Author: steff53

Judith saw some trainers on the shelf and instantly, a horde of memories flashed through her mind.

She was 14 at the time. In high school. And all she cared about was fitting in.

They were made to stand in line every morning before they started off the school day. Judith did not really understand the purpose behind this. It basically just turned into a ‘judging each other’ contest. Especially between the girls. They looked at each other and assessed each other’s hair, make-up, skirt length, accessories and shoes. The point of uniform to even out any differences between students was completely lost.

One such day, Judith was acutely aware of a lot of eyes on her. Her shoes were old and worn whereas a lot of the other girls had branded new trainers because it was a new term.

Judith had gone home in tears. Her parents had sympathised and bought her new trainers, even though Judith knew it was out of their price range.

The following week, Judith strode into school in her new trainers, feeling like she could face the other girls now. Their taunts would not affect her.

But as soon as she saw them, they started laughing at her again. Judith was confused. They completely ignored her new trainers and instead pointed at her bag. She was wearing a bulky rucksack that she had had for years whereas the other girls had sleek and stylish handbags. Judith barged past them, once again in tears.

When she got home and confided in her dad, he said, ‘Judith, there is a valuable lesson to learn from this. You got upset because your shoes supposedly didn’t fit in. You got new shoes just to please those people and thought that would please you. But they just found something else to laugh at. The problem isn’t with your shoes or your bag. The problem is that we always want to fit in especially when we are younger but when we do that, we are letting go of who we truly are. We are letting others dictate what we should be rather than making up our own mind and standing up for who we are. I love you as you are Judith and I hope you can learn to love yourself as you are too…’.

Judith hugged her dad tightly and vowed to always remember his words of wisdom.

Dear you,

As humans, we all want to fit in.

Even if we don’t naturally tend to be consciously aware of it, the way we are assessed by others inclines us to fit in. Otherwise, you know, bullying and ostracism occurs.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” (Quote attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Growing up is a difficult process when we form our identities. This takes a lot of trial and error. But even when we are supposedly grown up as ‘adults’, the shadows of our past can remain with us. It can be hard to escape the labels that society places on us.

But who are other people to tell us who we are or who we should be? Do not let others define you. Also, do not be defined by your past or your limitations. 

We live as slaves of consumerism. “In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act”. (Quote attributed to Caroline Caldwel). We are constantly bombarded with images and videos through social media of the latest trend or gadget. We end up convincing ourselves that we desperately need that product in our lives. In short, we fall prey to advertising.

Staying true to ourselves is difficult. But it is only then that we can genuinely live a life worth living.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

‘So, what’s new with you Judith?

Her heart sank. This was the question she always dreaded. She looked in the mirror and tried to take some deep breaths. It would be fine. She was acting as if she was going to prison or something when all she was doing was meeting up with some old friends of hers.

She glanced at the clock, it was time to go.

Later on that evening, Judith was trying to hold back tears. She felt wretched.

She had gone expecting a nice reunion with her friends. Instead, she had been forced to come face to face with some ugly truths.

Her friends had let her down. Badly. In the three painstaking hours that she had spent with them, not once did anyone ask her how she was.

She supposed she should be relieved. After all, it was the thought of answering this very question that had made her so nervous to go. She felt so inadequate and inferior to her friends who were way ahead of her in their careers and their family life.

This was flaunted in front of her during the entire evening. Sure, she was happy for her friends albeit a little jealous. But there was a limit on how much they could bombard her with. You would think someone would eventually realise that no one had expressed any interest in Judith’s life. But no.

Judith felt sick with disappointment. Why did her friends not seem to care about her? She constantly found herself asking this question. When she always got in touch with them and never got a reply. When she was always excluded from their trips. When she felt like an extra piece of unwanted baggage.

She automatically picked up her phone to check for any messages from her friends. Nothing. Maybe it was time to rethink the definition of whom she considered a ‘friend’.

Dear you,

Expectation is the root of all heartache.

At the end of the day, people won’t do things you expect them to. You might expect a lot from them, validation and acceptance. But guess what? Only you yourself can give yourself those things.

Harsh reality of life is yes, everyone will let you down. But you have to be the bigger person and move past that.

Even if it feels like you’re putting in all the effort. Even if it feels like the conversation is one-sided, sometimes you just have to keep trying if you think they are worth the effort.

Because every relationship is a two-way street. It takes effort and commitment. However, even if you put in this effort and commitment, things change over time. People change. It may go unnoticeable amongst the hustle and bustle of every day life but it is am inevitable reality.

I recently discovered that as humans we have 50,000 thoughts each day. That is a gigantic number. But what is more striking is that the majority of these thoughts are negative. We are not even giving ourselves a fighting chance.

Rather than responding to situations in a negative way like we might instinctively do, we need to adopt a more mature response.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Judith was out for coffee with one of her oldest friends.

‘So how’s things with Caleb?’, Judith asked, referring to her friend’s long-term boyfriend.

‘Oh, fine.’..  Ingrid sighed in a way that meant it wasn’t fine at all. Not one bit.

‘Talk to me.. What’s happened?’.

Judith was alarmed to see tears filling up in her friend’s eyes. Ingrid continued in a hoarse voice, ‘Things have just been really tough. He’s just so hard to deal with.. But we have been together for so many years. I don’t know what life without him would be like.’

Judith nodded. Ingrid and Caleb had indeed been together for a long time, since high school. Judith would be the first to admit that she had always been secretly jealous of their seemingly perfect relationship. But maybe the truth went deeper than that.

‘He never seems to have time for me.. I’m always paranoid about where he is. It makes me stressed and jealous. And then I feel bad I don’t trust him. But I don’t know where he is or what he does most of the time even though we live together.’

Judith nodded, unsure of what to say. She knew trust was one of the most important things in a relationship. Clearly, that was crumbling. Judith went for a standard suggestion, ‘ Hmm..Maybe you could talk about it?’.

‘Well, yeah, I’ve tried that so many times. He always just starts shouting and accuses me of being crazy. The last time… I was so scared Judith. I thought he might actually hurt me, he was squeezing my shoulders so hard.’ Ingrid was fully sobbing now.

Judith leant over and gave her friend a hug. Then she said firmly, ‘That’s not okay. That’s never okay Ingrid. To make you feel scared like that. You cannot be with someone who treats you like you’re unworthy of them. If they were right for you, they would respect you. They would trust you. And they would listen to you. He’s not doing any of those things. You deserve better.’

Ingrid nodded weakly. ‘You’re right. I need to do something about it.’

Judith could see that it wasn’t going to be easy. She wondered if Ingrid really would have the courage to let go of Caleb. Or whether like so many women she knew, she would blame herself and stick with an unhappy relationship, too scared to be alone. It wasn’t easy. But Judith was determined to make her friend see the reality.

Dear you,

“We accept the love we think we deserve.” ( Quote by Stephen Chbosky in the book, “The perks of being a wallflower”.)

When we are in relationships we are oblivious to many issues. More often than not, we tend to put the blame on ourselves first. In the above narrative, Ingrid’s relationship is clearly suffering. To an outsider, the cracks seem pretty obvious. There’s no trust, no effective communication, no honesty. So why is she putting up with it?

The answer is complicated. As humans, we all yearn to be understood and loved by someone. That’s natural. But unfortunately, society exploits the ideals in our head. Movies and books portray romance and love in rosy shades. They promote the outer appearance and largely overlook the more complex traits of people.

It is no wonder then that when your mind is jaded with such unrealistic expectations, the actual reality often baffles people. Because yes, relationships are hard work. They’re not all roses and chocolate and big happy smiles.

Sure, a lot of couples may present themselves to be like that on the outside, but at the core of every relationship are two people. Two flawed human beings who need to work on themselves and respect the other. Who need to be honest and committed even during difficult times. Its not easy but that’s what it takes for a relationship to flourish.

If you think you deserve better, trust your instincts.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Judith heard a knock on the door and extracted herself from her bed. She was hoping for a lie-in, life obviously had other ideas.

She opened the door and saw her next door neighbour Sandy looking flustered. ‘Judith, I need a massive favour. I saw your car in the driveway and assumed you were home. I really need your help’, she insisted.

Judith rubbed her weary eyes, still half-asleep. ‘What is it?’, she mumbled.

‘Its Olivia. Her babysitter rang in sick very last minute. And I have a million things to do today. I have an important doctor’s appointment and a job interview. I really would appreciate it if you could look after her for a few hours..’.

Judith suddenly noticed the aforementioned Olivia in Sandy’s hands. She was asleep and looked content. This did not pacify Judith.

‘I’m really not the best person for the job.. I’m not exactly good with kids..’.

‘Yes, you are’, Sandy insisted. ‘Olivia is always giggling when you coo over when you see her. Please Judith, I’m desperate.’

Judith relented and nodded. Sandy gave her a quick hug and left her with the sleeping Olivia and her belongings. Judith sighed. She could do this, she told herself. Olivia was sleeping, it was going to be fine.

Half an hour later, Judith was losing the will to live. Not only had the baby woken up, she was screeching and would not stop. Judith frantically rocked her to and fro. It did not help.

 It was a few minutes later that the day turned into a true nightmare. Judith was silly enough to grab her coffee mug with the baby in her other hand and she watched helplessly as the coffee splashed all over her work files.

She swore loudly. Then apologised to the baby. This was bad, really bad. Hours of work lay before her demolished.

The door bell rang before she could burst into tears out of frustration. Sandy was back. She had a beautiful bouquet of roses and Ferrero Rocher chocolates that she gave Judith with a smile. ‘Just as a thank you, I know these are your favourite’.

Judith was touched. ‘Was Olivia okay? I hope she didn’t bother you too much’, Sandy implored, Judith thought for a second about venting her frustrations. Demanding a solution to her destroyed files. But she could not bring herself to do it. She would just have to be the bigger person and accept that things did not always go her way. And that was okay.

Dear you,

We all want things to go our way. Not only that, we want to control them. However, this is not feasible.

Sometimes we have to surrender our own inclinations and accept that life is full of surprises. We can embrace this as a positive if we see it this way – each and every day there are endless possibilities of what could happen. We have to open our mind to the inevitability of change.

We live in a fast paced world where things are fleeting and change within the blink of an eyelid. Having good priorities matters a lot. It can be hard distinguish between what is fugacious and what is everlasting. Many things that seem monumental when we are young reveal themselves to be futile as we get older.

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” (Quote by Leo Tolstoy). This quote emphasises something vital about change. We often focus and try to control the change around us which is a meaningless task. Whereas what we CAN change is ourselves.

Our attitudes and responses to events. Our characteristics and habits that need pruning. Anything and everything that we need to change to create a better version of ourselves.

“The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.” (Quote origin unknown). By change I do not mean fall into the trap of changing yourself to be like others or to please others. You are only striving to improve yourself for you, no to match up to anyone else’s standard.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Judith could barely walk. The bundle of shopping bags were weighing her down. She had gone a bit overboard with her ‘retail therapy’.

Its fine, she told herself. She deserved it. It had been a terrible week at work. She needed this.

Trying to not knock into the couple in front of her was proving difficult. Maybe she needed to stop and take a breather. She deposited her numerous purchases onto the nearest empty bench.

She was in one of the busiest streets in the city, There were people everywhere. She glanced around inquisitively.

There was a woman sat on the floor with a pained expression on her face. Her baby  was crying incessantly on her lap. People were averting their gaze when they came closer to her. Some were blatantly ignoring her. A few stopped and dropped some change into the bowl in front of her.

Judith tried to find her purse amidst all her shopping bags. How much should she give? She looked guiltily at her shopping. If she could afford to spend that much money on herself, surely this woman deserved something significant. She emptied all the cash she had in her purse and walked quickly past.

Later that night, Judith was in bed, wrapped up comfortably. The wind was howling like a banshee. The rain was torrential. She knew it would be below freezing outside. Her thoughts quickly turned to the woman and her baby out on the street in this weather. She felt guilty again. She vowed to go back to check on her.

The next day, Judith found the woman and her baby in the exact same location. Her baby looked much happier today. Judith didn’t know what to say to the woman. She glanced at her and realised she was gesturing to something. Her baby. Her baby’s coat. Judith realised that the coat was a new purchase. That would’ve definitely helped in last night’s awful weather. The woman now pointed to Judith and back at the coat.

Realisation dawned. The woman was trying to tell Judith that Judith’s money had bought the baby’s coat. Her baby was happy, because of her. Judith felt a warm glow in her chest. She beamed.

Dear you,

Judith experiences some inner conflict in the above scenario. She feels guilty for splurging on herself. But then she has the heart to give to the woman and baby in need.

How we spend our money is our own individual choice. In theory, it would be great if we could all just use it for the good of others. But, this may not always be possible.

Throughout this post, I urge you to think about one word – gratitude. An attitude of gratitude can change our entire perspective of things. Judith realises when she is wrapped up in bed that the woman and her baby would be struggling outside.

How many of us take the time to appreciate something as simple as the house we live in? Chances are, we complain about wanting a bigger one.

If you have a roof over your head, food on your plate and clothes to keep you warm, you can count yourself lucky. And on top of that, if you have people who care about you and love you – you are infinitely blessed!

So, let us start acting that way. Instead of complaining about the minute details, let us focus on the big picture and practice gratitude every single day.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Judith was engrossed in trying to choose a book. She read blurb after blurb.

‘Judith?’, she heard a voice enquiring. She turned around and saw a tall, well-dressed man. He had light blonde hair and twinkling eyes. His face was familiar.

It took her several moments to recognise him. ‘Harry? Is that you?’, she ventured.

He beamed. ‘Yes, yes! How are you Judith?’

‘I’m fine, I didn’t realise you lived in this city.’

‘I don’t, I’m just visiting some family’, he replied. ‘I’m glad you remember me. I’ll never forget what you did for me Judith.’

She waved a hand dismissively.  They continued to chat for a while. Harry hugged her and left after arranging a time for a proper catch-up later that week.

Judith thought back to how she knew Harry. They had been in ballet class together when they were younger. He was the only guy in the group which didn’t cause any concerns for the first few weeks. However, things changed and a particular set of girls targeted him constantly. They would call him awful names and laugh at him outright.

One such day, they were being particularly unpleasant. They had hidden his clothes which he needed to change into after the lesson. Judith still remembered his face when he knocked on the girl’s changing room door, he looked so helpless. He told Judith what the other girls had done.

Judith surprised even herself when she found herself marching towards the sneering girls. ‘Give him back his clothes. NOW!’, she demanded. The girls looked surprised, Judith wasn’t exactly known for her outspoken nature. She kept staring at the girls till they relented.

Harry thanked her profusely as she returned his clothes. From that day onwards, the girls gave up on their mission to torture him perhaps knowing that he now had a strong ally in Judith. Now, back in the present, Judith was amazed and thankful that Harry still remembered her kindness.

Dear you,

“Discrimination is the practice of treating one person or group of people less fairly or less well than other people or groups” – according to Collins English dictionary.

This can be based on gender, race, religion and many more. We hear numerous examples of the discrimination perpetrating our world.

In this scenario, Judith takes a brave stance against the bullies. This is not an easy thing to do but the result it produced is astounding. Not only did Harry get to carry on with life more comfortably, he also remained grateful for Judith’s help for many more years to come till the present day.

“They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel.” (Attributed to Carl W. Buehner). This quote surmises that how you make people feel is a powerful entity. You may not realise it at the time but what you do has an effect for eternity.

So today, let’s be brave like Judith was. There are so many Harrys around the world in need of our helping hand. Lets never ever take the role of the bullies but instead fight against the injustice of discrimination.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Judith was chatting away amiably to her cousin Sienna. She didn’t get to see her often but she liked to acquire a big sister role whenever they did talk.

‘Are you looking after yourself?, she enquired. She could almost feel her cousin rolling her eyes in response.

‘Yeah, I am. Stressed about exams though.’

‘Don’t be. Stress won’t help you, it will only hinder you.’

‘Haha, it’s not as simple as that though, is it. You know how mum and dad are’, Sienna sighed.

Judith felt for her. Her uncle and aunt were very traditional, rigid people. They cared a lot about how other people viewed them, their reputation had to be intact. This placed a great deal of pressure on Sienna who was merely coping with the turmoil of teenage life. It was time to take on the big sister role again.

‘Listen to me. Your grades are important, I’m not saying they aren’t. But they don’t dictate your life. In 10 years time, you will mainly remember the good times you had. And you’ll hopefully be in a happy place, not a stressed place……’

‘Thank you. I needed to hear that.’

Dear you,

Exams, assignments, coursework. Grades, rankings, interviews. It seems never ending. Parents are looking for nurseries before their babies are even born! Then comes primary school, high school, college, university, job, house, family etc etc. It is a relentless race to jump through the hoops. Society has imposed an archaic structure onto us that we feel obliged to follow without a moment’s hesitation.

We are expected to make decisions that will influence our future at a very young age when we are still getting to grips with growing up. Parents, peers and teachers pile on the pressure. It is far from an ideal situation.

It may not be possible to change these regulations and rules enforced onto us. But we can change our mindsets and attitudes. Rather than focusing just on rote learning and results, we can promote creativity and imagination. Many school children ask, ‘when am I ever going to use this in real life?’. This is a very valid question especially as we spend the majority of our formative years in school or another educational establishment.

Applications to real life skills need to be emphasised throughout school. There is no denying that people have affinities for different subjects. We must feed their passions, not their pressure. 

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Judith did not visit her grandparents often enough. So she always tried to overcompensate when she did visit by acting her best, chatting too much and giving presents.

‘You really shouldn’t have..’, said grandpa looking at the brimming shopping bags full of presents.

Judith glanced over at grandma. She had that faraway look in her eyes. Judith went over and said, ‘Nana, its me, Judith.’

‘Julie..?’, she called out. ‘Oh, are you here for the cats?’…

Judith’s heart sank. Nana couldn’t recognise her. Of course she couldn’t.

‘Don’t worry about her Judith’, her grandpa insisted. ‘You know how it is, she gets muddled easily. Nothing to worry about.’

Judith nodded blankly. She knew her grandmother had dementia. Evidently, it was getting worse.

Later, whilst preparing lunch, Judith asked her grandpa in a worried tone, ‘How are you coping with it? Are you okay? Do you need extra help, like carers?’.

He looked astonished. ‘Extra help? What on earth for? Edith is my wife. I am all she needs.’

‘I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wondered.. It must be difficult..’,  faltered Judith.

Grandpa sighed. ‘The way I see it, every day I get to spend all my time with the love of my life. She may get confused but she’s still my Edith. She always will be. She’s going to be fine, I know she will be.’

Judith’s eyes welled up with tears.

Dear you,

Getting older has its downfalls. We may desperately try to ward off those wrinkles but they will come. However, the good news is that several studies have shown that the older you are, the happier you are. Maybe you just start appreciating things more when you don’t have that much time left. Or its all the life experience that encourages positivity.

I would like to use the above scenario to illustrate the importance of one significant virtue us humans are capable of – hope. Judith’s grandfather could easily succumb to the inevitable decline of his wife but instead he chooses to foster hope.

This can make a big difference to our outlook on life. If we have hope, even if it is in simple things, we have something to keep fighting for. Something to get out of bed for. Something to keep us going day by day.

So today, I hope that each and every one of you has something in your life that gives you hope. If you are struggling to think of something, please know that this blog exists and it works towards spreading positivity and love in this world. I truly believe that fact can spark a little hope in everyone.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

The number flashed up on her mobile screen yet again. Judith had been ignoring this certain phone call for days. She didn’t want to talk to her brother. Not now, not ever. It had been over a year since they had the argument that had severed their relationship.

After a tiring day at work, she kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the sofa. She turned on the TV looking for something funny to watch. Her phone trilled again. Okay, fine. She sighed and picked up.

‘Hey Judith. Have you been busy?’, he enquired.

‘Yeah.. What is it?’, she asked in a clipped voice.

‘Its something important. It might come as a bit of a shock..’, he trailed off.

Her insides did a somersault. ‘Is it mum and dad? Are they okay?’, she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

‘They’re fine, yeah. It’s about me.’

‘Okay.. What is it?’, she asked bewildered.

‘I.. I’m not well. I’ve been having stomach pains. Didn’t think much of it. Lost some weight. And then became yellow.. So yeah, that’s when I realised it could be serious I guess.’ Judith could sense the desperation in his voice.

‘What did the doctor say?’, she replied.

‘It’s.. Well.. It’s cancer Judith. Pancreatic cancer. It’s a matter of months, they said.. But I don’t know…’, his voice broke.

‘Months? You have a few months left to live?’. She was horrified, this was beyond anything she could’ve ever imagined.

Jude was silent. Judith composed herself and said without hesitation, ‘Send me your current address. I’m flying out to see you this weekend. Don’t worry. I’m here for you, no matter what.’

Dear you,

We cannot choose our families even though sometimes we wish we could. Every family has its issues. We may think we belong to the craziest clan in the world but then we realise that every family has its particular peculiarities.

As we grow older, we may appreciate our family members more. Or we may grow more and more distant from them. Human relationships are complicated so chances are there’s always going to be some friction due to one thing or another.

However, Judith’s position is a horrendous one. Knowing that a loved one is suffering and being unable to do much is a devastating feeling.

The estranged Judith and Jude have been brought together due to a calamity. But let us not wait for something big to happen to realise the value of our loved ones.

We get so used to having family or close friends around us, we take them for granted. We argue and bicker aimlessly without ever thinking that they could be taken away from us at any moment.

So, don’t wait any longer to start appreciating your nearest and dearest. Let them know how much they mean to you, because you may never get the chance tomorrow.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

Stressed didn’t even begin to cover it. Revision on top of revision on top of revision. That was what the next few months offered.

Her friend Ingrid deposited a mountain of textbooks onto their table. ‘These are just the Chemistry ones. There’s so many more.’ She groaned out loud.

Judith looked at the books and gulped. She was getting stressed just looking at the amount they had to cover.

‘How are we ever going to pass these exams..?’, she wondered out loud.

Suddenly, Ingrid pinched her lightly and lowered her voice, ’I have something I need to tell you. You can’t tell anyone else, you have to promise.’ She looked around the library and made sure no one else could hear.

‘Do you promise?’, she asked urgently.

‘Okay, yeah. Yeah. Is everything alright?’ Judith enquired.

‘I’ve found a way for us to pass these exams easier. But you can’t tell anyone..’

Judith was starting to get annoyed. She’d already told Ingrid that she wouldn’t tell anyone else, hadn’t she?

Ingrid continued, ‘I found this thing. Online. Loads of people use it. Especially at places like Oxford and Cambridge. If they can use it, why can’t we?’. She looked around again and pulled out a small packet from her bag.

Judith stared. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Ingrid, of all people?

‘Are those drugs?’, Judith stuttered.

Ingrid went pale. ‘No’, she protested. ‘They’re nothing illegal. Just some tablets I got online.’

Judith was still in disbelief. ‘Why? Why would you take them? That could be anything! You could seriously hurt yourself.. all just for exams?’.

Ingrid didn’t look embarrassed anymore. She looked defiant. ‘Its fine for you. You’ll do well. I won’t. Even if I try I won’t. So I need help. You know how it is. My dad’s a big businessman. My mum’s a top notch lawyer. They expect me to do well.’

Judith felt a stab of pity but she quickly retorted, ‘They also expect you to stay alive. I’m sure they would rather you stay healthy than harm yourself to get top grades.’

Ingrid shrugged. ‘I’m taking them. Clearly, you’re not interested so whatever. Just don’t tell anyone like you promised.’ She grabbed her things and left abruptly.

Judith was reeling after this conversation. She looked back down at her revision notes but couldn’t concentrate. She was too concerned about Ingrid.

Dear you,

Exams are something we all have to go through at some point. They’re unpleasant and sometimes downright detestable. I do believe that education is important but being a good person with a good heart is infinitely more important.

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the volume of work we have and put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Stress and procrastination follows. It is a vicious cycle that we are unable to escape from.

One simple but effective way to combat this is by splitting tasks into chunks. Making to-do lists (small ones) can encourage productivity as each tick means you have achieved something. Highlighters are commonly used but are not proven to be effective scientifically. However, flashcards align with the splitting tasks idea. They are more memorable than a big pile of notes. Mind maps are another idea. Mnemonics can aid memory especially if you personalise them to yourself.

Whatever your revision strategies are, the letter you get on results day doesn’t define who you are. We have all heard of the stories of people who did not do well academically well but became super successful after one brilliant idea. That may not happen that often but the lesson we need to take from those people is that there isn’t just one way of attaining success.

And talking of success, we need to think more carefully about what that means. It is not always based on money or accolades. If you have truly made an impact on the world in a positive way, I believe that equates to more than simple success.

It may be cliché but just try your best. Deep breaths. All the best of luck to everyone who has upcoming exams.

Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, spread your smile 😊

P.s – Interesting article on the issue of ‘smart drugs’ highlighted in Judith’s narrative.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/10/universities-do-more-tackle-smart-drugs-say-experts-uk-exams