Your joueny

“be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of yourself should be.” 

― Henry David Thoreau

This speech by Natalie Portman inspired me so much. She has been one of my favorite actress and "Leon" which she mentions in this speech, is one of my favorite movie as well. 

I always talked about how you should be who you are, how you should follow your heart, and how you should embrace your gifts and faults, everything about you. Not only it is hard to do it, but isn't it the whole point of our life? To do that throughout our life? 

Back in the day, my friend said something to me. "I am THIS and THAT kinda person. And I will not change". And I responded to her by this. "I don't know who I am and I may or may not know when I die." Now that I've think about it, both ideas are either right or wrong. She knew exactly who she was and kept her belief and her strong opinion about herself. On the other hand, I had no idea who I was and I still struggle to find it each and everyday. I hope to find it soon. Especially since the beginning of this year, it has been quite a ride. There's been a discovery after another. I've met many new people who showed me different ways and different values, who follows their dreams and passions to make things happen, who fight for their purpose and serve the Universe. It confused me more in a way. Because I get effected by it so easily. Many things they do seem interesting to me. They are so passionate that it makes me want to do what they are doing, which means that they are doing an amazing job! So let me say congratulations to all of you!!! 

Inspiring people is one thing I know that I want to do. I love people and I want to be connected. I want to support people and I want to help them shine. What can I do? that's what I want to find out. I have not taken any short cuts or the fastest path, that's for sure. at this age, I barely know what I want to do with my life. It's only gonna get worse. But I believe in the power of now and the power of happiness. I believe that Happiness is a choice and the way of living, rather than something you can get by getting something or somewhere. I believe that only being truly who you are you can fulfill your purpose. I believe that if each person fulfills their purpose this Universe will be a better place. I believe that in the basic level we want the same thing. Live your life and Love your life. That's where Love+Live+Life started. That's where this blog has started. 

Love, Hope, Faith

You are more than enough

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” 

― Vincent van Gogh

Many people come and go through out your life. Would you like to inspire people or discourage people? Would you support people or reject people? Would you help others grow or keep them away from their full potential?

I was honored to witness a turning point for someone who inspires me. She preaches and practices what I believe in. Not only saying it, but actually doing it. I don't actually know her that much personally. I've taken her lessons and watches the video lectures. So, it does make me feel like I know her to the certain degree. She is beautiful inside out. And her message from last night for us was this. 

"YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH.

And you are exactly where you need to be."

We live in a competitive world. Maybe not. But we do compare ourselves to others a lot more than we should. We look at other people's life and wonder why am I not where they are at? We look at their highlights and think, "I am not good enough". I am not this and that. I am too this and that. We keep comparing ourselves. But who makes that judgement? US. We are the only person who's standing against our own happiness. We all have different purposes, why should we be the same? Why should we compare? Have you seen Lego movie? When they are all acting, behaving the same. And the one that was different thought that he's not good enough, that he doesn't belong. Guess what happened in the end? He saved the world. Not because he belonged to the certain social group or religion, or he's the same as others. Because he is different. What makes him different that's what exactly gave him the strength and inspirations to move forward and to fight for what he believes in. We might have same goal as someone else. But do we have the same purpose in our life? No. What the one person can convey, you may not. And it goes the other way around too. Why do we constantly think that we are not enough? Getting straight As doesn't mean that you are perfect. Having billion dollars doesn't mean that you are worth more than everybody else. We all make mistakes. Some mistakes are bigger than the others. Some, you still regret. Some are the things you've done. Some are things you haven't done. Whatever it is or wherever we are at this point in our life, "We are where we need to be", just as she said last night at the lecture. We can only live in NOW. Our mistakes cannot be changed. That fact can never go away. But we can make the decision today to learn from it. We can still turn things around and move forward. Our action is what makes us who we are. 

I am convincing myself to be this way as I write. Everything I write here is a reminder to myself. There are things I regret, there are things I wish I could change. And at the same time, without those mistakes I wouldn't have been where I am. I wouldn't have learned the valuable lessons that I learned. I wouldn't have met the wonderful people if I didn't take that path. I have many many flaws. Fortunately or unfortunately, I cannot change that. So, I have nothing else but to live for the future. God has so many great things in store for me. She also said this, "We make mistakes, God/Universe doesn't. So, we're not here by mistake. Why not believe that we're enough?" After all, that's our mission and journey isn't it? To fulfill our lives. To believe that we are good enough. To reach our full potentials. To serve the Universe. 

To my amazing teacher, thank you for your constant inspiration and love for this world. 

Love, Hope, Faith.

Honesty

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” 
― Virginia Woolf

How often are you honest to your feeling? Not the ones that you think "how you SHOULD feel", the one that's you are actually feeling?

We've often learned to hide what we are truly feeling. It might be in the way of certain things. We learn to hide our feelings because who we are didn't seem to please others, or to be accepted, or to be approved. It usually starts when we are children and most of us don't even remember how we came to do this. And most of the time, we don't face that. The thorn got stuck in you but you forget to take out, because you got used to the pain. But why should we have to hide? Why should we pretend to be who we are not? Why do we have to belong or being accepted? Why do we think that who we are is not good enough?

I don't have the answers for that. Recently, I started feeling all these anxieties and opening of the things that I haven't been feeling in years. "Un-Stressing", that's what my meditation teacher calls it. but if it's Un-Stressing, why am I more stressing out by feeling this way? It's a funny irony. We have to let go whatever we've been piling up before we become new or who we are to begin with. To undone what's been piling up for years and years can take somewhere up to 7-8 years, she said. Wow. It's a lot of work. Being able to be who you are, being able to be honest about what you are feeling, being able to act as you feel, being able to not judge or compare yourself to others, being able to be fully who you are... Only a handful of people are doing that. Many people are aware of the concepts. Many people are willing to practice this. And yet, we still struggle. The fact is this is the journey we all have to go through. Knowing who we are and what our purposes are, that's only the first part of our journey. And only after we know that we are able to serve this Universe. We are here to serve. We are not here to gain.

It's only natural for this day and age to focus on what we can gain, rather than what we can give. More "likes" on your Facebook statues. More followers on Instagram or Twitter. More subscribers for your youtube channels. Why? It gives them a sense of acceptance, approval, confirmations on your existence, right? It makes you feel that you are valuable and important. But those are not your true value. We can gain millions of "like"s  or followers, but how many of them do you know personally? I don't deny the medium of these things. Social networks have created the completely new era. People can create what we couldn't do decades ago. People can spread their ideas with others. Journalism and multimedia have completely new way of approaching the world. People with the same interests or mission are able to connect more. I love that. But if you are only doing this for the sake of gaining those "approval", you might want to rethink. Those media is only a tool for you to do what you are really capable of. It does not validate anything.

Start by being honest 5 minutes a day. Maybe you don't feel like eating that piece of bread today. Maybe you don't feel like walking the same route today. Maybe you feel like you wanna grab that book and read. Maybe you want to pick up the phone and call your friend. Maybe you want to give a dollar for a homeless in the corner. Whatever it is, be honest for a little bit. If you don't feel like taking actions, that's fine. Just realize those honest feelings. You might have trained yourself to act certain way at the office and that habit has become an auto-pilot to you. Start realizing what you are doing and how that makes you feel. Start paying attention to the little things. Start being more mindful. It's a small step. But it's a small step that might change the way you thing. Don't underestimate the small things. As they say, we are all energetic being. The small particles of energy and molecules have created us. And if that's the truth, which I believe that is, the little tiny piece that we're taking it for granted, that can change who we are completely. think about that. We are all tiny. We are all the tiny pieces to create this Universe. And everybody's got different part in it. So, be responsible for your part.

Love, Hope, Faith