Step Up

Torture's finally over.
& I am pleased to tell you that yes people, my 2 month long Facebook hiatus is a success.
And the funny thing is, I don't even miss going on Facebook. Hah.

This year has been one hell of a year. I mean it in a good and bad way.
I've had so much experience working with other people in producing the school magazine (PROOF READING. I HAD NO IDEA HOW LONG IT CAN TAKE), watched a World Cup match while talking on the phone at 2am, made new friends, bitched & complained, struggled through exams, went so high I reckoned that was how it felt like if I had been on drugs, have been hurt so bad I cried so hard & couldn't breathe.

So much has happened, that I find it impossible that all that has happened actually happened in one year.
For the first few months of the year, I was happy & sad. I didn't talk much about what I was going through and how I felt. I guess only a few close friends knew of my situation. I didn't feel like talking about it much because every time I did, I got all these weird um-I-don't-think-what-you're-doing-is-a-good-idea looks. I got so upset a few times along the way I didn't think it was possible for someone to feel that way. I thought that I would be able to go through with it. I even honestly thought it would last forever. But it didn't. Things were so complicated. I knew my friends subtly disapproved of it, & even mum thought what I was doing wasn't a good idea. So I ended it.

Then I decided I would take a few months off to attain closure. Just relax and be myself, you know. But before I could do so I felt pressurised. I felt pushed around. I felt all this unwanted attention thrown upon me. I'm sorry for putting Pei, Mich and especially Aaron through all the "complaining". Honestly I didn't even see it as complaining. Talking about it was just my way of dealing with it.
I thought I got over the whole complicated situation, but really I didn't.
For the past few months, I was in dilemma. I didn't know what to do and I didn't know who to confide in.
I felt confused, and stupid and idiotic. There were times where my thoughts would suddenly drift off and I would find myself in a depressed mood, where moments ago, I'd been the happiest girl on earth.
In the end I found myself confiding in 2 friends, both of whom (no offence & unfortunately) didn't give me the advice I was looking for. The "oh you'll be fine, you can settle this whole thing yourself/ don't think so much about this. time to get back to studying bye!" response wasn't exactly the best advice. I don't think anyone knew what I was really going through. I guess this just shows that you can never tell what's truly beneath a countenance.
In the end I made a total fool of myself by sending out a couple of emails. I probably sounded crazy, stalker-ish and freaky to the recipient. I shall not mention your name here but if you ever happen to stumble across this post I'm really sorry.

So after all that hullabaloo (aka crying & thinking & crying & thinking), I've decided that the best thing right now would be to forget all that has happened, & make a fresh new start.
I NEED CHANGE. I NEED SOMETHING NEW & PRETTY TO DISTRACT ME FROM WHATEVER HAS HAPPENED.
& what better way to make a new start than to start a new blog? (the blog name is just something random I came up with. I like mint & elephants.)
Change is the best way to initiate new beginnings.
:)

It doesn't matter if you don't understand what I'm talking about, it is totally unimportant now. 
What's important is that Rachel has finally achieved closure. :)

Card In A Cardbox

I found this laminated olive bordered card in a cardbox in the study.

On the very top of the laminated card are the words Winners vs Losers, something my dad would definitely buy and paste on the doors of my mum's gigantic bookshelf. There's also one here that says 8 Gifts That Do Not Cost A Cent. It's actually a good daily reminder to anyone who reads the cards.

Winner vs Losers
When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong."
When a loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault."
A winner works harder than a loser and has more time;
A loser is always "too busy" to do what is necessary;
A winner goes through a problem;
A loser goes around it, and never gets pass it;
A winner makes commitments;
A loser makes promises;
A winner says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be.";
A loser says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people.";
A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from them;
A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find chinks in their armour;
A winner feels responsible for more than his job;
A loser says, "I only work here.";
A winner says, "There ought to be a better way to do it.";
A loser says "That's the way it's always been done here.";

I feel like a philosopher now! ;)

Sparkle.

Thanks for the present, Pei. :)
http://thechocolatetakesover.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/there-are-some-things-that-simply-cannot-be-explained-by-anything-else/

I love it. :)
This calls for a HIGHFIVE, a shopping/movie trip and a sleepover.

Happy Earth Day!

To be honest I completely forgot about Earth Day until I heard the reminder announcement during morning assembly in school today. But nevertheless, today was a good day. :)

Woke up in the morning feeling groggy, but then I received a text message that made my whole day. :D

So thank you, you know who you are. ;)

I find this picture both adorable and truthful. I don't think an explanation is necessary to tell people what Earth Day is all about, and if you're really clueless as to what Earth Day is all about, then go Google it. :)

And so from this picture I bring you a caption:

SAVE THE EARTH TO AVOID BEING STUPID.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

And remember: make everyday Earth Day. :)

To Think About

"Sure, Rick and I find common grounds to make our relationship- and also our relationship with our families- work. But it does not make things any easier for us when we lack support from the people close to us. It's heartbreaking that such narrow-mindedness still exists today."

-- Raphaela Sianandar, Indonesia.

That was an extract from Reader's Digest Asia April 2010, and the quote was by this lady on her opinion after reading this article "Love Knows No Boundaries" in the Reader's Digest Asia March issue. The article was about the stories of three couples from different cultures and countries who got together and how they made their relationship work.

I think what Raphaela's opinion is pretty true. I mean, it's a good thing (in a way) for people to look out for your relationship and make a negative comment if they think your partner is unsuitable for you- it just shows that your friends really care and are concerned for you.
But I'd rather friends keep these negative comments and only speak up if absolutely necessary. It feels much nicer to have someone encourage you to invest in something that makes you happy and will be there for you if things do not work out the way you wanted it to be than to have someone reject and criticize all your choices and tell you it's not perfect. Those words hurt, and sometimes makes you wonder if you're wrong and your friends are right; but you choose to ignore them anyway, because you know you're right.
Well of course there're friends that have been absolutely supportive and encouraging, and god knows how anyone can live without those friends.

There's this quote that goes

"Being happy doesn't mean things are perfect, it just means you've decided to look past the imperfections."

And that quote says it all.