Lessons of 2019

1. On Calmness & Tranquility

Serenity can never be found elsewhere, but within ourselves. It is the wisdom of discerning a mere harmless threat with a life-changing concern. The trick is to recognise which is which and act accordingly. To leave and let go of situations we have no power to change and do everything in our utmost strength to change all that we can.

In order to nurture a healthy soul, mind and body, we have to carefully distinguish between situations and people that are worthy of our concern. By doing so, we will be able to face every single day without unnecessary distress, with an exceptional presence of mind.

2. On Expectations

I’ve learnt that it is often much better and sweeter to be getting something you dont expect. Life is generally unpredictable and people can be disappointing. It sucks when you put your hopes up just to be disappointed and let down in the end.

The best way is to not place your expectations too high. Work hard however you will and most importantly, have the highest of faith on the All-Knowing and All-Mighty God. Place your trust in all His infinite wisdom, and whatever the result may be, you’ll be thankful and happy.

3. On Giving

Giving does not necessarily have to be money. It can be time, effort, advice, compliments and many many more.

To those who look closely, the World is a beautiful gift. Hence, each and every one of us has something to offer to another, always.

4. On Friendship

Growing up and old, it is understandable that we each have our own commitments and priorities to attend to. Meaning that meet-ups may be as infrequent as it may be. Regardless, those who sincerely treasure friendship will make time for each other no matter what. Because one of the most precious things in life is time; once passed there will be no turning back. Time might just be the best gift in any friendship ever, be it time spent on keeping in touch, on having lunch, on talking and texting on the phone or on wishing and praying each other well.

We do not necessarily have to share similar interests to be friends. Just like magnets, the opposite attracts. And our differences complete each other in one way or another.

5. On Love

Love is not blind as defined. Love sees, and sadly Love almost always sees the blind.

The lover of oneself knows ones’ worth to finally walk away. The lover of others may latch on the unworthy and try to make Love stay.

I bid farewell to the Love of the past. For there will be Love in future; hopeful and in every way better than the last.

May our 2020 be blessed with fulfilled dreams, beautiful moments and life lessons. Let bygones be bygones and keep on moving forward!

December 31, 2019 by catpucino

26

On turning 26, I’ve realised and learnt lots of lessons. I’ve written about most of them exactly 3 years ago and reading them back got me feeling like those words were written by an entirely different person. In all honesty, never thought I could write that good, in comparison to my recent writings which were of lesser quality.

Come to think of it, the 23 things I’ve learnt for turning 23 years old, that was the very first piece of writing that was published for public view. Apparently it was received in an amazing manner, which actually encouraged me to send another piece of writing to TP. Hence, my journey as a contributing writer at TP started which eventually became a platform for me to share more to the public while strengthening my vocabulary and usage of Bahasa Melayu.

I guess that will always be one of my biggest achievements in life. I’ve always took pride in my writings and knowing that people, from all over the world and from different walks of life, has read and actually loved what I wrote, is something that I would not have imagined 10 years ago.

I may not be a writer by profession, but words will always be my loyal companion.

So thank you to all of you who’ve read what I wrote and of course, to all of you who are reading this.

Ps : I’ve actually been suffering from writer’s block lately. *sobs*

November 23, 2019November 23, 2019 by catpucino

2018 Reading Challenge

In previous years back when I was still studying, I used to set my reading goals to 30 books per year. Sadly, I barely read half the amount.

Hence, in 2017, I promised myself to read 11 books. I know, 11 was not a big number, honestly a huge decrease from my initial goals. But ever since I started working, it has been really hectic and I’ve set 11 just to test myself, if I could achieve at least that much. And I did! I’ve successfully read 11 books in 2017.

In 2018, I increased my goal to read a total of 24 books a year.

Yep, successfully achieved that too, despite a hectic schedule, occasional reading slumps and everything. I brought one additional book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas during my trip to Turkey and successfully finished reading it in a day because the journey in the bus was too long to be spent by solely looking out the window the whole time, no matter how mesmerizing the view was.

Unlike 2017, my read list in 2018 was pretty diverse, language and genre wise. I tried some non-fictions and included some Malay and Indonesian books into the list. One of those were written by my good old friend, The Physicist’s Odyssey by Zamir Mohyedin (whom I called prof).

All in all, my 2018 year in books have been great. Some of the books I’ve read were impactful, others not so much. But I loved them all.

Here’s to reading more this year!

 

January 4, 2019February 8, 2019 by catpucino