What are you giving up your joy for? That's a question I'd like to ask myself. Is it because of unhappy circumstances, or unhappy relationships?
Learn to LOVE yourself. Here's my take on what LOVE can stand for:
L earn
O vercome
V erify
E njoy
Let's start with L (earn):
We can either wallow in self-pity when we failed at something or simply learn from why we failed in the first place and try not to make the same old silly mistake again.
I always thought that if something does not work out for me, it will NEVER work for me again. Boy, I was so wrong.
When I was 15 years old, i was diagnosed with schizophrenia and did badly for my exams because i was too stressed and too afraid of exams. I put tremendous amount of pressure on myself to memorize all of my books for the exams in a short period of time.
It took me 3 tries for my GCE 'O' Levels before i finally passed.
Today, I have learned to minimize my stress by studying in advance before tests/exams.
O (vercome):
We either overcome or be swallowed up by everything that seems to be going wrong at the same time.
There are so many regrets we have in life. The what ifs of our mind keep popping up every now and then. The past is the past. Today is the present. Make full use of what you are given NOW.
It won't be easy, no one said it would be, but YOU can do it!
I'm still learning how to relax my body whenever it tenses up because my body has been conditioned to tense up at the slightest thing due to my illness and even though I'm not 100% successful, I'm still trying!
V (erify)
Always check through the things people say to you, be it a criticism or a snide remark, what I've learnt is this: Take things with a pinch of salt.
If someone calls me fat, it can either be due to his insecurity of how he looks or it can simply be due to the fact he doesn't like fat people. I can either feel more insecure about myself because of a worthless remark or I can choose to love myself more when others don't. It's about the choices we make in life, how true it is!
E (njoy)
Enjoy whatever you are doing, don't let others tell you how to live your life. If someone doesn't like the way you play games, its his/her own problem. Playing games is part of your life, why let others take away what you enjoy? However, in whatever we do, there has got to be a balance.
When we learn to fully love ourselves, life will be much more easier to live. I am still on the learning journey to love myself more and more as each day passes by. I can do it and so can YOU!
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