Thrive

\

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”

― Maya Angelou

To thrive is to grow or develop well or vigorously. Arianna Huffngton is one of the most successful and influential women nowadays. It is amazing to hear even she had to redefine what success is in her own way. You see, we only know her cover story not the entire stories. 

We are meant to grow and be better, not compare to others, but to yourself. We don't have to compare and define the meaning of success based on what people see or might think. It's all irrelevant. We all grow up in different circumstances and experience different things. Your idea of success might not be someone else's idea of success. We live in the age that our success/achievement can be perceived as equivalent of your material possession. Higher bank account=Happier the person?! no! plenty of rich people are not happy. Higher social status=Happier person? no, so many "Famous" people are not happy. (if you think, this isn't true, ask all the "Celebrities" who've been to rehab). It's time for us to redefine what success is. 

 

Everyone's success is different. What's your idea of success? What do you want in your life?! Do you do things just to impress other people?! Do you show off certain things to others so that you might be able to feel more successful? What is it that you truly want in your life?! What it is that makes you truly happy? What is it that you can offer to the Universe?! A lot of us might not even know the answer. We might pretend to know the answer. You can't keep living in the facade and drawn in to it. Start asking yourself questions more often. What are you really feeling?! What do you really want to do?! What is your definition of success and happiness?! After all, we all want to be happy and successful. Are you still in the "I'll be happy WHEN.... "syndrome?! Are you trying to posses all the materialistic things to prove others something?!  We don't have to do anything to prove other people anything. You don't have to do what other people might think is the right thing. Right now, what I'm saying might not make any sense at all. But that's ok too. We all have to figure out our path eventually. So, let's THRIVE. not merely survive.  It doesn't have to be the same all the time. We can change our mind about certain things any moment. That's the beauty of it. We grow more and more every moment. We THRIVE to be better. Thrive. 

Love,

Life is about creating yourself

 This is by far the most favorite quote of mine.

"Life isn't about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw

How amazing is this?! I mean, we all face lots in our lives, right?! Not everything is fun filled adventure. We have our ups and downs. We all have that. We just don't know everybody else's stories. We only knoew their covers. Don't judge the book by its cover.

I've been facing something lately. I'm grateful for so many things in my life. The bottom line, I'm alive and well. So are my family and friends. they maybe facing something, but they have a roof over their head and a job to get them by. I have a place to live, a job to help me pay my bills. I have so many people who love me, support me in ways I can possible think of. I don't have to worry about what to eat today. So, just by that I'm blessed than more people I can imagine. I do not wanna forget that. But when my EGO strikes in and start whispering me, all the doubts and anxieties come out. I talk about all the positive attitude and life styles. What to think and what to be grateful for, but I'm only a human. And I'm just like you.

I've read many things that keeps my head up, helps me move forward and embrace myself as who I am. And  I know that unless I truly believe all that and put that into action, it doesn't matter. I have no time to whine and feeling sorry for myself. All I can do is keep my head up, smile and believe and know that I am capable, I am able.

Create your life. Paint your canvas. Nothing is set in this life. You might feel like the path is laid for you, but you can create your own path. The grass might be greener on the other side, but if you take care your own, water them, and nurture them, then your grass will become even more green than theirs. Stop looking the other way. Stop comparing yourself to others. Your life is yours alone. Just like their life is theirs. Invest in yourself. Love yourself. Believe in yourself. You can do this. You are more than enough.

Love,

be honest with what you're feeling

to be honest with who you are is not easy, if anything, it's one of the most difficult things to do in the life. We often cover up our real feeling and act based on your idea of how you suppose to feel. Or you might be at the point that you've been covering up and piling up what you've been feeling for such a long time and becoming a second nature. You don't even realize you're doing it. You don't realize how you're actually feeling. You don't even realize that there are protective wall that you've built over the years. You don't actually know how to get in contact with your true feeling. if you think that's you, it's time to change.

To do that, we have to truly be in the moment. We have to live and be present at every moment in our lives. When things are good, be grateful for what you have and what you've been given. When things are not so great and you want to vent a little, that's ok. You have to accept what you are feeling. It's different from saying things without thinking. You can't say something very mean and hurt people. You can't always complain. Being happy, being true to who you are, being honest with what you're feeling, those won't make you a selfish person. If anything, that should make you more lovable person. You will realize your surrounding more, you will appreciate little things in life more, you will find life much more colorful and happy place. You will find that life isn't about what you can get, but it's about what you can do for others.

You are more than good enough. You don't have to pretend that you are someone else. You don't have to act or be what other people want you to. When you hit a wall and have some rough patch, take a deep breath. You don't have to be running all the time. You don't have to be someone's perfect image. Being honest with who you and what you're feeling might be scary, especially if you weren't in touch with that for a long time. You might not know how to handle most of the things for a while. When you don't even know how you're feeling, that's ok too. Write it down, talk to people, or meditate. Whatever it is that you need to do, do it. Everyone has different way of processing it. The key is to enjoy every moment of it. Be present. Nothing is stopping you. Be you.

Love,

let go my EGO

“The authentic self is the best part of a human being. It’s the part of you that already cares, that is already passionate about evolution. When your authentic self miraculously awakens and becomes stronger than your ego, then you will truly begin to make a difference in this world. You will literally enter into a partnership with the creative principle.”

~ Andrew Cohen

What is "EGO"? According to a dictionary, it says "a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance". Does it do any good to our life?! Most of the time it doesn't. At least, that is my opinion. I believe that our life should be about what and how we can serve to the Universe, not what we can get out of the Universe. The moment you start shifting your thoughts from what you can offer to what you can get, your whole perspective changes. It becomes narrow and more shallow. It becomes more materialistic. What can we get!? That shouldn't be the question. Sadly, this world makes things easier for us to focus on life that way. It's challenging to keep our eyes on love, hope and faith no matter what. EGO is something we created in our own idea and images, it's not who you are or what you are. We are better than that. EGO doesn't serve you any good. LOVE does. What can I do for this Universe?! The moment you start shifting the focus from you to the Universe, your whole attitude changes. You will see more things clearly. There are so many signs all over there in your life, telling and showing you what to do, or what path to follow. All the messages are there for you to see and pursue. The only thing that's blinding from you to see is your EGO. Your EGO creates the false images of how things should, be, how you should be, even how other people should treat you. It's good to have the image of how you want to be. Don't get caught up on that. The truth is that you are better than that! You are all greater than that. Your love, hope and faith can get you way farther than your EGO can take you. Be honest with who you are and what you are feeling. Be transparent to who you are. You are already good enough. You are already born with everything you need to serve your purpose here in this life. You are more than enough. Accept that. We are all part of the bigger picture in this Universe. There's a thing only you can do. Maybe you know your calling, maybe you are still struggling to find. but in the end, what it takes is for you to be the best version of who you are. Let go of your EGO. You are better than that. And the moment you let go of that EGO, you will feel so much better and you will find this life so much easier and more fun place to be. We have to enjoy our life. We have to love our life. That's that. So, let's have fun. 

Love,

See it through darkness

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, 

and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.

 It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.

Carl Jung

I usually like to talk about happiness, positive energy, and appreciation and all the good stuff. And today, I want to talk about the opposite. Because, as it says, you cannot see the stars without darkness. Life is not always perfect, not sunshine and rainbows. Happiness is a way of living, a perspective, a mind-set... a lot can be said. But we all have those moments when darkness comes in. Doubts, upsets, frustration, sadness, mistakes, fear...all of that. We fight as much as we can not to let those feelings bring us down. We tell ourselves all the good things, read inspirational quotes, do anything to get ourselves out from there. We promise that we're not gonna let those moments decide who we are or who we are going to be. We promise that we're gonna focus on the positive, the bright side and all the good things that's going to happen. We do anything we can to change that. Then you see the reality again. We know what we should be doing, how we should be feeling, and how we should be seeing the whole thing. And when we see the gap between those two, it confuses you and sometimes frustrates you even more.

"You don't face anything you can't overcome".

We all heard that and at least in our head, we know what we should be doing. But it's not that simple, isn't it?! At least it's not always easy for me. I still struggle to get those feelings out of way. I want to feel good. I don't want to doubt myself. I don't want to get frustrated about the situation I'm in. And all I can do is just to take a moment, breathe and start again. That's it. I just need to get that through my thick big skull that there are many things that are not in my control, that I am who I am, that things are work out in the end. Even if it might not exactly be the way I want it to be, but it will work out. I have to get that through. I have to see it through darkness. And guess what? If I stare at the darkness long enough, I will eventually get use to the darkness and start being able to see it through. I'm not saying that we have to get used to being down there in the darkness. But, being able to accept the situation that I'm in, to surrender to the unknown/uncertainty and even let go of the control that  thought I had. That's what I'm saying. We live in now. And I can do this! All I need to know is that I can do this. So, if I can do it, you can do it too. We can do this. Even if I don't know you, I know you can do this. I believe that we can all see it through the darkness. Because without darkness we won't be able to see the stars, and how wonderful we are, and how blessed we are. We can do this!

Love,

don't ever forget to have fun

Everything you want is on the other side of FEAR.

---George Addair---

Kids are amazing, don't you think?! They are pure energy and they are master of having fun. No judgement, no doubt, no limits. They are full of life. And as we grow older and start learning the way of the society or the structures, we started limiting ourselves and makes walls to our own potentials. And that's the biggest block we can build to ourselves. 

The pure joy and happiness are the strongest and the most powerful energy we can have. Whatever we're doing, we have to have that energy. Even in the midst of the hardship you're facing, when it seems impossible to see things that way, when it seems like the world is crashing down on you, but there're still a choice to live with joy, happiness and appreciation. It sounds too good to be true, right? Guess what?! It is true. As a matter of fact, that is the time you need to live with that type of energy the most. It's easy to be happy when life is good. of course. The difference is how much you can bring in the power of love, hope and faith when things are tough. That is the real challenge. It's not easy to see things positively or keep faith when you don't know how you're going to pay this month's rent. I mean, you've been there, right?! All you can say to yourself is that "It's gonna be ok." "It's all gonna work out". Seriously, that's all you can say to yourself. Do you tell yourself "NO, you're gonna lose everything and you're gonna get kicked out from your apartment and you're gonna lose your job." NO! We don't want to give in. We don't want to admit or defeat. We don't want to let that doubt take over our life. So, in stead, we tell ourselves that it's gonna be ok. Because that' what we want to believe. And that's what we hope. We want things to be worked out. We want everything to be ok. We want to be happy. So, we tell ourselves that that's gonna happen to make ourselves feel better. It might sound like you're just saying it. But you're saying it out of HOPE. And you tell that to yourself over and over until you start believing that it IS gonna be ok. That becomes FAITH. Nobody wants to live in poverty or unhappiness or alone. Nobody wants that. We all want to live happy and do what we want to do. It's like fake it till you make it. Fake it till you believe it. Tell it to yourself over and over until you believe it. It's gonna be your faith. And you start having fun. because you know it's gonna be ok and you don't have to worry any more. 

Love every single moment of your life. And find hope in every situation and talk about that hope, share that hope with other people. And when you believe in that hope and truly believe in that unseen future and the possibility, that'll become unbreakable faith. Start telling yourself that it's gonna be ok, till it becomes your faith. Your faith is stronger than the temporary situation you're in. Your love is greater than any hardship you are facing. Your hope is bigger than any problem you're having. Do not let your fear take over. Love your life. 

Love,