I have been wanting to do a blog post on confidence and happiness for a while now but whenever I came to write it I never knew what to say , so I thought the best way to give helpful advice would be for me to answer your questions ( taken from various social media) on confidence and happiness .
Confidence and happiness is something we all go through in life and have struggles with . I myself am not a very confident person at all and have been like this for as long as I can remember . At school I would never ever put my hand up to answer a question in front of the class and if the teacher would pick me to give an answer or If I had to speak in front of a large group of people I would go really hot and my heart would beat really fast and it really wasn't a very pleasant experience at all. I find it difficult to make new friends as I can never pluck the courage up to engage in conversation with someone new which means I have pretty much had the same friendship group at school for the past few years now but I love them a lot so it's all good :) When it comes to body confidence and self esteem sometimes I love the way I look and am really happy In my own skin and sometimes I hate the way I look and don't want to be seen by anyone at all - it can vary from day to day .
Regarding happiness , like all human beings , I go through times of feeling really happy and times of feeling very sad . This year has not been the easiest for me and my family and for a while I was sad all of the time but recently things have started to look up and I have been feeling happier.
•'What do you do to make yourself happy?'
One of the reasons I have been feeling happier lately is because I have discovered what certain things I can do to make me happy when I am feeling down. One of which is to have a bit of a pamper sesh where I will have a nice bubbly bath, paint my nails ( if I can be bothered) , do my hair and makeup the way I think it looks the nicest and wear my favourite outfit . This is a great way to get you feeling confident and happy again .
I also like to watch youtubers such as Tanya Burr , Zoe Sugg/Zoella and Gabby Lindley/ VelvetGh0st as they are positive In thier videos which often makes me feel positive and they also give off good messages about body confidence .
I will also listen to some music - if I am tired it will usually be relaxing music and if I'm feeling energetic it will be a song that I can have a good old jam and dance to ( Michael bubles songs are the best to mime to I find ) .
Writing posts for my blog also make me happy as I find it takes my mind off whatever is bringing me down .
If you have a lot to get off your chest I would suggest going out with a close friend or a group of friends on a long walk or to a park ( anywhere you are free to talk about anything) as it is never good to keep things bottled up inside - I also find the fresh air is good for making you relaxed :)
• ' How do you handle stress and anxiety during exams ?'
Now I don't really think I should be lecturing you on revising and fully preparing yourselves for exams as I didn't revise at all .. However I do recommend putting in a lot of work into revision as this will mean you can answer the exam questions instead of stressing and guessing .
Just remember exam results aren't the end of the world - it's not like if you get an F you are going to die but that doesn't mean you shouldn't bother with them as they are still important just not worth as much stress as you may feel :)
• ' How can I gain confidence for school again?'
Just remember people who make you feel intimidated or make you feel like you don't deserve to be able to speak up in class are not worth it - every school has the people in a class who steal the attention but that is because they have not yet matured and perhaps don't realise they are doing it but either way they are not worth your time and effort and energy :) Your education is more important so if you know the answer to that question you should answer it and not worry what anyone thinks of you .
That whole paragraph sounded like the biggest indirect to people in my year group at school oops
•'How to stay positive when people around you are always so negative about their bodies ?'
I would first of all suggest trying to make the people around you feel more positive about themselves - compliment them regularly , perhaps have a chat with them about body confidence ( or show them this blog post cheeky self promo I know I know ) . You could also write a list for each other on each other's good points and stick it next to the mirror you get ready in front of every morning to be there as a reminder .
If thier negativity continues and it really is making you feel down about yourself maybe try to surround yourself with more positive people and distance yourself from the negative nancies . Also remember that just because someone else is unhappy with the way they look shouldn't make you unhappy with your appearance - them saying ' I'm so ugly ' all the time isn't slowly making you ugly or having any effect on your appearance so you are still just as beautiful :)
•'How to stay positive about your body ?'
Write a list of five things that you love about your appearance or get someone else to write you a list and whenever you go to compare yourself to someone you view as pretty think 'she may have nice hair but so do I ' or ' they may have a nice figure but I have a nice * something off the list *'. This will mean instead of comparing yourselves to others and thinking you are trash you will instead be reminding yourself of your good points .
A pamper session is also a good way to boost your confidence , or a good work out will also help you feel like you've done you figure some good .
If you are feeling down about your appearance you should always talk to a friend or relative that can help you feel more fabulous .
•'If you could tell yourself one thing to do with confidence and happiness what would it be and why ?'
I would tell myself this ( stolen from Ariana Grande's Instagram ) 
• 'How did you stay confident during school ? '
I didn't lol but just remember you're great
• ' How can you rise against people knocking your confidence ?'
Just ignore them I know that's easier said than done BUT if they are deliberately making you feel like trash that's them making them selves look like a bad person - later in life they are going to have 0 friends because they are so unkind so just surround yourself with people who make you feel confident and ignore the ones who don't . Show them you have confidence no matter what they say and strut your stuff gurlll or boy whoever you are work it
•' How to be confident when your family isn't encouraging and always let you down?'
I think you should try talking to them about it and tell them how upset it is making you and hopefully they will try to encourage you a little more . If they are not aware of the problem nothing will change unless you let them know :)
• 'Tips on how to make yourself confident enough to approach your crush?'
I would say just go for it - there is obviously a reason you like them and I presume they are a nice person so won't judge you for liking them , if anything they will take it as a compliment . Just make sure you know what they are like as a person and don't just like them for thier looks as they could be a horrible person inside .
You should make yourself feel the prettiest you can be as this will give you the confidence needed to talk to them and they are more likely to be attracted to you aswell if you are looking your best :)
Thank you so much for reading ! I hope my advice has helped some of you which I doubt it has as I'm rubbish at giving advice but hey ho. You are an amazing person and should never doubt that so stay fabulous and don't let anything or anyone bring you down . If you are ever feeling down and need someone to talk to you can always contact my via my twitter @lucygraysonn :)
Lucy xxx
