left in that shop could have been saved for something really important in my later life.

And that last point was actually sparked by the lovely people at Earnest. They are encouraging others to write a post about what they would tell their teenage self and how school affected their life. That had me hooked immediately and so I wanted to share my own!

Earnest is a company based in San Francisco, California in the USA. They are an incredible team of many talented people working on bringing easily accessible credits and loans to people like you and me. But whilst being a sophisticated company they try to receive information about their clients other banks and lenders don't, which help them create the most suitable and personal customised loans that you actually deserve. If you're living in the United States and you're thinking of taking out a loan but are too scared of the very high refinancing rates, then you might want to check Earnest's Refinance Student Loans out.

I have got to say I am glad that a company like Earnest exists since studying costs about a fortune these days and not everyone, *cough* barely ANYONE *cough*, can afford it. So having a trustworthy lenders company with customised rates and great service is an incredible support which should be available all around the world. Unfortunately, for now, it's only possible for US citizens to take out loans from Earnest but that alone is step up in our financial game!

Well and that just about wraps up today's post. I hope you liked it if you did then please make sure share it over in your social medias and follow my blog to stay updated!

What would YOU tell your teenage self? Let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time loves,

Mary going offline xxx

What I'd Tell My Teenage Self

Hello my beautiful friends,

I'm back! How's everyone doing? I hope all of you have been absolutely splendid over the last couple of weeks! I know I haven't been quite active on here nor on my social medias, but I have been, and still am pretty preoccupied with my A-levels. Well, that's why I wanted to write this post today, to basically have a little chat with all of you. So just grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and keep on reading!

As I just mentioned above I am in the middle of doing my A-levels, though the written ones are finished since Wednesday and now I need to prepare for my oral ones. In case you are wondering what I'm talking about, the education system in Austria is quite a bit different to the one in the UK, if you have any questions on that just leave them in the comments down below and I will be sure to answer them! Anyways, It's been a heck of a stressful time and I am super glad that it's over for now!

Still I can't believe that soon, and by soon I mean in like three weeks, school will be over for good. Like what?! That is crazy! And, fyi, this is not the fact that's making me stress out but more that I have absolutely no idea of where I will be in a few months. By that I simply mean that I have no damn clue on which university I will be going to, if I even will be accepted nor where I will be staying. So, as you can see, there are a lot of factors playing with my mind and my hormones (I apologise to all of my friends for being such a monster lately *chuckles*).

Wanna know what I have planned on doing in the future? Well, I am planning on studying either Behavioural Studies or Nutritional Research in *drums please* Scotland. Even though I have actually never been to Scotland before, I consider it as an option since they are very well known for their amazing universities. Besides it is way cheaper studying in Scotland than in England as an European citizen. Now you might think I've gone completely bonkers for wanting to study so far away from my home country Austria but I truly want this. I have been wanting to move to the UK for quite some time now, and I worked everything out, in my head at least, on how I'm going to do it exactly.

So that's my plan for now, of course things can change and plans never go as planned, I know that for sure, but I have set myself a goal and I want to make my dreams come true, so I need to work hard for it!

But, good news now, I am planning on travelling with a very good friend of mine in July, so I am super excited for that. We will be going to London and Brighton and maybe another country as well, I am so looking forward to finally travel again!

What are your university/college plans? Let me know so we can have a chat and maybe help each other out! Make sure to follow my blog, as I will be posting a lot more in the next few months and we don't want you to miss out on any goodies, do we? Until next time fellas!

Mary going offline xx

What's Going On - Life Changes, University Chat

Hello everybody,

how's everyone doing? I do hope only good and that your week has been nothing but fantastic! For starters, I would like to apologise for not uploading quite as regularly as I should be, but with my A-levels, just around the corner, I'm getting busier by the second. Still, I hope you will enjoy the content on my blog and without further ado, grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and keep on reading!

I'm 100% certain that everyone has heard the word "superfood" at least once by now. We all know that these amazing seeds, powders and what not are packed with loads of nutrients and have a tonne of health benefits for your body and mind. I am here today to talk about one superfood in particular (probably my fave too): Matcha Green Tea Powder.

Matcha powder is just simply ground green tea leaves. It has been a tradition in Japan for centuries now, and monks like to drink matcha tea especially before meditating due to its high amount of caffeine. But what differs regular caffeine from coffee to caffeine from matcha is the effect. Whilst with coffee the caffeine is being activated by coming in contact with our body's gastric acid and is therefore being released instantly. Whereas with matcha the caffeine is firstly transferred into the bowels and then being released there, which makes the whole process longer than with coffee but you feel more awake for way longer with matcha.

Along with it amping up your concentration level, Matcha has an antibacterial and antioxidant effect. It prevents tooth decay, bad breath, speeds up weight loss, boosts your immune systems as well as your metabolism and so on and on. Matcha really is miracle powder!

Source: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=matcha+tea&biw=1366&bih=662&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi23piE-a3SAhUBIMAKHSSjC90Q_AUIBygC#imgrc=roBSDf470ZPSJM: - but edited

In addition, matcha can reduce your stress gauge and even help with depression! Now, this is for my student colleagues out there, Matcha can scientifically proven, help you focus and concentrate for longer and better due to it being rich in L-Theanine, a rare amino acid which helps to put your body in a relaxed state, to focus whilst remaining completely calm. L-Theanine is found in nearly every single tea, though matcha contains up to five times more than any regular green or black tea.

Matcha is also a great natural way of detoxifying your body. Chlorophyll being the main ingredient in matcha which helps to get rid of heavy and chemical metals as wells as any other bad toxins flowing around your body. Chlorophyll is the element which gives all green plants their vibrant green colour.

Source: my own

Overall it is to say that matcha is one of the most powerful superfoods out there and the Japanese definitely know what is good. So I suggest you better include a Matcha Green Tea Latte into your weekly if not daily routine and make it a habit, I LOVE Matcha Green Tea Latte's and I possibly drink them around 4 times a week!

Now that's going to be it for today's rather informative post, which I really enjoyed writing for you guys! Let me know if you would like me to write a post about something else that would interest you, I totally would do it again! If you liked it then please don't forget to follow my blog and to share this post over on your social media's, it would mean the world to me! Until next time!

In case you want to read even more about matcha: Matcha Source Website

Mary going offline xx