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Day 31

I can’t believe we are at the end of the Ultimate Blog Challenge ! It’s been a month of daily blogging which means 31 posts in 31 days !

I knew I was up for the challenge this October after already having taken part in January earlier this year.  I started off with a purpose and an actual theme to the challenge and as you must have realized – I have used a series of quotes on images and just blogged away to my hearts desires.

This is the 3rd blog challenge I’ve participated in (The UBC in January; the A to Z challenge in April and The UBC Oct) – and it’s really pushed me into becoming a better blogger.

Even though I didn’t get to visit as many blogs as I wanted to; I have book marked several of them to come back to and I’m still working my way through the list of posts that have been put up on the UBC FB page.

How was your journey throughout the challenge ? Was this your first time or are you a pro at challenges ? Did you get to finish all your posts ? Did you pre-schedule any posts or did you just blog as and when you felt like ? Would you take part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge again ?

If you’ve participated in the challenge, please take 30 seconds to share your linky below so that others can also check out your blog.

 

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I’ve been feeling like this all day.  I can’t believe I have to leave.  I don’t want to but I have to.  The very thought of having to leave London, pains me.  The ache that I have in my heart is just something I can’t even begin to explain.

I know I said I would stop complaining – and this isn’t a complaint, this is rationalizing and coming to a realization.  Over the last few years, after setting up base in India, in some ways I have become very cynical, and I’ve been unhappy at some level.  I’ve known this. 

Being back in London opened a flood gate of memories; cleared the path to the old me – the me that I lost somewhere in transition.  The time spent with close friends is something I treasure deeply and I hadn’t realized just how much I missed being around them.

I can’t stop the tears rolling down my face … because I know I won’t be the same person once I leave .. but I’m going to try to hold on to that.

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So damn true.

I can’t believe that I have to leave London.  I can’t get over that sinking feeling.  Everything about this city has ‘ME’ all over it.  My best friends are here.  My extended family are here. 

It pains me to leave my best friends behind; one of the woes of living such a nomadic life style.  I said that I would stop complaining; this isn’t a complaint, it’s just the way I feel. 

The memories of London are etched into my mind, my soul – something I can’t let go of even when I have tried in the past. These are memories that make me smile.

Day 28

I saw this and the quote ‘Memories maketh a man’ came to mind.  Are we not a sum of our memories ? There are so many tiny details that go into a memory; and my favourite ones are the ones that make me smile or laugh out loud at the thought of them.

Today as I was packing up to get ready to head over to India for the next set of events that my company is organizing; I came across a few old note books and in it were notes that my old high school friend & flat mate and I used to leave for each other.  As I was flicking through the pages, I got these visuals of particular moments when those notes were written and it gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling.

I’m an extremely visual person and have been told many a time that I have a very good memory.  In fact, I’ve earned the nickname Miss Paparazzi’ by my friends who will agree that I have captured all the memories I have shared with people on camera.  I keep the photos not only to serve as memory forever captured; but for the off-chance that one day if and when I start to lose my memory – the photos will be there as a reminder of the good old days !

What memory makes you smile ? Do you have a favourite one that you care to share ?

Day 27

We are all dreamers in a way.  We day-dream when we are bored or lose interest in a subject; we dream of the perfect present and future for ourselves – but how are we meant to achieve those dreams if we are overcome by fear of the obstacles that one has to face in order to reach those dreams ?

If you aren’t already living your dream – then it’s time to go about taking the steps to build your dreams before someone else hires you to build theirs. If you aren’t passionate about what you want – you will always hold back; so do it with passion or don’t bother at all.

What steps have you taken lately to rid yourself of your fears ? Share your dreams in the comments and allow them to start manifesting now !

 

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This quote can be applied to so many aspects of our lives.  I just feel that if you are going to do something i.e. invest your time into a business, your career, your personal life – then you have to have passion for it otherwise it’s just a half hearted attempt which is never going to give you the results that you hope for.

Think about it … Life is just one big never ending test ! You are  always going to be pushed to your limits and it’s up to you to decide how far you are willing to go.

Are you out there in the process of building your dream or are you living your dream ?

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It’s quite a thought provoking question isn’t it ? I really liked the image with this picture.

Are you sat on a bench watching the world go by ? Or have you fallen into the slump of the daily grind where you try to get by each day and your dreams get pushed lower and lower down the priority ladder?

Over the last few months, I feel like I’ve really been living my dream life .. I’ve been traveling extensively, meeting up with clients overseas, catching up with friends who I left behind when I moved my business to India .. and it’s been absolutely unbelievable …

I really believe that if you build on your dreams – anything is possible – it’s just a matter of perseverance .. after all life is just a test; and if plan A doesn’t work; there are 25 other plans waiting for you !

So – are you living your dream ?

Day 24

Need I say anything else ?

If you don’t chase your dreams – you’re never really going to get them.  Years ago I decided that I wanted to be self-sufficient and wanted to earn for myself and not for and on behalf of another company.

It might have been a naive thought fresh out of university but within a year I had set up my own business.  Today 10 years down the line – I love what I do and have expanded my business and the model behind it.

My dream job has allowed me to travel the world; organize some very innovative events; constantly challenges my creativity; and most importantly allows me to put together the perfect event for my clients (and friends).  The joy and sense of satisfaction I get when I stand back and look at the final result of the event – I can’t even begin to explain it … something along the lines of a super proud parent at their kid achieving an A* or a getting a gold medal. 

So go out there; follow your dreams, work hard at building them, leave no room for regret and never give up ! Failure leads to innovation – so just because things don’t work out the first time – it doesn’t mean that it was a waste of time.  If it matters to you – make the time and you will succeed.

Day 23a

The other day I wrote a post about how our lives are storybooks that we write for ourselves and that it’s a story book life that we live in.  Then I came across this quote and knew I was going to use it as part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

And just as started to write this post, a scene from CSI stood out at me .. the gist of it was in reference to 'wondering how many people out there share the same name as us but live an entirely different life to us’  and ‘would you ever cross paths with them to form your story’

There are some people who are always going to be in your life .. you know it, they know it, your gut knows it.  Then are there are the ‘seasonal’ people who come and go just like the seasons in the year. Then there are people who you think and believe you have some sort of rapport or relationship with (doesn’t mean romantic) and over time you come to realize that what you have is either one sided or semi-superficial.

Whilst talking to my girl AD the other day – she asked me (or rather told me) why would I give such superficial people any importance by even discussing them … and my answer was that it’s not their behaviour that bothers me but more the half-hearted (actually half assed) phone calls / texts that say they can’t wait to see you or meet up but of course it never happens.  That’s what irritates me.  Just don’t bother if you don’t mean it right ? If it matters enough, then make the time otherwise don’t just say something you think you should be saying.

Over the past few months I’ve come to learn a lot about some of the people I thought I knew .. and they aren’t the people I thought them to be.  They aren’t bad people – we’re just on different tangents or wavelengths and I guess our respective parts in each others stories have to come to an end.  At first I thought there might be a sense of loss – but in reality there is no room for regret and I got to learn something about the expectation levels I have of those around me.

 

It’s #MusicMonday today and in accordance with the theme behind the Ultimate Blog Challenge I thought I would share some music related quotes that I am able to find a connect with.

I compiled a list called Diva’s Top 40 (Part 1 and Part 2) that I hope you will enjoy as much as I have.

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I have tried on many a times to fully express how I feel when I hear certain music but every time – I find there is more I can add to it.  Why don’t you listen to the below tunes and let me know what you think about them.

  1. Wolfsheim – Dream of You
  2. Reflekt – Need To Feel Loved
  3. Deep Dish – We Gonna Feel It
  4. Deepak Chopra – Desire (you can find the video here)
  5. ATB – My Everything

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I would love to know if any of these track have had an impact on you or made you connect with a memory from another time.  It’s always nice to associate a part of your life with a piece of music.  That’s how I feel anyway.

Share the love, share the music – after all it is #MusicMonday !

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.   PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Day 21

Life doesn’t always go according to plan.  You need to have a back-up plan ready just in case .. and if you’re an event planner, then you probably have back-up plans for your back-up plans !

Someone wrote this on my company FB page – and I had to share this ..

I like the plan B anyway because B is the heavy string on a 5-string bass and that shit be deep and funky

I thought that was fabulous ! Maybe we should all be setting our plans to musical notes .. who knows, we might end up in a better place !

So are you the type with just a Plan A and B or do you have multiple plans in place for worst case scenarios ? Or do you spontaneously come up with plans as you see your original plan crumbling ?

Day 18

Saw this quote and thought of that saying ‘try, try, try again’ (or something like that?) …

Some people think of failing as a negative thing .. it doesn’t always have to be.  Everything and everyone around us today that signifies ‘success’ has ‘failed’ at some point or another to get to where they are today.  No invention was perfect the first time it was created – only after trial & error did any invention get perfected to what we know it as today.

In my line of work – I have good days and a few bad days .. the bad days teach me how to prepare myself the next time round; it teaches me how to be more innovative when I find myself in that situation; it teaches me that no matter how well prepared I am for the job at hand – shit happens and something could go wrong. 

I guess we must all realize that it’s ok to ‘fail’ every now and then ‘cos it’s just gonna make us be innovative enough the next time so as not to fail again.  What do you think ?

 

Day 19

There are some people who just seem to add stress to our lives.  Doesn’t it make you wonder ‘why’ they are even around giving you that stress ?

Life is short.  Stress increases the chances of a stroke or a heart attack.  My work as an events & wedding planner is stressful enough as it is – and the last thing I need is to worry about people causing me grief when they’re really not that important.

Over the last few months – I’ve made it a point not to let people who seem to only want to cause me aggravation – hold any significance in my life.  Some of them are people I thought to be associates / acquaintances and I realized that they have absolutely no right to impose their nonsense onto me and cause me stress for reasons beyond my control.

I've also started maintaining the same with clients.  As grateful as I am for the business that I have; there are some clients who are appallingly painful to deal with and I can literally feel my blood pressure shooting up when I have to handle them.  So now, I take a deep breath – hear them out (all the while letting a ‘wooo-saaa’ feeling take over) and just let it go … unless it’s in the interest of my business, there is no reason for me to take on any unnecessary stress.

Day 18

Some say that the future is uncertain.  The future is what you make of it.  Sure, you don’t really know what the future has in store for you; but unless you are willing to take a chance, or gamble at a risk; you’ll never quite know what your future will end up like.

I’ve written about The 3 C’s of Life : Choices, Chances & Changes.   Unless we make a conscious choice to take a chance our life will never change.

Life is complex; it is one big test – and if you’re bad at tests, don’t worry about failing; because with failure comes innovation and the need to succeed (unless you actually enjoy failing which I don’t think anyone does).

If you aren’t already living your dream – then it’s time to go about taking the steps to build your dreams before someone else hires you to build theirs. If you aren’t passionate about what you want – you will always hold back; so do it with passion or don’t bother at all.

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Easier said than done right ? We’ve all gone through the conflicting emotions of deciding / debating whether to say what we are actually thinking or just say what we think we should say …

Most of the time I tend to say what I’m thinking .. often it has gotten me into trouble and I’ve been told that I should think before I speak .. I suppose that makes sense in certain situations i.e in the work place / with clients / at a press conference …

With friends – I believe that one should be able to say whatever they are thinking – even if at times it may hurt the other person.  A true friend will realize that it’s not meant to be intentional.  I’m very upfront with my friends and don’t beat around the bush.  My friends do the same with me.

When it comes to matters of heart or of the romantic kind or even with someone new in your  life – it gets kind of sticky though doesn’t it ? How do you go about telling someone what you’re thinking without them over-reacting / over analysing what you’ve got to say ?

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in that sort of a situation and recently I have found myself wanting to say out loud what I’m thinking but I’ve been choking up.  I know I will eventually end up just saying what’s on my mind .. I just need to do it sooner than later. 

(What’s quite ironic and a bit funny for me is that in January this year – I wrote about something similar ‘Just Say It’; and I may just end up complicating my life if I don’t follow my own advice)