Living life with your phone at 5% battery, knowing you won't be able to charge it for a long time...
Sounds like a postapocalyptic scenario? No, it's just part of my Low Battery Challenge!

• wake up, turn on my phone, radio and laptop. I use my laptop for about 40 minutes, the radio for 15 minutes.
• use 40% of my phone's battery at school and the other 60% at home.
• come home and work on online assignments for about 2.5 hours.
• watch tv (when my homework is done) for another 1.5 hours.
• write blogposts and comments for about an hour a day.
• waste another hour on sites like Facebook, doing nothing.
• turn on the radio multiple times a day, which adds up to at least another hour of using energy.

So I spend approximately 10 hours a day toying with technology. I think I can at least halve that for the next month.

Yesterday evening I bought a new laptop. I am now a proud owner of a brand new Acer Apire E15. Don't ask for more specifics, all I know about this thing is that it works and that I'm totally going to marry it!

• Friend +30
• Frenemy -10
• Old classmate you liked +20
• Old classmate you disliked -15
• Old classmate coming over to talk +50
• Hobo wishing everyone a good morning +100
• Smelly stranger sitting next to you -25
• Person taking a nap +10
• People losing their balance when the bus/train stops +5
• High school kids talking about their maturity 'because they're in 9th grade already!' +10
• Person screaming way too personal information in a phone +15 (unless it's really disgusting info that scars your brain, then it's -15)
• People listening to music at its loudest +10 (5 bonuspoints if the music doesn't seems to fit the character)
• Overexcited tourists +15
• Stroller/wheelchair blocking the doors -30
• Bus/train leaving the moment you've almost reached it -25
• Catching every connection right on time +30
• Awkward eye contact -10

For example, Friday was a not-so-great day. I started out with an 'Old classmate I disliked' (-15). Then I noticed someone was listening to Shake it Off by Taylor Swift so loud that the whole bus could enjoy it. Mentally awarding myself with ten points for noticing(+10), I looked around and found this ghetto queen listening to miss Swift. Five bonus points coming my way!(+5)
I jumped out off the bus and caught my train right on time. Another 30 points, things were looking good (+30). Until I made awkward eye contact with that old class mate I didn't like...(-5).

Sure, if the bus would WAIT A SECOND source

I reached college early with a grand total of 25 points, a number I had to keep in mind because the game continued when I went home.
At 12.10pm I left college, half-ran to the nearest Subway station aaaand... missed my train. I was two seconds late T.T (-25). Luckily my score went up again when one of my current classmates came to sit next to me and I could add thirty friend points to my total (+30). I also noticed some Japanese/Korean/Chinese tourists looking a bit too happy about being in a smelly train (+15).
As my classmate got out, someone in front of her stumbled the moment the train stopped. Another five points added (+5). I had 50 points when I got to the bus station, a good score.
I saw my bus, I was confident I was going to catch it. I was having a 50 point day, of course I was going to catch it! I broke into a run, would've outrun Usain Bolt if you ask me, but the bus left without me anyway (-25). Probably because the bus driver was just evil: from all sides people came running and he just took off without us. One of the people running with me was an old high school classmate I actually liked (+20). We sat down together and got on the next bus, but my total was stuck at 45 points.

And so an average day using Dutch public transportation came to an end. It might have been a sucky one, but I didn't fall asleep, not even once! My total wasn't as high as it could be, but without seeing that happy hobo who wishes everyone a good morning when he gets on the bus, it never gets higher than 75.
Anyway, it takes some getting used to. The public transportation is fairly good in the Netherlands and when you keep your eyes open you'll see the funniest most unexpected things ever - or maybe I should say: if you can keep your eyes open :)

Some time back I felt like dancing. I must have been six or seven. All the girls in my class were in ballet and I wasn't. But one day I felt like dancing and I just did something. Nothing serious, nothing ballet-like. I just went with the rythm in my head.
I was laughed at. I looked stupid, they told me. What I was doing wasn't gracious enough and thus I deserved to be laughed at.
Years later I was listening to the radio during art class and I was moving my head and arms a bit. Once again I was laughed at, this time because I wasn't doing the same thing as the girls next to me. I did what felt right, but it wasn't right according to others and thus I deserved to be laughed at. I never danced again without being overly aware of my weirdly flapping arms.

From Envy's Make it Happen List
#3: Dance with someone without feeling ashamed of my spastic moves
Status: Awesomeness Achieved

As you might know by now, I made a list of things I wanted to do for various reasons. This was one of the things I wanted to do because I never knew what it was like to be carefree while dancing. I got superclose to achieving this goal at prom, until T. realized with whom he was dancing.
Then I went to Peru, a place which was perfect to get some Make it Happen things done. Because in a rural town called Chivay, I was able to cross another one off my list.

In Chivay we went to a restaurant to eat guinea pig. Our tour guide had chosen the restaurant because the served guinea pig (except the night we were there) and also because of the live entertainment. Every night there was a dance performance. We were strictly forbidden to join the dancers. No matter how often they'd ask us, we had to say 'no', because if we went dancing we'd probably pass out because of the altitude. I was so disappointed at that moment.
But that night, as we were eating, our tour guide was suddenly up there dancing with one of the dancers. We all laughed and joked that he was a hypocrite. The dancers the asked other people from our group to join, but everyone refused. Everyone except me.
Suddenly I was dancing some traditional Peruvian dance with some cute Peruvian guy. I enjoyed it so much. Even when I had to dress up as a dude as part of the dance. 

Sometimes all you have to do is to DON'T GIVE A SHIT

I laughed and danced and laughed some more. I got dizzy but didn't pass out. Everyone said I did so well and that it was so nice of me to go dancing when I finally sat down to eat something. Everyone said so, but when they were asked, they all said 'no'. The dancer I'd danced with asked everyone at our table and everyone refused. I felt sorry for him and danced with him again.

I don't always dance, but when I do it looks chaotic :)

I think I did well that night. I overcame one of my fears, I didn't feel ashamed, not even a second, and had a great night. Since that day I've danced a lot more. You can now regularly see me dancing around the room with the radio turned up so loud you might go deaf. The spastic moves will never improve but the enjoyment I get out of them has skyrocketed!

Source

It's not a secret that I stuggle with my low self esteem. My self confidence is almost zero. Especially the whole 'label' episode I went through in the last two years of high school left me with a dangerously low self esteem. But at some point, I realized I had to snap out of it. I'm not the only one suffering from low self esteem, I'm not the only one who thinks they can't do something while they're great at it. A lot of girls my age suffer from these symptoms in one way or another. Some blame the media, some blame the fashion industry, but blaming people doesn't exactly boost your self esteem. However, there are a few things you could try. WARNING: these methods were only tested on a single Envy. Success can not be guaranteed. Long term side effects unknown.

#1: Make a list
You might have noticed that I love making lists. I make lists for ust about everything. So when my self esteem is dangerously low and my self confidence has vaporized, I make a list of all the things I like about myself. For every negative remark I've heard I write down a positive feature. So my nose may be big, but my hands are small and beautiful. My face may be covered with pimples, but my legs are great and low maintenance. I may be socially awkward, but I can always make people laugh. I may have sucked at calculus, but I aced all statistics tests effortlessly.
After making a list like this, I always realize that I am not that bad. I have a lot of positive characteristics and those are way more important than the negative ones.

#2: Talk to your friends
When my list doesn't work, I turn to my friends. I'm talking about my real friends. Not the ones who tell you you can't sing when you're humming along to a song on the radio. I'm talking about the friends who've always been there for you. The ones who'll always support you. They are the ones who see all the truly beautiful parts of you and compliment you on them. Nothing will raise your spirits as much as a good friend's appreciation and support.

#3: Avoid the 'perfect' people
SOme girls have it all: the looks, the talent, the guys, the intelligence... and don't appreciate it. They can be your best friend, but sometimes it's better to create some distance between the two of you before you turn into a gigantic green monster - and I'm not talking about the Hulk this time.

Sorry, couldn't resist the urge XD

Honestly, I turn into one big ball of jealousy when I see one of my friends who has everything and then goes on complaining that her perfect boyfriend bought her 10 roses instead of 12 when she got a B on her test. Please, go away! I'm working hard with no result, I don't have a boyfriend, stop making me feel worthless!

#4: Meet new people
As hard as it can be when you don't even want to look at yourself in the mirror, try to get out and meet new people. When I came back from the Geography Olympiad, I felt so much better about myself. I met a whole new group of people who accepted me right away. No prejudices, no hard feelings. Just acceptance.
I think that meeting new people can be a great confidence booster. It always showed me that there are people in the world who don't care about my label. New people look at you and see a new page in their live. They will try to make that page as great as possible and care for who you are of they get the chance.

#5: Do new things
One of my friends calls this one 'Do random shit!!!' (yes, the exclamation marks are necessary). It's liberating and fun. When I do something new, I need all my attention to do this new thing, so there's no room for doubt and self hate.
New things give you the possibility to explore the world and discover new talents. And what's better for your self esteem than discovering that you've had this secret talent for toilet paper throwing?

#6: The Confidence Cap
This is a little trick I've stolen from a book. Choose a thing you like, a necklace for example or a scarf. In my case it was a hat. Take the thing with you whenever you think you're going to need some extra confidence. I take my 'Cap of Confidence' with me everytime I feel insecure. I took it to the Geography Olympiad, to my first day of college, to the movie theater when I went to Catching Fire. For me, it works. Everything went according to plan all those times I took my hat with me. It just might work for you too!

Now I'm no expert on this stuff, but I hope this might be helpful for someone out there. If you want to read more about this topic, head over to Smiles No Matter for a truly great post about self confidence and self esteem!