The Glass Is Always Half Full

Afternoon Bloggers :)

Ok so it has been quite a few days since we last spoke.... I do however have a very, very valid excuse.... My Laptop is in the hospital, it's in the shop for repairs, its having a few bypasses, in order to restore back to its brilliant form it once was :'( Poor some out for ones homies!!!

So what have my favourite people around the world been up to? Here in Cadiz we have been graced, (up until the unfortunate last 2 days of downpour) with sunshine that England see's solely in the Summer, and then only for a few days! But here... We have had beach days, and many of them, and we are only in February!! What great weather we expect in the near future! With temperatures above 20, and consecutive days laid on the golden sands of La Caleta or playing football with the Italians by the cool water, it has been quite the relaxing week!

Of course those times could not last forever.... and with the downpours came University. The (eventual) beginning of Semester 2, and what of course can we expect here in Spain with the beginning of a new semester? Why of course confusion about courses, which classes to choose, and where the hell we are supposed to be?! Not to worry though, with Matriculation not needed for the first two weeks it gives us time to try our hands at subjects, to taste the differences between clashing courses, and of course to rule out the ones that give us too much agro, confusion, or hilarity as we look upon the Lecturer stood in front of us.... Our first two chosen subjects of Modern Greek and Text, Discourse and Conversation managed to combine all the above in a meer 1 hour and 15 minutes of classes on Monday. Lets just say they are two classes myself and Matito shall not be taking!!

Monday, Monday, Monday.... The Boomtown Rats sang of how they simply could not stand Mondays, and then Bez went and started a riot with his band the Happy Mondays.... It seems people just can not make their mins up about mondays. Well this monday was of course Valentines Day. What a day to say to students across Cadiz... guess what? Today you start lessons again. Thanks! Not that i had reason for celebration, well, apart from the fact two of my favourite ladies were back in Cadiz after a spell back in Blighty, but it is a day when you can sit back and see what a wonderful world we live in. Its a day that, yes has been over-hyped and over-commercialised over the years by chocolate, flower and card compnies, oh and of course Hollywood and the music industry, but it is also one of the oldest celebrated holidays.

Yes i am a single man, no i am no love doctor. I am simply an optimist. A guy that likes to see the glass half full, and of course write to my loyal readers all about how full my glass is. But when i see couples not fully celebrating such a day, or hear people tearing the day to pieces i get rather angry. Valentines Day is a brilliant day. How many other days do we have in which people, who on other days of the year may have no courage to, find the strength and guts to finally tell that one person that they care about them. No matter race, sexuality, gender, age, religion or hell favourite Justin Bloody Beiber song, Valentines Day breaks down social and cultural barriers to allow that one shy guy, or that one timid girl the courage to ask them to be their Valentine.

So guys and girls, don't go about looking at life with your glass half empty, yes there are 364 other days in the year which they can do this, but it is the magic of the Day, the magic and tradition that has become so powerful over a spell of hundreds of years. Look at life with your glass half full, why not tell that someone special that you care about them every day of they year. If you have the balls, then hell go for it. But for millions of people around the world Valentines Day gives them an opportunity to break out of their shells and say hell to norms.

If you have someone special in your life, if you have them already, or if you are just observing from afar at the moment, tell them, let them know how you feel, let them see it from your perspective, and hey whats the worst that can happen? They walk into a bench?! Youjust  never know, they may feel the same, but you will never know unless you take that leap of faith.

So i booked flights home for March today :) Sooo happy! I get to go and see the Northumbria Musical Theatre Society's performance of Rent and also will be in Doncaster for my Grandad's 80th Birthday Party at the home of Doncaster Rovers FC, The Keepmoat Stadium. 80 Ey?! What an age!!! What a life the guy has lived, more jobs than i can count, he has been to a football world cup, seen Donny Rovers promoted and relegated and then promoted in epic fashion within which time they had wins at the Millenium and Wembley stadiums, two amazing Sons who have turned into two brilliant men, My Dad and Uncle, and of course stayed with my wonderful Grandma all these years... (to be honest i do not know how she has put up with him?!!) He has achieved so much in his life, been to so many different places, and experienced so many different things. It makes my meer 21 (i almost wrote 19 then... oh how i wish i was only 19!!!) years seem so inadequate. What have i achieved? I'm single. I still have a year left at uni. I have nothing to show so far. But when i turn 80, when my friends turn 80, what will we have achieved?....

Me
I am a pretty ambitious guy, i have a million dreams and hopes, but its getting down to work and achieving them which is my problem. So when I turn 80 i can see my life will have gone down 1 of 2 routes;
Route1) I achieve my dream of becoming a successful writer. I earn either an oscar or Booker prize for my success in writing. I will have a beautiful wife and 2 if not more wonderful, successful children. I will look on my life and be extremely happy with what i have got.
Route2) I have achieved nothing. I got my degree, went after my dreams and failed. I wound up in a dead end job, rushed into a marriage and stand there on my birthday divorced, unhappy and living in regret....

Lets all hope its route 1 ey!!!!

Matty Stevens
Well the old git is already turning 22 next month so he has even less time to set the record straight. But the boys has success written all over him. Driven and passionate, what he lacks in height he makes up in desire. What he wants he often gets. Is his football career behind him? I bet if you asked 10 people including him, 7+ would say it has to be, him being already 22, but its the few, the believers that matter, and with the support of his friends and family Matty, whatever he chooses, will be successful, If not back in Footy, then you better believe he could build a Fortune 500 Company from the ground up! All of course with the support of his ever loyal and famous wife Sophie, star of many a Basehunter video ;)

James Walsh
Lacking the belief to back up his talent James could easily see his abilities fizzle out and die unused and un-noticed but with the backing of his family and closest and mostest James needn't worry about a thing. Once he gets his first or 2'1 at the very least this summer and aces his Masters at Leeds or Loughborough, James will go on to become rather rich in his field. Lauren Conrad will of course come to her senses sooner or later and accept his proposal, that is, of course if he hasn't been snatched up by an rich older women ;)

The Lish
What a Lad!!! An all round hero to his mates, yes he can be an arrogant son of a gun, yes he can be a complete and utter plonker, but what a boyo he can also be. He will easily become one of the youngest partners at whichever Law company is lucky enough to have him accept their job offer! And by his 80th birthday, a mere 35 years after he was able to retire he will look back at his days of being a man of the law, with a win percentage well above the 85% mark in his cases, the kid will be very happy to have seen all his hard work payed off, not only with Law, but also the grafting he did with Sophie ;)

Sarah Bailey
A complete and utter dissapointment to all those close to her....

Pah dont be daft. Sarah strives to please those closest to her. She looks for acknowledgement of her achievements from the family that is firmly behind her 100%. She may not know what she will end up doing, she may not have everything panned out, she may still be exploring her rebelious(ish) uni days of parties and men, but Sarah is one hell of a lass. Hard working, strong willed, honest and intelligent. Kind to everyone around her even when she needn't be, and a brilliant friend to have. Sarah will be happily married with a brilliant family and collection of friends. She probably won't have had to work since she married her dream-boat husband aged 30 and moved out to Palm Beach in Florida.

Ash Milns
No just because he is dyslexic doesn't mean i'm going to liken him to some brilliant handicapped person. The rainman was a fluke ;) pah joking. Dyslexia needn't hold Ash back even one moment (or the 25 extra he needs), he is passionate and intelligent and will strive to be successful no matter what it takes. With sound financial backing from his stock sales he invested in when he was a mere 20 something, come 80 years old Ash will have built an empire.... in shipping. After gaining vital experience in how not to ship goods, and how to try to avoid import taxes to Spain, Ash will build an empire around making the most of his back experiences whilst trying to get his expensive taste buys into Spain on his year abroad!

Kike
Seperated? These two... Pah! Mike, after achieving his flukey First at Northumbria went on to build the worlds largest mens hair grooming enterprise. With his doting wife in tow he went on to be worth 5 million quid. Not bad for a guido! And did Kellie just sit looking averagely pretty in his shadow?! Of course not, Mike sent her off to work! Running her own PR business Kellie too  became a successful business woman, representing all her Husbands clients in any PR needs, and as they both turned 80 the two looked happily back at a full life, represented now by their 5 big haired children!

Katie Bilton
The Law girl come good. After a strong year in Spain and finishing with a solid first Katie went on to bigger and better things. International Law, although at first not where her ambitions lied, was her ultimate calling. Lacking the coldness for criminal law, and unable to leave her feelings out of domestic law, Katie found her feet in International Law, representing big names such as Matty Stevens (just a wee issue with importing children for a sweet or was it sweat shop) in the courtroom she could ask for no more as she went on to build both a big name for herself and a great family.

I could talk about so many more, about Chris' inevitable leccy empire, Maisie's world domination in international relations, Simon and Mellors civil ceremony, Sean's fledgling career as a sports journalist that unfortunately comes to an abrupt end in an Andy Gray-esque fashion, Tom Melody's record achievement of most hours ever played on footy manager, Evans becoming England's youngest international manager or Luke becoming David Cameron's personal design aide, but i would not like to bore my loyal supporters.

Yes i toned down the humour, but, for this week at least, i would just like you all to remember 2 things that revolve ultimately around one belief..... The Glass is always Half Full....

- Go after your dreams, set backs are there for you to learn from. You are better than settling for second best, its first or nowhere. When you turn 80 what will you make of your life? Will the glass still be half full?

- Tell them you love them. If they have always been there, if they have just come into your life. If you have them already or are waiting to make the move, just let them know how you feel. If you knock you back, at least you found out and can move on.

Anyone is free to post comments below now you don't have to be a member :) And check the boxes, i'd love to hear from you all and what great feedback you all have, positive and negative :)

Happy Blogging :)