High Speed

Do you sometimes feel that life and years pass by so fast?
I recently looked at my facebook photos and felt that events that happened 5 years ago seemed not so far away. 5 years flew by so quickly yet I was made to think what really happened or what I did with that time.

Anyway, the past is a past for a reason but the future hold beautiful promises. I thank God for all the things that are happening in my life and for being with me all the time. I am looking forward to tomorrow, knowing that He is with me and He wishes me well, and that He is guiding me to use His blessings and gifts for my good and the good the world.

Hobbies

Do you ever have a hard time talking about something during drinking parties? I sometimes feel this way. I think the main reason is that I don’t really have some hobbies that I feel strongly or passionate about. Must re-think about this.

I will try to involve myself with more stuff for recreation.
Some ideas for new hobbies:

Baking
Blogging
Watching Documentaries in Netflix
Learning technical of photography
Learning finance and actually trying it out
Learn Chinese again and watch more Chinese Dramas
Read more book (I am putting a 15-book target for myself)
Run again and do yoga again (maybe I will not try Swimming again this year)
Travel again


Okay, maybe I will stop here and give you a feedback at the end of the year on what happened about these hobbies that I posted here.

Hello There 2018

It has been ages since I last blogged. I feel that whatever writing skills I had have been going down the drain for the last few years, and before I totally lose it, I want to restart again.

Sometimes, I don’t feel like blogging because I just don’t want to put all my thoughts out there and get judged for them. But I guess, I should get past that stage and just go back to my honest self who has always found relief in writing. 

Let me start tonight by putting here, with the world to see, some thoughts that I have at this very moment:

• When will I feel home? Do you ever feel this in your career? Like you are in a transition stage or period? That you are not yet doing what you are meant to be doing? You’re staying for a reason and thinking that after that reason, you can finally move forward. But what happens between now and then?

• I overuse social media. I waste a lot of time doing nothing on the internet. Sometimes I think that I should just make a living out of it. But then again, I waste so much time that I don’t have enough time to do the productive stuff.

• Autopilot mode of living. I got used to my current environment that I usually leave and go home on autopilot. Maybe the fact that Japan is more or less a safe country in terms of pickpockets make it easier to be on autopilot mode.

• I want to do better because I deserve better. I have within me the momentum and the energy to do what I need to do and I just need to move and get into action.

Hope that I can write something to be proud of in the next days or months to come. Ciao!

Hello 2017!

Tenth year of my blog this year.
Just dropping by to tell you that I will be trying to post more often, and this time it is for real.

I am working towards some positive changes in my life and with God with me every step of the way, I hope things turn out to be for the best.

I missed writing and I missed blogging.

Thank you blogger for being with me all these years! <3 p="">

Just Do It

I am not sure if I have already previously written a blogpost with the similar title.
And this statement proves some things.

First, is that my memory is failing me at this moment.
Second, is that I have been feeling a recurring sentiment for some time now...
And third, is that I haven't managed to solve or to improve the current situation.

Battling with yourself is never easy, especially when you know what you want to do yet you can't seem to do it. The reasons? All the alibis you can imagine.

I have always been telling myself to push myself to the limits, achieve whatever I can while I haven't reached my 30s yet and experience greater things that are outside of my comfort zone. Yet, then and again, I find myself typing this blog post, "complaining" on how my battle with myself seems to not go anywhere.

It is a battle of productivity... of achieving your dreams and goals... of making it bigger.
Ooops.... Now, let me stop this train of thought for a while and write something about a particular moment when I wrote the text above.

"achieving your dreams and goals..." "making it bigger"
I cringed. What do these words mean? What do I want to do? What are my dreams and goals?? Where do I want to make it big????

They say that writing your thoughts can help you think more clearly and at this moment, I just hit on a realization that my dreams and goals are not really clear to me... and maybe that is the main reason why my battle with productivity is not moving forward. I don't see an end goal.

I know I want to have my own lovely family, have kids and have a comfortable life.
Career wise? I can see myself working for something with value and impact. Maybe being a boss for a well known company or maybe even working for the government. I have some other ideas which I choose not to share here, but other than that, I have no clear picture.

What do I want in life?
I guess I need to ask this to myself again and now, do better in finding answers.

I have been stuck here in this country for almost 5 years now, and it is slowly turning into my comfort zone. I am not sure if I am really making the most out of my 20s by being here and just working. I know I can do better and do better if only I start moving.

All this time, what I was thinking is that I lack self discipline that's why I can't seem to be productive. No. What I lack is a clearer vision of what I want to do with my life and what I want to achieve... that's why I can't seem to push myself harder and give myself enough motivation to be more productive.

...And I only realized that while writing this blog post. Cringed again.

I have set some previous goals before but it seems that they were all written in water, with no concrete timeline, plans and specifics.

I guess I have to re-evaluate my dreams and goals and then just do it. Time is ticking but I can't really say that I have wasted 5 years of my life here, because with it also come some achievements and good experiences... It is time to move forward.

The past is called past for a reason, and the future brings promises with it. And first, I have to know, I have to clearly picture... What do I want for myself after all of these? What future promise do I want to claim for myself? What are my dreams? What is my ultimate goal????

Just do it does not make sense without a purpose.

I have to search mine and  picture it clearly in my head.
I have to have an idea on what can wake me up in the morning, driven with passion and enthusiasm.
I have to know where I want to go.

And maybe, just maybe, if I can do these things,
I can naturally gravitate towards the realization of my dreams.

Go get it.

If life does not give it to you, go get it for yourself and make it happen. Disappointments come and go but what will forever remain is your own will to make things better and achieve your dreams. It might be difficult. You might get impatient. But never ever lose sight of what you know you were meant to be.

Why 26 feels so different from 25

I just turned 26 around 16 minutes ago. And it feels so different from last year.

I am not sure why but I am somehow feeling the pressure. I only have 4 years before being 30 and it somehow makes me think if I am already doing concrete steps for me to achieve the things I want for myself.

10 years ago, around this time, I think I just received the news that I passed the entrance exam for the premiere state university in my country. I was overjoyed, thankful, blessed. There were so many possibilities and things to look forward to.

Fast forward to today, I am still thankful and blessed. Joyful, I guess so!
I can say that I am proud of what I have become in the past 10 years-of the things I have achieved, places I have been too, people I have met, things I have tried and accomplished. Who would have thought that I will brave a land where English is not really used in everyday life, and learn a completely new way of expressing myself. Who would have thought that I will be as independent as I am now when my mother used to do almost everything for me back when I was home.

Above all, I am proud of the fact that I have stayed real and true to my relationship with God, who is the Center and Source of everything. Congrats and Job well done, Lence. Thank You Lord!

I don't really feel that I changed a lot but I know I made changes for the better.
The challenge now is how will I be able to use these 4 years to achieve the remaining dreams I have.

//I want to blog more but I know I want to sleep for tomorrow.

Am I happy? Yes. and I could be happier if I start looking at the bright side of things more.
Am I satisfied? I want to do more. And I know I can do that with God's will, if I only start moving.

Time to move. Time to act. It's time to make things happen for me.

Twitter Blog

Nobody is perfect and you have to live with your own imperfections to create your own perfect life. Stop worrying on what's uncontrollable. Focus on the good and the happy. Trust that things will get better from here on. Erase your negative thoughts and believe that even with your imperfections, you're still perfect for the people who really care for and love you. Some things are inevitable but you can always choose to stay on the bright side of life. Lead a life that will make you see past the imperfection because after all, it's your life and you only get one chance to live. So stop the drama and the frustrations. Do what you can to make your life perfect for you.

Short essays for someone's homework

Wrote this for something...  Almost deleted it but imma post it here. :D

Speech Competence

Being able to talk is one of the most basic things that any functional human being can do, but being able to speak effectively is a completely different story. For me, there are 3 essential points that a person must have in order to speak effectively.

First is the ability to listen. A speaker must be able to know the current situation and understand what needs to be said. Also, he or she must know how to respect other people’s opinions. Listening is a very important skill not only for a speaker but for a communicator in general.

Second is the ability to organize your thoughts. This is very important so you can convey your message clearly in a way that listeners would understand. It would help if you can use the appropriate words needed to add more impact to your message and move your audience. The order of the content that you will share to the audience also plays a big role.

Lastly is confidence in delivery. To gain listeners, you must be able to have command on stage. Your voice must be audible and your body language must be consistent with your message. This will also help the audience to relate more with what you are saying. A good content will only be wasted with poor delivery. This is the finishing touch and it should be given with full effort.

Effective speaking is a very important skill nowadays. I know that it is not easy to always be an effective speaker, but with these 3 small steps in mind, I hope I can manage to not just talk, but speak more effectively all the time.

Living Life to the Fullest

#YOLO.

I am sure that most of us have already seen this hashtag being used in social media or being used by one of our friends. As we all know it means, “You only live once”.

This word was popularized in a 2011 song and since then was used by people to indicate moments wherein they try to seize the moment and do something bold or extra-ordinary. Have you ever tried using this word?

For me, I like this hashtag because I think that it makes people realize that yes, we just live once, and thus we must not take life for granted. Sometimes, I guess, people have the tendency to just go with the flow, and go through life like it is one big routine. This hashtag reminds me that every second of my life is precious and that I must live in the moment.

How often do we do things absent-mindedly? How often do we use our phones instead of talking to our loved ones? How often do we choose not to say or do the things we want to say because we’re shy or we think there’s always another chance?

We only live once. And we may never pass the same way twice.

I think #YOLO is not just for brave and bold acts. It should be an everyday reminder that each second of our precious life is a gift and we should use it for something meaningful and something we can be proud of.

You only live once. Live it the best way you can!

Make your day count

In an age wherein everything is within a touch of a finger, being able to focus poses a challenge mostly for everyone. And this is so true for me.

For months (years) now, I have been dealing with some discipline issues with regards to using my smartphone. And while the smartphone has been one of the most effective inventions of the century, it is also as I might say, one of the most affecting. I guess anyone can relate.

For starters, as much as I wanted to focus on the things I want to do, I have to admit that for most instances, once I touch my smartphone, I end up wasting at least 10 minutes on social media. Of course, I know that it is completely my fault, and that there's no one else to blame. The smartphone wouldn't work without me. And so again, I am writing this post to challenge myself to decrease my smartphone usage and to try my best to make my day count. 

Message to self: Do things which will upgrade you. Limit the time you waste. I know, I am not totally against using social media but everything should be in moderation. Be proud of your everyday. Be happy everyday. Accomplish everyday. 

Now, I am challenging myself to make my day count everyday. And I really hope I can do it. Amen!

Opinions

I am not opinionated. That's what I think. I am not sure if it is a consequence of my being indecisive or if I just don't really have strong opinions as part of my unrelenting inclination to avoid conflict with others.

Well, while I am not sure if being opinionated is a good trait or not, I find myself asking why I am usually being passive about things that are happening when some people are outright involved and invested. Is it because of lack of information? Apathy? Laziness? Point is I feel I'm missing something from being overly passive and that there's more to life than just knowing the facts. Sometimes, you have to choose sides because choosing sides or choosing not to choose any, entails understanding things more deeply and thinking more critically.

I can't really clearly remember if I have always been this way. It's just that recently, I am starting to feel that I need to know more about 'the more important things'. 

When I was still in school, all I had to do was to remember the things written in textbooks or lectures given by my professors, and answer exams based on my understanding of the coverage of the lessons. Range of the topics was way limited and it was easy to focus. Now, that I am already living my life freely, away from class curriculums, I find myself overusing to the point of abusing, the freedom that I have on how to spend my time. To cut it shortly, recently, I am guilty of wandering around aimlessly, especially when it comes to current events.

I read the news. Nod once or twice. And then move on. I don't really form strong opinions or research more about the matter.

Learning entails thinking. Reading something but not thinking about it will not make it stick to your mind. Being able to form intelligent opinions is a way of improving your way of thinking. (Not to mention, it adds to your possible list of small talk topics which come in handy when talking with people you don't ever expect of talking to.)

Knowing things is superficial. Being well-informed is the one that counts.

Now, as to one of the things that I will promise myself yet again, I will try to be more involved and more well informed about the things that are happening in my surroundings. I will try my best to know the facts and the figures and decide for myself which side should I choose or if I should not choose a side at all.

Plus, I need to improve my writing skills since I truly feel that I need practice.

Thank you Blogger for giving me this chance to write my thoughts. Let's meet more often.

Now, I need to sleep and prepare for workday tomorrow.

Will try to update you about my life in the next opportunity  I get.

Quarterlife

I turned 25 last Monday. Most people consider 25 years a milestone, a place where you can celebrate for the journey you had and for being able to reach this far. 

For me, I thank God for the wonderful life He is giving me.

And of course, my family, for their unending love that nourishes me.

I originally wanted to write a well-thought-out blog about turning 25 but my delaying tendencies left me typing this at 12:19 AM. And while I promise to myself everyday that I will be sleeping earlier, I am still obviously failing. But not about blogging this time.

Maaah, so here it is. I just thought that I need to organize my thoughts and preserve my state of mind-my realizations about being 25.

Always always be grateful. Appreciate life and everything that you have. Be thankful and appreciative.

Always value the people who value you. Accept the fact that not everyone will like you... but family, friends and loved ones will be there for you. Value the people who care and don't be affected so much by people who don't. A few good friends will always be better than a lot of friends with no one who really and truly cares. Evaluate the negative comments but don't criticize yourself for being you.

Love yourself. Take care of your health. Safety first! Be health conscious. 

Always be kind no matter what. Always smile and be positive. When you can't help but be sad, admit  your emotions and then get over it.

Always set goals for yourself. And work hard to achieve those goals.

Know your self worth.

Don't bring yourself down. Practice true humility. There is nothing wrong in shining and excelling. Always do your best! Your underperformance will haunt you. Don't be shy to give your best every time.

Don't buy cheap stuff. Know how to value and spend money the right way.

Style is a must. Carry yourself well. Confidence is key!

Always talk to God.

Invest in yourself. There is nothing wrong in spending for yourself especially if it will make you happy or better. But of course, know your limits.

Always learn something new!

Voice out your opinions. Never settle for something just because you're afraid to speak out.

Whenever you feel like doing something, as long as it is not a mortal sin, do it... or the moment passes you by. But of course, practice caution!

Don't gossip. Don't judge. Always see the good in people. Remember, you don't exactly know what others are going through.

Be patient. But learn how to speak out.

Do things well.

Always reflect.

Always strive to be better!

Be beautiful inside and out!

And the list goes on and on................

I should really blog more often!

I really need to organize my thoughts and practice my writing skills.

Who knows, I might be needing it in the near future!

Wish me luck!

Love you 2015!!! :D

Hello 2015!! :)

A new year has come and I would like to start this with a new entry in my blog, and with the promise that I will try to update this more often. 

I have lots of things to be thankful for the year 2014. Basically, it was a year filled with learning and self improvement. I enrolled in Piano, Cooking, Yoga and Driving classes. But of course, my goal to always improve myself does not stop there. 

This year, I'd like to set other goals which are more specific and which can help me prepare for the years to come. I will be turning 25 this year and I know that bigger things are yet to come! 

I am just so thankful with the guidance and love from God and my loved ones. I hope that this year, I would be able to have a bigger heart and be able to give more of what I have.

To the best year ever! To an even more improved version of myself! To the fulfillment of my own and my loved ones' dreams! To a God-centered life! 

Let's do this! :) Let's be inspired! :)

Thoughts

Some random thoughts popped into my mind and I just wanna preserve them here before they go into oblivion.

You owe it to yourself to learn something new everyday. You should not rely on other people, or most especially your company or your work.. A kind of work that lets you learn is good but you should not hold it against the company if you're not satisfied with what you're doing. That's why it is called "work" afterall..

Principled.

Never ever compromise your principles for the spur of the moment emotions that you have. Years from now, chances are your emotions aren't the same anymore, but a right thing will always remain right.

THOUGHTS

Today, I felt really really sad. I made a mistake and the effect was somehow big and affected a lot of people. I keep going back to the day that incident happened. I keep repeating the order of events that led to that mistake. But  I just can't remember the details.

Well, truth be told, it was not my sole mistake. But I believe that being the coordinator and in-charge for that particular task, it was my responsibility to ensure that everything was ok. It's just that my memory failed me. I am not sure.

LESSONS LEARNED:

Always list the important things.

Take care of your health and sleep well. It helps build memories.

Accept your mistakes. Apologize. Do your best the next time.

ALWAYS ALWAYS mind whatever you're doing.

FOCUS. and DO NOT BE RATTLED.

Lastly, just to share with you what happened to my day....

I need to be active with public speaking again. I need more confidence in speaking in public especially in Japanese!!!!!!!!!!

I need to improve myself.

No time to waste.

Mistakes

Sometimes mistakes are inevitable but you have to remember that what's important is what tou do after.

Reflect on why you committed the mistake. Know the root causes and solve the issues behind. Try to be better and improve on your shortcomings. Be aware of the situation but don't let the previous mistake affect future dealings.

Lastly, don't be shy to shine as you are. It is okay to be great and to teach other people. Believe in yourself and know your worth. Know that you're good and you're talented and live up to your ideals.

Unproductive

For this past year I have been feeling that I'm being unproductive in achieving my goals, or even at setting goals that is.

I encounter a lot of issues with myself, from being able to write a grammatically perfect english or japanese sentence, to avoiding the urge to use social networking sites. 

What happened to me? 

Work happened.

And though I know that work should not really be an excuse in learning outside the halls of your office, somehow I feel that it has impeded my growth in other aspects of my life.

Why? Because it is tiring to work.

It drains my energy. It makes me feel exhausted. It takes majority of my time during weekdays.

And while I have the urge to do some great things outside work, my weak self succumbs to every opportunity to just relax, do nothing, think nothing and be nothing, every waking moment that I don't spend inside the office.

This is sooo bad. And though I am trying to stop it, it keeps getting worse...

In my mind, I know what I want to do and what I should do. But my degraded discipline level can't keep up with the demands I have for myself.

I know I have to stop wasting time. I have to start growing again. I need to realize the value of time that I have. I must stop reminsicing the glorious past when I was Ms. Full of Discipline and instead focus on how I can be Ms. Smart again.

I need to forget the greatness of yesterday and instead focus on how I can make my future great. 

From now on.

From now on, I will organize my thoughts more. I will always set goals for the day and fulfill the goals that I have set. I will be a better person.

I will not waste time anymore and use every waking moment for productivity and for the greater glory of God.

Everyday is different but with God, everyday can be great.

3 words. 3 themes that will make me achieve more, from hereonwards. 

Health. Knowledge. Kindness.

3 themes thag I should pursue. 

3 themes that I am gonna aim for.

There's no going back. There's only moving forward. I can not be trapped in the past. I need to regain the glorious days when I can will myself to do anything that I must do. 

Grace comes from God.

But essentially, Life is what I make from what God provides. i am gonna make it great. I am gonna use my resources wisely. I am gonna take care of these blessings. 

This might be a struggle as of the present. But baby steps are better than nothing. 

Build a good foundation for success.

Trust God and offer Him everything.

New Perspective

...Today was a very enlightening day that I decided to blog just to preserve my thoughts so I can re-read them again in the future. 

I talked with our training facilitator and he gave me a lot of advice that made me think things differently.

First, be patient. Don't let your passion destroy you. Consider this moment as what's really meant to happen. Learn everything you can and treat it as preparation for the future. Don't haste because there's enough time for you to do everything. When the time comes that opportunity presents itself, you'll feel it and you'll be prepared. God will provide in His own time. Ask God what is His will and be calm and content to follow. Keep your dreams but don't let them be the driving force of your life. Don't destroy the natural flow of things. Let it be and trust that God will provide in the end.

Tomorrow is a start of a brand new day!

Just wanted to blog this line as a proof of my commitment to start anew the road to productivity and learning!

Let my battle with dicsipline begin!