Stop Being So Damn Serious!

I have a tendency to be too serious at times. I'm pretty sure most of us have that tendency, probably even comedians get really serious from time to time. There are some people though, who take everything way too seriously. They are always pouting and never smile, they can't take a joke, they don't know how to laugh, they get angry at the slightest disagreement, etc. I have met these types of people, and they are not fun to be around. I had to be really careful not to grind their gears, and it took a lot of effort. Compared to people who have even a slight sense of humor, I would rather be with them than the people who are too serious. 

I, myself have been mistaken as a person who was too serious by some people I knew(must be because of my serious face which people commented that is scary). These people are usually just acquaintances and they never hung out with me. When they did and they found out that I actually can laugh, they get really surprised at my sense of humor and my tendency to laugh a lot. 

The reason why I have a sense of humor and laugh a lot is because I learned that:

•Laughter is the best medicine for any bad day

•The most memorable times I have with my family and friends is when we laughed our heads off

•People will like you more if you can make them laugh or at least if you laugh with them

•You will be a lot more attractive to the opposite sex if you have a good sense of humor

Trust me, being a person who is too serious is not fun at all. You will tend to hate everything and you will be unhappy with your life. Stop it and go laugh out loud. You'll be glad you did.

You Need To Let Go Right Now

Letting go is probably one of the hardest things to do in life. We may not be able to let go of our ex cheating on us or our friend stabbing us in the back but we need to for our own well being.

Imagine you're hanging on a cliff for dear life, your right hand is hanging on the ledge while your left hand is holding a bag. You need to let go of this bag to be able to lift yourself up and save your own life. The problem is, we cannot let go of the bag for our own personal reasons. The bag is holding us down but in reality, it's useless. That is like us in real life, only the bag represents our bad experiences in the past.

Remember unless you let go, you won't be able to truly lift yourself up, move on, and enjoy or be happy with your life. Whatever bag is holding you down, let it go and climb the cliff to save your life.

Image source: https://www.masterfile.com/search/en/extreme+dangerous+cliff+hanging

Change is the only Consistent thing in the world

In this world, everything is constantly changing. The season changes from summer to spring. The month will change from August to September. The weather will change from sunny to rainy. Even as of this moment, your body is changing, your becoming hungrier and thinking when you're going to eat next(I might get some food after posting this). Basically everything in this world changes. It's the only consistent thing in the world. The phrase "people change" is true for every person in this planet. We may change physically, or we may change mentally and emotionally. We may change for the worse, or we may change for the better. We are not the same person compared to who we were a year ago, a month ago, a week ago or even who we were yesterday. There was a time where I myself didn't want to change though. I wanted to stay the same because I was comfortable with it. But it hurt me that I stayed the same, because I was not changing to grow. I wanted to stay the same in these ways:

• I wanted to stay a bum, sitting at home watching Netflix a day doing nothing. Now I'm starting to change by being productive and starting my writing and entrepreneurship career.
• I wanted to stay a passenger, not learning how to drive because I was too afraid. I enrolled in a driving school some time ago, I also learned how to drive from family members. Now I'm going to practice since I already know the basics and I will need to learn how to drive on the highway soon.
• I wanted to keep letting my mom cook all my meals for me or if not to eat out. Now I'm starting to want to learn how to cook myself and I will ask my mom to teach me and I will also teach myself how to cook.

These are just some of the things I'm starting to change as of the moment. Some major changes will definitely happen in my life in the following years. I may or may not be ready for them, but I will have to accept them, since these will change me for the better and help me grow. Change may be uncomfortable and hard at first, but it is necessary for us humans to grow and mature, for us to become better ourselves.

image source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/change-only-constant-teamhealth-medical-call-center

Doubt Everything You Know

I recently rewatched the movie "How to Train Your Dragon." Yes, the first one, since they announced a third movie in the making. While I was watching though, one line from Hiccup struck me. He said about the dragons: "Everything we know about you guys, is wrong." This struck me because what if all or some of the things that we have been taught about is wrong? I know that it used to be wrong for women to work and for men to take care of the children, but now there are families with house husbands. I know that it used to be wrong for people of color or a different race to be recognized, but now multi-culturalism exists. Personally when I was little, I was taught that you should be content if you have a good job and a good family, that rich people are miserable and bad people. I've read about biographies of some rich people and discovered that they are the happiest and kindest people I know of. So I urge you to open your mind and doubt everything you know by:

1. Researching about a topic or a person thoroughly before judging.
2. Try to hear and understand people you disagree with and how they think.
3. Try something out before disliking it.

You never know, you might discover something that might change your perspective.

Image source: kotaku.com

Suicide is Never the Answer to Your Problems

The recent suicides of celebrities like Avicii, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain are very tragic. They made me realize something: just because you're rich, successful and famous, doesn't mean you're going to be happy. Also, mental health is a very important matter as much as physical health.

I have to share this. When I was 17, I was diagnosed with a mental illness. I thought that my life was over and I would live the rest of my life with this hardship. I decided that I would kill myself. I climbed on the 5th floor fire escape at my college building and I wanted to jump, but I was too afraid of doing it. With the help of professional psychiatrists, along with my friends and family, I was able to overcome my depression and recover from my mental illness. It's scary to think about what would have happened if I did jump and tried to kill myself.

My life has gotten a lot better, I experienced things in life I would never have expected. I achieved some of my goals and dreams, and also have new ones I am working towards on. I have a family that loves me and have awesome friends. I am truly blessed and I am sure I would still receive blessings and new things in life that I would be grateful for in the future.

If ever you're reading this and considering killing yourself, I want you to ask yourself: will it solve all my problems? I've heard of a quote that says "suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." It's true and I believe that suicide is never the answer. I want you to do these things:

1. Get help from a professional immediately
2. If that's not possible, talk to some trusted loved ones and friends
3. Write down at least one thing in you're life that you're thankful for. If there is at least one thing, you'll realize that life is worth it.

Always remember that whatever hardships, trials or problems you're going through, it's always temporary and it will pass. Also, none of us are suffering alone, everyone suffers. Go talk to someone today, you never know if he or she might be able to help and make you realize that life is worth living.

Image source: http://lefunny.net/quote-of-the-day-quote-about-suicide/

The Past is in the Past

If ever the time machine was invented, I would be the first person to volunteer to try it, just so I could go back to the past and change everything. I would go back to when was 11 or 12 and do 99% of what I did from then on differently. Funny, I thought I was the only one who thought of this, but it turns out that all of us have thought of going back to the past at least a few times. I realized that when I talked to my friend at church. He said: "God only provides you with the ending of your story, everything in between is up to you." Wise words from a wise man. There are also lessons I learned in the past few years about the past:

1. It's over and there's nothing you can do to take it back.
2. You can only learn from the mistakes and regrets you made in the past.
3. You can use it as a reference to avoid doing the same in the future.
4. The present and the future are infinitely more important than the past.

It took me a lot of time to learn these lessons. I still forget them from time to time, but I need to remind myself of them whenever I get sad about it. I'm still waiting for the time machine to be invented, but until then, I'm going to live in the now and create a better future.

Image source: SuccessDiaries Facebook Page

You Are Never 100% Ready

A few days ago, I went to the boxing gym with my friend. It was his first time to box his entire life and he really surprised me when we wanted to spar with his trainer. Most people I know who do boxing training trains for a few months or weeks at least before even considering to spar with someone, and my friend wanted to try it immediately. He said he wanted to "know his initial level." At first I thought he was a fool, but then I awed at his bravery and confidence in himself. I then realized when I went home that when I started to do boxing, I was never ready to try it either. I was afraid that I would hurt my hands and my body would ache the day after. After I did try it though, I felt amazing. I felt like I can do any type of martial art after.

Here's a little secret to life that I learned: You are never 100% ready for anything. You just got to try it first and then as people say, "wing it" or "lean into it." You will learn on the process while making mistakes and getting experience for yourself. Most people wait until they are "truly ready" but that never is the case. No matter how much practice or preparation we do for something, we are always nervous before the performance. We are always even a little nervous before a speech, a final exam, a presentation, a competition, a date, etc. People who say that they aren't nervous are either lying or have no feelings or emotions. 

So whenever you want to try something or anything, always remember that you will never be 100% ready. The most important thing is to take the first step which is to simply just try it or do it. In the famous motto of Nike: "Just do it."

Images source: jackcanfield.com and https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinterest.com/amp/harperchildrens/the-world-of-lemony-snicket/?source=images

Make Those Mistakes!

Everybody makes mistakes, we're all human after all. Even when we were a baby, we made a lot of mistakes when we were learning how to walk, but we eventually learned after so many falls. When we were a kid and we were learning how to ride a bike, we fell and scraped our knees or legs, but we eventually learned after so many bruises and scars. When we started school and we learned how to read and write, after so many miswritten letters, misspelled words, and mispronounciations, we eventually learned how to read a whole book and write whole sentences and paragraphs. If you don't make a mistake, then you don't learn. We somehow forget this when we grow older. We are afraid of looking like a fool in front of other people, but we must always remember this. Every mistake you make you will be one step closer to learning and mastering any skill.

Caveat: I'm not saying you should keep making the same mistakes again. You should learn from your mistakes as quickly as possible to avoid committing them again the next time.

Image source: https://www.50-best.com/albert_einstein_quotes/pics/never_made_a_mistake.htm

The Art of Small Wins and Compounding

The art of small wins is the art of improving a little bit each day. Every day you spend a little bit of your time, usually an hour, into improving any skill you want to work on. If you improve by 1% each day, you can improve 365% in a year. In time, these small wins can compound into big wins. Here are a few examples:

•If you start drawing and you draw every day, you will eventually draw masterpieces.

•If you start playing basketball and you play regularly, you will eventually become your team's MVP.

•If you start reading a book and you read a few pages a day, you will eventually finish the book in a few weeks, maybe even just a week.

•If you start running and you run a few times a week, you will eventually start running in marathons.

Stop Worrying

In my life I've worried about a lot of things. I've worried if I could graduate or get a job. I've worried if I could actually lose weight. I've worried if I could ride a scary roller coaster. I've worried and worried, and honestly, it was rather pointless that I worried. When I actually did the things I mentioned above, I've realized that the time before I did them was actually a lot scarier than when I was actually doing them. Also, I worried if things can actually get worse or if the worst case scenario actually happened, and they didn't! Worrying is a waste of time because even if something bad happens, it's not as bad as you think! These are the things that actually happened in the situations above:

1. I graduated, but I was two years delayed
2. I got my first job three months after I graduated, but it was not in line with my degree
3. I lost weight, but it took me about 8 months losing and gaining weight back and forth
4. I rode my first big roller coaster in 2011 and I almost puked

Worrying is a waste of time and energy. You will waste your happiness on worrying about useless things. The last thing I want to say about worrying is that when you worry, you're actually not trusting God or the universe that will let you live a great life.

Stop worrying and start hoping. Be excited about your future and trust that it will be great.

Picture credit: www.lifehack.org