Away! Bye!

Hi friends! 

I’ll be flying to Denmark tonight for the entire June vacation! If you’re thinking that this trip is going to be my holidays … sadly it’s not! Hahaha. I will be going there to study!! I suddenly recalled what my friends always tell me, "You can't stop studying one ah? Haiyo!" To my dear friends: I also wish I can stop la, but I guess deep down in me there's a dream that I need to pursue in my life! And you all should know! heh :) 

Also, I really would like to thank and express my gratitude towards my friends who have expressed their best wishes for me over in Denmark. I am glad to receive those text messages and phone calls. It's the thoughts that you guys have for me made me feel how fortunate and blessed I am! 

I will try to upload daily taken photos on my blog to share my life in Denmark with you all! I will promise to enjoy as much as I can over there, even though the chances of it are quite low! :P 

Lastly, I also hope that I will be able to write a sequel to one of my old blog topics after my trip! I hope that I am really able to though. (: 

To end off, I like to sincerely wish you guys a happy June vacation too! :) Enjoy it to the fullest!! 

I WILL MISS YOU ALL! :D

For My Friends.

Hello friends!! :D

I just felt that it’s time to revive my blog with a new post & as well as, to take a break from all the studying! I don’t know how many equations I have already written the past few days! Hahahaha. Before I write my topic, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the best in preparing for their tests and for those who have completed their tests, to enjoy your holidays to the fullest! ^^. Oh and here's a fun fact about myself, it’s a month away before I mark my first year in blogging. Haha, time really flies. 

With that, I guess a post on my thoughts and feelings to why I have decided to start a blog will bring about sentimental value to me and to all my friends. Initially, I wanted to leave this post to next month but since I foresee that I'd be really busy starting from July onward, so here's the post today! Hope that you guys will looking forward to reading it! ^^

8 July 2013 - 8 June 2014,

I was thinking of ways to stay connected with as many friends as possible, especially those who have parted ways to pursue higher education at different institutions after the PSLE and O's levels. Accepting that this is part and parcel of life, and I have to move on. I have never given in to the belief that that was the last chapter of my life with them.  As much as I believed fate has brought two people together, I also believed that the efforts will very well determine how lasting they could be. 

This probably ignited a spark in me to start blogging so that my friends can read and find out more about my life. To this point of my thoughts, I asked myself, "How do I justify that I have stayed connected with my friends when they are the only ones that can know more about my life but I don't know theirs?" As you can see it was so one-sided to start with. So I sat down and told myself back then, " So long as I felt that I have placed my best effort on my part to maintain all of the friendships I had, that's enough." I knew it was impossible to involve everyone with my blog. That's life ... and is fair. 

With that, I continued blogging into the next few months, keeping it as active as possible. To be honest with you, it wasn't easy to keep my blog active because it requires time, energy and commitment to write up a post. At the same time, I also wanted to keep my posts relevant to my friends. I tried writing up on issues pertaining to around our lives, posts about my own life and as well as, posts that motivates or gives inspirations to people. And I am aware that my posts weren't the best written, the thoughts and ideas may be on the superficial level. But I promise to continue improving on my ideas and posts and most importantly, to write to my best effort. Nevertheless, I will still continue my style in ensuring that clarity of ideas are easily put across to many. And I will strive to improve on my English.

In the midst of blogging, I have also encountered the conundrum of to blog for my readers or to blog for myself? I guess you could see that I tried a range of genres for my topics from time to time. Haha. And finally today, I decided that blogging for my readers will be the best direction to head towards. So you may be questioning me on how exactly am I sure that my posts are going to be for you? Well, I will just write about my life and is for you because it may hopefully intrigue you to find out more. :) 

All in all, I just hope to maintain the friendships. 

Love you all,

Ben 

10 Quotes For When Times Are Difficult

Difficult moments are just part and parcel of our lives which everyone has to go through from time to time. There is no running away from it. No one likes it when it happens to them. However, we should not be too disheartened about it. As Matthew Henry once said, “After a storm comes the calm”. 

I got to admit that I am really guilty of seeking motivation quotes when times are hard for me. Simply because when everything is wrong, the quotes tend to lose its meaning and purpose for me. Nevertheless, these quotes indeed do have a meaningful and purposeful message to be sent across to you and it does helps to ease your hard times to a certain extent. 

Today, I’ll be sharing 10 motivational quotes with everyone and hope that you will find it meaningful.

      1.    Accept Your Hardships

You can say that hardship is a test to figure out our own limits. Every struggle in life makes us realize our own strengths and weaknesses. And it carries multiple lessons to be learnt at the end of it. We should strengthen our strengths and improve upon on our weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to deal with hardships because tough times are only temporary yet the valuable lessons in there to be learnt will stay permanent in our heart. It is a good exchange.

    2.     Forget about your past

The simplest way that I can convince you to forget about your past is that life is neither created nor meant to be travelled backwards. The past is definitely worth remembering, but not when it takes up your energy and happiness away. The only things that you should remember from your past are the lessons that were once learnt.  

     3.     Always hope for the better

We should hold on to the hopes that everything will be better eventually. It is just a matter of time. As Matthew Henry once said, “After a storm comes the calm”. Our hopes are often crushed because many things do not appear to be in our favor, but things won't stay the way it is forever. We must not give up in critical moments.

     4.     Keep moving forward

You wonder why some of your friends have left you without any spoken reasons. And you are all set to seek for logical explanations. Their departure has made your life bitter and tough. I hope this quote will be of help to you in times like this. Just leave it to fate sometimes.

     5.    At least you have identified your true friends

Hardships have at least provided you with true friends. After all, friendship isn’t about whom you have known the longest but it’s about who came and never left your side. These are the friends that you have got to treasure and love for your entire life time. 

     6.    Never allow yourself to be one of the many Obstacles

No matter how bad things or situations are, you can always make it worse. Don’t think of the negative things which will only worsen the situation you’re in. Instead, think of the positive things so that it will give you the strength required to overcome your struggles and to carry on in life.

     7.    It’s never the end

It’s definitely not the-end when times are tough. No matter how rough the storm may be, there is always a little piece of you that says, “NO, you’re not done yet! Get back up!” Always remember, tough situations don’t last but tough people do! Stay strong! 

     8.    Be forward looking

There are many things to look forward to and to be treasured in life. Never allow yourself to stay in the stormy situations for a too long duration because you may be missing many beautiful things that are happening around you all the time. Step out of the stormy weather and see what is in store for you. 

     9.   It nurtures you to be a better person

See that hardships make us understand life better through a bitter way. No matter how much hatred we have for difficult times, we should always remember the lessons learnt at the end of it because it makes us become better people. 

     10.   Love the life you live

Spend your time doing your favorite hobby, with your friends or anything else that will make you feel happy. Be positive and look at what life has got to offer you. No matter how dim things might be, there is always a light at the end of a tunnel. Occupy your mind with the good and learn to love the life you’re living. 

That's all I have got to share with you! Hope that you will find it meaningful. Share the post. Spread the joy! :) 

7 Ways To Figure Out What You Want In Life

Life is full of mysteries and lessons that are waiting for us to unveil as we explore the various options that are available to us. Often, we are afraid of where this option or route will bring us to or what will be its outcome. As a result, we have become more hesitant, more wary and more fearful when it comes to selecting which option can really do us the best. We will never be definite on which option will do us good and making us feel comfortable in life, but it is possible to figure out the chances of how good the option is going to be for you.

Today, I’ll be sharing 7 ways on how you can find out what best suits you in life. 

         1.          Find out what you really need in life

Ask yourself, what are the things required in order to make you feel happy? Always remember that your happiness holds a great significance to your loved ones and for your own mental wellbeing. Next important question to ask yourself – are these things going to matter to you in the near future? These things may include love, financial security or family. Once you have the answers to these questions, you will have a better perspective or feel of which option will grant you a fulfilling and happier life.

         2.          Think of where you will be in 5 years’ time

This is a very important question to ask yourself. It’s going to be easier and more realistic to picture your life 5 years into the future than compared to 10 years.  If you are still studying 5 years later then probably you can start thinking what field of study and where you want to go for your further studies. If you can’t picture what you are going to do in the next 5 years – think of what kind of skills you will like to develop and what is your ultimate goal or passion in life? These questions will help to decide on which direction you should best take. 

         3.            Decide on what really bothers you

It’s time that you spend effort to understand yourself. Only from here, then will you make the best decision for yourself in life. What are the things that you hate? What are the things you can’t live without?  You can list down these things and they will serve as reminders or indicators for you to decide on the direction to take. From here, you will be set to go in the path that is quite unlikely to take away your happiness. 

         4.      Talk to someone that is reliable & you trust.

We can be really lost when we are left on our own at times. When this happens, confine to someone your concerns and thoughts and hear what the other party has to say. This person can be any of your family members, your best friend or your teacher. Consider whether their advices are relevant to you and make the final decision on your own. Since no one can make better decisions for you other than yourself.  

          5.     Consider your dream in life

I believe everyone has a dream to pursue. No dream is too big or too small, and this dream of yours shall be the proudest moment in your life when you achieve it. Just remember whenever you are clueless or lost on what to do next, think and consider your dream. Because sub-consciously you will be planning step by step on how you are going to achieve it. And I believe you will have a plan that best suits your own life. 

          6.     Find out the things you truly enjoy doing

Never place yourself in a situation where you have to force yourself to do something. Many of us have experienced how it is like to be when we are forced to study subjects that we hated in primary and secondary school years. We did not have a choice back then. So what I am trying to say is that find something that really interests you and as well as, it wouldn’t bore you even if you have to do it for long hours. In other words, find your passion in life. Give your best in it. Only then you will have a more satisfying and fulfilling life journey.  

         7.      Get a hobby

Starting on a hobby can allow you to realize what really suits you and to discover some unique points about yourself. Just try out different hobbies from time to time to see what really suits you. This may make you to re-evaluate your priorities set previously.  You will be probably making time out for your favorite hobby.  As Marian Schembari once said, “you can't discover what you want to do with your life if you don't take advantage of everything life has to offer”. 

If this post has been helpful to you, share the post! Share the joy! :)

7 Bitter Life Truths You Have To Know

Life as we know it is filled with countless number of bitter truths. One thing undeniable is that we all have encountered some of these truths at least once or many times in our life time.  More often than not, we hear success stories from successful people, but little did we know what handicaps did they have before achieving their well-deserved success?

Tonight, I’ll be sharing 7 bitter truths about life and I believe these pointers are going to resonate with everyone very well. 

          1.      Life Is Never Fair

Admit it, we all have said this few words many times in our lives. Indeed, life has been unfair to start with. The most oft-seen example will be some people are born into a wealthier family while some are not. This applies very well to our school lives as well – When your friend gets the same grades as you although he has put in less effort than you. It is true that we will experience this in our entire life time. And unlikely will there be any escape from this bitter truth of life. However, don’t be too disheartened about it, because you can possibly recall that in some ways life has also been kinder to you that others would wish for. 

         2.     Pain is a necessity

There are many forms of pain. Be it either is the pain that one has to go through before achieving success or the pain felt from the love relationship – it is inevitable. The most oft-quoted phrase, “No pain, no gain” has indeed further strengthened my main point here. Everyone hates the feeling of pain, no one likes it. We all know pain is never a good thing or feeling to us. However, we also know that it is only through pain then will we learn and remember our mistakes once and for all. Pain is therefore our necessary ally as it makes us grow to become stronger. 

         3.    People will always judge

We are all familiar with this truth of life. There is also little can we do to stop this. People are always going to judge you based on your actions and words. No matter how nice a person you are, you are still going to be judged for that.  And no matter how right you may sound or may seem to be, people can still choose to only remember the bad about you. This is just the bitter fact of life. We can only remind ourselves not to be too caught up with what others have to say, and never let these judgements define our personality or value.   

         4.    Not Everything Goes Your Way

We all have experienced this many times in our lives. It’s true that we never always have it our way. If you have not realized – We have even encountered or experienced this during our kids’ years. Parents do not always buy the toys or books that we loved or wanted.  Now, this point is even further experienced throughout our school years, in competitions or at work. Perhaps we just have to resign to fate that some things are not meant to be ours. And if you are constantly seeking for explanations or reasoning, sometimes there isn’t any …

         5.    Your best does not guarantee your success

No matter how sad this truth may appear to you, it is one that we encounter from time to time. It is never a good feeling when this happens to us. Of course, it is our nature to feel sad or depressed when we encounter this. But we must stand up and carry on with our lives as soon as possible when we encounter it. As Lee Kuan Yew once said, “If you don't carry on with life when you face setbacks, you will just degrade over time”.

         6.   Dilemma will always be a problem of yours

There are many times you are thrown into a situation where you are "damned if you do, and damned if you don't”. And I believe it stays clear to you that either of the options will be accompanied with certain unforeseen consequences. It is just a matter of how severe the consequences would differ. Unfortunately, dilemmas will always be part of your life. Some has said, “The only way out is to transform your perspective to a place where the dilemma no longer exists. This is possible”. 

         7.    Sometimes we just have to accept things as it is

That’s life. No matter how much hatred or discontentment you have for a particular thing, there is nothing much you can do at times. You can either choose to complain or rant about it the whole day or come to a decision to accept the things or situation the way as it is. You just have to recognize that life is never perfect but you do have the abilities and tons of opportunities to always make or gain the most out of any situations. You just have to put aside your emotions and think hard, logically and rationally. Trust me, it is possible.

These are just my two cents worth. I understand that everyone would have different bitter truths about their lives. However, there are some universal truths that we share definitely. 

If you enjoy reading it, share the post! Spread the joy. :)