Thinking Out Of The Box

Firstly, I just want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog over the last 12 months I really hope it's helped some people who have maybe had similar difficulties or know of people who have been experiencing similar. I hope it's given people the confidence to speak out more about things which may be troubling them.

This time last year I was in a lot different place in life and I didn't see there was much hope and wan't sure how to get out of it. But thanks to close friends and my amazing boyfriend I finally had the confidence to reach for professional help, even though I still have a long way to go, for the first time in probably my 26 years I put myself first before helping other people with their issues, at first it felt really weird as I was so un used to talking about me but slowly thanks to the people around me I'm starting to feel like Rosie again.

In  June I phoned up BBC radio 1's the surgery which had Mollie King from The Saturdays on it, my hands were physicallly shaking as I did it as I can be very socially anxious when using the phone. I spoke about dyslexia and how people at work didn't have much awareness of it. She gave me some advice which I'm so grateful for and told me to keep speaking about it and focus on the things which I'm good at and went onto talk about creativity. It so happened that people from work tuned in and at first they weren't very understanding but as time went on they've slowly started understanding me and it's such a weird but good feeling and a lot of my anxiety has gone. If I make any mistakes I no longer feel stupid or inferierior to other people but feel slowly confident in being myself. I can't thank Mollie enough. The bit about creativity was really relatable as I really enjoy being creative, and I know for me to develop in my career further it's the down the line I want to take. I've been very lucky to have the opportunity to get involved in Mollie's official birthday book and it's been a way for me to think out of the box and use my strengths as well as encoperating the skills of lots of other amazing creative people together. It also makes me proud of how dyslexia friendly the book ends up being, this is something important to me to make sure Mollie finds it as accessible and enjoyable as possible. Hopefully many more people will be able to get creatively involved too.

In the summer me and my boyfriend Matt did a run for Dyslexia Action and The Dyspraxia Foundation which was 3 miles, running has never been one of my fortes in life  but I was determined to complete it running out onto they olympic stadium with the crowd cheering us on was one of the most amazing life expreiences I will ever have. Thank you to all who supported us with that.

Next year I hope to become a specialist teacher, learn to drive and move in with my boyfriend and hopefully overcome more challenges in life. I hope to carry on working with Dyslexia Action and The Dyspraxia Foundation and we'll see where it all leads, hopefully it will lead to more awareness in schools and work places so people have the understanding to be able to achieve their potential. To anyone who maybe has experienced similar either mental health or learning needs as me or both, there are understanding people out there. I know it's hard with the amount of ignorance out there but if you keep speaking out and focusing on the positives people do start to listen, it may take a long time but never be ashamed of being who you are, have the confidence to get out there and not let anything hold you back, stay strong there is light at a very long tunnel. Special thanks to my amazing best friend Casey for being my rock this last year. Happy New Year everyone I hope it's a positive one for you next year lots of love <3