Guiding Principles

There are four things in life that I've learned so far that could be called my own set of "advices" or a more popular word for that would be "guiding principles" in life.

First and foremost is to treat life as an adventure. Those are big words to say and there are no step by step guide as to how to treat life as an adventure. What I mean about this is that life is as boring as it is because of all the routine that we people go through. Most of us "normal" people go through school: pre-school, elementary, middle school, high school and college. Afterwards we look for jobs or decide to further our studies. And then we're back to our routine go to school/work go home. This scenario begs us to question "what are we doing with our lives?" and that's when one would realize that spontaneity is what we need and it's what is lacking from our lives. Now, this is just the first one and the following would better justify or support my decision to be always in an adventure.

Second is that it is okay or much BETTER to be different, unique or strange. I would like to quote Rachel (from F.R.I.E.N.D.S) what she told her father on the phone when she finally decided to live on her own, "..It's like all my life everyone's told me 'You're a shoe! You're a shoe! You're a shoe!' Well, what if I don't want to be a shoe? What if I wanna be a purse or a hat?.." What I realize from this is that it is not enough for people to conform or to be always told what to do. There is a part of us that wants to do everything in their life in their own way, without any people judging them for it. However, it is hard to face people's prejudice and this is what stops us from doing things. By the time that we realized that it's okay to be different, we should be able to be confident and accept other peoples voices and what they have to say about you because that way you would learn not only from their opinions but also learn to say "Oh, f*ck it. They know nothing about me" and just start on doing what you want to do.

Third is having a goal. Figure out what you want to do. It is hard, really but in order to have a fulfilling life, you must know what you want and work on achieving it. Some famous people or even your teachers or friends might tell you to make use of your skills or talents to figure our what you want to do in life but that is not always the case. Some people (like me) may admit that they don't have any talents and that they are average at almost everything so how would they find out what they could do in their lifetime? Well, that is a hard question as I am one of those who question that. However, I figured out (or made myself believe) that it is not necessarily true that only those people with talents or skills can make a huge difference in their respective fields. What I want to believe is that every person stands a chance to do their best at whatever they love doing even though they aren't necessarily a GENIUS at what they do. Mere passion can take you there. I am not saying this because I've already experienced it but someday I want to be able to say that. That's what I want to believe in and everyone should believe that doing what you love is the best thing that you can do even if you feel that you're not that good at it. Becoming good at it comes next.

Fourth is having an "attitude." Not in a bad "attitude" kind of way but in a I-don't-give-a-damn-about-your-opinion-and-I'm-feeling-good-about-myself kind of way. Everyone needs that "I can do it" attitude because double-thinking and being weak can make you not do it at all. There really is no harm in trying and that is so true. The only one you're harming is yourself because you don't want to experience failure that's why you don't try things at all. The end of it all would be regret that you didn't try because what if you tried and there's a hundred percent chance that you would get what you want? But because of fear, you didn't try and that hundred percent automatically becomes nothing because you have no confidence in yourself. No one can bring you down but yourself. You may blame other people but in the end, you're to blame because you let other people bring you down. Attitude. You're precious and if other people don't know that then YOU show them.

Nevertheless, I confess that I don't entirely practice these principles because I'm quite frail when it comes to making life decisions. I decided to write this down so that I wouldn't forget what I learned and so that I could apply all of these in my life. I am starting now and I hope I wouldn't be drawn away by some other thoughts or life events.

This serves as a reminder that I am still living and the time of my life is still ticking.