Keys to Success

This is a 2 months overdue article about a poem my best friend wrote. I'm very much amazed that she wrote in a matter of minutes. I know it's just a poem. But you see I like poems, I like reading them, I wish I could put what I feel into rhyming words, but it seems hard and takes a lot of time for me 'coz there's a lot I want to let it all out, and I can't decide on which one. It's all a mess in there (my thoughts), I have yet to organized them someday, somehow. Einstein's quote may have basis after all regarding cluttered desk in relation to a cluttered mind.

Anyways, back to my BFF's poem. I'm proud to see this artistic side of her. One glance you'll think she's intimidating, and a little bit snobbish. Ha! if you know the whole truth, if you look deeper she's that gentle person who cares so much whether it be her work or personal. Very modest when she asks for help or when you express your admiration for her. She's real in a sense that she's true to herself and will give you the truth even though it hurts. I love her and I love that she's my best friend. Her poem, it's about a simple truth and difficult to do at the same time. In the dark moments in our lives where we are carrying different types of crosses each with its own weight, where we cannot seem to see the light. To stay strong amidst the difficulties. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's my honor to present to you "Keys to Success" by Yanyan.

A mage in training...

I have and always will asked who I am and what I want to be. Its the same when I play video games. I recently am addicted to Skyrim:Elder Scrolls, was very much contented spending the whole weekend playing. (Wait… got out of topic now) Anyways as I was starting the game, I got stumped on the decision on what type of character I would be, be it good in convincing people, in magic or in combat, whether I would be thief, a mage, or a warrior. I would have love to be all of them (who wouldn’t want the best of everything) But you know you have to choose only one. So I ended up with a balance between mage and warrior since the game would mostly involved battles. As the game progress, got stuck with another decision. What weapon should I use? I do like archery, I also like swords. In the end I let go all those and focus on my strengths. Im not good with precision so did not choose the bow and arrows. I panicked when enemies are in close proximity. In the end I became a mage, and I actually like it. Well you might be wondering why I brought this up. This is going somewhere I assure you ;) For me, its an analogy to life and work. We are constantly an ever-changing organism. I know not where I’m going but each decision I want to make comes down to who I really am. So how does being a mage relates to reality? I can’t cast restoration spell to make everything go better. But I remembered from the book I’ve recently read. No matter how formidable the characters in every fantasy stories there is, the wizards never do the real work, nor do they join in full adventures themselves. I guess unconsciously I’ve always wanted to solve problems (one of my top 5 strengths in strength finder is restorative), and help the heroes succeed, in my case the team and the organisation. The formidable enemies are the problems encountered everyday, no matter how mundane it is. Who I am today may not be the same as tomorrow but I’m hoping to look back at my past and be proud of my present. I maybe a novice now, someday I’m hoping to be that wise wizard (e.g Gandalf, Merlin or Morgan Le Fay perhaps).

Conversations with self

Life is full of choices. Your choices can be good or bad. It can be of help or worsen the situation. I make decision everyday from what I wear to the things I do before I sleep. Guess what? Most of them are hard choices, especially those of the heart. I don’t know if they are right or wrong but I have to live with them. i guess that’s what comes with free will -  the consequences. We are free to do what we want but we cannot choose what will happened. I am so afraid of the effects of the decisions I made sometimes I forgot that It’s still my choice on what will happen to me after every storm. We can either come up to be better than who we are or just the opposite. So I’m writing this to remind myself to live with it, mend things that is still mendable if not learn to let go as long as I have tried everything. I'll end with a quote I come across today "Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain".  Bye :)

Juz a few rants.. ;)

I don’t have all the answers, I’m not confident all the time, there are days that sometimes you just feel weak, and your worried that any event today could cause you life to come crashing down ( overreacting).  These are those moments that we need to remind ourselves that “It’s okay”. Argh! but isn’t it hard? They say it gets easier every time with practice. So to do for myself, practice refocusing my mindset. Focus on the things to do that could make a difference and stop worrying about things we don’t have any control. Accepting who I am is something I can do to make a difference in my life instead of worrying if other’s can accept me. Are you with me on this? So easy to write about these things but difficult to do since I have this shell and I’m comfortable in my shell. But that’s just it right? I need to go out from my comfort zone.

Happiness

I am happy. I guess it started with the guy in the elevator who suddenly just greeted and talk to me even if we don't know each other. That was a nice way to start the morning. And then I stumbled on a quote by Abraham Lincoln “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound for success, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.” Totally absorbed it, its like the Arbinger training we had on “Anatomy of Peace”, you’ve got to have peace with your way being. Instead of being someone else we are not, lets be who we are coz that’s how we shine.

A realization

Today, I didn’t realize it but something is slowly changing within me. I think writing on this blog is the starting point of the realization of what happiness is for me. Maybe I’m getting old that it just didn’t matter as much as yesterday. The want to fit in with the crowd to know/ feel where you belong.

I got tired of feeling sorry for myself ‘coz I know deep inside I’m that good. Sounds not very humble of me, right? But hey I can say the same thing of you :) You are good. You are meant to do great things so get up and stop worrying about what others think (they are also worried what others think, its like thinkception ). Honestly I still have those feelings, but its much easier now since I don’t get suck in to that hole. I don’t know where I’m going but I’m enjoying this journey of mine. I am amaze of the happiness I felt when I started writing. (Thank you for reading btw.)

I think its the freedom that made me happy, the courage to take the first step (in my case , my first article). For all those years my mind keep putting it off. ARgh! mind your holding me back. But thank you mind for opening up things I thought not possible in the past.

When you think about it, you and me are not that different. We have similar journeys and fears to conquer the difference is in the actual battle. Lets be great together! Lets be happy :) 

The want to change

I always wanted to improve myself, be better in what i do, be rich and all those good things. Who doesn’t? I used to think that maybe this is where I should be (It’s nice here its comfortable. y’know). All those articles in the internet about from rags to riches stories, pursuing their passion and coming out of it better. It keeps bugging me , as who doesn’t want to be successful in life. So just one day i got tired of all my excuses about being busy and just started to read a book. Honestly there was no goal I just want to do something. And as the quote goes “Finishing last will always be better than not finishing which is way better than not starting at all”.  

The Pitches are back

So I finally got to watch Pitch Perfect 2 after a week of listening to the soundtrack! All I can say is I absolutely love it :) I got captured by the camping scenes and the Bella’s performance for the world championship. It’s those moments of the heart that gets to me. Those little conversation with the people close to you comes back. For the longest time that I can remember I have been searching for “that” something to happen. Being so busy with looking that I did not know that it already found me.

Songs in the soundtrack I love: (Just a note I love all the music in the soundtrack, but these few are my favorites)

1. Kennedy Center Performance (we got the world)
2. Back to Basics
3. Cups
4. Flashlight

I love the songs ‘coz it hits something inside me.

For #1, we are all freaks when we are having fun, especially when your accompanied by your ‘crazy’ friend :) (you know those moments)The moments that you don’t care about whats going on but that moment shared with the person beside you.

For #2 I got to say this, I’m getting old, but I love songs that reminds me of my past. It brings those precious memories back to life, and you just can’t help but smile.

For #3 Hey, I loved this in Pitch Perfect when Becca used this for her audition, how can I not loved this in Pitch Perfect 2! especially when they use it when they’re about to leave Barden. It just comes into full circle for me.

For #4 Now this song, I did not expect to like. But the lyrics felt very powerful for me. I just realize ‘the you’ in the song in my life. With all the stuffs going on in our lives, we forget that if we stop and look, the people who we’re looking for are already there in our lives. And every time I hear this song , I just have had the urge to tell all those people how much they mean to me and I appreciate them for being there. you won’t believe it but when I told them they just stare back at me and say ‘are you okay?’ hahaha I’m the cheezy one and I know I mean a lot to them too :) Love you guys, you know who you are.

So this here ends my article, thank you for taking your time to read. This is me saying ‘tin out’. 

A Walk to the Office

I like walking. Walking for me meditates my mind. I have these little talks with myself. Recently I have been going through with my emotions. And I realize that instead of dwelling on things that hurts, lets focus on things that makes us happy. Easy to say but hard to do. I know “Life ain’t easy”, if it was, there won’t be meaning in it right?

I do believe we are all a work in progress. My favorite book (and I would recommend it for a read)UnLearn 101 by Humble, says “Everything is temporary, there’s really no need to hold on”. What hits home is that our lives also are temporary so what’s the use of spending most of our time to things that already happen (my brain says ‘stop holding on’, my heart says the opposite) or worry about things where we don’t have control.

I’m in this situation that is not productive for my growth. I’m trying to learn to let go for me. There are things that’s just wasn’t mean to be. With that walk, I decided then to be happy (before its too late) and realize there are things or people in your life that you just need to let go. I’m sad since I usually hold on to the end, but I am very much thankful that it happened and would treasure those moments always. As my favorite poets would have said it in When Loves Arrives “Thank you for stopping by”.

Summer Getaway!

We were supposed to go to another island, but sadly all resort in Camotes was fully booked. A lesson: should booked earlier around a month would be good. Honestly I just wanted a break from the hurly-burly day at the office, but was surprised that I had a lot of fun than was expected. 

So our itinerary was: 

Day 1: Arrive at resort 

Day 2: Kawasan 

Day 3: Go Home

The resort at Badian : Terra Manna, was amazing. Although the beach was not all that (a bit disappointed because I was excited to swim),but we get to kayak (banca cruise) all we want. I’d bet its a great place for snorkeling and diving as there are a lot of corals and sea urchins underwater (haven’t tried though). For me , I’m good with kayaking :)

During day 1, tried the beach but it was not as fun as on day 3 coz we went a lot farther with the kayak and arrive at Lambug beach resort, Badian’s public beach. They have the perfect beach over there, white sands and beautiful skies. It did not matter if I get sunburns, still have them now, but swimming there was worth the rowing of the kayak and the heat of the sun. It was one of the highlights of the weekend aside from the falls.

 The kawasan was another story, my first time to swim in a waterfall. It was sooo cold, and I usually get cramps with that kind of temperature. But as the word goes YOLO. You only live once so I endured the cold till it got comfortable and once you get to swimming around the falls you forget the cold. It was a wonderful experience , we went behind the waterfall which was so splashy (if there’s such a word) and the water gets in our eyes. All worth it! :) Some people jump at the top of the falls and swing in the trees to dive in the water. Didn’t try that , it’s easy to jump but the climb is harder maybe when I get to slim down. ;)