Why wouldn't you make a New Year's Resolution?

Reading time: 5-7 minutes

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! I was actually thinking of writing about Christmas, but I ended up not writing any special post about it. So now, I'm gonna talk about what most people make in the end of the year, and abandon 2 or 3 months after (or even earlier than that). 
Yes, it's the so-called "New Year's Resolution".
I find New Year's Resolution kinda amusing, because it gives so much sparks and spirit to everyone who makes it (at first), before it turns into a "burden" and makes you go "nyeh" and "mehh".

I'm not gonna lie, I can still remember how I made several new year's resolutions and didn't really achieve any of them, like learning how to cook and learning how to drive a car-- I did learn a few times but didn't have the time to really commit to it. 

I reviewed as many resolutions that I could remember and read several articles about why we fail our new year's resolutions. Here are three reasons for failing to achieve one's stated goals (Baumeister and Heatherton 1996, as cited by Koestner, 2008, p. 61):

1. Unclear and vague goals.

It's better to state  "I'm gonna lose 20 kg this year" rather than "I'm gonna lose some weight".

2. Failure to follow up and measure our progress

It's better to weigh yourself every Monday rather than feeling your pants to know if it has loosened like you want it to.

3. Weak self-control and self-regulation when facing challenges

And this is probably the root of all failures when we're holding onto our New Year's Resolution. We tend to compromise our goals and add a lot of excuses to support it. 

Now that I know why I (almost) always failed in my New Year's Resolutions, I am planning not to fail in my 2014's Resolutions. After a week of sleepless nights, thinking of what should be my 2014's resolutions (nah, just kidding, it didn't take that long) I came up with a set of New Year's Resolutions, or what I call "My impulsive New Year's Resolutions".

1. Read books.

I used to love reading books, then the era of comic books came. Then movies. Then internet has ruled my world (I bet it rules your world too). I have friends who read books, and seeing them made me realize that I am missing so much things by not reading books.
If you ever heard someone said "Why read books? Everything is on the internet now, idiot" and you are buying that, you are on the wrong track. E-books are surely nice, but can you stand reading a 300-paged-book on your computer screen? I honestly can't. So starting next year, I'm planning to start reading a book for each month. Wait for me, my intelligent-full-of-knowledge friends.

2. Run.

As much as I want to run from reality (And you know you want to do that as well, folks) What I mean by "run" is I want to literally start running as a part of my routines. As you know, running has become a trend, and from that trend, I say "Why don't I turn it into a healthy habit?". I used to play basketball back when I was in high school but now running really seems like an easier sport with no-less health advantages than basketball. By easier I mean I don't have to arrange time with friends who play basketball. Running? There are more fellows you can just ask to run with you.
I did my first 5K run last week. It was exhausting, but so refreshing that it feels like you've washed your brain when you're done with the running. So I'd like to start running every week.

3. Blog.

Yes. Blog. I know my relationship with blog has been on and off (really). The first time I started blogging, I was so expressive that I never really filtered what I was writing. Then I thought that I should make a brand new blog to not only showcase my ideas, but to also give helpful information for the readers in some ways. It turned out that becoming too concerned about what I post on my blog only made me a worse blogger. The second blog stopped, and I just started a new one. This blog. 
In 2014 (and so on) I want to just share. I'm learning to take the phrase "Sharing is Caring" seriously, and therefore that's what I'm gonna do consistently from now on.


I would love to add a lot of other resolutions, and I do know there are things I want to fix or achieve (something that goes like "I want to ace my final exams, I want to finish my ultimate thesis--there I said it, and graduate, and get a job or a master's degree scholarship overseas", and so on).

But to me, those are part of my life goals. (I. should. get. them. done. I really should).
While New Year's Resolutions to me are simple and measurable things that I wanna get to improve my quality as a human being.

New year's resolutions are there not to become your burdens, not to change you and push you to become what you are not. So pick your own new year's resolutions that you think would make you feel good, look good, or get more out of life. :3

Let's start!

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Quick facts:

Top 10 New Years resolutions for 2014 according to University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology

Published: 12.13.2013

Rank	Top 10 New Years resolutions for 2014
1	Lose Weight
2	Getting Organized
3	Spend Less, Save More
4	Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5	Staying Fit and Healthy
6	Learn Something Exciting
7	Quit Smoking
8	Help Others in Their Dreams
9	Fall in Love
10	Spend More Time with Family

Type of Resolutions (Percent above 100% because of multiple resolutions)	Data
Self Improvement or education related resolutions	47%
Weight related resolutions	38%
Money related resolutions	34%
Relationship related resolutions	31%

Full statistics? Click here.

Different dates of Mother's Day: What does it really mean?

Reading Time: 3-5 minutes

Happy mother's day to all of moms all around the world!

I noticed how a lot of my friends posted their photos to declare their love to their moms. Such a sweet atmosphere today. What did I do on this year's mother's day? I went shopping with my mom and my younger sis after a long long while, and left my dad and younger bro at home. (No, they were actually shopping in a place separated with where we shopped).  
So.. the holiday atmosphere was really there. I mean, holiday shopping atmosphere.

Still in the Mother's Day atmosphere,
instead of wondering what everyone was doing with their mom for the whole day, I was struck by a random question.
Why is Mother's day celebrated on different dates, all around the world?

December 22 is Indonesian's mother's day, while in another countries, they have their own Mother's day on different dates. 
For example, in Norway, mother's day is celebrated on the second Sunday of each year's February.
In Bulgaria, Mother's day is always celebrated on March 8, which is also International Women's day (hmm, that makes sense).
For countries like Australia, Japan, USA, Germany, and Netherlands (also several other countries) Mother's day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

Looking at all of the dates, Mother's days apparently range from February to December. Feeling like celebrating all those Mother's day? Then you can celebrate Mother's day almost every month.

The first modern Mother's Day term was used and celebrated back in 1908 when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in West Virginia, United States. She then started a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in United States.
The holiday was adopted by other countries and is now celebrated all around the world.

But what's with the various dates?
After my quick "research", I found an interesting fact. It turns out that each country has different perspective on Mother's day in their own country.

Some of the countries selected date based on historical significance, like Bolivia's Mother's Day which is the date of a battle in which Bolivian women participated. In some countries the date was changed  to a date that was significant to the majority religion, such as Virgin Mary Day in Catholic countries. In some ex-communist countries they prefer to celebrate International Women's Day.
Conclusion: There are various origins of Mother's day, therefore Mother's Day are celebrated in various dates. 

After reading all those historical stuff about Mother's Day, I was expecting to feel content with the findings. There are lots of interesting stories on the Mother's Day Celebration traditions, the origins and history of Mother's Day. You can google them all. I was not feeling content.

Then I remembered my mom, my super mom (I'm sure some of you can relate to "my super mom" phrase. Our moms can be so super and M.O.M could be an abbreviation of Mother.Of.Multitasking, too).

She has done tons of amazing things. She has raised me, and has taught me to become a better person, by showing me how to become so. Sure she makes mistakes, because she's a human being. But what she has given to me---blood, sweat, and tears, are what made me believe that I can never repay her, no matter how much gratitude and appreciation I want to give to her.

Then I remembered myself. How bad I was acting as a kid, how much of a rebel as a teenager, and finally, how ignorant I am as a daughter right now, how I still don't listen to her words sometimes, how I don't pick up her calls or never really tell her I love her back.

The puzzle pieces are now coming together for me. I finally have my own interpretation and how I can relate to the fact that Mother's Days are celebrated on different dates all across the world.

"Mother's day is supposed to be celebrated, everyday."

If I celebrate Mother's Day every year, while I haven't started to appreciate and thank my mom for everything that she has done for me everyday, does it really mean anything?

While we can, let's tell and show our moms how much we love them. Don't hesitate.

Feeling nostalgic?

In every state of our lives, there will always be a song or several songs which give a mark to it. Don't you agree? There are times when we're probably shopping in malls or just hanging out in a cafe, the music starts playing and you're like "Oh HEY. This song reminds me of when I was 14 and very rebel back then. Wow, time flies." And once you get home you start finding the songs which have those certain memories, and sing along to each and every single song. You just can't help it.

And yes.. you would probably feel old after that. 


So anyways, I came across songs that made me feel nostalgic today and I wanna share them with you.
I can't embed the YouTube videos here because the thing is not working so I'll just put the links here and give the snippets of each song's lyrics. Enjoy!

1. Travis - Closer (2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2hYn_4yuhc
I've had enough, of this parade.
I'm thinking of, the words to say.
We open up, unfinished parts,
Broken up, its so mellow.

And when I see you then I know it will be next to me
And when I need you then I know you will be there with me
Ill never leave you...

Just need to get closer, closer,
Lean on me now,Lean on me now,
closer, closer,
Lean on me now, Lean on me now.

2. Daniel Bedingfield - If You're not The One (2002)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3bFOT1e-AU

I never know what the future brings
But I know you're here with me now
We'll make it through and I hope
You are the one I share my life with

I don't wanna run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you, then why does my heart tell me that I am?
Is there anyway that I can stay in your arms?

3. Hoobastank - The Reason (2003)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV4DiAyExN0

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you

4. The Corrs - Summer Sunshine (2004)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNWo83LD7JQ

In the heat of summer sunshine 
I miss you like nobody else 
In the heat of summer sunshine 
I'll kiss you, and nobody needs to know 

Now that you've left me, there's no retur-ning 
I keep comparing, you're always win-ning 
I try to be strong but you'll never be more wanted 
Will you make me at home? 

5. Dido - White Flag (2003)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pwT2wiZsg0

I know you think that I shouldn't still love you, 
Or tell you that.
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it 
where's the sense in that? 

I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder 
Or return to where we were 

I will go down with this ship 
And I won't put my hands up and surrender 
There will be no white flag above my door 
I'm in love and always will be 

6. All American Rejects - Move Along (2005)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_6aVrxEtw0

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking
When you fall everyone stands
Another day and you've had your fill of sinking
With the life held in your
Hands are shaking cold
These hands are meant to hold

Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
Move along
Move along

7. Sarah McLachlan - When She Loved Me (2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3qBbLyRixg

When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful
Every hour we spent together, lives within my heart
And when she was sad, I was there to dry her tears
And when she was happy, so was I, when she loved me.

Through the summer and the fall, we had each other, that was all
Just she and I together, like it was meant to be
And when she was lonely, I was there to comfort her
And I knew that she loved me.

8. Jojo - Never Say Goodbye (2004)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9jL62ck_Ww

No more lonely, no more just me
I've been there before
Ain't going no more
And now that you're here I
Never wanna say goodbye love
Never wanna be without you
No more crying, no denyin'
I'm in love with you
And now that you're here I
I never wanna say goodbye love

Is there any song which makes you feel nostalgic whenever it's played?

Share right in the comments below :D

Mahasiswa dan Pola Makannya yang Menakjubkan

DISCLAIMER: Post ini adalah post yang saya copy dari blog saya yang terdahulu di tahun 2011 (masih mahasiswa labil). But I still find it true and amusing, so I'd like to share this with you guys :)

Baru saja gw keki karena gw lupa hari ini offclass, buat yang ga tau offclass itu apa, itu sejenis makanan ringan.

Becanda. Off class itu artinya kuliah tapi nggak hadir di kampus. Biasanya dikasih tugas sama dosen, atau ngerjain soal dan diskusi di forum. Interesting? Iya, cuma bagian liburnya aja. #namanyajugamahasiswa

Anyways, gw baru inget kalo akhir-akhir ini gw jadi sarapan setiap pagi. Entah kesambet setan atau gimana, gw jadi suka beli roti (dan makan, tentunya) sebelum gw berangkat beraktivitas, baik pas gw ada kelas, maupun nggak. Fyi, gw ini orangnya hampir ga pernah sarapan. Kalau kuliah, nggak sarapan. Kalau nggak kuliah/libur, tidurnya bangun siang. Jadi sama aja nggak sarapan.

Seberapa penting sih sarapan? Gw pernah denger pepatah seperti ini:

"Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a beggar"

Kalau based on saying yang ada di atas tersebut, artinya breakfastlah yang "value" nya paling besar di antara semua waktu makan setiap hari. Dan memang benar, karena sarapan adalah sumber tenaga kita untuk memulai aktivitas.

Tapi guys, yang membuat gw kaget adalah kalimat "dinner like a beggar"

Omaigat. Kalau kebiasaan gw dijadikan sebuah pepatah, bisa jadi kalimatnya begini:

"Breakfast? No, wait until lunch. Lunch? YES,very much YES. Dinner, at any hour."

*facepalm*

Rasanya jadwal makan gw sangat hancur. Penelitian mengatakan, bahwa sarapan lah yang paling penting dan harus ada setiap hari. Selama kuliah, gw meninggalkan pola hidup sehat tersebut.

Sekarang gw ingin membandingkan pola makan gw saat gw masih sekolah (berasa tua) dan pola makan gw saat kuliah.

SMA:

1. Sarapan (Nasi goreng/nasi pakai telor ceplok/nasi pakai nugget/french fries -> sok elit, ga sekalian burger aja apa sekalian)

2. Makan pas istirahat pertama jam stgh 10 pagi (Nasi kuning/nasi campur)

3. Makan pas istirahat kedua 11.15(berbagai macam snack yang jumlahnya nggak kira2)

4. Makan siang di rumah (Nasi dan lauk yang lebih banyak daripada yang dimakan di kantin)

5. Optional: Makan lebih cepat, bisa berupa mie instan dan sebagainya

6. Makan malem

7. #ngemillagikalolaper

Sekarang bandingkanlah dengan pola makan gw saat kuliah.

Kuliah:

1. #sarapangakyaa

2. Makan siang (yang jelas bukan di rumah) -> nasi warteg setengah, lauk 2-3 biji/ nasi di tempat2 makan lainnya

3. Makan malem -> bisa berupa nasi warteg atau nasi dan lauk yg dipesan dan diantar ke kos.

Gimana? Beda jauh?

Let me tell you, pas gw SMA, berat badan gw SELALU KURANG DARI 50 kg. Terakhir gw nimbang berat badan, (setelah UAN SMA) berat badan gw 46 kg.

Pas kuliah, *drum rolls*

Berat badan gw SELALU LEBIH DARI 50 kg.

*guling-guling di tanah*

*teriak "Hidup ini gak adil!" sambil mengepalkan tangan di udara*

Oke. Jadi itulah kenyataan yang pahit. Kenapa pas makan gw banyak, gw kurus, dan pas gw jarang makan, gw malah lebih berat? Gw juga ga tau jawabannya. Mungkin udah kebanyakan dosa juga jadi berat. *nunduk*

Selain itu, yang gw sadari adalah sewaktu SMA, gw rajin olahraga, dan ketika kuliah, gw udah ga pernah olahraga lagi. Mungkin hal ini juga salah satu sebabnya *geleng-geleng kepala*

*TIPS KESEHATAN SPESIAL DARI  MBAK JANET*

1. Sarapan sebelum memulai aktivitas. Kalau anak kos, usahakan yang murah dan tidak menguras dompet terlalu awal.

2. Makan siang jangan terlalu brutal. Secukupnya aja, jangan kaya orang baru pernah liat makanan.

3. Makan malem jangan kecepetan, jangan kemaleman, jangan kebanyakan. Biasanya ada orang yang makan malem eh tiba-tiba plus roti bakar coklat keju, plus martabak, dan plus lain-lainnya.

4. Usahakan untuk nggak makan atau jajan-jajan lagi di atas jam 9 malem. Sangat tidak sehat, trust me.

5. Sisihkan waktu untuk berolahraga.

6. Tidur yg cukup. Kalau suka begadang, paling nggak siangnya udah tidur 1-2 jam.

Jadi, kesimpulannya adalah, mari melestarikan hewan-hewan langka yang sudah punah.

Salah,

maksudnya, marilah kita memulai hidup sehat dengan makan secara teratur dan kebiasaan hidup yang baik, karena sehat itu mahal harganya.

Jangan terlalu banyak makan junkfood...

Let's Talk About: Unilever Leadership Internship Program (Selection Phases)

The Starting Line

I realized how (un)creative I have been for these past few months. No blog posts, really!

It's just that I was suddenly reminded of how idealistic I was about blog, thinking that a blog should be either attractive or informative. In fact, I ended up not posting anything because everytime I wanted to post something, a voice in my head would say "Naaaah... it's not useful/informative enough."

But anyways. Those days are over. I'm back.

There have been a lot of things going on lately in my life. Exciting new things, the not-so-exciting ones as well, and just regular activities. My 7th semester classes have just begun.. There will be 4 subjects left to finish.. actually 5 including my thesis.

But what's more exciting to me is my current experience as an intern in Unilever Indonesia. 

There's this program called Unilever Leadership Internship Program where Unilever Indonesia recruits 3rd year (minimum) college students to work as an intern. They have 5 functions available, which are Marketing, Customer Development, Human Resources, Finance, and Supply Chain. 

I knew about this program from a friend (I thank him, really) where he showed me this digital poster about the program from Facebook.

The first time I heard from him about this internship program, I wasn't directly interested because my major is Computer Science. Honestly my mental struggle (I don't know if I'm using the correct word) was that I already felt that I don't belong to the world of programming, but the environment was kinda telling me that I "have to" learn about it. So because of that thought, I was hesitating to take an opportunity to join this internship program (there's no IT-Related function in the program as I stated above), thinking that I was supposed to fill my summer break (semester break) for taking a deeper knowledge about programming and a deeper, much deeper, liking to it.

But then I thought about it again, and I literally opened the website to read about each function, and I was interested into 2 functions : Marketing and HR. Long story short, I applied for those two functions because 

I could choose more than one function as my preference. 

Currently, I'm working as an HR Leadership and Development intern in the ULIP program. How did I get in? I'll share with you.

The Take-Off

There were 4 phases that I went through. Actually you can also find out about it on Unilever's website, but if you wanna know about "the feel" of it according to my perspective, read away.

The first phase is Application form phase. Basically I had to fill in an Application Form. It's like CV Template where I had to fill my personal data (like my full name, address, phone number, and etc), but in the form there were also Essay questions to be answered. To tell you the truth, I spent a few days to think about what I should write to answer them. The questions were "What is your proudest achievements and why?" , "What is your major disappointment so far and why?" , and "What is your most significant leadership experience". Besides the essays, there were also fields that made me think longer, like "Reason of Preference" and "Internship Expectation". Such a thoughtful phase, huh? Looking back, I really think it's important to be honest to yourself on what you write because it reflects how you perceive things. I'm quite a straightforward person so I don't really put "flowers" on my writing. I decided to be honest about my expectations and thoughts about the program. Oh, but of course in any kinds of application form you have to "sell" your experience and achievements. It's a competition, after all.

The second phase is numerical and logical reasoning online test. It was the first time of my life (sounds exaggerating, yeah) that I had to take those kinds of test. I had no idea what those were, and now that I think about it, I was so excited that I didn't even do any research about the tests before I took them.

My suggestion would be : do the research and practice, don't be too ignorant or too excited like I was. 

In Numerical Reasoning test you'll face questions which requires you to analyze either a data presented in tables or graphs. Using a calculator is allowed (but then again, I only used my laptop's calculator. BAD IDEA. Using a real calculator is recommended.). In Logical Reasoning tests, you will be facing a lot of patterns which requires you to think more logically, so you can complete sequences of logically correct patterns. If you're asking my opinion, for a first timer, with no exercise or such thing, it was quite hard and nerve-wrecking. Thankfully I made it through to the next phase,

which is Focus Group Discussion.

In Focus Group Discussion, you will be facing a business case in a group. In my case, it was 9 people. We were given time to read the business case covering the fields of all 5 functions' perspectives (HR, Marketing, Supply Chain, Customer Development, and Finance's ). Then discuss about the case and its solutions in the group. The FGD was supervised by 2 managers. In my opinion, the objective of this FGD phase is to examine and discover how each candidate interacts with people, express their opinions, and contributes in a problem-solving discussion. 

To tell you the truth I wasn't really confident in this phase, because I had failed before in FGD phase of another program I applied to. After going through the FGD phase, It made me realized what I'm still lacking of as a discussion member. Quite a few lessons were learned at that time and I wasn't really happy with how I was performing, although I was still secretly hoping that I would pass to the interview phase.

Then I got in. Heart attack.

The final phase is... the Interview!

In this phase, there were 4 people left. I was glad and relieved that I got in, but I was suddenly reminded of the things my fellow candidates were chatting about before we started the FGD. It was the "I heard they will only choose one person to be the intern for this function" discussion. Challenging? Very much, yes. Discouraging? Could be. But there's really nothing to lose so I just went in there and tried my best. Speaking of the interview, I'd like to elaborate more here. You might be wondering about it, or questions like "Was it an intimidating interview?" "How do you think you did in the interview?" might have popped out as you're reading this post. I can describe the interview with two words. The word is SURPRISINGLY FUN.

"Fun? Are you kidding me? It's a freaking interview!" you might think. But yes, all of the paradigms about intimidating and nerve-wrecking interviews all went poof right when the interview started. It was more like a conversation rather than an interview. It was fun to describe myself to the two managers, and it triggered various questions in my head, from what I expect in the program, what I love doing, why I chose Marketing and HR, to the ultimate issue: what I really wanna do in life (still trying to figure it out, by the way). I was happy with the interview, but I had no idea if I did the interview right from the interviewers' perspectives. The interviewers also gave me helpful feedbacks about how I did in the FGD and how they think of me. Good stuff.

Waiting for the interview results, we were in the "quarantine room" where I could chat with the fellow candidates and even took pictures together. Surprisingly (in a good way) it didn't feel as intimidating as I thought it would be with the other candidates. It was another thing that I like from the whole FGD and Interview process.

They didn't announce who pass the interview right after the interviews were done (made me even more curious and kinda scared hahah). I got home with a goodie bag filled with Unilever Products and a handful of hope.

A Handful of Hope

Funny thing, I got fever for the rest of the day right after I got home. Turned out I forgot to have any meal or water until I got home(nervous much?maybe).

A few days later, I got an email that says:

I felt...

And then I skipped the medical check up to start the internship right away.

JK.

I had my medical checkup and was officially accepted as an intern in Unilever Leadership Internship Program 2013.

So that's the my story of Unilever Leadership Internship Program's application phases that I experienced.

Thanks for taking your time to read this long post. In the future I'll probably post about my fun and challenging experience as an intern in Unilever Indonesia, so stay tune :)

A picture means.. ?

"A picture is worth a thousand words" - Anonymous

I think everyone would agree with the quote above. Whoever said it first, is a genius.
Seriously.

Quick Wondering
Well speaking of pictures/ photos, we all know there are two kinds of person when it's related to photos, at the very least. First, is a person who likes taking photos, and second, is a person who likes being in photos.

"But why?"

This is where it becomes more interesting. In a glimpse of thought, you might think "the person who doesn't like to be in photos must be a non-photogenic person" or "the person who likes to be in photos must have good-looking appearance."

But it's not as simple as that.
Again, why not?
Try to name your friends who aren't exactly good-looking but are in every photo.

And not to mention, there are good-looking people who enjoy taking pictures more than being in the pictures  him/herself.

Now back to the main topic.

The quote "a picture is worth a thousand words" got me thinking about what it really means.
What is "a thousand words"?

Say,
One picture, say, a photo of 5 men in a party, having so much fun.
It could mean:

For people who don't know any of the people in the photo, they can say "Wow they're having so much fun, it looks like a great party"
For their parents, they can say "Oh my how terrible kids thesedays. Do they throw party and get drunk every night or what?"
For themselves "Look at that, dude! You had the most priceless expression! The party was sick!"
For a relative who lives distantly from one of the 5 people, "How I miss my bro, I haven't met him for years"
For an ex-gf who happens to be looking through old photos of her ex-bf, "I miss him."
For (maybe) another ex-gf who happens to randomly seeing the photo of Facebook newsfeed "I'm so glad I left him. He's such a douche"

And, so on.
Those perspectives above can extend as wide as possible, because people have different interests, cultures, and relations with the picture.

It doesn't stop there.
A picture changes its meaning through the years.
One time a picture could mean nothing, but next thing it could turn into something more precious than your cell phone. (I don't even know why I compared it to a cell phone, but the point is, it always changes)

To me, pictures are the scaterred timelines of our lives. (Unless you keep them well in your folders or photo albums. To me they're scattered.)
I sometimes find myself seeing through old photos, like baby photos, family photos, friends photos, or my own photos. I often recall things which are actually not in the photo. Like "oh, I was having a toothache when I took this photo" or "Ah! Right after I took this photo, I fell off my bike and cried".
Funny to recall such things, but the pictures are the ones who made me still remember. We can forget things, but pictures keep them forever. I think it's what makes pictures are priceless in different ways.


But don't even start by saying "but Janet, people in those photos can change .. *insert sad tragic emoticon here*"
Of course they can. They're humans. We are too. We always change.

So, how do you feel about pictures?
Do you like to be in it? Or do you prefer taking it?
Leave comments below.

Live life to the fullest,
Janet.



nb: this post is about pictures. I should as well post a picture below.

Ultraman in suit. how cool is that

I thought I was cool taking picture with a new rubbish bin, in front of Burger King's sign.

Could I be a time traveller?

A strange thing was happening to me this morning.

I was supposed to attend an appointment at 8:00 AM this morning, located in a place where it takes only 5-7 minutes to get there. Last night, I slept at around 3 or 4 AM and I thought I should set my alarm, so I did set my alarm to wake me up at 7:15 and 7:30 (believe me, one alarm is never enough) otherwise I would end up waking up at 10:00.

This morning I kinda woke up at 7:00 but I went to sleep again. After 15-20 minutes, I finally really woke up and the time was 7:20 ish. I took my clothes from the closet and went to take a bath. I think it took only around 15 minutes so if I remember it right, I'd be finished bathing at 7:35 (am i right so far?).

I looked at the time and yeah it was quite far from 8:00, so I decided to turn on my laptop and copy the material I had to bring to the appointment. After that, I downloaded my study materials (which I hadn't downloaded. fyi, the exam is tomorrow). I'm sure it took only a short time, but I didn't look at the time again after I finished downloading them.

So I went out of my boarding house, to the appointment place which is not far at all. I decided to buy some breakfast and a bottle of mineral water because I was hungry. Then I ate my breakfast on my way there.

When I arrived, I was feeling proud because I thought I came earlier. I asked to the person I was supposed to meet with such a pride, "You asked me to come by this time, right?" and smiles. But the person answered, "This time, you said??" with somehow a sarcastic smile. I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but then I got curious and looked at my phone to check what time it was.

8:50 AM!!

I spazzed for a while and I tried to recall everything I did. How could this happen? I approximately took only  45 minutes to prepare. How could it be 8:50 AM?

Then I started to think that I might have skipped an hour of time. Which is totally possible, right? (yes, yes it is)

Could I be a time traveller?

Please let me know what you think about this, and if you have some kind of sherlock-analysis to solve this... (riddle?) feel free to share your thoughts.

That's it for now, folks.

Live life to the fullest,

Janet

Writing your own life?

If life is written, 

Do you see yourself as the reader, or do you see yourself as a writer?

There may be some of you who would think, "Of course I am the writer, because I write my life, I own it as if it was my own book. I'm definitely the writer, because I'm the only one who defiines myself."

But some of you would have a different perspective by thinking, "I spend most of my time in my life to be a reader, because I learn a lot from other people, things, whether it's good or bad. I observe a lot, and therefore I know what life is. I think I am a reader."

I believe that we are both of them.

I apologize for writing such a blurry post. I personally think it's fun to spend time by myself getting deep in thoughts, as I try to figure out what to write on my blog. Sometimes I don't even plan to write anything, so maybe most of the time I end up posting ambiguous post that doesn't even have a clear purpose at the very first place. 

Speaking of it, I'd like to share a bit of my thoughts and experience on writing.

I never called myself a writer. 

I have to admit, I have had 2 blogs before this one. The first one was when I was in high school, most of the posts were just about my daily life at school or weird things that I found fun to post about. The second blog I had was probably not as "slice of life" as the first one, but I made it when I just graduated from high school. I posted some serious posts and some random posts. It was fun. But then I took a hiatus because college started and like usual, I couldn't think of a topic that I would write about. Now this third blog is a fresh new start.

So have you figured why I was never brave to call myself a writer? I was thinking that a writer should be a creative person who always knows what he/she wants to write. A writer should really know how to express things, whether it's their thoughts, people's thoughts, knowledge, or feelings which are waiting to be expressed. 

According to that definition of a writer, I can't call myself one. I've started 2 blogs (now it's 3) hoping that it would be the last blog that I made. But I always felt the need to make a fresh start, once I think the previous one was not good enough to continue. "The blog was too childish", "Too many aimless post", "Talked too much about emotional feelings", and etc.

But tonight something got me.

Back to that comfortable thoughtful state of mine, for once I actually looked at it differently.

The posts , they keep evolving as the time flows. It changes as I change.

When I read the posts from the past, I could really see how it changed through the years.

It's like writing your own history book. 

It really is about your life. How you see life, feel life, listen to life, and react to life.

And now, I feel no more regrets.

I might have had discontinued 2 blogs now. But those are no longer failures.

They are my past stages of life. And those have influenced and made me who I am now, more or less.

Now I'm trying to work on my third blog, and as always, I hope this can last as long as it's good to last.

I've always enjoyed writing to express. I admit I have tried writing to impress. 

But oh- that didn't work so well. Anyway.

That's about me and writing. If you have read until this far, then it's your turn.

How about you? How do you feel about writing? What is it to you?

Do you feel like you're good at it? Have you tried writing your thoughts/ feelings and just let it free without even bothering about how it looks like to others when they read it?

Don't doubt, start writing.

Leave your comments below. :)

Live life to the fullest,

Janet

What's bothering you, really?

Have you ever felt like there's something wrong, but you don't know exactly why?

For some reasons you just feel exhausted everyday, not physically, but more mentally. Sometimes you're just numb, hot-headed, or unsatisfied with everything.

The mood is really bothering you. You just wonder and wonder what's happening to you and why you just suddenly lose your spirit to do anything, even the activities you normally do. 

I have experienced it a few times, and until now I still wonder why it can happen at the most random times. But no, it doesn't stop there. As a normal human being that I am, I'm utterly curious about it (who isn't?) so I try to analyze it, at least by finding a solution each time I feel that way.

Just to remind you, in this post I'm not going to talk about how to solve what's bothering you (if you already know what it is). We're now talking about this weird feeling that gets you, making you feel uncomfortable with yourself, or with your activities, or even with your whole life. It can get into different kinds of level, but we're not going to get too deep on that today.

By now, I know this topic might seem to be getting too vague for you, so I'll just put it straight.

It turns out that the causes are not as BIG as you thought they are.

What I have found so far, is that there could be something wrong with your mind only, your physical condition only, or both of them.

What to do now?

Now let's explain it with points.

1. You just need a nice deep sleep

Don't laugh at me like I'm yo mama telling you to get enough sleep, but the amount of sleep that you have everyday really affects your mood, temper, spirit, or anything related to your states of mind. Do not underestimate the power of sleeping. When you only get 1-2 hours of sleep a day, you would probably find yourself yelling for something you usually wouldn't be so bothered about. Sleep well, and you'll get a fresh fresh mind.

2. Please motivate me

This sounds really cliche, but motivation is the very basic thing that keeps you going on with your life. Everyone wants to achieve a specific something, whether it's good grades, a scholarship, perfect partner, or even eternal life, something MUST drives you to do whatever you do. We can be lack of motivation and we don't even realize it. "What do I do now?" Read books. Watch things that inspire you,  it can be anything, really. To me, even videos about cute babies can do. You can also try to make this thing called "Motivation board" where you can put motivational quotes, your friends/ family photos, your goals, and anything which can boost your spirit. Just give it a try, and you'll see.

3. Treat yourself!

We all have those days when we don't even have time for ourselves. We have to do this and that, assignments, exams, work, or anything that keeps us busy. We start to care less about our health and we end up pushing ourselves too hard on everything because we want to get our works done. It's not bad at all to be so much goal-oriented, but working too hard can cause you more trouble. Stop for a while, and do yourself a favor. You can hang out with your friends, buy yourself something you want (e.g: chocolate is a great mood booster for me), or for a quick treat you can spend your time listening to your favourite songs. You're still a human being after all, not a robot.

4. See the core of the problems

You might be having a lot of things going on, and you don't know where to start solving your problems. We can have multiple problems at a time, so start finding the core of what's really bothering you. It's possible that you're actually really annoyed with a certain thing, but you also have a few things that are also bothering you, but not as much. In the end you just have no clue of why you're so bitter about everything. Know yourself and try to admit how you're actually feeling about the core problem, once you find it. Do not hold it or lie to yourself.

5. Go social

Sometimes the solution is just to socialize more and get together with some friends or people you love. Especially if you've been busy with things and you can't. Supports from your beloved ones are always precious and are very good for mood boosting. For a sanguine like me, this is one of the things that keeps me sane. I like to discuss and share my thoughts and problems with people I trust. Just so that I wouldn't explode by keeping it all to myself.

So the five points above can probably explain about why we can feel this "uneasy", "exhausted", or "bitter" feelings that we couldn't really understand before. In my opinion, the most important thing is to keep a balanced state of mind and health. With that, we'll do just fine.

Thoughts? leave your comments.

Live life to the fullest.

Janet

Quick Introduction!

Hey guys!
Kindly read my profile here. You can also access it from The Mastermind -> Profile.