Tag: bloganuary

The Notes of Change

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a piece of media (book, movie, song) that changed how you see the world?
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usic has always been present in my life. My mother sang in the choir, and my sister was blessed with a soulful voice. By the time I was six, I too joined the choir — and from the very first note, I loved singing.

At around ten or eleven, I began to pay attention not just to melodies but to the lyrics. That shift changed everything. Music was no longer just something I enjoyed when I was happy; it became something I deeply related to when I was upset.

The first song that has truly impacted me is “Seasons in the Sun”. Its farewell theme, filled with memories and goodbyes, resonated so strongly that I often cried when I heard it. Beyond its sadness, the song reminds us of the fragility of life and the importance of cherishing the people around us. In everyday life, it teaches me to value moments with family and friends, because time is never guaranteed. Sometimes it’s the words left unsaid that matter most, and this song pushes me to express love openly before it’s too late.

Another song that has stayed with me since childhood is “Walking Away”. Its laid-back tone contrasts with its powerful message about leaving behind toxic people and situations. It’s not just about endings; it’s about courage — the strength to step away from what no longer serves you. In daily life, this resonates whenever I face difficult choices, reminding me that peace often comes from letting go rather than holding on. It reassures me that seeking space isn’t selfish; it’s self-preservation, a necessary act of survival in a world that can be cruel.

Life has shifted in countless ways: genres, artists, circumstances. Yet one thing has remained constant — music. In times of turmoil, it brings me comfort and peace. Whether through melancholic songs that let me sit with my emotions or uplifting tracks that reignite my energy, music adapts to my journey and never leaves my side.

Music is more than sound; it’s memory, emotion, and healing. It has been my mirror when I needed to reflect and my lantern when I needed light. No matter what changes, music remains my most faithful companion — guiding me through everyday life with lessons of love, resilience, and hope.

Person sitting on a log near a campfire on a beach at sunset

No Unsolicited advice

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Daily writing prompt
What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
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The one thing I have learned is never to give advice where it isn’t asked. When I was younger, I never understood the point of view of those who tried to advise me. Over time, I realized that experience is the only way you truly learn to accept advice.

Don’t say, “Stay away from the fire.” Instead, say, “I got burnt, but if you still want to touch the fire, it’s up to you.” Rather than offering advice, the one thing I would tell someone is: “I am here if you need me. I’ll help you get back up if you ever fall.” or “I don’t condone what you’re doing, but I’ve got your back.”

More than anything, what my younger self needed was support. And in today’s world, I believe that support is more important than ever. With all the criticism the world throws at you — often without considering the impact it can have — life can feel cruel.

If there’s one piece of advice I would give, with the hope that anyone would listen, it’s this: “Don’t judge. It hurts more than a knife ever could.”

In the end, we don’t always need someone to tell us what to do — we need someone to remind us that we are not alone. Support, kindness, and understanding are the bridges that carry us through the fire and back into the light.

Day 205: Small step but still a start

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Today was, all in all, an uneventful day. I woke up considerably early, though I still didn’t manage to get my six hours of sleep. I lay in bed for an hour, scrolling through Instagram shorts before finally convincing myself to get up and begin.

I started my work with enthusiasm, but of course today had to be the day my laptop decided to give up on me. The system ran so slowly that it was frustrating to refresh the screen over and over just to load a single page. I made myself a cup of coffee, hoping it would give me the energy I needed to push through.

Later, I found myself guilty of indulging in online browsing. What do you even call the equivalent of window shopping when it’s done online? Whatever the name, that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t buy anything, thankfully, but I did add a few things to my cart that I’m still tempted to purchase. It took everything in me to stop myself from checking out and to close the website.

Despite the distractions, I managed to complete the work assigned for the day. I finished my calls and meetings, completed my trainings, and wrapped everything up within the timeline. I finally switched off my office laptop. Now I am hoping to put sometime into studying, the thing I have put off for as long as possible.

It wasn’t a perfect day. But it was a start. And sometimes, a start is enough.

Inspirations

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Daily writing prompt
Who are you most inspired by?
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As a child, I probably would have named a famous person as my inspiration — someone the world had already deemed successful. Ironically, I don’t even remember those childhood idols anymore.

Today, my inspirations are not people themselves, but rather their actions. You don’t have to achieve great things in life. You don’t have to be famous or popular. A person can be an inspiration simply by standing up for what is right. A child defending a friend against bullies, a parent protecting their child’s dignity when others condemn them for low grades, a job seeker walking into an interview after being laid off, a girl demanding her right to education, a survivor holding their head high despite society’s judgment — each of these moments carries a quiet, powerful courage.

In those moments, they become an inspiration because of their pure moral strength. Their courage to keep fighting, to keep moving forward, matters more than physical strength or accolades. And in that moment, they give someone else the courage to stand up too — to face the odds, to keep fighting, even if success doesn’t come right away.

We all have weaknesses. Some are born from the people around us who broke our tiny dreams. Others come from self-doubt and criticism that tie us down, clipping the wings we once had as children. But inspiration is not about perfection. It’s about persistence. It’s about refusing to let those wounds define us.

I draw inspiration from the great actions of ordinary people I see every day. Their courage reminds me that inspiration doesn’t live in fame or fortune — it lives in the quiet strength of those who keep moving forward, no matter the odds. Inspiration is not a pedestal. It’s a spark. And sometimes, the smallest acts of courage light the brightest flames.

A mountaineer wearing a red jacket, harness, and headlamp walks on a rocky ridge at sunrise with snowy mountains in the background

Don’t Give Up

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Daily writing prompt
What’s your top tip to be successful in life?
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Success is often painted as a grand destination — a shining trophy, a dream job, a house, or a title. But the truth is, success is far more personal, far more fluid, and far more humble than society makes it out to be.

As long as you don’t give up, you haven’t failed. That’s the most powerful life lesson I’ve learned. Life isn’t meant to be easy, and everyone carries their own challenges. What feels simple to one person might be someone else’s Mt. Everest.

Would I call myself successful? Honestly, I don’t think so. And maybe I never will. I was taught to always strive for better, to keep moving forward. I’ve achieved small goals — a degree, a job, milestones that others might call success. But for me, each achievement only opens the door to the next challenge.

If I earn a degree, the next step is finding a good job. If I secure that job, the next goal is saving enough to buy a home. For some, securing a job is the pinnacle of success. For me, it’s just one step on a longer journey.

The one truth that never changes is this: success comes to those who keep trying. Even when the world feels against you, even when everything seems to fall apart, resilience matters. Take the break you need. Step back if you must — even a hundred steps back. But always, always take that step forward afterward.

For me, success is simple: one day closer. Have you made it farther than you were yesterday? Not in comparison to someone else, but in comparison to yourself. If you are better today than you were yesterday, you are successful.

In a world that can be cruel and unforgiving, progress itself is victory. It may not look like success to everyone else, but it is yours — and that is more than enough.

Day 204: Coming back from the Haze

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For a hundred days, I felt like I was in a state of limbo. I don’t even know how the time slipped by. What did I accomplish in the past three months? Nothing—literally nothing.

My initial determination to avoid binge shopping and be content with what I already had completely collapsed. I started buying random things—items I had kept on my wishlist for months, only to remove them from my cart because I knew I didn’t really need them. All my reasoning was gone. I was filling a hole inside me.

Yes, I bought a few things I needed, but compared to the junk, it was nothing. I loved the dopamine rush of opening parcels from online shopping sites, even though I knew it wasn’t healthy.

I stopped reading my Bible. I stopped drawing and doing anything related to art. I stopped studying. Even at work, I don’t know what I was really doing. It felt like I just slept and woke up, over and over again.

There were ups and downs that felt like whiplash. I know I’m struggling, and I’m aware my coping mechanisms aren’t good. My wallet has taken a hit, and now sleepless nights have returned. I can’t fall asleep until 2 or 3 a.m., and I can’t sleep past 8. Some days I barely sleep 3–4 hours, while other days I want to sleep all day.

Procrastination has defined these past months—extreme procrastination. My mind kept telling me to do things, but another part of me always said, “Forget it, let’s just do it tomorrow.” But tomorrow never came.

I’ve lost six months of 2026. But I still have six months left to try again. I cannot give up on myself. I am not perfect, and I never will be—and that’s okay. What matters is being the best I can be.

So here’s to starting again. You fall, you fail, but you still need to try again. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s true. I’m praying for the will to begin again.

Day 106: Recovering from the Break Down

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So I am back. Today I am smiling again, even though there is still pain in my heart. Life feels heavy right now, with so many things going wrong all at once. Some days I am simply too weak to face it. On those days, I withdraw into myself and hope that the storm will pass. It feels like the world is closing in, and all I can manage is the simple act of waking up. I want to lie down the whole day, doing nothing, because nothing makes sense. It feels like drowning on dry land—unable to breathe, unable to move forward. My heart had taken my mind hostage, and I was trapped in the tension between wanting to live fully and feeling paralyzed by pain.

My mind kept reminding me of all the things I needed to do, all the ways I should keep pushing forward. But the reminders felt hollow, because nothing seemed to matter. I don’t like this feeling, but I think it was inevitable. For too long, I’ve tried to push down the pain, convincing myself to focus only on the good things. That works sometimes, but not always. There are days when the weight of what I’ve hidden breaks through, and I am forced to face the vulnerability I fear. I hate being vulnerable. I think I am scared of what it reveals about me, scared of being seen as weak. Yet, despite that fear, I made it through. After days of feeling like everything was collapsing, I am finally beginning to emerge from the darkness. Sitting here now, writing this post, I feel grateful to be back on track, ready to work toward meaningful change in my life.

I know this cycle will repeat if I keep relying only on myself. That’s why I hope, going forward, I learn to turn to God instead of crashing out internally. He has carried me even when I never asked Him to. If He takes care of me without my asking, how much more will He take care of me when I reach out to Him for help? That thought gives me hope. It reminds me that I don’t have to fight alone, that there is strength beyond my own walls. And today, even with the pain still lingering, I am smiling again—because I believe I am being led toward something better.

Managing the Crash

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Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
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Attempting this prompt again, because this time the answer feels a little different. Especially since I’ve just returned to some level of normalcy after feeling like I was drowning for the past two days. Having bad days isn’t uncommon anymore; it almost feels like they’ve become the norm. The world is on fire, and no matter how hard you try, some days simply don’t go your way.

Talking about my strategy to cope with negative feelings, fair disclaimer: this is not a good practice. What I do is probably one of the more toxic ways of dealing with things. But here it is. First, I hide what I’m feeling. I never let the next person know what’s going through my mind. My problems are my own. It’s rare that anyone would truly understand, and even rarer that they’d know exactly what’s happening inside. Second, I build compartments and shove the feelings into a box. There’s no time to deal with emotions. Feelings complicate things and make everything confusing. Wearing your heart on your sleeve feels like the biggest disservice you can do to yourself. So I tell myself: deal with the feelings later. It most certainly isn’t in the moment. Finally, I focus on getting through today, pushing the problems out for tomorrow.

Now, here’s why this isn’t effective. Every once in a while, the feelings I’ve boxed up start to crack through. I try damage control, thinking maybe handling a small issue will make the compartments strong again, strong enough to withstand a few more days. But the pile of negative emotions always grows faster than my ability to manage them. Then comes the crash. The day when everything tumbles down, when it feels like the world is ending and life has lost all meaning. I shut down for a couple of days, overwhelmed by the tide of emotions. Nothing makes sense until I finally gather the strength to rebuild the walls, compartmentalize again, and start over.

I still follow this vicious cycle, but once in a while I take time to talk to someone. It doesn’t stop the crash, but it helps me recover from it. It gives me courage to fight again and somehow gives me the strength to take a step in the right direction.

Day 101: Cracked Walls, Shaken Will

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There are nights when the tide rises too high, when emotions surge like waves against the walls of my chest, and breathing feels like a luxury. Tonight is one of those nights. My mind is a storm—thoughts racing, colliding, multiplying—each scenario demanding attention, each possibility dragging me deeper into the undertow. The compartments I’ve built to keep myself functioning are collapsing, one after another, until I am left standing in the ruins.

It’s astonishing how something so irrelevant, so small, can become the final straw—the crack that shatters the whole structure. I want to run away, to escape, to leave everything behind. And yet, tomorrow I know I will begin again. I will stack bricks of compartmentalization, rebuild fragile walls, and convince myself I can breathe one more time. But tonight, I am falling.

There is irony in this collapse. A quiet voice inside me whispers: You’ve been here before. You survived. This storm will pass. But another voice roars louder, insisting that my heart is breaking, that this breakdown is shameful, that I am failing to meet the world’s impossible standards of “normal.”

Society has taught us to equate breakdowns with weakness. To cry is to falter. To panic is to fail. To admit that the mind cannot carry the weight is to confess defeat. And yet, isn’t it strange that we celebrate resilience only when it looks polished—when it’s the triumphant comeback, the motivational story, the glossy version of survival? We rarely honor the messy middle, the nights when breathing feels impossible, the moments when strength is simply enduring the next minute.

But here is the truth I am learning: weakness is not failure. A breakdown is not the end—it is a signal, a cry for pause, a reminder that even the strongest structures need repair. To collapse is human. To rebuild is human. To admit that the tide is too high is not shameful; it is honest.

So tonight, I step back. I let the walls fall. I let myself feel the weight of this moment, knowing that tomorrow I will gather the pieces again. Today, only part of me believes in my resilience. Tomorrow, I hope the whole of me will recognize it.

And perhaps, if we begin to speak of these nights openly, without shame, we can redefine what it means to be “normal.” Maybe normal is not the absence of breakdowns, but the courage to rise after them. Maybe normal is not perfection, but persistence.

Day 100: Choosing Joy, Seeking Peace

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Today feels different. It is a day of contemplation, a pause to ask myself – why am I doing this?

When I began this blog, it was with the hope of reigniting a passion that had quietly slipped away. Writing once centered me, even when my world was engulfed in chaos. Putting thoughts onto paper made the weight of life feel lighter, more bearable. It gave me perspective, strength to fight one more day. But somewhere along the way, the more blows I took, the further I drifted from writing. I lost a piece of myself without even realizing it.

I wonder—when did we move away from doing things simply for the joy of doing them, to doing things only because we have to? Today, every action seems to demand justification, a measurable benefit. My parents called it “growing up.” But in truth, it clipped the wings that longed to fly. Perhaps they too had dreams they were expected to abandon in the name of reality.

I count myself among the privileged, because I still have the choice. The choice to follow dreams, even when it goes against everything I’ve been taught. The choice to take the difficult path, knowing it may lead to failure. But I am grateful for that choice, because even if I stumble, I will have tried. And in trying, I will have chosen happiness. In a world where joy feels scarce, perhaps that is the greatest achievement of all.

While I am deeply grateful for all the blessings God has given me, I cannot ignore the reality that, in many parts of the world, people’s lives are engulfed in war and suffering. Their homes are burning, their families torn apart, and their futures uncertain. My heart aches for them, and so I lift my prayers to the heavens—for peace, for hope, for protection, and for safety.

Prayer may be the only thing I can offer from where I stand, but I believe it matters. I believe that once hearts are changed, the world itself can change. And I hold onto the faith that God is the One who softens hearts, just as He did with Pharaoh in the Holy Bible. If He can turn hardened hearts toward compassion, then there is hope that even in the midst of war, humanity can find its way back to peace.