Another year passed and here I am, officially turned 26 this day. As I look back to all of the things that happened, I can help but to feel emotional from all of the unforgettable memories that I’d experienced. I met a lot of people who went in their own way, I made a lot of mistakes and failures that I thought will be the end of everything, I met new people that I didn’t expect that will be on my side. There’s a lot of things happened and I’m very grateful for all of it. I was thinking that I won’t be able to experience all of this without taking big risk. Those tough decision that I chose in my life greatly help me up until this day. It wasn’t also a perfect journey, there were a lot of challenges that tested my faith and push me in that point where I badly want to give up. Thankfully, the people around me gave me undying support in those tough times, and here I am, unleashing more of my potentials to more years that will come.

“Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like it’s heaven on earth.” – (Attributed to various sources)

As I welcome another year of my life, I am now ready to discover more of my potentials and conquer all the fears that I have. My ultimate goal now is to be happy and find peace in my everyday life. Even if it will not be always perfect, I will continue to look for things that will help to develop myself. I will let go all the negativity that surrounds me, and choose to be positive in every way that I can. THIS TIME, IT WILL ALL ABOUT ME. Those times that I’d spent wallowing on the things I can’t control will now be a learning lesson for me to see things that matters. My main focus and priority now is my own self-growth.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

With the 26 years of existence, I came to realize a lot of things that sculpted my whole being. Those realizations became my guide in every decision I make and up until this day, I am continuously discovering more of it. Through experience, I was able to acquire all of these that I also wanted to share to the rest. These may help them in dealing with challenges in their lives, like how it greatly helped me.

It will be a long journey for every one of us. Another year may pass again, but let’s all make sure that we’ll end it with memories and realizations that can inspire us more.

Let’s all help each other to win over our own fears.

Let’s be a blessing to other by sharing our experiences to them.

Let’s all make it happen!

HAPPY 26^TH BIRTHAY TO ME!

1. Though your plans will serve as your guide, you still need to trust His plans for you. Life will never be fair.

There’s nothing wrong in planning your own life, in fact, it’s one of the best ways for you to keep yourself on track of your goals. Doing this, you just need to consider situations that may affect it. Some of your plans may not work like what you’re expecting to happen and that’s ok. Just because it didn’t turn it on your way, it doesn’t mean that you already failed. It just means that there’s a better plan coming for you and you need to put your trust on it.

2. You need to accept those differences and used it as your motivation.

One of the biggest mistakes that I made upon starting my journey, is when I resist on something that is bound to happen. I keep insisting that life should be fair enough, but little did I know, it will never be like that. I learned that I’m not in control of those things and I will just suffer in the process if I keep resisting on it. So rather than focusing on things that I can’t control, I just need to refocus on things that are more productive for myself. It’s a waste of time to keep resisting on things that you know you can’t do anything about it.

3. The only one that will be forever there for you, is you.

Every one of us will eventually pursue our chosen path in life. Some of our friends before will not be there for us for a long time, same goes for our family who will settle down in their own lives. With this, we need to have that sense of completeness that wherever we are, despite of being alone, we are still happy and contented. We need to continuously invest to ourselves especially on the things that will greatly help us. Let’s not rely on someone and choose to be independent. The more we equipped ourselves with skills, experiences and knowledge, the more we are fine all alone.

4. Love is a choice.

Love can change but what forever stays is your commitment to your decision. You cannot always love the people around you. There’s a time that you hate them and there’s a time that you wanted to give up on them. It will not be always perfect. Even a fairytale is consisted of challenging times, and so in reality. Now your choice will determine your faith. Will you choose to stay or will you choose to let that person go? Upon facing in this situation, all of us should consider all the things we’d been through. We should not let the challenges questioned our decisions in life thus, we should win over it. There are things that are worth to fight for, and that choice is for you to do.

5. Self-confidence is a power.

Who would choose to believe you if in the first place you don’t trust your capabilities?

Who would think that you’re pretty if you don’t think that you’re pretty?

Who will help you if you don’t help yourself first?

NO ONE.

Everything starts with you. You need to believe, trust and help yourself because in the end of the day, you will only be left with your own self. Rather than seeking validation to others, why don’t you spend it by nurturing yourself? There’s a lot of ways to bring up your confidence and that will only start if you change your negative perception to yourself. You are unique just the way you are. Never let your negative emotions control your life.

6. We all have a lot of chance to do something that we love.

As long as we live, there’s a lot of chance for us to do something that we love. There will always be hope and only us can make it happen. Its NOW OR NEVER. Never let your current situation restrict you on something that you really wanted to do. Chances and opportunities are always there, it’s a matter of taking the initiative to step forward and grab it. It will not come to you not unless you are open for it. Widen your understanding, let go of what stops you and BE FEARLESS.  

7. Never fear on taking a risk.

Big risk requires big sacrifices. Due to this, a lot of us doesn’t want to take it because of the uncertainty. We rarely choose decision that we feel like uncomfortable because we used to settle on environment where there is comfort. There’s no wrong on choosing comfort over uncertainty but only at some point. If you keep choosing the easy path, you won’t be able to discover your inner potentials. In the end, the worst thing that may happen is to regret things that you didn’t try. Sometimes you need to let go of your limitations and excuses. Once you learned to let it all go, the fear inside you will

8. Trust His timing.

The best things in life are those that is built from time, sacrifices, prayers, failures and faith. If you ever think that there’s nothing going on according to what you’d plan and your goals feels like unattainable, rest assured that He’s working something big for you. Some of your colleagues and friends may start to reach their goals while you’re still on the same page, IT’S OK. Their story is different from yours. Continue what you had started, be consistent and eventually all of it will matter in its perfect time.

9. You’re never alone, He’s with you.

Just because you feel lonely and somehow thinks that everything you do is not worth it, it doesn’t mean that He’s neglecting you. You need to trust his plans and learn not to resist on things that are meant to happen. Things happen for a reason and you need to accept that not all of your plans will happen just the way it is. Rather than thinking negatively in those situations, just think that there’s a better thing that will come on its perfect time. Trust Him and your life will be very easy. Don’t resist and stay calm because He’s always with you. What is bound to happen will happen no matter how long it will take and how many challenges it will face.

10. Whatever life throws at you, welcome it with a positive approach.

To stay positive is very hard to do at first. Especially if we face with challenges in our life, we find it very hard to overcome those negative emotions. What makes it not ok, is if we choose to linger in those negative emotions. If we let it stays in our life, it will consume as gradually and we’ll find it hard to overcome it. It’s ok to have those feelings because that what makes us human, but we need to strongly surpass that stage so we can stumble up again. One strategy that I’d been practicing for so long is to treat challenges as an opportunity to grow. I don’t have any fear of failing because I see it as a way for me to learn more things. If we can approach things that way, we can develop resiliency in every challenge that we’ll face in our life.

11. The earlier you invest to yourself and your future, the more you’ll reap the results of it.

I’d been a fan of planning since I started my college years. Due to the things that I was deprived of before, I became motivated to achieve it as soon as I start working. I set my priorities right away and make it sure that I can achieve all of my goals within the period that I set. I learned that most of successful people invest in their own selves as early as they can. With this, they can easily achieve their long-term goals as soon as they start their career and work on consistently to their other goals. Even though long-term investment won’t give me fast results, I have this sense of security that my future will be safe since I already work on the things that will support me on that period.

12. There’s no certain age requirement in achieving something.

I’d been hearing a lot of negative things in attaining their goal. I understand their current situation but what makes me questioned it, is that they still haven’t tried but they already labeled their own selves as losers. I believe that without trying, no one can have their answer in their question “Can I really do it?”. Here, I realized that most people who have a lot of regrets in their life are those who have fear on trying. Now, as I apply it in my life, I learned to challenge myself more and conquer my fears. Rather than to live with regrets, I will make most of my day to gain memorable experiences that I can always remember for the rest of my life.

13. It’s not about how big your salary is, it is all about your savings capacity.

Throughout my journey, I met a lot of people whose salary are more than enough to provide for two to three families. Despite of that, they claim that they still run out of funds and end up asking from someone they know. It was a big question for me because there are cases wherein their children already finished their studies and their current expenses are only the usual one like House, Utilities, Groceries and Food. Upon assessing their situation, I found out that the fault is within them. They invest more on things that they want rather than they need. Since it became a habit, it is now hard for them to make a change thus despite of having a lot of means, it is not enough for them. I realized that this situation is very common to everyone so it just concludes that having a big salary is nothing if you can’t use it wisely.

14. Your lifestyle will have big impact on your future.

One thing that stays with me is how my lifestyle didn’t change despite of gaining something in my life. I learned that one’s lifestyle plays a big role to his/her current and future life. As early as possible, we should choose the kind of lifestyle that we can only afford. Most importantly, not because we have the means, we can simply change it based on that. The thing that we need to consider is how we can able to sustain that kind of lifestyle for so long. We should not be overwhelm on the things that we have but consider what’s ideal for us by assessing our goals, responsibilities and capabilities.

15. Choose your friends wisely.

I became an introvert person as I grow up. I enjoy my alone time since I spend most of it in nurturing myself. Actually, I don’t have a lot of friends since I started to set my priorities. I became more mature in dealing with my personal life and having companionship is not necessarily for me to continue my life. For me, few real friends are more than enough. I learned not to tolerate toxicity because it will only make me suffer in the end. Not all will be happy for someone’s decision in life, and I don’t want to please anyone just to be accepted. If they will choose to stay, then they can stay. If they will leave, then I will let them leave.

16. Priorities over wants.

It’s ok to somehow invest on your wants not unless you already secured your needs. You can’t simply compromise it just for the sake of choosing things that you wanted. Especially when we all grow up, responsibilities will soon pile up in front of us. I know that in our life there will be a period when we usually don’t realize yet the importance of securing ourselves, because of that, some of us experienced lack of time to be prepared in their adulthood. As I’d seen people around of me suffer as soon as they have responsibilities, I learned to apply it in my life and come up with things that will prevent me to be in that same situation. I started to identify things that I can do today so as early as possible I can ready myself in that situation.

17. Getting rid of your bad habits is the first step in changing your life.

We all have bad habits that we are not really proud of. The irony is that we still keep doing it despite knowing how it negatively impact us. Everybody experienced the same because like what I stated, all of us have flaws. It took me time to acknowledge all of my bad habits and work on it. It was a long process of consistent planning and practice before I surpass it. Up until this day, I’m still working on how to get rid of my bad habits. I believe that the more you acknowledge things that needs to be corrected, the more you can easily work on how to get rid of it. Even if it will take a long process, it will all be worth it since it will help you to achieve your goals easily.

18. Give a right time for yourself to heal, to relax and be at peace.

I often neglect myself thinking that there will be next time for it. In the course of doing that for so long, my self-confidence weakens and my anxiety grows. That time, I hated myself for thinking that I haven’t done enough. When I lost my job due to the pandemic, I repeatedly blame myself for not being good enough to be kept. Until one day, I realized that it wasn’t really my fault. It was no one’s fault to be exact. Rather than wasting my time to blame myself, I decided to close that chapter of my life and restart again. This time, I put myself as the top priority. Without trusting myself, I won’t be able to go on with any challenges that life will throw at me. That was the beginning of my selflove journey.

19. Mistakes and failures helped you to become the person you are today.

Life will never be perfect because challenges will always be present. The ups and downs are the two things that will help you to develop yourselves. Fear of failing will only be ok if it won’t restrict you to try new things. As I grow up, those challenging experiences help me to learn a lot of things. It became an opportunity for me to grow and surpass my limitations. With that, I realized that I should not fear mistakes and failures but look at it in a positive way. Like what others say, the sweetest victory is those that requires hard work and sacrifices. Keep trying, you’ll soon get there.

20. There’s only two reason that one can remember you, it’s either you do bad or good to them.

In our daily life, it is very important that we choose to do good to others but not to the point that we’ll be abused. We need to know the limitations of giving help to someone so that we can make sure that it won’t pressure us. It should come from our genuine heart to help without expecting anything in return from them. Simple act of kindness can mean so much for someone already. Most of the time, simple words of encouragement are more than enough to uplift one’s mood. There will be a lot of things that will be forgotten, but one genuine kindness can live in their memories forever.

21. No matter how far you’ll go, there will always no place like home without your family.

As we all get older, our parents and our relatives aged at the same time. With this thought in our mind, it is very important to give time for them despite our busy schedule. A simple message of love and thanks will mean so much for them already and it won’t take much effort to do that. The time you lost not being with them can never be regain again so we need to make use of the chances that we have right now. Have a well balance life by giving some of your time to the people you love. 

22. Do something in your future, but don’t forget to live your life in the present.

“Don’t just live but exist.” they said. Even though it is important to plan your future well and do something that you can do for it today, it is very important that we still have time to enjoy our present life. Don’t be that much pressured to fix something that still don’t happen, just take it slowly and make time to enjoy yourself in the moment. Manage your days, and at least give time to relax and make memorable memories.

23. Never talk back, let your success be your response.

No matter how people will mock you. No matter if no one believes you. Never seek validation to those same people. Absorb everything they said and use it as an inspiration to double your efforts in achieving your goals. The perfect in this situation is not responding at all. Be patient because time will determine the right response for them. The more you work on yourself quietly, the more people around you will start to question you. Some will be inspired but not all will be happy for you. Learn to be professional in dealing with those people. Never step down to their level and you don’t need to prove yourself to them. Time will come and let them find your answers by their own.

24. No matter how hard life is, always thank Him.

We often complain simple things in our life. Whether it’s a simple change of weather, a negative post/news you read, seeing a person you hate and many more other things that we simply made it big deal. Here, I learned to see the bigger picture of everything. Those simple complains in our life is not comparable to those people who really suffer in their everyday life. That a day for them is considered a big miracle already, and to live even without any single penny still makes them feel bless. I realized that it is very important that whatever position we are currently in, we always need to be thankful to Him. As long as we live, we can count it as a rare chance for us to be good. So rather than wasting our time with simple complaints in our life, let’s just all focus in something productive to make most out of this rare chance.

25. Achieve your goals while inspiring the rest.

I’d been a very insecure child before. Despite of achieving the different milestones in my life, I felt like it’s not enough if you’ll compare it to someone else. I failed so many times to change that behavior until I realized that life is not a competition. I assured myself that no matter where I am right now, I am doing well. I learned to appreciate myself and be grateful for all the things that I have. During that period, I realized something that gives me unconditional happiness. This is when I inspire others in their dreams and see how they become successful. I learned to lift and cheer up others because I know how a simple word can impact one’s life. That was the thing that I lack before which results to my inferiority complex. Now, for others not to feel it, I wanted to serve as help by giving hope to the rest.

26. It’s a beautiful world to live with, always choose to be happy.

Finding happiness doesn’t require big sacrifices. In most of our days, we find it hard to achieve it especially if we keep doing the same thing. All of us eventually get tired in the same routine and that became a big factor on how we define our days. I’d been in that situation for so long. The fire within me slowly died down and I was left with worst approach every single day. I find it hard to woke up early and be delighted to go to work. The only thing I have in my mind that time was to go home and just be on my bed. It took me time and effort to eventually change that habit. As I took the initiative to assess myself, I found out the time I wasted. That time became the initial point for me to change my mindset. I started to make a daily task that I need to achieve and see the day as an opportunity for me to be a better version of myself.

As of now, I found different ways for me to look forward in every day that will come. I make it sure that I keep the fire burning within me, and not waste the days without learning something out of it.

---

---