Guest Post By Emily - Hakuna Matata

Welcome to another mini-takeover of Caz's blog!

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to post about but I've just got back from a lovely relaxing break in Cape Verde and the laid-back culture made me take a step back and think about how the mentality of the people had a pretty big impact on me.

The main thing was their upbeat and carefree attitude to life. Although Cape Verde is one of the most affluent African nations, where most people have shelter and enough food for three meals a day, it is still quite clearly a developing nation- many people have to travel miles and miles to the nearest secondary school or hospital, most roads and dirt tracks and a lot of villages don't have piped water, but rely on deliveries from a water truck. Despite this, everyone we came across was constantly happy. They were grateful for all they have and constantly say "no stress!" about everything (their second favourite motto is "jiggy jiggy" which may help with the first!). It really impressed upon me how easily I get stressed (and moan!) over such trivial things, issues that really don't matter, and I realised that I don't like the part of me that does that, it seems a bit selfish and self-absorbed. I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to be as chilled out as the wonderful people I met, but it's definitely prompted me to be more appreciative of the things I do have and focus on the positives.

I read so many great blogs and we all know how easy it is to compare yourself to others and feel disheartened. I think everyone needs to give themselves a bit of a break, put the negatives out of your mind even if just for a while and focus on the things you have. My favourite blogs are those that do look at the positives, bloggers that share the occasional downs but are appreciative of the things they have and their posts put a big smile on your face- I think Caz's blog is a great example of this which is why I chose my guestpost on here to write about this.

I know that everytime I start to have one of those miserable days where some self-pity creeps in, I will remember the people I came across, have a browse of my favourite blogs and realise I'm lucky to have all the things I have.

And maybe sing a few choruses of Hakuna Matata :)

ps. As well as the amazing people, Cape Verde is a beautiful country and I would definitely recommend it to anyone currently deciding on a holiday location!

You can have a read of Emily's lovely blog including more photos of Cape Verde here :)