Lily was a procrastinator.

In my entirely unscientific (and 1am) opinion, human nature dictates that we throw a million seeds on a field and then sit back while watching the seeds grow (and generally die because we forgot they needed water, oops).

I have been fortunate enough in my life to meet some of the anti-grainers, those stand out-ers, those Organised People.

I am not one of them.

I am lazy and so do not try and ‘go against the grain’ or whatever the saying is, but simply crowd surf over the tide of bad seed-growers*.

*Farmers?

However, I am one of those people who pretend to be organised. Proof includes:

1. Snapchatting photos of my revision when in fact those books were not opened and that pen was not even touched, except to position it for the perfect photo.

2. Panic-buying stationery when the shop assistant in WHSmiths asks you if you need help.

3. Writing hundreds of random and useless ‘Notes’ on my phone, just in case someone happens to find themselves on my phone. If they actually bothered to open them, they’d discover an odd mixture of blog post ideas, lists of clothes I want but can’t afford, and present ideas for friends/relatives which I promptly forget about when it comes to actually buying something. But mostly, quotes.

These quotes are a mixture of fictional characters from films, my friends’ strange outbursts and genuinely inspirational figureheads. In fact, the reason I write them down is because I find a little bit of inspiration in all of them.

Here they are (in order of when I wrote them down, starting from the oldest):

1. “Abraham was too old, Joseph was abused, Gideon was afraid, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, Naomi was a widow, Zaccheus was too small, Lazarus was dead, Noah was a drunk, Peter was a coward, Jacob was a deceiver, Rahab was a prostitute, Samson was a womanizer, Moses had a self-esteem problem, David was a murderer.’ Not sure who first comprised this list.

These people are all from The Bible, in case you hadn’t figured it out. Whether you believe the stories about these guys are real doesn’t really matter. What I got from this, from a non-religious point of view (even though I am religious), was that everyone has flaws*, and everyone fails. That doesn’t mean we’re failures. We can still all do amazing things.

*Most of the ‘flaws’ of these people aren’t really flaws, just things that other people might see as being deal breakers.

2. “You don’t know you’re a poet until you’re in love.” No idea who said this either.

There isn’t much to say about this quote and I don’t know why I wrote it down but I still love it. For some reason. Don’t ask me why.

3. “No-one can make you feel inferior without your permission.” Eleanor Roosevelt.

If you haven’t already, write this down. Somewhere. Anywhere. On a random piece of paper in your pocket. On your phone. On your wall (if you don’t have a deposit to pay, of course). On your hand. On your twitter. It really doesn’t matter. Arghhh I’m so passionate about this quote. If I meditated, this would be my mantra. It is so, so important.

4. “Isn’t that how God works? He pieces the jigsaw together.” Anna S, August 2014.

5. “Sometimes we are the only Jesus people meet”.

This is relevant for everyone. Smiling at a stranger on the street can make their day. Giving a homeless person your lunch can restore their faith in humanity. Lending a pen to someone in your class can make the difference between them failing and passing. I’m not advising you to start walking around grinning creepily, to starve yourself, or to fund someone’s entire pencil case, but just to never be frugal with that little bit of happiness that you could share so easily.

6. “Sadness is waiting for someone else to make you happy.”

I don’t think this quote is describing the only way to be sad, but just that thinking another person will fulfill you completely is an easy route to it. I’m a firm believer in love, and in two people completing each other to some extent, but I also believe that everyone should have the ability to be happy without relying on someone else. Of course, that isn’t possible for some people, and that’s okay. But we should strive for it, and never take that self-fueled happiness for granted.

7. “Why does wearing pink grant you permission to say that I’m naive?” Lily Copping (during one of my scary, angry, ranty moods)

Nuff said.

8. “When life gives you lemons, steal yo’ grandma’s jewellery and go clubbing.”

Parks and Recreation is my life and my love.

9. “You know how picky I am with my shoes, and they only go on my feet.” Cher, Clueless.

If you have one other motto, other than number 3, this should be it.

hey! i'm an 21 year old medical student (currently intercalating in anthropology) living it up in east london! i spend my spare time playing dixie chicks on guitar (badly), attempting to do yoga and turning it up at my church.

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