Back to Blogging: New Year's Resolution [Begin]

So it is the start of a brand new year which means new opportunities to learn and grow as a person with God. I previously used to blog a lot and have truly enjoyed blogging but for the past two years (unbelievable), I have been putting it off and have not been able to write because I am "too busy". This year I want to challenge myself to be more reflective and to start writing more. Every Sunday I will take time out for myself and to write one post about anything at all. I was supposed to start this resolution last Sunday but due to my own fault of creating too many Gmail accounts I had forgotten which password was for which account and which Gmail account this blog belonged to.

Reflection last Sunday 03/10/2015

After reading my previous posts and just the previous post below this, I have just been amazed about all the things that God has blessed me with and the journey that I have been through over the past two years. I moved into a new country, leaving my home and started university, met truly amazing people in UK, met my amazing boyfriend and became closer to God. There are many different things that I have learnt in between of course but if I could write them all this post would be quite lengthy. I learnt how to be more mindful (which I will talk about in my later posts), more resilient and less anxious. One of the most important things I really learnt was to trust in God and to always believe the best for your future.
                                                   
Everyone has their own fears. A person could be afraid of spiders, heights, cats, dogs, the fear of the unknown and even the fear of being out of your comfort zone. Each and everyone of us has our own comfort zone where we can truly be ourselves- we can act crazy, sing, shout, dance because we can : we're comfortable. My comfort zone was Ireland. It has been where I have lived since I was seven years old. Even though I'm originally from the Philippines, I always felt more comfortable saying that I'm from Ireland. I felt comfortable because that is where I grew up and spent most of my time. I was comfortable in being surrounded with the same 'banter', people and the Irish land. I was comfortable but I had a dream. A dream to help people, a dream to become an occupational therapist.

During my last secondary school year, I didn't know what I really wanted to do with my life. There were numerous possibilities and endless opportunities. I had no direction and no purpose. I had originally wanted to become a doctor or a musician but I just wasn't sure of it. First of all, becoming a doctor means having to handle a lot of pressure, studying and handling things that I really was not sure I could handle. Secondly, music is something that I love to do, like performing however, actually studying it in a University would probably not suit me. I started to pray about it and decided to do a lot of research. It took me about three weeks and it hit me right on the face- Occupational Therapy.

"creative mind, hard working, helping people"-- I knew that these would definitely suit me. About three months before my Leaving Certificate and I had finally decided what I wanted to do. I started researching the modules for University and even visited a local hospital to gain experience of what an Occupational Therapist does on a daily basis. However, guess what...  FEAR started to kick in and I was feeling anxious and panicked. I was worried that I would not do so well and felt low. I placed a lot of doubt and anxiety with me and more importantly, I lost trust in God. I had so much doubts that I did not perform as well as I know I could have.

By the time of the results, I knew that I would not get my course. There are only a few times in which I have burst my tears and this was one of them. I doubted myself and God that I didn't get what I wanted. By the end of August, I just accepted it and went to do Arts in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth choosing Psychology, German and Music. I was incredibly delighted with this offer but I had a feeling there was much more in store for me. I started to talk to God again, letting my fear drain down. I prayed to God and asked him what I should do. The following day, I had the urge to apply to do the course that I had wanted to do. I went into my secondary school and asked if there was any other way to follow my dream. The career guidance counsellor informed me to apply for the United Kingdom and I did. About two months later, I received interviews for the Universities I applied for and eventually settled for York St John University.

So I would say for anyone in doubt, or nervous, anxious, afraid. Do not view your future through regrets, the past, disappointment or hurt because you will lose sight of God's goodness. Life can be painful but life is what you make of it. No matter what you are going through or what is going around you, you must believe the best for your future

Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything Beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart or also placed ignorance in the human heart so that no one can fathom what God has done from
beginning to end. "

Define you & Stay true [Part One]

Many of us come from different paths. We may come from a different country, culture, religion and up-bringing. None of us are the same because if that were to be true, then what would the world be like? There would be no spontaneity in meeting various people with a different viewpoint as you. You will never be able to learn from others and share your own opinion because you know that they would be the same. The thing is with the world is that not everyone will be able to like you. As tough as that may sound, it is true. No one in the world can be liked by everyone- and that is why you have to stay true to yourself.

Have you ever had that dying wish to be somebody else that you are not? That enormous pit in your stomach when you are walking around because you have to try and become this kind of person in order to fit in among your peers? You keep trying to become someone else that you hide in this facade, this great mask,- the "artificial" you. Along the course of my life, I've realized that there will be a lot of people that hide behind those closed curtains, afraid to stand for what they believe in and do not really know who they are anymore because they have been hiding for too long.

Well let me tell you something, putting up that kind of facade is tiring. I mean why live in that tiring life when you can be free & be yourself. I used to be afraid of defining me. There were times when I questioned "Who am I?" "What will I do with my life?". I was completely lost because I didn't let myself free. I didn't define my true self. I was used to being with crowds of people that when I was alone, I felt completely empty. I didn't really know what to do. This year, I started to grow up and realize that I don't have to try to become something I'm not because God created me to be unique in his likeness and image. There will be incidents where people will judge & criticize what I do. There will be people who can and will contradict my views and opinions and it may cause me confusion & maybe pain. The world is not a perfect place. You can either be right or learn from your mistakes.

I have learned that as long as I DEFINE what makes me happy & comfortable, that is where I find myself. 

& that is where YOU will find yourself.

P.S. Keep updated in my blog to find more about my journey in defining who I am.

No pain, no gain- A healthier Lifestyle [Update #7]

So it has been two weeks now since I properly started to get back into working out and I am feeling terrific. I have lost about one stone and feeling real light. However, I do know that I still have a long way to go in order to reach my own goal but it is definitely a start. FitnessPal, Zumba and Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred is a really great combination if you want to lose weight properly and effectively, this is a must try. Currently, I have also added walking/jogging for about an hour most days to increase my endurance and get a bit of fresh air. -- it is summer after all. In addition, a close friend of mine suggested me blogilates ( you can find her page on Youtube) She has many different ranges of exercises which is mostly aimed at women wanting to work off any unnecessary fat of thighs and arms. It is really effective but people who are trying this beware that it might burn and you will definitely need to push yourself.  But as I mentioned before: There is no pain, without gain-- so push yourself, because YOU are capable IF I can lose that stone, you can too.

Take a look at the videos below for some excerpts of blogilates videos

For your thighs:

 

For your arms: