:(

Gone Fishing

Won't be posting stuff for a while (until I finish the exams) unless it's an urgent thing xD

Why is the weight of my troubles so heavy?

I learned something very interesting today :)

And guess what! While I was looking for a picture to illustrate what I'm about to tell, I clicked on the website, and coincidently the picture was from a blog that talks about the exact same story I was about to tell! xD

Perfect right? But I guess I'll try to tell it with my own words xD

So guys, look at the picture below of a hand holding a glass of water. How heavy do you think is the glass plus the water? 100g? 200g? 400g?

Well, it doesn't really matter how heavy it is. It's probably not that heavy anyway. Imagine you holding the cup of water. It's not heavy right? Especially if you start drinking the water, it's pretty refreshing isn't it?

But what if you hold on to that glass for 15 minutes? Hm, still okay. 

What if you hold it for half an hour? Tired and aching hand!

What if you hold it for the whole day?? I think my hand would be paralysed by then!

The point of this analogy is that, the glass of water is still the same weight, but the longer you hold on to it, the heavier it is!

The same goes with our troubles. By troubles, I mean things like stress, worries, anxious thoughts, negative thoughts, and so many other things that may burden our life. The longer you hold on to it, the heavier it becomes. Whereas if we allow ourselves to put down the water, it wouldn't be so bad. We can then hold it and deal with the problem when we've recovered from the tiredness.

This story really made me realize how true that is. And I hope that it helps you guys as well. 

From my own experience, I used to be so very self conscious about my looks when I was younger. I used to worry all the time about what people think. Then I had eczema, and that just made it worse. Because everyday would be a burden to walk out there with an ugly skin! But after a while, I learned to put down my self consciousness. I tried to think of other stuff other that how I look. Because at the end of the day, looks are not the most important thing in your life! So I'm pretty thankful that I got the eczema. Because I learned to put down the burdens of negative body image, instead of letting it run around my mind, getting heavier and heavier.

And these days, I have a lot of stress in my mind. Not just eczema. But listening to this analogy this morning, really help me to put down my stress, step back, and slowly resolve the problem instead of just stressing!

For those doing exams: Good luck guys! And don't stress too much. Study well instead :)

For those who aren't doing exams but are having troubles in your mind, learn to put it down for a moment and don't let it dominate your thoughts. :)

Inspired by Pdt Didik Tridjatmiko's sermon

My Favourite Inspirational Speech

Wear Sunscreen

By Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '98: Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

No more cloud in sight! PART 2

Continuation from Part 1..

In late 2009. I started noticing that my sight had become cloudy, especially in bright light. I searched up the net for a picture that would describe what it was like most accurately, I found this:

Some parts were clear but the center of my sight was very blurry and cloudy.

It felt like my contact lens were dirty but even after I changed to a new one, it was still cloudy and blurred. I started to search up in the net and was kinda convinced that it was cataracts. I started worrying even more when I couldn't see what was the number of the bus I usually catch. I could only tell whether it was 504 or 940 when it's realllyyyy close. So I just stopped any bus and get on it because it would be embarrassing if I didn't get on the bus I stopped lol. I can go to uni both ways anyway.

I searched up wikipedia and other websites and it said that using steroid based creams relate to developing cataracts. And that's when I immediately suspect that my eye problem was because of my eczema cream.
I went to an optometrist and she said "No, no it's not cataracts! You're still too young! It's just astigmatism!" She gave me some trial astigmatism contact lenses but I found them not helping at all! I then tried to ignore the problem and continue with uni and life.

Well into 2010, I really had difficulties with my eyes, the cloud just got worse. During labs I couldn't measure the transparent water or other transparent fluids in measuring cylinders because the light in labs are bright. Using pipettes were a nuisance and I sometimes embarrassingly need to ask the person next to me to check if it was the right dosage. I couldn't copy down answers in bright light. And in the pharmacy, I couldn't read the instructions behind the medicine boxes, making it hard to give quick answers to customers. One of the pharmacist also taught me how to dispense medications but I couldn't really see the computer screen, so I proceeded very slow. It was so embarrassing.

Basically, the cataract was TROUBLESOME!

One day, I told myself: that's it! I'm gonna need to get it checked! So Shawn accompanied me to an optometrist in Karawara. The optometrist there confirmed that it was cataracts and it was a rare sort. It's not located on the surface of my lens, but instead in the middle of the lens. Therefore, simple laser slicing of the top part is not possible and he referred me to an ophthalmologist. Before that, I partly suspected hat it was cataracts but I partly hoped that it wasn't. I went home crying on that day because the later option was wrong.

My grandma had a cataract removal surgery with Dr. Ian Constable form Lions Eye Institute. Therefore my mum brought me there too. I was pretty scared about it because I had never gone under the knife before!
The surgery was early in the morning at 7 am.

The anesthetist was very friendly! He asked me what course I do at uni and I told him I do pharmacy. I also told him that  I was missing a lab session on that day. So he started telling me all the names and functions of the drugs that he put into the canula that was injected on my left hand. After all was done he said "See, you didn't miss out on learning stuff today!" and I just laughed xD

My bed was rolled a short distance to the operating theater. It was like in movies! I saw the ceiling lights rushed past over my head as the bed moved.

This is a diagram of the type
of artificial lens inserted
to my right eye.

The operation was amazingly fast. I fell asleep and then I kinda woke up a bit towards the end. I saw the blurry Dr Constable and I don't know if I imagined it or not, I saw his hand holding a lens. Then everything went black and I can feel something pushed from the right side of my eye. I think it hurt a tiny bit, but not really. Then I felt someone stripping off a large sticker off my face (it felt like someones waxing my face lol). Then someone wipe an alcohol like (probably antiseptic) liquid on my face with a tissue. Then that's it!
I was rolled back out and woke up feeling refreshed lol.

Crazy right. I had a shield covering the eye for a couple of days and then it got taken off and everything was CLEAR. Like crazy. I even got headaches from it.

So yah. :) I'm now (as a friend's brother said) a bionic eyed girl.
Even thought it was pretty sad I got cataracts from the cream that was suppose to help me with eczema, I'm pretty thankful cos at least now I have better sight. Also, the artificial eye will NEVER get cataracts anymore the doctor said. And eventually if someone lives long enough, they will get cataracts apparently. So i got an early surgery hehe..

THE END

PS: Careful for those using eczema creams not to use it near your eyes!!!!!!!!

CLEAN!

Hey guys! Guess what! I just cleaned Shawn's bedroom LOL

well at least the desk part. Because it was crazily messy and DUSTY!!


*HA-CHOOOOOO~!!!*

Should have taken a before and after picture but didnt think of it xD

Originally I came over to his house to study together. But yah, ended up cleaning because it was unbearably dusty and messy --

So anyway, pretty proud of what we've accomplished LOL

So yah, hope everyone's been well, and I'll try to post more stuff up more often :)

And the cataract post number 2 is coming up as well, just haven't got the mood to finish it off, but will do soon :)

And please pray for the F.O.C.U.S (Fellowship of Overseas Christian Uni Students) group at Curtin because they are currently having some troubles. 

Thanks guys :)

I

Random thought: I also feel like eating this Indonesian dish: Mpek-Mpek. Which is a delicious characteristic fish cake coated in crispy batter and egg in the middle, served a slightly spicy light soy sauce. Yum :)

Loving it: Just The Way You Are :)

"Cos you're amazing just the way you are..."

Such beautiful lyrics!

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are

Alpacas are cute :)

A Cold Day

Today I went to uni for a 2 hours tute at 2pm. When the tute finished, I quickly rushed to the bus station to catch the earliest bus to Canning Bridge. I needed to arrive at work in 1 hour so missing that bus wouldn't be an option.

As I got on to the bus and then got off at Canning Bridge, I realised that it was quite cold and windy even though I was wearing my long work pants. I rushed down the stairs and tap my smartrider on to the machine.
I looked up and there it was. 39 mins wait. I was like omg. I'm gonna be late!

Then the bottom part of the screen said something along the lines "We had a distraction in one of the train stations therefore there will be a delay in the train times. We apologise for the inconvenience." I decided to call the pharmacy telling them that I'm gonna be late for work, but then the train arrived a couple of minutes later. Thank God. I was 20 minutes late however.

Work went quite fast, and learned several new stuff. Shawn picked me up and he told me about an incident that apparently happened in one of the train stations. One or two (I'm not sure) people suicided. No wonder there was the delay. I was so surprised and so sad to hear that. And got reminded of an article I read this morning by a pharmacist who wrote on his blog about how depression is on an increase in this generation. I also learned a few antidepressant names in the pharmacy and nearly every week handed out at least one or two prescriptions. Often, the person receiving the medication doesn't look like they are depressed. They often looked like their lives are just normal. It made me wonder why.

Maybe it's because our generation needs to do so much more multitasking and have a much more hectic lifestyle than our parents to keep up with the modern world. Maybe it's because of the exaggerated fashion and self image demands that we face everyday. The pressures to be beautiful and to be physically flawless. To confide in looks over inner beauty. And all these other stress triggers. And there so many other reasons that I don't know but it is there and it is very close to us.Who knows, I might get depressed one day. Because I for one often think about my looks and would find so many flaws in them.

So going back to the incident, it wasn't a very happy day for a lot of us in Perth today. But just remember, that these things can happen anytime and anywhere. That's why it's the job of each and every one of us to take care of the people around us and make sure that they can have a chance to get help before doing anything dangerous. Especially the people close to us. Take care!

 

Why is shopping so addictive?

I hate to say it, but I love shopping.
Thing is, I don't like to spend money for the vain and not really necessary shopping. I'd rather save it for more necessary stuff such as saving up for a car, a house, etc, etc. And if there are any abundances left, it would be better off given to people who really need it to stay alive, rather than shopping for more clothes .

Sigh.

Also, my wardrobe is so full already! But I love shopping for new stuff!! T_T Especially after I've gone through blogs or fashion magazines, or saw something that someone wears or have which I like. Booh..

Help!

On another note, I'm probably not gonna write any meaningful stuff for the next couple of days xD
Haven't been in the mood. Been pretty dodgy mood these days. It's because I haven't studied AT ALL during the week break. And I'm pretty behind. Also, work keeps calling me beacause they need people. I guess it's good because I got a pay rise which means I can spend more! ^^ (NO! I hope I don't spend more on unnecessary stuff)

Sigh

Sigh.. how I hate when my laziness kick in and mum starts to nag T.T

1 kg and NORIT!

Been crazy tired and sore after the body pump.
Now eating healthy and less than before :D (I was eating humungously huge amounts of food before xD).
Took 1 NORIT tablet (activated charcoal) cos my tummy was so bloated and gassy (a.k.a burp&farts ewwwwww) and it got better afterwards yay!
And guess what ! 1 KG gone! muahahahahahahha......
Okay now gonna clean the house for extra work out lol

PHAT!

Yesterday = ROYAL SHOW :D
It was so funnn!!!! Went with DumDum, my sister, my sister's bf, my sister's bf's lil bro. My mum, my grandma and bro was there too but they didn't stay till the fireworks!
So, after a day of fun rides, tiring walks, petting different kinds of animals, we went home and I straight away went to sleep.
The next morning I checked the pictures we took and I was :O OMG.
My tummy is SO BBBBIGGGHHH zzzzzz
so, I decided that I'm gonna try to eat healthier and lose some weight lol.
This morning I went to gym session called Body Pump and it was crazy tiring. Lifted up to 3.75 kg on left and right side of the weight. It was crazy. Now I'm just at uni trying to dwld all my ilectures and probably will stay till 4ish, cos i got work at 5. Phew.
So good luck to me! My target is to lose... hmm..... maybeeeeeeeee 1 kg? haha.. okay I have no idea cos I've never done diets before. Maybe 5 kg. But gonna eat healthy and exercise more for 1 month. So 30 days of that. Trial version. If it works then I'll continue longer ;)