Steph's Ripples

As this year comes to a close, I believe the most rewarding action to take is to list down all the things you are grateful for. It will be a gateway to reflect on all that happened during the year. It'll be an opportunity to unwind and see all the blessings you received. Sometimes what appears to be challenging and undesirable turned out to be a learning curve.  This is the time to be reminded of all the lessons learnt. Life has so much to teach us, but all lessons are learnt within and kept inside. Be aware that we have all that we need at any given time. I'm grateful for 2017 and all that it came with. Count your blessings.

It's this time of the year again. To celebrate joy, happiness and hope. I wish you all a merry,  magical and mindful Christmas with family and friends. Be jolly, be merry.

I have always been an advocate of 'everything happens for a reason'. Backed by this firm belief, I have been able to appreciate things as they come. Unfortunately, we are too often faced with challenges, trying times and hardships. While these are not pleasant and put us into situations we'd rather avoid, it also teaches us how to be more comfortable with the uncomfortable.  As you go through those tough times, you can feel vulnerable and fragile. You can feel lost and scared. You can feel pressured and overwhelmed. However, at the other end of the spectrum lies bliss. It's the knowledge that you are going through the rough for a reason. You are not 'suffering' for nothing. It could be a lesson you needed to learn, to create an awareness for the future, a guidance. Have the firm belief that everything has a meaning  behind it.

Reflection has never been my forte. I used to hate doing reflection or rather I simply didn't feel the need to. Little did I know about the benefits of taking the time to reflect, the healing power that it all encompasses. It's a such a powerful tool we can use to help us. It's free and doesn't require much. All you need is to take a few moment, relax and think.  You can reflect on anything from your life, your feelings to aspirations. Reflection can be useful in so many ways: - To hold us accountable for our actions - To allow us to breathe - To take time to learn from the past - To stop and see where we are going - To give us perspective - To see what's truly happening in our lives - To relax - To enjoy the now - To appreciate all of our blessings - To calm our mind Our lives get so busy sometimes and it's so easy to get caught up in this madness. In a way, this blog is the perfect medium to reflect on my life and lessons learned. ...

I have always had the mistaken belief that if I get something wrong, do something incorrectly or fail at something at the first go, then I'm bad at it. There is no other way around. I would let that mistake or failure define what I can do or where my potential lies. I would let those events and actions define who I am, what I can do and let them dictate my future. To give a clear example, I used to have a complex with writing in high school. I didn't think I was good at it. In my mind, I was simply incompetent and since everything we think is an affirmation-to be proven, then I would have mental blocks. See I would be unable to come up with ideas when writing essays and then my marks would reflect the meagreness of my writing ability. As a result, it felt like point proven and there began the vicious circle of being stuck in writing. It was a dreadful experience, to say the least. I have since realised because of what happened, I had created a mental picture that I cannot ...

We all come across those moments when we feel lost. It doesn't matter our situation, we are bound to come across times when we start doubting: am I doing the right thing, what's the purpose of this life, what should I do? I certainly have experienced many times when I felt lost at sea. I'm seriously not stranger to having doubts. It would occur randomly and I would wonder why? At times, I would dread when the feelings would make a surface. It takes practice to accept those feelings. Do not resist and accept them as they come. Trust your intuition; maybe your self is trying to tell you something, maybe you have to stop and reflect, maybe you only need to pause and breathe.  Of course, life wouldn't be life if it only ran smoothly, without any rough patches. These are what brings colours and beauty to this world. 

I would like to begin this post with an analogy- a cooking show reflection.  This occurred to me upon reflection, after watching a cooking show: what are the chances of recreating the dishes accurately with the same taste, texture and presentation? The chef or presenter always make it look so easy to prepare the dishes and plate it so elegantly. Obvious, isn't it? However, when you go and try yourself, it's a completely different story. Now here's the thing. What is not shown is the years of practice and experience behind the scene. You could get the best recipe in the world and still not be able to perfect it on the first go. Why? Simply because you do not have the experience. This is what makes all the difference. We are always looking for shortcuts, the easiest way out, the quickest solutions. We forget it's all about the process. Learning through trial and errors, making mistakes and savouring the sweet success after. So enjoy what you are doing. Do wha...

There are no good or bad. There are only experiences. Something I finally learn is to stop seeing life in black and white. I used to be so critical and judgemental of everything that happens in my life. I would wonder and feel upset when things are not going the way I want. A few things I can reflect on: First, life is never going to be how you want it. There will always be something else on the way. Second, if you see something as bad, then you will see that event in the negative light. It could be due to past pain, fear or worry. However, if you see that event as an experience you need to move forward, a learning step, a lesson to be learnt, then you can appreciate what it is instead of resisting. My favourite line these days is everything comes as a blessing in disguise. Third, believe that the universe is working with you. Having read "Life loves You' by Robert Holden and Louise Hay', one of the most amazing and powerful messages I took with me is that Lif...

Something that has to be acknowledged is the fact that there is a downward pull to the universe. This means that we are always more prone to darkness, having negative feelings and emotions, being pessimistic rather than being in the positive limelight. Our general tendency is to feel negative when an event occurs. Why? Based on my readings, I have come with a few different reasons, but similar in nature as to why we are more inclined to being down than up. Nos. Ever since we're born, we're told NO. No to various things as we are learning, so that we don't make mistakes or be an embarrassment. These Nos are constantly put on our faces and we can't help but feel intimidated- losing that inner child, who is playful, an adventurer and filled with life. Sin. In this world, there is always a balance- good/bad, heaven/hell, saint/sinner. Sin is always there, waiting for the right moment to strike in. It's been there since the creation of the Earth and we hav...

One of my favourite thing to say is undeniably, 'Everything comes as a blessing in disguise'. It's not easy sometimes to decipher the way life unfolds, to understand and to accept. It's especially the case when things are not going exactly the way we expect them to. Something that has tremendously helped me overcome those feelings of 'the world is out there trying to get me' is to see how things happen for a reason. We don't often see it right away, but over time we can see and reflect how every single event in our lives have been opportunities- to grow, to learn, to move forward in a different but more rewarding direction. Life is not necessarily trying to put you in circumstances you feel uncomfortable, but helping you along the way. The universe is always working with us and we need to have faith in the universe. It's that constant believe that will carry you further up and up.

Something that really stood out for me this year is to stop postponing things. When I get this/ that, when I have some more free time, when I'm on my break, the list goes on. Stop right now. We're so used to living in the future that we tend to forget about what's most essential: the Now. We forego the present moment which is the only moment we have- to enjoy, appreciate, be thankful for. It's good sometimes to reflect and take some time to pause. It's so easy to get caught in the 'busyness' of our lives. We start putting things off and forget what we truly need. Let's us be fully present and do what we need right now- not tomorrow, not later, not in the future.