Love & the purpose in life

Before starting the topic, I want to ask how many of you really know the definition of love? Is it just like as simple as you guys like each other then you would get the eternal love with the person you lovin' with? The answer is "Definitely not!"

The more important thing excess the love is how to maintain the relationship and how you to enjoy the moment getting along with your lover. No matter how many arguments you guys did, how many different opinions existed when making a decision together with, different viewpoints on things to produce a differences of point. These are all you need to learn and include to receive the upcoming challenges that you are going to face. 

It takes time, but it's worth to each of us to practice and learn how to treasure every relationship we get in different stage of our life. The video below was about a twentysomething girl encountered a trouble that she didn't know the real love in life. She was dating down, but she slept with a knucklehead. Yet, it was not like she is going to marry the guy! A psychologist talked about how she dealt with a case that happened to her, and how her supervisor said, "Not yet, but she might marry the next one."

As a twentysomething person, I've dropped into a very depressing period before. I lost my purpose, passions, hobbies and targets in life. Somehow, I was really disappointed, and I didn't know who to talk because likewise I didn't want to talk to any of my friends, all I wanted was just faced it alone. 

Several weeks before, I still made myself dropped into that dark period! Suddenly, there was a sound appeared from my mind that told me to stop being like that. I tried to figure out the problem that I was currently facing... 

Finally, I found out that that thing occupied me was "Empty." I felt like I lost the purposes and I felt like nothing is important in life. How did I solve the problem I get? I started reading a book I've read before, "The Purpose Driven Life." It is a Christian reading. As a Christian, I've read it in Mandarin version when I was 18. Now I read it again in English version. 

Miraculously, I discovered that the real purpose in life is how god created us and gave us a purpose. All challenges we face are all the test from the god! Life on earth is just temporary, but the eternity is where we go after we die. God picks up those people who believe in his son, Jesus; and open the door for them. That's how god does! 

I am not going to talk about the religion in this article. I just want to express that how I tried to find out the reality in life, and to become a more positive person than I was. Watching the TED speech about the topic today, which made me re-definite ourselves and the purpose of life again. 

I am 21 currently! The twentysomething's life can't begin later until thirty. That is what this psychologist reminded me after watching this video; I re-connected the book I am reading and also the viewpoints she mentioned. I've got a conclusion! Man, treasure what you have, love what you do, plan your life positively, spread your active attitude in life, follow the words in bible and most importantly, enjoy it no matter how bitter or how sweet it is! 

Thank for your reading! I'd be appreciated if you can tell me your opinions.

- Timothinks

Facing fears

Have you ever felt fear in your life? How did you overcome it? When talking about this, I would say I am my greatest fear. I am a Pisces, and for me, feeling scared or depressed are parts of my personality.

Since I was a kid, there were many things that I had to learn and overcome. I even remember, once, I really felt stressed up when I was a Filipino study tour counselor; that I had to manage and do tourist spot introduction to students older than me. I didn't have enough confidence and didn't know how to speak in a fun way.

Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed during that period. Since the first experience, I decided to overcome the fear in my mind. I’ve begun the Thai study tour in 2016, and I’ve changed my way of leading a group of people, and talked to them in a more enthusiastic manner. Seriously, even though I didn't think I do the best, students were really fond of me and most importantly, I feel more confident when I try to overcome my fear built from a previous experience.

We all have the biggest fear in our mind, but what matters most is how we overcome it and make ourselves better.

The biggest fear is actually within ourselves! As I mentioned, my personality make me feel depressed oftentimes. We are not becoming better versions of ourselves by thinking of things we can't achieve or overcome. We shall change our attitude; face fears and learn to change our ways to avoid committing same mistakes.

Trust me, it will be better when you try to face your fear! Challenges exist in life, whether we escape or face them are all depending on us, but the truth is we can escape for now but we can't escape forever.

- Timothinks

What makes you happy?

Happiness is a natural ability of every human being has. We all have emotions on things that we encounter, and how we handle these in various circumstances is controlled by our brain.

Admit it or not, people are always separated based on their social status. We work for a living, to pursue our dreams, to maintain our family’s economic rank, etc.… but are we really satisfied with our lives? Are we happy about our current circumstance? Are we looking for a way to make ourselves happy?

Happiness is easy to get, but it is also hard to feel. Totally, it depends on how you define it! Even though I feel lonely sometimes, I am really satisfied with my life. I have an awesome closed family, perhaps not rich, but we live happily when we get together.

August last year, I traveled solo to the Philippines for two weeks and stayed in my host’s family to experience the local lifestyle. Seriously, the life in Taiwan and the Philippines is really different. Our salary, quality of life, and transportation system maybe are better than the life there. Once, I asked a staff in a mall about her salary. She worked 12 hours per day, but she only takes home 491 pesos (USD 10. That is, at that time, the minimum wage  in the Philippines. I am not going to talk about the economic problem in this article. People here work 8 hours per day as a full-time staff, and the basic salary is more than 1,000 NTD (USD 31). In most Asian countries, the workload is really heavy.  However, most people would complain to their government, and hate their current life.

Perhaps, we should find some other ways to balance the quality of life we live. I often say that I am really fond of Filipinos, because during those two weeks of staying there, even though I knew how tough life they have, as long as they live together, no one can stop their positivism and enthusiasm in life. Satisfaction, in the end, is the key to a happy life.

Things that make you happy all depend on how you see the things. We can’t control the life we have, but we can make an effort to change it and make it better. Change your attitude now, enjoy the things you do, and complain less on things you encounter. Remember: Always look at the glass half full rather than half empty.

- Timothinks