Journey to Acceptance

What's your perspective of life?

Okay~! As promised, here's my "Journey to Acceptance" post!
Note: This is gonna be a helluva long post (but at least I colour-coded them to avoid boredom? xD), so either sit tight, or don't read this if you don't want to... but you'll probably be missing out on a lot.

...................................................................

Still here? Alright then! If that's so, I'll just get started then.

Every single day, we read/hear comments, stories or thoughts of people about how crappy their life is. Heck, many of us do that.
Every single day, all I read online are people's sufferings and anger.

And what baffles me more, is how people talk about "Changing into a new image" and in the end, they end up just like before... or in some cases worse.

Well, I'll get back to that later.
Last month, I checked for my JPA results, and I saw... RUSSIA!
I'll admit, at first I was like "WHAT?! Seriously??"

And for several days I was torn between accepting JPA and changing courses.
And to make matters worse, the comments from people about studying in Russia weren't encouraging in the least either.

Seriously, I do think that we are mostly stuck in the UK-or-Australia-is-good mentality. I don't deny that they're good (coz they ARE), but to dismiss another country that one is not too familiar with is just... jumping to conclusions.

Indeed, I've read comments of actual students in Russia talk about how much they are suffering, how bleak their futures are, etc...
And that had seriously made me concerned.
In fact, I got so worried that I actually fell ill! (Not seriously ill, but ill enough to be considered... ill)

And then, I thought about a quote that says "Every cloud has a silver lining"
And I tried to cheer myself up, because there really is no point moping about something... it's just an utter waste of time and energy (and in my case, my health as well =.=)
So I launched "Operation Restoration of Optimism (ROO)" for one full week (it's one of those things I imagine and make up myself... I even typed the whole thing in my Facebook xD)

Within that period of time, I've read and heard the news about thousands of people appealing for JPA, comments from people who didn't get it about how they would boycott JPA, have no future, the end of the world, forced to enter form 6, etc.

And to be completely frank, I DISLIKE (and that's being polite... the more accurate term would be quite rude) people who only know how to complain and complain and complain. Sure, I know they have their reasons to complain about something they find unpleasant. I'll admit that many years ago I used to complain about things too.

I'm not kidding. Just read my old blog posts and you'll see a big difference xD (This also shows that keeping a blog or diary can help one with changing behaviour xD)
I started to reduce my complaining around SPM time (or after SPM) because I realized that constant complaining, mocking, and moping about my problems isn't going to solve anything - they simply invite more problems.

And it's around that time as well that I found out how annoying it is to hear complaints. We all know that it isn't a pleasant thing at all to hear people complaining to you about their misfortunes, whether you are involved or not. It's natural that people prefer to hear good news from someone they chat with, rather than an awesome spam-age of bad news!

I must say, Operation ROO restored a good deal of my optimism =)
Of course, I still had my doubts. And those doubts somehow increased yet again after I was "sabotaged" by everyone telling me "Why Russia??" "Think properly! It's your choice, not mine, but THINK PROPERLY" "Why the hell would you wanna go there?" "Haahhh... I see....." Even the doctors in the hospital said that Russian graduates were very incompetent.

And then whatever was mentioned in my previous blog post happened =) Remember? The visit in my dreams from Taka... telling me that I'm not alone...
I woke up and felt like a completely different person... in a great way =)

By that time, I had become thankful and feeling blessed to actually be given a scholarship. I have absolute faith that I can overcome whatever shortcomings that may occur there.
Of course, it's not just about talking... I'm gonna have to walk the talk to prove it.

Recently, it was announced that there would no longer be JPA overseas scholarships starting next year. I was slightly stunned, yet at the same time not too surprised, considering how many appeals and protests they are getting from unsatisfied applicants. I'm not going to comment on the decision to phase out the scholarships, but I'll just say that it made me feel even more grateful for getting what I got.

But to those who think their hopes have been crushed, I implore you not to think that way. As I have stated before, negative thoughts only bring about negative events. You could tell me "Oh, it's EASY for YOU to say" and I can tell you this: "Yes, it IS easy for me to say."
And I can say it because I've been that way before. It's just that somewhere down the road, I couldn't bear living with negativity, fear, doubt, or anger for my whole life.

Currently, I am making my preparations to go out to Shah Alam in July... and next year, I shall be far up north =)
I may not know fully what lies ahead, but I can say confidently that I have fully accepted the fact (and directly or not, it also means that I have fully accepted myself)

So for people who think they don't stand a chance at being happy: think again, please.
One could say he/she wants to change for the better, one could do what it takes to change for the better... but the results won't show unless the change starts from the mindset.

Just keep in mind that every single being in this world has the right to have happiness. It just depends on how you obtain it. No matter what limitations one may have at the moment, there's nothing that cannot be overcome.

Also, I have another goal... other than pursuing my studies. I have a goal to inspire people... one way or another.
I didn't have this goal before. It just came to be this year... while I started changing myself. To see someone being happy and healthy is really rewarding =) It makes you ever so happy (and I'm not talking about ying-chau happy =.=... I mean GENUINELY happy!)
So if anybody has any problems, just come to me so I can practise my "inspiring" skills xD We might learn something new and exciting as well xD

....................................................................

Ahh... that was a long post.
Well, I intended it to be longer, but this should do.
If any of you paid attention to what I typed... or if any of you took what I said seriously, then please take some time to reflect on it and think properly.

It's quite late---I mean, early now O_o
I'm gonna have to stop the post here xD
Well, again, think properly!

Later~!