There has always been a part of me that would like to have the body of Adonis. The perfect figure of a man. I think that every guy has that same sort of ideal physical look. That image has never really gone away because believe it or not girls, men are as conscious as women are when it comes to their bodies.
I'm sure that might be a little bit difficult to understand because you hardly ever hear of a man constantly dieting. Or a guy saying "I think my bum looks big in this" but let me tell you, we think it. To be honest, it's only natural the media purveys the image of beauty the way they think it should be to make us think that they are right and we should look like that. It's one of the worlds biggest businesses and a lot of us buy into it.
I have always been at a fairly consistent weight, usually around 11 stone or there about, that was up until late 2009. For being in the absolute perfect place, I let myself go in a pretty big way. I ballooned up to just over 15 stone. Yes I know that's not enormous or drastically overweight, but I was still overweight. It all hit me when I had to buy the next size jeans up. I have always, and I mean always been a 32" waist. I was at school, all the while during college and all through my years thereafter until around November 2009.
I was getting fat, there was is other way to put it than that. I got comfortable, I lived about 500 paces away from where I work and I indulged myself in more junk food than I care to admit. Worse than getting fat I was continuingly getting bigger. Time to do something about it. I had been a member of a gym for about three years and had stints of going but nothing consistent. I'm pretty lazy as I'm sure I've said before.
Right, gym time. Lets get lifting weights and pounding that treadmill (or cross trainer as I like the arm work-out that goes along with it). Working out is not enough though is it? As simple as this logic is, to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you intake. What you have to do to lose weight properly is do both and I'll tell you why.
The good thing about me is that I love to learn. If there is something that I can learn about and have the requirement to learn then I can. Every time I had a stint at the gym I would read about the best kinds of ways to increase muscle mass, the best ways to recover, exercises that work specific muscle groups... I could go on. Anyway, it was time to put them all into practice. However as I said, I needed to start eating right too. A big change for me because I'm a man who loves his food. But I did it, in around a month I lost just over a stone.
Pretty good right? The better thing is that I did it properly. I wasn't starving myself but I was dieting. I was probably eating more on a daily basis while I was dieting than I would normally but I was eating the kinds of food that burn fat. Fresh foods and just chicken for meat. Working out at least five times a week, and more if I could squeeze it in sometimes going to the gym twice a day. Now I know that makes me sound a little obsessive and if I'm honest, maybe I was a little, but I got results.
The summer is coming and I am already getting into shape. I love going to the gym. Love it. It is a great feeling the next day when you've slept well because you've physically worn yourself out (not in a bad way) and you're full of beans because you feel good about yourself. It's great, I am now back down to around 12 stone and I can see myself toning up. I eat well most days but I still cant resist the odd 'treat'.
The trick is all about moderation. Making sure your body is digesting properly so that the food you do eat doesn’t stick in your stomach and turn into fat. Protein shake for breakfast is always a good start, works for me anyway. Then there is making sure you don’t overload on fats throughout the day. Diets work but the thing is, if you stop a diet you will most likely put all the weight you lose, straight back on again. So you need to change the way you eat to stay healthy.
I know, who am I to preach to you about losing weight or whatever? I’m nobody and that’s the point. I’m not saying I am as qualified or know nearly enough as a personal trainer but I could get anyone in shape. It’s just a matter of hard work and dedication. Everything is achievable through effort and putting the effort in makes the result all the more worth it.
If you, like me want to look good for the summer, then I say start now because that feeling of looking at someone else thinking “I wish I looked like that” it will happen. Now if you’re comfortable with yourself you have every right to say buggar off you pompous *expletive*. Don’t do it to fit in. Don’t do it because the magazines portray those images, do it if you want to and do it for yourself.
As I said, I don’t know nearly as much as a personal trainer but I managed to do everything that I set out to do. In my opinion, the biggest problem that everybody has is setting goals that seem like mountainous tasks. That becomes daunting and it can become depressive when you don’t start seeing results right away (that’s why I stopped going to the gym before) but it works if you set small and achievable goals. The way I do it is by saying that on certain machines I want to go up weight by the next plate (about 5K) within a month or if that’s too heavy I do more reps at my current weight to increase strength. See what I mean? Just keep going and don’t get perturbed if it, whatever your goal is, doesn’t happen straight away.
It doesn’t matter what it is you want to do, you can do it. I am living proof of that. Not to blow my own trumpet but I decided that I needed to stop myself getting fatter and lose weight and get back to my proper and more proportionate size. I did it. By myself as well. I wish I’d have taken a photo of my rather portly self before I started losing the three stone that I have lost so I could put a before and after perspective on it for you. I didn’t do it for anyone else, I did it for me because I started to notice that I was becoming a chunky monkey for the lack of a better term.
In the long and short of it is that if I can sort my lazy ass out, you lot most certainly can. It takes time and its definitely not easy but you’ve just got to keep trying and you can make it. You can do it. Get your arse down the gym and put some music on that keeps you motivated and there is nothing you can’t do. So here I am, the 2011 white Mr. Motivator telling you to get up and you can do it and if you want, I could help you.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Saturday, 19 March 2011
I Do.
Firstly I would like to say that I promise this will be the last soppy post for a while…
Will you marry me? The four most dreaded words a man (usually) will ever say, dreaded only because the endless fear of her saying no is crippling. The fears that if she says yes, it may all end in divorce as so many marriages do. A question that seems to be fading away because 'marriage is an outdated constitution' so never gets asked… I for one believe in marriage and one day I will get down on one knee and say the words.
So why do I believe in marriage? Honestly, because it's the next step. When you are committed to someone and you are at a point where there is nothing or no-one more important to you and you love literally love them with every fiber of your being… It's the only thing left to do. I would want the world to know that no matter what this girl has got me for life, that the ring she put on my finger and the one I put on hers shows everyone that.
Statistically there are around three-hundred-thousand marriages in the UK every year, as unfortunate as it is about forty percent of those marriages end in divorce. But if you ask me a success rate of sixty percent isn't half bad. It's not something I would condemn as not worth it or not working. People break up all the time, it's a sad but true fact, just because they happen to be married doesn't mean that's the reason they broke up.
I have thought about getting married for a long time - No I haven't got wedding magazines in a box somewhere and I haven't pre-decided the flower arrangements. I have imagined standing, facing this woman, who I love with my whole heart and giving her my vows (that I will of course write myself), and saying "I do". The perfect wedding to me is making sure that my bride has everything that she wants. That there is nothing that goes wrong that the day she will have dreamed of for years is exactly as she dreamed it. Who could ask or want for more than that?
It's a lot of time and pressure, and getting married is expensive business but to me it's worth every penny. I can't imagine not getting married either. I am not religious and that creates a bit of a problem for my future wife-to-be because I will not get married in a church or by a priest/vicar/pastor or whatever. Does that mean the wedding my bride may want is something that I can't give her? I hope not, but I think compromise is something that I can do quite well, but I cannot compromise on that…
There are things that I want in my life; I have an outline rather than a plan, but on the top of that list is making the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, know beyond any shadow of a doubt that I do want to spend the rest of my life with her. To me that means making her feel like there is no-one else in the world, that she is more important than everyone and everything else. She will be that to me everyday, but I want her to feel that for what I will make sure is the most perfect day of her life.
I have seen lots of wedding in films and on TV, who hasn't? I've only really been to a wedding reception before. Not that it bothers me really; it's usually a friend of the family or some distant cousin, but sometimes I would like to see the actual day itself. To get a feel for how the proceedings go, who does what and all that sort of stuff.
There's not just the wedding to think about, there's the reception. The moment that everyone who is there wants to see, the thing the bride looks forward to almost as much as walking down the isle, the first dance. I like to think I can dance, especially when I'm drunk but in reality, I'm not very good. I will absolutely need to take lessons to make sure my hobbit feet don't crush my wife's toes and/or new wedding shoes. There is something magical about that dance, the spotlight, the all but empty dance floor, the music and the camera flashes… That is the first true husband and wife moment to me.
I am hiring a band for the reception. DJ's are fine, there is obviously a much wider selection of music that can be played, people can make requests etcetera but it's not for them, it's for me and the future Mrs. Bennett (name subject to change as I would quite like a new last name I just haven't found one that fits yet). Besides people are going to dance anyway.
As often happens when I write about something personal to me, I have flashes of images that always make me smile. They are visual representations of the emotions I feel when I put my thoughts into words. I honestly wish that I could take them from my mind and insert them into these posts to help you see what I see… Right now I keep seeing the same three images; My beautiful fiancé walking towards me in a white dress with dozens of people smiling at her, the room where we will be holding our reception filled with fairy lights, flowers and all the people who mean the most to us, and me and my imaginary wife standing in the middle of the dance floor under a spotlight looking in each others eyes… she has no real face, but she is smiling at me and I'm smiling right back at her.
By the time the day is all said and done, all the guests are leaving, half being carried out the other half wanting to carry on drinking. When the cake has been eaten and the champagne is all gone and only the few most important people in the world to me remain, that is the moment that it will be the happiest day of not only my wife's life, but mine too. I will stand there in that room, surrounded by the mess of a great celebration with all the people I love and the woman that has made me the happiest man alive. I will sit and reflect with my wife about the day we have just had and laugh with our friends and family about who did what, the bad dancing and the drunken anecdotes... Perfect.
I am unquestionably the kind of guy that wants a happily ever after. And yes I know that's sad but I don't care. I want to be happy every day of my life and I want the person I will be spending every day with to be happy too. Having that perfect and special day is part of that to me; it makes sense, its how all the best stories go. Yes I know that life is no fairytale and yes I know that it takes hard work and compromise to make a life together work. But when I'm grey and old and still waking up to my beautiful wife, I'll know that I've had the happily ever after I was always looking for.
Will you marry me? The four most dreaded words a man (usually) will ever say, dreaded only because the endless fear of her saying no is crippling. The fears that if she says yes, it may all end in divorce as so many marriages do. A question that seems to be fading away because 'marriage is an outdated constitution' so never gets asked… I for one believe in marriage and one day I will get down on one knee and say the words.
So why do I believe in marriage? Honestly, because it's the next step. When you are committed to someone and you are at a point where there is nothing or no-one more important to you and you love literally love them with every fiber of your being… It's the only thing left to do. I would want the world to know that no matter what this girl has got me for life, that the ring she put on my finger and the one I put on hers shows everyone that.
Statistically there are around three-hundred-thousand marriages in the UK every year, as unfortunate as it is about forty percent of those marriages end in divorce. But if you ask me a success rate of sixty percent isn't half bad. It's not something I would condemn as not worth it or not working. People break up all the time, it's a sad but true fact, just because they happen to be married doesn't mean that's the reason they broke up.
I have thought about getting married for a long time - No I haven't got wedding magazines in a box somewhere and I haven't pre-decided the flower arrangements. I have imagined standing, facing this woman, who I love with my whole heart and giving her my vows (that I will of course write myself), and saying "I do". The perfect wedding to me is making sure that my bride has everything that she wants. That there is nothing that goes wrong that the day she will have dreamed of for years is exactly as she dreamed it. Who could ask or want for more than that?
It's a lot of time and pressure, and getting married is expensive business but to me it's worth every penny. I can't imagine not getting married either. I am not religious and that creates a bit of a problem for my future wife-to-be because I will not get married in a church or by a priest/vicar/pastor or whatever. Does that mean the wedding my bride may want is something that I can't give her? I hope not, but I think compromise is something that I can do quite well, but I cannot compromise on that…
There are things that I want in my life; I have an outline rather than a plan, but on the top of that list is making the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, know beyond any shadow of a doubt that I do want to spend the rest of my life with her. To me that means making her feel like there is no-one else in the world, that she is more important than everyone and everything else. She will be that to me everyday, but I want her to feel that for what I will make sure is the most perfect day of her life.
I have seen lots of wedding in films and on TV, who hasn't? I've only really been to a wedding reception before. Not that it bothers me really; it's usually a friend of the family or some distant cousin, but sometimes I would like to see the actual day itself. To get a feel for how the proceedings go, who does what and all that sort of stuff.
There's not just the wedding to think about, there's the reception. The moment that everyone who is there wants to see, the thing the bride looks forward to almost as much as walking down the isle, the first dance. I like to think I can dance, especially when I'm drunk but in reality, I'm not very good. I will absolutely need to take lessons to make sure my hobbit feet don't crush my wife's toes and/or new wedding shoes. There is something magical about that dance, the spotlight, the all but empty dance floor, the music and the camera flashes… That is the first true husband and wife moment to me.
I am hiring a band for the reception. DJ's are fine, there is obviously a much wider selection of music that can be played, people can make requests etcetera but it's not for them, it's for me and the future Mrs. Bennett (name subject to change as I would quite like a new last name I just haven't found one that fits yet). Besides people are going to dance anyway.
As often happens when I write about something personal to me, I have flashes of images that always make me smile. They are visual representations of the emotions I feel when I put my thoughts into words. I honestly wish that I could take them from my mind and insert them into these posts to help you see what I see… Right now I keep seeing the same three images; My beautiful fiancé walking towards me in a white dress with dozens of people smiling at her, the room where we will be holding our reception filled with fairy lights, flowers and all the people who mean the most to us, and me and my imaginary wife standing in the middle of the dance floor under a spotlight looking in each others eyes… she has no real face, but she is smiling at me and I'm smiling right back at her.
By the time the day is all said and done, all the guests are leaving, half being carried out the other half wanting to carry on drinking. When the cake has been eaten and the champagne is all gone and only the few most important people in the world to me remain, that is the moment that it will be the happiest day of not only my wife's life, but mine too. I will stand there in that room, surrounded by the mess of a great celebration with all the people I love and the woman that has made me the happiest man alive. I will sit and reflect with my wife about the day we have just had and laugh with our friends and family about who did what, the bad dancing and the drunken anecdotes... Perfect.
I am unquestionably the kind of guy that wants a happily ever after. And yes I know that's sad but I don't care. I want to be happy every day of my life and I want the person I will be spending every day with to be happy too. Having that perfect and special day is part of that to me; it makes sense, its how all the best stories go. Yes I know that life is no fairytale and yes I know that it takes hard work and compromise to make a life together work. But when I'm grey and old and still waking up to my beautiful wife, I'll know that I've had the happily ever after I was always looking for.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Broody Much?
Right, this one's going to be another soppy one and you have my friend to blame, she has just given birth to her second child and now has two perfect kids. She brought them into the office today and I stood chatting to her holding her baby. Passing women commented and said that it suited me holding a baby - I won't lie, I couldn't stop smiling. As I have mentioned rather consistently in my posts, I am not your average guy, I get broody.
I don't know what it is, one of my friends insists it's an unusually high amount of oestrogen in my body, but I coo like most women when I see a baby. I like kids, I sort of think I don't know how to be around them or what to say but I think I do alright. In fact, I have supporting evidence… but that's beside the point.
My friends' baby started crying in the office as she was getting them ready to leave, I'd already said I'd help her to her car so I picked up the car-seat and started swaying it. Standing there rocking a car-seat with a crying baby in an office draws attention, I don't care who you are. After a few seconds, she stopped crying and I got a little round of applause, I must be a natural.
I get broody, not only because babies are cute and make cute little noises and stuff, but because I want to be a dad. If I could convince some woman to want to have a baby with me now, I would. Well obviously we would have to wait around nine months, but you know what I mean. I know most men see themselves as a father at some point in their lives and usually have an idea how many kids they would like, but I've never known another guy get broody like me before.
It just get's me thinking about being older and stuff and reading bedtime stories or teaching my kids to ride a bike or how to swim - all that sort of stuff. I'm almost twenty-five and when I was younger I thought I'd have two kids by now, I don't think I'm too young to have children but I am probably not in the right place in my life. Still being there to see my own son or daughter grow up in front of my eyes never fails to make me smile.
First laugh, first steps, first words, first day at nursery and all that. I am obviously aware that it's not easy, sleepless nights incredibly smelly nappies… none of that scares me in the slightest. I want to get up in the middle of the night and let my girlfriend/fiancé/wife rest (as much as possible) while I change or feed and get the baby back to sleep. I want to be able to say that I'm a great dad because that's something I know I will be. My future kids and their mum will be the centre of my world and I will be doing everything for the rest of my life to be the best boyfriend/fiancé/husband and father I can be.
I have images in my mind of dropping off my kids for their first day of school and being there to pick them up. As I put that into words I have a mixture of feelings and emotions, I have a sense of pride as my imaginary little boy or girl walks into class. There is a bit of fear because I'm hoping that they are ok and have a good time. Is it strange that even thinking about these things has an affect on me? Is it odd that I think about them at all?
I know that I'll be proud of my kids no matter what and I know that I will love them more than I can even comprehend. But one thing I do know is that they will teach me as much as I will teach them. You can read all the books and go to all the classes but even without being a parent I know that you are never truly ready for what your first baby brings you. I keep smiling as I write this because I am so looking forward to the biggest lesson of my life.
I have an unusual amount of experience with pregnancies too, my ex girlfriend's sister was pregnant while we were together and I would sit there with her listening to her baby's heartbeat through a monitor. I have seen the mood-swings and think I did a pretty good job of cheering her back up when she was down. I sat next to my friend at work through both of her pregnancies and listened to her talk about the things that she was afraid of. I know that all women are different and that all pregnancies are different too, but I think I'll be well prepared - at least a little any way.
I even want to be able to go and get whatever my pregnant partner wants or needs. I will be a guy you can depend on. I will be a guy you will be proud to say is going to be the father of my child. People have things that they are good at or things that they believe they were meant to do. I honestly think that I will be such a great dad because I was born to do it. I am going to love my kids so much, and I know they are going to love me. I can see them (I'm smiling again) running to me with their arms wide open wanting to be picked up and squeezed. And I tell you what; I am always going to be there.
There are things that you learn from life whether it is from a good or bad experience that you know you will never forget. I think it is your job to pass on this knowledge to you children so they are able to make choices and know the risks they want to take. Life is a lesson and you never stop learning, an experience that is different for us all and that makes us all special. My kids won't have the same life as me and they won't be exactly like me either but I know they'll be great because hey, they'll have me as dad.
I've always been the settle down kind of guy; I used to browse Argos catalogues when I was younger and look at furniture. I always knew that I wanted a family and the more my life moves forward the more I want that. I can't make it happen, when it does, it does. Whenever the world falls into place and fate decide that me and the lucky (or stupid, depending on your perspective) woman I'm with are ready, it really will be the greatest lesson I will ever learn.
Maybe it's that my dad was a complete and utter waste of space and I know how not to be a father, maybe it's because my mom is one of the most amazing women I have ever known and raised me to be the man I am today. Whatever the reasons, I want to take all the knowledge I have from my measly twenty-five years and counting and give to a little person that will call me dad. I want to be able to teach them everything I know and make sure that they can always come to me whenever they need anything.
To my future wife; I promise that I will make you proud and happy to call me the father of your children. I promise that no matter how crazy you get or irrationally mad or upset, I will be there to be yelled at or cried to. I promise that you will always have a pillar of support and I will always be by your side.
To my future children; I promise that there will never be a day that you don't know how much I love you. I promise that whenever you need me, I will be there. I promise to keep you safe when you are scared. I promise that you will always be the most important thing in my life, no matter what.
I don't know what it is, one of my friends insists it's an unusually high amount of oestrogen in my body, but I coo like most women when I see a baby. I like kids, I sort of think I don't know how to be around them or what to say but I think I do alright. In fact, I have supporting evidence… but that's beside the point.
My friends' baby started crying in the office as she was getting them ready to leave, I'd already said I'd help her to her car so I picked up the car-seat and started swaying it. Standing there rocking a car-seat with a crying baby in an office draws attention, I don't care who you are. After a few seconds, she stopped crying and I got a little round of applause, I must be a natural.
I get broody, not only because babies are cute and make cute little noises and stuff, but because I want to be a dad. If I could convince some woman to want to have a baby with me now, I would. Well obviously we would have to wait around nine months, but you know what I mean. I know most men see themselves as a father at some point in their lives and usually have an idea how many kids they would like, but I've never known another guy get broody like me before.
It just get's me thinking about being older and stuff and reading bedtime stories or teaching my kids to ride a bike or how to swim - all that sort of stuff. I'm almost twenty-five and when I was younger I thought I'd have two kids by now, I don't think I'm too young to have children but I am probably not in the right place in my life. Still being there to see my own son or daughter grow up in front of my eyes never fails to make me smile.
First laugh, first steps, first words, first day at nursery and all that. I am obviously aware that it's not easy, sleepless nights incredibly smelly nappies… none of that scares me in the slightest. I want to get up in the middle of the night and let my girlfriend/fiancé/wife rest (as much as possible) while I change or feed and get the baby back to sleep. I want to be able to say that I'm a great dad because that's something I know I will be. My future kids and their mum will be the centre of my world and I will be doing everything for the rest of my life to be the best boyfriend/fiancé/husband and father I can be.
I have images in my mind of dropping off my kids for their first day of school and being there to pick them up. As I put that into words I have a mixture of feelings and emotions, I have a sense of pride as my imaginary little boy or girl walks into class. There is a bit of fear because I'm hoping that they are ok and have a good time. Is it strange that even thinking about these things has an affect on me? Is it odd that I think about them at all?
I know that I'll be proud of my kids no matter what and I know that I will love them more than I can even comprehend. But one thing I do know is that they will teach me as much as I will teach them. You can read all the books and go to all the classes but even without being a parent I know that you are never truly ready for what your first baby brings you. I keep smiling as I write this because I am so looking forward to the biggest lesson of my life.
I have an unusual amount of experience with pregnancies too, my ex girlfriend's sister was pregnant while we were together and I would sit there with her listening to her baby's heartbeat through a monitor. I have seen the mood-swings and think I did a pretty good job of cheering her back up when she was down. I sat next to my friend at work through both of her pregnancies and listened to her talk about the things that she was afraid of. I know that all women are different and that all pregnancies are different too, but I think I'll be well prepared - at least a little any way.
I even want to be able to go and get whatever my pregnant partner wants or needs. I will be a guy you can depend on. I will be a guy you will be proud to say is going to be the father of my child. People have things that they are good at or things that they believe they were meant to do. I honestly think that I will be such a great dad because I was born to do it. I am going to love my kids so much, and I know they are going to love me. I can see them (I'm smiling again) running to me with their arms wide open wanting to be picked up and squeezed. And I tell you what; I am always going to be there.
There are things that you learn from life whether it is from a good or bad experience that you know you will never forget. I think it is your job to pass on this knowledge to you children so they are able to make choices and know the risks they want to take. Life is a lesson and you never stop learning, an experience that is different for us all and that makes us all special. My kids won't have the same life as me and they won't be exactly like me either but I know they'll be great because hey, they'll have me as dad.
I've always been the settle down kind of guy; I used to browse Argos catalogues when I was younger and look at furniture. I always knew that I wanted a family and the more my life moves forward the more I want that. I can't make it happen, when it does, it does. Whenever the world falls into place and fate decide that me and the lucky (or stupid, depending on your perspective) woman I'm with are ready, it really will be the greatest lesson I will ever learn.
Maybe it's that my dad was a complete and utter waste of space and I know how not to be a father, maybe it's because my mom is one of the most amazing women I have ever known and raised me to be the man I am today. Whatever the reasons, I want to take all the knowledge I have from my measly twenty-five years and counting and give to a little person that will call me dad. I want to be able to teach them everything I know and make sure that they can always come to me whenever they need anything.
To my future wife; I promise that I will make you proud and happy to call me the father of your children. I promise that no matter how crazy you get or irrationally mad or upset, I will be there to be yelled at or cried to. I promise that you will always have a pillar of support and I will always be by your side.
To my future children; I promise that there will never be a day that you don't know how much I love you. I promise that whenever you need me, I will be there. I promise to keep you safe when you are scared. I promise that you will always be the most important thing in my life, no matter what.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Best Friends...
I am very lucky. I am glad to say that I don't have that many friends. I am glad of this because the friends I do have are the beat kinds of friends and you know who you are. I have mentioned in the past that I am not the strongest person in the world, nor am I the most intelligent. I am not the funniest or the most popular but what I am is friendly. And that is very important to me.
Everyone has friends that they lose, its a sad but very true fact. I think back to the friends I had when I was in my teens and at school and college. They all meant something to me and they all helped shape me into the person that I am today. Some more than others but never the less, memories stay with you and when I look back I smile. Often times I forget the earliest friendships I had in high school because the latter part was such a huge part of my life (even though it was only two years). I had a friend that I went on holiday to Lanzerote with, for some reason or another our friendship didn't last past year eight. I had a friend who protected me once from a fight that I would certainly have been beaten up in and years later I end up working with his brother.
Then I met a girl who was to help me discover who I am. I will never lie about the fact that I was completely in love with her, I never lied to her about it even then. She had a huge personality that a lot of people didn't get, but we were as close as two friends could be. We had the kind of friendship where we didn't actually need to do anything to have a good time, sitting in her room listening to music was cool. I was somewhat of a loner before year nine when we started hanging out, I had friends as I said but I still didn't really talk to that many people. All of a sudden I could never understand why I didnt and almost overnight I new everyone. It was thanks to her that I started becoming social and having a good circle of friends. Although circumstances as they were, we lost touch after school and I sort of lost that flare.
Whilst in college I hung out with a guy who lived just over the road from our house. He was a bit younger than me so I kind of felt like a big brother, not that he needed one, he was fearless. I was introduced through him to a new circle who must have come to my house every day for about two years. Then as college continued and I got a girlfriend, there was kind of a stop gap in friends.
It was an odd time, we saw each other every single day for almost three years and because of that I lost touch with a lot of my friends, not because we fell out or that I wasn't allowed to see them or anything, my life just took a different turn. It wasn't until I started working at the job I had before my current one that I started becoming socially active if you like. Where I worked there was a pub just round the corner and a group of us would go for a drink at lunch and just generally have a laugh. After I was fired from that job, yes I got fired, after a short lull I got the job I am in now. It took me about two months to find my groove and come out of my shell. I became myself again, not that I hadn't been all along but I thrive on people, I am not really an attention seeker but I like being the centre of attention. I started going out a hell of a lot more and drinking with my new found group of friends.
Without realising it we had become a miniature family, we saw each other almost every day and we all became quite close. While I was becoming closer to my friends I was actually, unconsciously, distancing myself from my girlfriend at the time. Obviously this caused arguments between us, I wasn't really being fair and I moaned when she wanted to come out with us saying that they were my friends. Either way we broke up and I moved back home for a while, I still went out and got drunk with my friends and I was having a great time at work. It was a fairly full couple of months but I won't go into detail.
I am going to fast forward a little to continue this as I have gone in to a little bit more detail than I initially thought I would. I have been meaning to talk about my best friends throughout this but it seemed pertinent to provide you with some back story but anyway, I have four best friends. As always I will not name names but they will all know who they are.
The first is a man who is knowledgeable, generous, and when he is being serious almost always talks sense. He is the perfect example of a confidant, never wanting to tell you what you don’t want to hear but sitting down with a pin the is always ready to give advice and be honest. His opinion is of the highest regard to me and what he thinks means something. He is one of best people I have in my life and although I don’t see him nearly as much as I used to, I know we will be friends for a very long time. I would like to tell you that I love you.
The second is a girl who is like the big sister I never had. She is smart and funny, honest and always willing to lend an ear. She has been a pillar of support not just for me but for someone else very important to me and I will always be grateful to her. I love that no matter how bummed out she may be for whatever reason, I somehow have the ability to make her smile and that is always a smile worth seeing. I have so much respect for her that I cannot even begin to express it. I would like to tell you my sweet that I love you.
The third is another girl. I do not see this one as much as I’d like, she is a very busy person and always up to something. She is one of the funniest people I know and usually because I’m laughing at her more than anything else, in a good way of course though. The best thing about her is that she is unfailingly loyal and without any insult to anyone else who may read this I feel as though I could tell her almost anything. She is one of the people I struggle through the day without talking to. I would like to tell you chicken pie that I love you.
The last and probably one of the most important people in my life. As you read this I hope you know that without you I would not have coped the last six months or so. I cannot express how much I appreciate what you have done for me. I know I have said this to you in the past and I daresay I will tell you again, but I do not think of you as my friend any more. You are my brother. You are continuously helping me grow into a man by always knowing exactly what to say in almost any situation. You have put up with me whining and pulled me out of a slump. You are without a shadow of a doubt the best friend that anyone could ask for and I look forward to one day having you stand next to me at an alter as my best man and being godfather to my future kids. I would like to tell you that I love you, brother.
There are more people that I consider close friends and I don’t want to take anything away from any of you because you all mean the world to me. I have been wanting to write about my friends for some time but I always put it off because I knew I wouldn’t get it right; I will never be able to put down into words but who can? What I would like to say is that everyone has a best friend or maybe a couple or maybe more, but I would ask that even if you just do it this once, tell them how much they mean to you. If they have done something for you that nobody else has ever done or saved you from some sort of crisis or sat and listened to you snivelling, just tell them how important that is.
Everyone has friends that they lose, its a sad but very true fact. I think back to the friends I had when I was in my teens and at school and college. They all meant something to me and they all helped shape me into the person that I am today. Some more than others but never the less, memories stay with you and when I look back I smile. Often times I forget the earliest friendships I had in high school because the latter part was such a huge part of my life (even though it was only two years). I had a friend that I went on holiday to Lanzerote with, for some reason or another our friendship didn't last past year eight. I had a friend who protected me once from a fight that I would certainly have been beaten up in and years later I end up working with his brother.
Then I met a girl who was to help me discover who I am. I will never lie about the fact that I was completely in love with her, I never lied to her about it even then. She had a huge personality that a lot of people didn't get, but we were as close as two friends could be. We had the kind of friendship where we didn't actually need to do anything to have a good time, sitting in her room listening to music was cool. I was somewhat of a loner before year nine when we started hanging out, I had friends as I said but I still didn't really talk to that many people. All of a sudden I could never understand why I didnt and almost overnight I new everyone. It was thanks to her that I started becoming social and having a good circle of friends. Although circumstances as they were, we lost touch after school and I sort of lost that flare.
Whilst in college I hung out with a guy who lived just over the road from our house. He was a bit younger than me so I kind of felt like a big brother, not that he needed one, he was fearless. I was introduced through him to a new circle who must have come to my house every day for about two years. Then as college continued and I got a girlfriend, there was kind of a stop gap in friends.
It was an odd time, we saw each other every single day for almost three years and because of that I lost touch with a lot of my friends, not because we fell out or that I wasn't allowed to see them or anything, my life just took a different turn. It wasn't until I started working at the job I had before my current one that I started becoming socially active if you like. Where I worked there was a pub just round the corner and a group of us would go for a drink at lunch and just generally have a laugh. After I was fired from that job, yes I got fired, after a short lull I got the job I am in now. It took me about two months to find my groove and come out of my shell. I became myself again, not that I hadn't been all along but I thrive on people, I am not really an attention seeker but I like being the centre of attention. I started going out a hell of a lot more and drinking with my new found group of friends.
Without realising it we had become a miniature family, we saw each other almost every day and we all became quite close. While I was becoming closer to my friends I was actually, unconsciously, distancing myself from my girlfriend at the time. Obviously this caused arguments between us, I wasn't really being fair and I moaned when she wanted to come out with us saying that they were my friends. Either way we broke up and I moved back home for a while, I still went out and got drunk with my friends and I was having a great time at work. It was a fairly full couple of months but I won't go into detail.
I am going to fast forward a little to continue this as I have gone in to a little bit more detail than I initially thought I would. I have been meaning to talk about my best friends throughout this but it seemed pertinent to provide you with some back story but anyway, I have four best friends. As always I will not name names but they will all know who they are.
The first is a man who is knowledgeable, generous, and when he is being serious almost always talks sense. He is the perfect example of a confidant, never wanting to tell you what you don’t want to hear but sitting down with a pin the is always ready to give advice and be honest. His opinion is of the highest regard to me and what he thinks means something. He is one of best people I have in my life and although I don’t see him nearly as much as I used to, I know we will be friends for a very long time. I would like to tell you that I love you.
The second is a girl who is like the big sister I never had. She is smart and funny, honest and always willing to lend an ear. She has been a pillar of support not just for me but for someone else very important to me and I will always be grateful to her. I love that no matter how bummed out she may be for whatever reason, I somehow have the ability to make her smile and that is always a smile worth seeing. I have so much respect for her that I cannot even begin to express it. I would like to tell you my sweet that I love you.
The third is another girl. I do not see this one as much as I’d like, she is a very busy person and always up to something. She is one of the funniest people I know and usually because I’m laughing at her more than anything else, in a good way of course though. The best thing about her is that she is unfailingly loyal and without any insult to anyone else who may read this I feel as though I could tell her almost anything. She is one of the people I struggle through the day without talking to. I would like to tell you chicken pie that I love you.
The last and probably one of the most important people in my life. As you read this I hope you know that without you I would not have coped the last six months or so. I cannot express how much I appreciate what you have done for me. I know I have said this to you in the past and I daresay I will tell you again, but I do not think of you as my friend any more. You are my brother. You are continuously helping me grow into a man by always knowing exactly what to say in almost any situation. You have put up with me whining and pulled me out of a slump. You are without a shadow of a doubt the best friend that anyone could ask for and I look forward to one day having you stand next to me at an alter as my best man and being godfather to my future kids. I would like to tell you that I love you, brother.
There are more people that I consider close friends and I don’t want to take anything away from any of you because you all mean the world to me. I have been wanting to write about my friends for some time but I always put it off because I knew I wouldn’t get it right; I will never be able to put down into words but who can? What I would like to say is that everyone has a best friend or maybe a couple or maybe more, but I would ask that even if you just do it this once, tell them how much they mean to you. If they have done something for you that nobody else has ever done or saved you from some sort of crisis or sat and listened to you snivelling, just tell them how important that is.
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