If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

Change is an interesting concept. We can't see it happening but when it does, everyone - good or bad, has an opinion on it.

From birth, change is an inevitable part of life. We don't enter the world the people we are today...we change and grown. We aren't born with the ability to walk and talk, we watch, learn and then have a go.

For many people, change is seen as a threat. Nothing will be the same and they don't like it. Some people get stuck in a routine and reap in the continuity - its familiar, safe and works for them.

But unfortunately, it will never last.

As humans we are always looking for ways to better ourselves.

We are currently in the very regular post-Xmas cycle. Every January, like clockwork, the celebrity fitness DVD's line the shelves, every diet under the sun is tried and tested in the glossies and most woman have the "this year I will definitely do it" attitude.

So why is change so bad?

Pauline R. Kezer once said "Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights."

So surely change is a part of everybody, big or small, we all need change to reach our dreams and make us the people we want to be.

It would be a sad day if we were all the same.

If I was still the person I was only 5 years ago...I would be your average Westlife loving, acne ridden teenage girl. But more importantly I would be the shy 15-year-old who would go along with whatever was said or done, wouldn't say boo to a goose and was happy disregarding my own feelings for others.

For me, change wasn't inevitable, it was compulsory.

I had to toughen myself up, find my voice and think about me for once. Well the latter is still not true but I certainly wouldn't be the person I am today if I carried on the way I was. Apart from anything else, I am not that big of a Westlife fan anymore.

My point is...everybody changes. They don't do it for anyone else, to be liked less or more and they certainly don't do it to different.

They do it be themselves.

After all...If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

The Slippery Slope of Celebrity

The more I see her on TV or the front of magazines, the more she seems to baffle me.

Kerry Katona was splashed all over the Sunday newspapers once again this week with allegations that she was hit by her mother-in-law at a New Years Eve house-party.

Every week it seems to be something new.

Appearing on This Morning yesterday, the pregnant loud-mouth was talking about her cocaine addiction and how she has overcome it. But has she?

She was quick to suggest that the newspapers would no doubt, once again print that she was on drugs while doing the show and to be honest, I don’t think they would be far wrong.

Now don’t quote me on it but slurring worlds, rolling eyes and her general brash attitude suggested to me that maybe the addiction is not water under the bridge.

The mother of three also swore on her unborn baby’s life that she was attacked by Mark Croft’s mother during their New Year celebrations.

Fit mother? Sure, why not!

In 2005 she won I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here! and everything seemed to be going well for the ex-Atomic Kitten star, until she split with husband Brian McFadden.

After the divorce everything seemed to go down hill...Bipolar depression, several stints in rehab and her marriage to Croft has ensured that the star is never out of the media glare.

It was only last year she was involved in a hostage situation when masked men broke into her house, locked her and her youngest daughter Heidi in a room, while Croft showed them to the valuables.

Strange? Yes, I thought so too.

It is a shame…she had the potential to be a house hold name for good rather than "what has she done now?" being the question on everyone’s lips.

But, Kerry Katona isn’t the only one.

More and more celebrities are hitting the top just to slide straight back down to the bottom again.

Maybe it s the media’s fault – we build them up to knock them down. But this has been the reality for many years so what make them think that they are any different?

Kerry Katona, Britney Spears…Who’s next?

It’s sad really.

Is it really the taking part that counts?

What do Ricky Hatton, Lewis Hamilton and the England football team all have in common? They are all losers. There is a well known saying – "It’s not the winning, but the taking part that counts" but is that really true? Is winning not the main goal when competing?

There is something inside of every one of us, no matter how big or small, that drives us to be winners. We want to be the best, we want to be acknowledged, but most of all…we want to be remembered.

2007 was the year to beat Britain in almost every sport, with the rugby team coming back empty handed from the World Cup, Hamilton didn’t become Grand Prix champion and even more surprising, the football team failed to make Euro 2008. But why is it all so shocking for us Britons? Are we all too patriotic and expect too much, or have we built our sporting hero’s up too high?

We live in a country where the media builds you up to knock you down. One minute David Beckham is a footballing hero, the next the country is in mourning because he is sent off. Sport stars, celebrities and wannabe’s accumulate most of the column inches in the red tops and glossies, hating them when they win and hating them even more when they lose.

This has been seen in the recent coverage of the Hatton fight against Floyd Mayweather. Support was huge for the British champion, even after losing, but it won’t have been enough for him as a competitive sportsman. He won’t be proud he took part, more disappointed that he didn’t win which has been suggested in the rumours following, that he had considered resignation.

We seem happy to accept the taking part, getting a pat on the back and being told "better look next time." But while that is practised at primary school sports days, it does not ring so true in the professional spectrum.

But what about just trying your best? Surely there is more reward in losing after trying your best than doing a half arsed job and having to live with the repercussions.

But don’t reach for those tissues just yet, don’t roll over thinking we are all losers here in Britain. There are still a few people holding the torch of success and keeping the light of success burning for the country to see.

Joe Calazaghe, rightfully so, was named 2007's Sports Personality of the Year. A few years to late if you ask me, but never-the less after a decade as world champion, it was about time his success was acknowledged. Beating stiff competition from Hamilton and Hatton, it just shows that column inches and tittle tattle will one day lose out to victorious and well-deserving winners.

It is about time that more of Britain’s less talked about winners are acknowledged for their dedication rather than heralding people like David Beckham, Tim Henman and Jonny Wilkinson as being sporting greats. Fame over shadows talent, suggesting that the true stars won’t be mentioned when playing against a famous face. More people like Calazaghe and Amir Khan should be recognised for what they do – winning rather than just taking part.

We have to learn to stop building up someone, to knock them down and treat the losers like champions when they aren’t. We need to start rewarding the true stars of Britain; after all…if losing was a sport, we would definitely be the winners.