Small and Insignificant steps for some, huge steps for others!

1.Eating

Something as normal as eating can be a huge milestone to some. Being told you’re fat is hard to hear, being told every day is harder. It becomes worse when you believe it. You become very self-conscious and cut down on food. Yep, simple as that, you eat the minimum you can survive on, the people who surround you don’t tend to notice as quick. I know, because I did it, weight just falls off. But that’s not the hard bit, the hard bit is, once they notice, coming to terms with eating again. Your body has come so used to eating so little… You have to retrain it to eat properly again. It takes a while and it’s hard, the sigh and smell of food makes you feel ill, but you battle on. Something as simple as ‘If you eat all your dinner, you can have ice-cream for pudding’ works, Yes its very childish but it works. And slowly you begin to eat normally again. Eating, an insignificant step for some, a huge step for others.

2.Accepting

Learning to accept that not everything and everyone will be what we think they are. We are all different. There are people that I sometimes want to kill, because they drive me insane, but I’d kill for them all the time.  Just because you are nice to someone and respect their feeling and choices in life doesn’t mean under any circumstance that they’d do the same for you. They might constantly put you down and make you think that you are not good enough. You need to accept that you cannot control what they say, think, how they are or their personalities. It’s out of your hands. The only person you can control is yourself, accept that. As for others, well you have two choices: Accept them as they are or walk away and don’t look back.

3.Asking for help

I’m not very good at asking for help, okay, I never asked for help, up until a few weeks ago. Always been to damn proud and  stubborn. Never fully trusted someone enough to feel safe enough to let them in, so I just bottled everything up. It’s so hard to gain someone’s trust and yet so easy to break it. Trust is gained over time, it’s not something that happens instantly, it’s a very valuable trait.

Recently I learned that it’s ok to admit you are struggling, it’s ok to cry and it’s ok to ask for help, because I am only human. Out of all the people, that you’ve helped through the years with their problems, it’s very sad to see that only a hand full are willing to help you. But there is always someone there, ALWAYS. Old friend or a new friend, they’re there and they’ll help if you ask. Asking for help an easy step for many an very difficult step for others.

4.Public places

Every been in a public place, like a super market, the park, class or a restaurant a felt like the whole place is getting smaller and the noise gets louder? Well with anxiety and panic attacks you feel like that.

No, we CAN’T help it… No, we CAN’T snap out of it…No, we DON’T do it for attention, because trust me it isn’t fun! No, we DON’T enjoy causing a scene. No, we DON’T like everyone staring at us, but we CAN’T help it. Our brain makes us react like we are being attacked, like we are in danger. Yes, we try to stay as calm as possible…Yes, we try our best not to freak out. But no, we CAN’T promise to stop the drama before it starts….We CAN’T promise to breathe deeply. But we CAN promise we will try our best. So next time you see someone having a panic attack in a supermarket or in class, DON’T judge and stare, either walk away and carry on with what you were doing or gently ask if you can help.

5. Not beating yourself up

There will always be someone out there who is better than you, prettier, more beautiful, more intelligent, taller, skinnier, with a nicer personality… just better, more perfect than you will ever be. So what? You are you, there is a reason you are the way you are. We weren’t put on this earth to compete with people’s looks and personality, we are here to be the best version we can be of ourselves. You’re not beautiful? So what, you probably have an amazing personality. Everyone is different, some of us are crazy, some on us are more uptight, more stressful, get ourselves more worked up and more irritated, so what? The most important thing is that we are being ourselves and pretending to be someone we are not.  Don’t beat yourself up, you are how you are for a reason, don’t fight that reason. You’ll always be someone’s reason to smile, don’t take that away from them.

We are only human, we all make mistakes, we are all different. If you don't know a person or their story then don't judge them, they are battling something huge you know absolutely nothing about, the last thing they need are your horrible remarks.

Is Danica Patrick good enough to race with the big boys?

Danica Patrick, American auto racing driver and model, is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing. The only woman to win a race in the IndyCar Series, where she competed from 2005 until 2011, and holds the highest finish (third place) by a woman at the Indianapolis 500. In 2012 she competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and occasionally in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. On May 29, 2005, Patrick became the fourth woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and as of 2012 Patrick joins Guthrie as one of only two women to have competed in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

On July 2, 2005, Patrick won her first pole position, on August 13, 2005, she won her second pole at Kentucky Speedway, although this time, rain prematurely ended qualifying and position was determined by speeds achieved during practice. She took a third pole at Chicagoland Speedway which tied her with Tomas Scheckter's record for number of pole positions earned in a rookie season. In 2005, Patrick finished 12th in the IndyCar Series championship, with 325 points. She was named Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season.

In 2006 she finished  9th place in the IndyCar Series Championship point standings, besting her 12th place points finish as a rookie.  In November, the March of Dimes awarded her the title of Sportswoman of the Year in celebration of her dedication and success.

For the 2007 season as a whole, Patrick scored her first three career podium finishes. She also scored her career best championship points finish of 7th with 424 points.

In the 2008 IndyCar Series season she finished  in sixth place — the highest championship finish among American drivers for the 2008 season.

On May 24^th 2009 Patrick raced at the Indianapolis 500. She finished third behind winner Helio Castroneves and second-place Dan Wheldon. The highest ever finish for a female racer.

During the 2010 season, Patrick set the Indycar Series record for consecutive races finished running, having finished every race of the season as well as all but the first race of the 2009 season, for a total of 33 races.

At the end of the 2011 season Patrick announced that she would no longer be driving  Indy Cars  and would focus her full attention to driving in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

For the 2013 season, Danica drives the number #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, and a limited Nationwide Series schedule for Turner Motorsports.  Danica became the fastest pole qualifier to qualify since 1990 for the Daytona 500 and the first female NASCAR driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole, which was also done at Daytona.

But is she good enough to race with the big boys?

Bernie Ecclestone has famously stated, aimed at Danica Patrick, “that women shouldn’t be racing with men and should be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances". He then went on to say, earlier this year, that he would love for Danica to join Formula One.

I know I’ll get a lot of stick for this, but I believe that, if Danica wished, she’d be a very good Formula One driver; she has showed in the past that she knows how to drive and has great skills. She is a great driver, but gets a lot of stick for being female. Always being told that she shouldn’t be racing or she’ll never be good enough because she’s female. She’s an inspiration to all young girls who are following their dreams of becoming racers!

People need to get into their head that female drivers are just as good as male! And some of these girl racers have more balls than the men!!

The Value Of Smile

I found this poem about smiling and I wanted to share it with you guys :)

The Value Of Smile

Smiling is infectious,
You catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too!

I walked around the corner
And someone saw my grin,
When he smiled too I realised,
I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about this smile of mine,
And realised what it's worth,
A single smile started by me,
Could travel round the earth!

So if you feel your smile begin,
Don't leave it undetected,
Let's start an epidemic now,
And get the world infected!

~Unknown~

Who will be the 6th female Formula One driver?

In the history of Formula One there have only ever been 5 female drivers:

·         Maria Teresa de Filippis born the 11^th of November  1926 in Italy. Filippis was the first ever woman to race in Formula One. She took part in 5 races in 1958 but failed to score any championship points. She then went on to succeed in other series. She only managed to finish 1 F1 race, Belgium 1958. In 1979 she joined the International Club of Former Formula One Grand Prix Drivers where she became president in 1997. She also founded the Maserati Club in 2004 where she became Chairman.

·         Lella Lombardi (26^th of March 1941- 3^rd March 1992) another Italian born female racer, who raced for one whole season with Brabham. Lombardi is the only female F1 driver to ever score championship points. She received points at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, were half point were awarded as the race distance was shortened. Before F1 she has performed well in Formula 3 and Formula 500, in the early 70’s. After her F1 carer she races sports cars with successful results. In 1992 she lost her battle with cancer, age 50.

 

·         Divina Galica born in England on the 13^th of August 1944. As well as being the only British female F1 driver she is also the only racing driver who has competed in F1 as well as the Olympics. In 1964 she competed in the Innsbruck winter Olympics in Down Hill skiing and Slalom, she was Captain of both female teams and finished in the top 10 in both events. She would return to compete in the Olympics after her driving carer, taking part in the Speed skating of the 1992 Great British winter Olympics.
Galica got  the chance to race in F1 when Hesketh Racing offered he the opportunity to replace Rupert Keegan in 1978. She took part in 3 race weekends but failed to qualify on all 3 occasions. She then decided to take a shot at British Formula One Series in which between 1978 and 1980 she took part in 6 races, with one podium finish and 22 career points.

 

·         Desiré Wilson born in South Africa on the 26^th of November 1953. She entered the Formula One world championship in 1980 with non-works Williams FW07, she took part in one race weekend but failed to qualify with in the 107% rule. She later took part in the South African GP as a one off deal with Tyrrell Racing, she qualified 16^th and after a bad start she made her way back up through the field in the very wet conditions. But when letting the leader past, she touched the wall and damaged her car and forcing her to retire. After her short F1 career she competed in Indianapolis 500 in 1982, Le Mans 24 and American Open-Wheel racing.

Giovanna Amati, born the 20^th of July 1959 in Italy. Giovanna is best known for being the last woman to enter a Formula One race. In 1978, at the age of 19 she was kidnapped and kept in a wooden cage for 75 days where she was physically and mentally abused. Her kidnapper was later sentenced to jail for 18 years but managed to escape in 1985 and remained a fugitive until his re-arrest in 2010.
She began her racing professionally in the Formula Abarth in 1981, wining several times before moving up to Formula 3 in 1986, where she continued to win. Amati signed a contract in 1992 with Brabham, an announcement that brought the team publicity. She took place in 3 races weekends but failed to qualify for every race. She was then sacked and replaced by Damon Hill. Amati then went on to win the 1993 Woman’s European Championship in the Porsche Super Cup. From 1994 to 1996 she raced in the Ferrari Challenge, where she had consistency and many wins. In 1999, she was placed 3^rd over all in the Sports Racing World Cup Class Championship.

So, these are the only 5 female F1 drivers in history. In this sport dominated by men, who will be the next brave girl to show them we can race as well?

A Friend With Autism, No Different...

A few months ago I met a amazing young boy called Luca; he has become one of my best friends, he is always there if you need help, he has a heart of gold, so kind, understanding and he doesn’t judge you, he also has Asperger’s Autism. When I found out I had to write an essay on Asperger’s I asked him if he was willing to help and I was delighted when he said yes. I learned loads from him. And would like to share some of it with you.

Autism is a disorder of neural development that starts in infancy or childhood. These kids/ people just want to be treated as equal to everyone else. Sometimes they feel insecure because they think that others are intolerant of their condition and therefore have difficulties socialising, they feel like they are constantly being bought down by society and by others their age.

Some individuals with Asperger’s may display intense interests; they collect volumes of detailed information on a narrow topic, without having an understanding of the broader topic. For example: An Autistic child may memorise camera model numbers without having any interest in photography. These interests may change and become more unusual and more narrowly focused. These intense interests are sometime combined with restricted and repetitive patterns in behaviour.

Meltdowns/breakdowns are almost inevitable, no matter what the age, because their senses, especially hearing, sight and smell are heightened. Which makes loud noises become very distressing, they can become very panicked. It’s almost as distressing as a change of or in a routine.

Schools have special units to help autistic kids; but is this a help or a hindrance?  Some say it helps them because they teach other kids about Autism. While others think that by doing this it’s shouting out to the world that they have an issue, it makes some kids feel very uncomfortable,  and feel like aliens.

Luca has taught me a lot, he has an amazing outlook on life, it is an absolute joy talking to him and an honour getting to know him and in my eyes he is no different to any of my other friends.

A massive thank you to Luca, who helped me to understand. Love you! :)

Learning to dance in the rain...

At many times in your life you will come across unexpected problems, hills or mountains, unforeseen obstacles that are put in your way. They will be there to test you, some more than others, some will make you scream in anger, cry in frustration or sadness while others will be easy to overcome. But they are all there to remind us it's not about waiting for the storm to pass it's about learning to dance in the rain.

Learning to dance in the rain is probably one of the hardest things to learn in life, it's like having to choose whether to give up and walk away or to try even harder... No one can make the decision for you, like no one can teach to dance in the rain, It depends on you, you have to teach yourself.

I learnt to find something positive in these obstacles, it took a while but I finally conquered the whole dancing in the rain thing; Or at least I did for a few years. Recent months have shown me that it's something that gets harder to do as the days go on, it gets overshadowed whilst your fighting with the voices in your head....

As you get older your problems get bigger, more important and therefore take longer to go away, longer to solve. Dancing in the rain gets harder to conquer, some days you don't even want to get out of bed and on those days everything ends up going wrong. But the sun still shines and life continues.

I'm not a little girl anymore and my life has changed drastically and continues to do so on a daily basis. But I'm very grateful for those few people I'm blessed to have in my life, whether they are there for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

Formula One, not just a mens sport.

Whenever anyone asks me "what's your passion?" I always answer " Formula One". And the amount of times people have looked at me in disgust and said " But your a girl..."
So, what? Is there a law that forbids girls to like Formula One? I think not. And what surprises me more than anything else is that these people actually have no idea about the sport to start with.... But are still willing to criticize the drivers, the cars and the fans.

Last week in Philosophy class, we were talking about being prepared to die and is anyone really ever prepared for the inevitable? Well, my answer was that some people will be more prepared than others. For example I think Formula One drivers, knowing the risks they face every time they get behind the wheel, are more prepared then maybe an artist.

A girl in my class disagreed, nothing new there, and to my horror said that Formula One wasn't a dangerous sport at all, that it's impossible to die out on circuit cause the drivers take no risks.

I then went on to ask her if she had ever seen a F1 race in her life and she said "No..." I preceded to tell her that the driver round a narrow circuit at speed of up to 320 km/h, she continued to disagree with me. Then to my absolute delight 4 other GIRLS in my class turned around and backed me up.

Turns out us 5 girls knew more about F1 than all the boys in our class put together. So before you judge me about liking Formula One make sure you know what you're talking about first. Because Formula One isn't just a mens sport!!