Eleventh Blog - Happiness

This month, I have started reading Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I'm still at the first part of the book, but it has made me reflect on some aspects of my life which need improving. You know, it's a very good book that inspires you to be happy. (In my case, to be happier.) It's a book that can help you straighten your life. And unlike other inspirational books, The Happiness Project suggests that you can find happiness in your own home. You don't have to go somewhere far (like in Eat Pray Love (I also love that book!)) You can find happiness in the things you already have. I recommend it. ;)

Gretchen Rubin's TWELVE COMMANDMENTS (for a happy life)

1. Be Gretchen. (Be yourself.)

2. Let it go.

3. Act the way I want to feel.

4. Do it now.

5. Be polite and be fair.

6. Enjoy the process.

7. Spend out.

8. Identify the problem.

9. Lighten up.

10. Do what ought to be done.

11. No calculation.

12. There is only love.

Now, Gretchen Rubin's twelve commandments inspired me to make my own, well, rules in life. Hmm, some of them I've been following my whole life and some are established for me to have a better life.

1. Make God your "person". (I'm a believer!)

2. Be a deluded moron. Believe in the impossible. (I also advocate The Secret.)

3. Embrace boredom. (And you'll never be bored.)

4. Always bring comedy to life. (I'm not a fan of real drama. I think it's intoxicating.)

5. Don't complain and don't expect too much either. (So true!)

6. Let it be. (Like my favorite Beatle said: ♪ There will be answer, let it be!)

7. When you want things done right, do it yourself. (It's recommended for people who strives for perfection.)

8. Accept rejection. (It's God's redirection.)

9. Always see the best in people. (Don't judge fast.)

10. A strong commitment will achieve good results. (Never give up!)
11. Get angry only to those people who deserve your love. (If they're not deserving, don't waste your time.) 

Working on my happiness wouldn't just make me happier, it would boost the happiness of the people around me. The Happiness Project :) 

Tenth Blog - Dreams

For the past few days, my dreams had been - vivid. I can't tell you exactly all the details; but it involves being in a new place, feeling confused and the feeling of looking for something. Wow, I suppose I just told you what I think about my dreams. :)) Anyway, I'm telling this because, I'd like to discuss what I know about dreams - the dreams that involve the act of sleeping and not the dreams that pertains to aspirations or goals. But I guess, you know that by now. :)

So, what do I know about dreams?

First, I read in one of Paulo Coelho's book (I forgot which one, maybe it's The Alchemist? hihi, I'm not sure! XD) that dreams are gifts from God. I think what Coelho is trying to tell here that dreams should be taken in importance. It has to mean something right? What you dream might be a prophecy, well, maybe it's not important for the sake of the whole world but it can be important to your own little world. :)

Second, I know that dreams are essential in Psychology. You dream because of your brain and your brain functions the way your psyche (soul/whole being) works. So, it means that dreaming is a way of understanding one self. Sigmund Freud specialized in dream interpretation. He believed that dreams are repressed wishes and it reflects our deepest desires. 

Yes, dreams can be symbolic. And it is hard to interpret dreams through symbolism because not all meanings can apply to all people. Hmm, let's take for example a color. For some red can mean love or passion but for some it can mean aggression or blood (violence). 

However, sometimes, we don't need to look for symbolic objects in our dreams. Sometimes, all we need to identify is what we are feeling while we are dreaming. Emotions are vital. It helps a lot in understanding our disposition. Just take in for example what I've written above. Right now, I know that I'm taking a new step in life. It's all new to me that's why I'm feeling confused and I know that I'm searching for something. Though about that, I'm still wondering what... 

As an advice, try asking yourself whenever you wake from a vivid dream: "Why am I having this dream now?"

Third, I know that dreams are very confusing! Sometimes you just have to let the dreams be. Don't overthink things... :))

"Dreams are answers to questions we haven't figured out how to ask." - X Files ;)

Ninth Blog - The Beatles

This blog is dedicated to those beatle-fans out there! :D (pause) Wow, I've waited many weeks to do this blog and now I don't know where to begin. :)) So, maybe I'll just start by saying I LOVE THE BEATLES!!! Listening to their music makes me happy. During these tough times, listening, singing and playing Beatle-songs are few things that gives me genuine happiness. And I may have been teased by other people about this, but I don't care. As long as it makes me happy, I'll keep playing beatle-songs again and again in my playlist. ;)

The Beginning:

All John Lennon need was love.
(Nowhere Boy)

Like any other, The Beatles started because of a dream. I believe that it was John Lennon's dream of being like Elvis Presley that started it all. At that time, it seemed like it was a foolish dream. Many had thought that he was destined to failure. But John Lennon proved them wrong. He formed a band called The Quarrymen. First, Lennon was singing with his school friends. Later, Paul Mccartney auditioned. Mccartney was from another school but because of his great talents, Lennon accepted him. Their friendship strengthened and this helped in their musical career. As we all know, there are many Lennon-Mccartney songs that changed the course history of music. (Ugh, they were so close!!! Why do they have to fight and break-up?!)  Then, George Harrison joined. He was recommended by Mccartney. They go to the same school together, I think. After many years, they found Ringo Starr. And the fab-four was born! See, dreams do come true! ;) (Oh, try watching Nowhere Boy. If you want a more detailed knowledge about the development of Lennon & Mccartney's friendship and their musical partnership. It's highly recommended!)

"Is nowhere full of geniuses, sir? Because then I do probably belong there." John Lennon

The Beatles Movies:

A Hard Day's Night (1964)
This movie is my most favorite beatle-movie! :) According to wiki, it's a mockumentary (fictitious documentary). The plot is simple but I just love how this movie captures the pure essence of the beatlemania. Plus, this movie is high-larious! I love their witty remarks at each other. And I especially love the part in the end where it shows how people love The Beatles. It's just that I can relate with them. xD

Help! (1965)
Many adored this film, and it goes without saying that I am one of them! It's colored; has a well-thought plot, very cultured; high budget-production; new great beatle-songs; and  funnier scenes. I laughed so hard while watching this film. I love this film! I liked A Hard Day's Night better because I liked black-and-white movies more. :))

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
I don't like to admit it but I'm kind of disappointed in this film. Well, not because I thought that this movie is plot-less like others think, on the contrary I like the plot of the movie, but I'm disappointed that they didn't include all the songs in their Magical Mystery Tour album like Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane and When I'm Sixty-Four. But if your a hard-core beatle-fan, watch the movie! ;)

Yellow Submarine (1968)
Unfortunately, I haven't got the chance to watch the movie yet. I don't know the reason why. But I hear that this movie is critically acclaimed. :D

Let it be (1969)

Hmm, this movie just makes me sad. This is the last time where we can see the fab-four singing their great songs together. This movie is also documentary-ish (or it's a documentary, I'm not sure, sorry). The plot shows how they came up with the songs in their Let it be album. Though, not all songs shown in here are included in the album; some of the songs were in the album, Abbey Road like Ringo Starr's Octopus's Garden and Maxwell's Silver Hammer.


The Beatles Cartoon TV:
The greatness of The Beatles can also be catered to the young and young at heart people. The Beatles Cartoon TV ran for three seasons. I must say that it is entertaining. This is also recommended if you like hearing the beatle-songs.

The Beatles Music:
The Beatles made 12 (or 13 or 16, sorry not sure!) studio albums, consisting of 201 songs all in all. For more details ask wiki :)) Unlike Elvis Presley or I dare say Madonna, the fab-four didn't last  that long. All they need was the 8 or 10 years they had together to make themselves a legend! Aren't they great? They are!

For those hard-core beatle-fan out there, here's a treat. You can download a complete compilation of all the beatle-songs! Amazing, right? I was so happy when I got hold of a copy. And who am I to take all the happiness? I'm here to share it. So enjoy! ;) http://www.4shared.com/office/JN8FRy85/00_The_Beatles_-All_Songs_1962.html (If the file has been removed due to copyright infringement, you can always contact me here so that I can send it to you via e-mail.)

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." The Beatles ;)

Eight Blog - Question again

For this blog, I originally planned to talk about The Beatles, but then something happened... not to me but to my two other friends... I always find myself in the middle when it comes to (hmm, what's the right word for this?) misunderstandings among other people. I'm like the peace maker or something. And it's a hard thing to do. You don't know what to do. And your afraid that something you say will be wrong; that it might hurt the feelings of the one side, or other side or worse both sides. But I guess, it's much better than being in the shoes of those people who misunderstood, hehe, so I should stop complaining, right? :)) Anyway, I won't bore you with the details of their misunderstanding. And I'm not the right person to tell anyways. I just hope that they straighten out their misunderstanding. And I hope that you'll hope with me? Wow, what kind of sentence was that? I'm not sure if that is grammatically correct. LOL

Anyhow, here's the question: "Friendship like everything else are not immune to change. The question is... How do you keep a question together when you're lives are pulling you apart?" 

I'm still not sure what's the right answer here, but then again, I think there's no right answer for this kind of question right? The answer would depend on the situation, right? :)

"When life pulls you apart, you have to work to stay close together. By putting yourself in each other's shoes, by reminding each other of who you were and who you are becoming. By remembering that despite all the changes that come, there are some other things that will always remain the same." - Being Erica

P.S. I promise I'll talk about The Beatles next time. ;)

Seventh Blog - The Secret

I've chosen between two topics for this month's blog, The Secret or The Beatles. But obviously I decided to go with one of the important keys to a great life. Maybe I'll talk about The Beatles next month.. :)

So The Secret? hmm... Have you heard about Rhonda Byrne? She wrote about The Secret. It's a self-help/inspirational book. It was a film first though. The Secret talks about a certain kind of a lifestyle where  this lifestyle helps you get whatever you want in life. It may sound crazy but I myself have used this secret. So, the logic here is that I may appear crazy?! and you probably wouldn't believe me. :)) But seriously, THE SECRET WORKS!!! ;)

This secret is the Law of Attraction. Basically, you get what you want by VISUALIZING in your mind what you really really want. You align your thoughts with your emotions (by aligning, they should be the in the same frequency or category, if you were thinking of a happy thought, then you should feel happiness) and then, God or the universe (whichever you like to believe) will conspire to make what's in your mind come true. Magical, isn't it? :) So the key here is to really think hard of what you really want. To not let yourself waver and simply have faith and just believe. Do you get what I'm saying? If not, then buy the book or watch the film. LOL, you'll understand it better that way. :P

If you can't buy copy, there's always a free copy in the internet. Here's a link of The Secret. And to avoid copyright infringement, I do not own this copy. :)

And right now, I am visualizing in my mind that I'm a doctor. A great one at that. :D I just took the admission test for a medical degree and my chances are 50-50. In some parts like mathematics, verbal proficiency and social science, I'm sure of my answers. But the other parts like physics and chemistry, I don't know. And I badly want a high percentile to get in a prominent medical school and have a scholarship. I cannot emphasize enough how much I need one. My mother is not that really supportive in my dream of becoming a doctor because of a slight financial problem. I just beat her with my stubbornness, that's why she agreed to try. See there? That's the work of the secret! xD

I have this fear inside me that I'm trying to shove away but that is impossible. So, what I do is have the right set of attitude in life. I use the secret. You'll see, I'm going to be a great doctor. I promise you! So why don't you try it. It never hurts to try, right? :) Well, that's not entirely true. If you try something like drugs or alcohol, you might get addicted and it could lead to some serious troubles. :)) But The Secret is an entirely different matter, so you get what I'm trying to say, right? So just believe! :)

"Once you begin to understand and truly master your thoughts and feelings, that's when you see how you create your own reality. That's where your freedom is, that's where your power is." - Marci Shimoff

Sixth Blog - Pressure

So, my sixth blog is about PRESSURE!!! Because I am currently under it. Why? Well, if you have read my previous blogs, then you know that I am aspiring to be a doctor... I dream big! ;) Anyway, to be a doctor, or to go to a medical school here in the Philippines, one has to take the NMAT (National Medical Admission Test) first. I think in the US, it is MCAT. I watched it in Grey's Anatomy. That is a great series by the way! :D 

So, this NMAT is a two part test, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first part consists of what I like to call the IQ test part: Verbal Proficiency, Inductive Reasoning, Quantitative and Perceptual Acuity. So verbal analogies, reading comprehension, math equations and the drawings you see on IQ tests are included. And the second part is purely academical. The four major sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Social Science. Sounds hard right? Well, it is! But it is easy to those who are natural geniuses and hardworking students who like to study. And I really have to study hard. Yup, that's my life for now. Study, study, study... This may seem like I am a plane old boring square. But don't judge me yet. I still got something that makes me interesting. :P

I am going to take the NMAT in December 4. It's just a few days away. That's why I'm under pressure. And I think this pressure is eating me alive!!! @-@ I can't think straight. I find it hard to sleep now. And I'm the  kind of person who loves sleeping! My friends even say that I'm like Sleeping Beauty. :P The song Under Pressure by the Queens is going on and on in my head. And I act crazy, well, more crazier than usual. xD Sometimes, when I think about this big test, I roll from side to side on my bed. I once tried it on the floor but I didn't like the feeling. The floor is hard and cold. The bed is more comfy! :)) 

As a psych major, I advised myself on this problem that I'm currently going into. And that advise: STOP WORRYING!!! All the worry will just make you an idiot! It made me one. But right now, I'm trying to be my superior self again by not letting myself be eaten by the pressure and worrying. This is one hard step. You can't just take all the worry with a snap of a finger. Or can you? Maybe, by hypnosis? LOL. But for ordinary people who couldn't afford therapy, I think the best way is to pray to what you believe in, either God, the universe or a someone you love. This helps. :) But don't take all the pressure away. Pressure helps, well, the right amount of pressure helps. Because with the right amount of pressure, you can go beyond your limit. Pressure is a double-edged sword: It can make you crazy or better. :)

"Pressure makes diamonds." - General George Patton

Fifth Blog - Question

My fifth blog is going to be made out of laziness... :P I'm going to leave you with a question that's been bugging me since my aneeki wrote some random quotes in the top or ceiling (I don't know what to call it! XD) of my bed (by the way, our bed is a double deck). 

And the question? "Are you willing to give up something you really want now for something you've wanted your whole life? Are you willing to spend less time on yourself so you can spend time with someone you really love? In short, are you willing to make sacrifices?"

I'm still not sure how to answer this. And I won't even dare to answer. Because when it comes to hypothetical questions like this, our hypothetical answer would sometimes be different from the things we would really do in reality. And sacrifice is a big word! :P

As an end note, I'll quote something from Scrubs.

"When you start med school, they warn you that you're gonna have to make sacrifices. Like giving up something you really want now for something you've wanted your whole life, or spending less time on yourself so you can spend time with someone you really love. At some point, you might even have to give up your own sense of safety and well-being. But after a while, it doesn't feel like your giving up anything at all." ;)