Home alone

Pros:
- ‎no unnecessary loud noises (loud music, house phone ringing, people talking loudly/ shouting, TV, fan whirring)/ smells
- ‎get to have my alone time & decide when I wanna interact with people = no need to entertain unnecessary qns (from my bro lol) & unexpected visitors
- less angsty cause I get to recharge
- ‎no guilt when I need to be alone & away from people at home
- ‎less clutter + smaller space to clean so I'd be more inclined to do it
- ‎probably won't be staying near students (no stalkerish incidents)

Cons:
- longer travelling time + daily (unnec) transport fare
- ‎it's a pain walking under the rain for this distance..unless..I grab/ Uber..haha

Whar I've learnt:
- Bare minimum I need to bring out: SPECS (can't emphasize this enough cause on more than 1 occasion I have lived like all I see is bokeh everywhere (pretty cool but I also realized not wearing my glasses for long periods of time + using my phone = a sure recipe for a headache) ‎but why didn't I learn my lesson? Because..refer to below), retainers, CHARGER, sunblock & deo (last 2 if I'd be sleeping over at Semb & heading out the next day)
- ‎how to cook rice without a rice cooker (thanks Google)

So since last Fri, I've been shuttling between the 2 houses..and I realised I've been pretty busy!! Lol

Mon: had lunch at coffeeshop, bought groceries, washed bro's clothes, swept & mopped floor, went back to semb to have dinner + pack remaining necessities
Tues: cooked lunch & dinner
Thurs: lunch with Mag @ Chalong, dessert @ V Cafe, shopped around till dinner with Sacha & Cheryl
Fri: practised a bit of cycling in the morn & got bruised lolz #25andclumsier went back to semb to celebrate birthday with family, watched God's compass while waiting for mummy to be back lol the celebration only started at 10+ tho cause she only came back at that time from church camp so I stayed for the night
Sat: came back to admiralty to prep for a friend's wedding (lol when you already brought what you need here.....) and went out (again lol) and after that mummy said she'd be cooking dinner at semb so I went back to semb after the wedding + got to check my packages from Zalora (and found that one of them wasn't really what I expected..) so after dinner, went to sun plaza to return the parcel + took bus back to admiralty..
Sun: walked to church, had lunch, came back to admiralty, napped, did housework, exercised, watched TV (The China singing competition + Pitch Perfect!!)
Mon: had the crazy idea to walk all the way back to semb (cause Google maps said it'd take 45min and I figured why not since I've the time today) in the afternoon (yes under the hot ☀)..went back cause I didn't feel like cooking/ getting food from downstairs (I'm very broke at this point lol) and....the journey actually took about an hour hahah but I actually made it!! Lol and realised that it was probably about 5km lol 🆗 workout for the day checked ✔ and I wanted to rest and nua for the rest of the day so I didn't go back to admiralty after dinner 😂
Tues: left the house around 4 to hunt for a housewarming gift for a friend..was hoping the rain would subside and stop when I wanted to go out but nope life doesn't always go the way you want it to lol so I went to 3 diff places when it was raining (had in mind to just walk to CWP but realised it wasn't such a good idea to do it when it was pouring so I ended up taking the bus thrice yesterday 😪), thought I would be coming back to admiralty but turns out it'd be harder to get back here from my friend's place so I shared a cab with Saman to Semb
Wed: was raining pretty much the whole day so even tho I had migraine from not having my specs, I didn't go to the new house when I woke up..only went in the evening and fainted as I was typing this..thank God Shirleen could come and get food for me..

(Typed on phone but didn't post..better post before I forget!! Gonna backdate this.)

5 from 25

Five life lessons/ principles I've learnt from 25 years of living:

1. You gain some, you lose some.

Sounds quite sad but I was thinking..why does losing have to be negative? 2 negatives make a positive (thanks math) so..it isn't always bad! For eg you could lose sadness, lose your insecurities, lose your fears..you get the idea haha for someone who tends to feel like smth bad is gonna happen when I'm too happy..I've been telling myself that things are gonna be bad anyway..cause life is just full of ups & downs so..shouldn't be afraid to be happy! Haha

Besides..the converse is true too! You lose some, you gain some. So if you've lost smth..you're gonna gain smth else so it's okay hahah bottomline: just lose the worries and gain peace 🏖😎🤓

Another POV that can be extended from this is (& smth I believe in as well) - nobody has a perfect life. There'll always be areas that are bad when the rest are good and if someone seems to look like he/she has it altogether all the time, it's probably a front haha so no need to envy anyone! The grass is not greener on the other side. It's greener where you water it.

2. Fear = False evidence appearing real.

Haha I think this is smth I'm still learning but I've seen how true this statement is this year..cause I conquered 2 big fears (2Cs)! Hahaha probably applied to the previous years of my life also la but for now the recent events are still quite fresh in my memory so yea wheeeeee gotta remember this principle + this testimony for years to come too..hahaha (sidenote: I've no idea why the Blogger app underlines random words in my post unnecessarily?? Lol)

3. Forgiveness is important. And powerful.

I've found that bearing grudges is very tiring..and doesn't make things any better. Life is short and it shouldn't be wasted on getting angry with people! Why give them the chance to control your emotions hahah so..it's always better to choose to forgive. By doing so, you can then truly move on. For me remembering 2 things help:

#1. While others hurt you, you've hurt others too.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Luke 6:41‭-‬42 NIV

#2. Deep down, everyone just wants to be loved. Because we were created to be.

The lyrics of one of my fav songs go: "Everyone needs compassion, a love that's never failing.."

4. ‎Everything is temporary. Except God.

Achievements. Material things. Emotions. People. Good times. Bad times. These are all transient. (The people in your life might stay the same but they'd change over time too). Only God stays constant. Hahah gotta take it from Solomon, the guy who has so much wisdom and had everything you could possibly think of but felt like life's meaningless..and ended up realising and concluding that the purpose of life is to "fear God and obey his commands". But don't get it wrong - "fearing" here doesn't mean being scared of God hahha it's revering and respecting Him for who He is!

With regards to the unfailing love in the song lyrics..this is a kinda love that only God can give. Perhaps why Solomon mentioned the conclusion as the "foundation of all happiness" too.

"All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man."
Ecclesiastes 12:13 AMPC

5. It's important to take care of yourself.
If you're an introvert, really gotta intentionally disconnect from the world sometimes and just spend time alone to recharge.

If not..you're gonna be angsty and snappy 😕

Also tell yourself:
It's okay to fail ("so what?")
Change takes time
Be patient with yourself
Don't discredit any effort made

Haha yup so this is gonna be a reminder to myself in the future. Some things will probably have to be relearnt but that's okay! Progress isn't linear and what's most important is that we keep moving forward 😎

With regards to the first sentence on the previous post..hahah actually posted that after my very last paper..of my life (😯😮😱)

It's taken me a while to consolidate my thoughts and feelings about this journey cause I've been so busy even after finals ended..(a lot of transitions happened actually..)

Mon - last exam ever
Tues - (practising) cycling w sis
Wed - movie + dinner + dessert
Thurs - met my FYP prof at NIE in the morn + DG cycling + dinner + chill at chijmes (lol I was so exhausted but so overstimulated from all the activities the past few days that I couldn't sleep..which is why I thank God I could stay home on Fri)
Sat - attended wedding #5 of the year + moved to new place
Sun - church + tramp park + dinner

So..as I was leaving NIE for the very last time as a student last week, the feeling was..bittersweet.

To leave a place I've wanted to be in since I was in sec school..it's crazy to say the least and still feels surreal that I've actually done it. Really gotta thank God for sustaining me through every semester..and this sem has been one of the toughest yet with Cru recruitment at the start, 6 mods, completing FYP, SM duties, CDAC, cell + other social gatherings w friends..hahah it's a miracle my sanity is still intact despite being so mentally, emotionally and physically drained from not having enough alone time to recharge this sem (especially after recess week) haha BUT THEN somehow I still tinkled with this blogskin template till the wee hours of the morn (before recess week la haha) 🙃🙃🙃 felt good to work on smth unrelated to schoolwork and it made me realize how I can really devote hours to do smth I'm passionate about and sacrifice my sleep just to get it done hahah so yeah no regrets 😁 + found time to practise cycling when I had the energy to (lol people take driving test I take cycling test 😅)

Think I owe many thank yous to many people who have seen me through even before I started NIE - relief and then contract days..for all the people who had prayed for me, supported me, encouraged me in one way or another through this journey..thankful that God placed such people in my life 😌