Dec 24, 2019

Recipe for Success: Post 2

Bismillah...

After I decided that it was not the right time to leave my family to study abroad back in 2015, I actually never stop looking for courses that I can enroll locally. Annually, I would screen through the courses that is offered whenever the HLP is opened for application. However, none of them appealed to me.

All of us has our own preference. I'm the type who is very particular with fruitful outcome thus I set the intention that if I were to pursue my study it must not be because of trend; like when you reach a  certain level of seniority you are expected to hold a master's degree. Or because I need a year off from work. Or because I have nothing else to do in life. Or because my heart got broken; like I did in 2015 kahkahkah perhaps it was the wrong intention that made Allah fated that I should stay to settle far more important matters.

The thing is, now that I have left university for almost a decade, my brain has forgotten how to study!!!!!!!! I noticed this when I started attending Japanese class; how I struggled retaining new vocabularies inside my brain and God... I can't remember kanji when the character is more than what... 6 strokes.. Urgh~ I also think partly it's because now we have the advantage for quick references so our brain has become lazy.. okay it's MY brain that has become lazy... Since I'm not going to back off from my decision to sit for my professional exam, I've been desperately looking for ways to improve my memory hahaha like reading websites like this one and this one.

So here goes what works for me so far hahaha


FISH OIL

For a period of time, this was an obsession hahaha I started taking it for my memory but then as I read more and more, I got excited with its other health benefits. For instance its benefit on skin and how it is said to help boost metabolism thus helps with losing weight. I'm not sure whether it particularly helped me with my memory or not because when I started taking it regularly I already started doing other things that also might. But one thing that  I noticed is that my skin allergy problems has now disappeared. I used to have frequent rash and itchiness whenever I'm in dusty environment that I have to do frequent dusting in my room. But now, Alhamdulillah it's completely resolved!



WORD SEARCH

To keep your brain active and sharp, mind games helps. That's not new information for me and I am actually guilty of letting my Sudoku and super thick Brain Puzzle book left untouched on my shelf. But, they are currently not for my aging lazy brain yet, so to avoid frustration I started with this word search book that my cousin left for years on my shelf hahaha

I think what most of us also struggle with is maintaining our attention on one particular task without having to reach for our phones and check what else is going on in this world. While I have significantly reduced my time on social media, when I first started doing the word search, although it is super easy and require minimal brain power, it took time for me to finish because of my short attention span. Over time I manage to improve on that and then I started to notice that my attention on my reading materials has also improved.




READ!

As responsibilities increased in number, I read lesser and lesser. I always wonder how Oprah manage to finish her books; or perhaps I'm just a slow reader hahaha Recently, I tried to always make time to read my books and as you can see on my bookshelf there are books stacked on the properly arranged ones. Its best to try reading different authors and books that discuss different topics because the variations will stimulate different 'circuits' in our brain.

In addition, I also make sure I never skip my workout regardless how's the weather like outside. If I can't go out for a jog, my yoga mat is always there spread on my room floor for me to do some tabata. Not having the right mood, or too tired is again another excuse. I also make sure that I make time to play sports that require strategies because it does improve my focus. I think, except for the fish oil, all of the aforementioned has always been part of my life. It's just I've never realize their value until I stopped and had to start all over again.


I actually don't know what to put as this post's title so I made it like a sequel to an old post.

I still have a long way to go and it won't be an easy one. This is just a small part that might help with the entire journey. I'm still struggling with busy schedule, self discipline because it is very very tempting to just sit back and do nothing rather than start opening my reading materials and making notes.

I hope we can all now move on to a new chapter as the new year is approaching...
Career-wise, for me was mentally and emotionally challenging this year but I'm grateful that with Allah's guide and His will, the fire in me is never entirely abated despite the difficulties.

Dec 17, 2019

Hello December (^^)/

Bismillah..

I'm currently down with viral fever. Been having headaches and muscle aches for the past few days and PCM has been my 'staple food' to keep me going with all the planned activities. Decided to write something tonight to keep me awake. I didn't intend to keep the short emo post on top for long but November has been a super busy one and to be honest it was a month full of happiness despite me leaving the blog dormant after posting something like that hahaha


November was the month to celebrate success.

Sara scored straight As in her UPSR and BFF SS passed the final clinical exam for her masters program. Yeay! I'm very proud of them! While they are obviously from a different age group and at a different education level, what is similar between them is they are both super busy people. Our family got a bit worried with Sara being too active in extracurricular activities even when UPSR was approaching; she even went to play netball at national level in July, 2 months before UPSR! And SS had to juggle between her rotation at different departments and facilities, settle her thesis proposal and of course manage her family.

Failing my N4 last year, I guess, was a reminder that I was never the type who could study last minute. And now that these two important people in my life had made it in their exams, I should strive to score and pass mine too. I have about 10 months left to prepare, I'm quite busy myself, but SS is much much busier since she has two very clever minions to deal with, I shouldn't make my tight schedule as an excuse for not preparing well. I've been bothering SS quite a lot and has been asking for study tips hahaha I guess it's all about prioritizing and self discipline.


November was jam-packed with activities



First was Medical Night which I didn't plan to go at first but then since I had nothing in schedule so I went anyway hahaha I hired a professional make up artist who recently was listed to compete in Malaysia Top  MUA (so proud of her!) and of course I was very satisfied with my look for that night.




Manage to gather some girls to form a futsal team and compete at our hospital level tournament. We didn't win. I was not in my best shape too; my thigh muscles were aching throughout the games T_T
But the most important thing is we had fun and we burnt lots of calories that morning! What I really love most about my team, they always get even more excited after losing and can't wait to get better (^^)/ Huk huk!



Family trip to Kundasang! This is not something unusual but Sabahan families just never got tired going there for holiday, This time my big bro wanted to go to the Arnab Village because it was he who cancelled it 2 years ago after he saw the gravel road. I went there with my uncle's family earlier this year. They added quite a lot of things since my last visit.




We had to go to Kundasang on a Sunday because all accommodations that suit us were fully booked that weekend. We stayed at Suang Noh Homestay which is situated at the Mesilau Village and very near to the Desa Cattle Farm. I highly recommend the place for families. Ours was a house with two rooms. Each room has a queen size bed, a bunk bed and its own bathroom and toilet. The kitchen utensils were quite limited because I've been to some that had more but it shouldn't be that much of a problem.


So now welcome December, my birthday month! (^^)/ Also was started with fun activities

Like the annual World AIDS Day celebration



I was very very occupied as the event was approaching. I really had to prioritize stuffs and be very disciplined those few weeks in order to ensure that every single thing gets done well. I even skipped the trip with my family to the zoo to settle some stuffs so that I can spend all my time with them afterwards. And what I think I'm most blessed with is my very dedicated team



I didn't have time to do a meeting and was only delegating the tasks via whatsapp. Everybody had their share of jobs and Alhamdulillah everything was done very very well, and they even exceed my expectations. I tell you, my teams are best at refining my ideas and also executing them. I couldn't have done it alone and I always believe that if our team is limited to what I say, think and want, we will not go far. 

Last year we made a timeline about stigma. I'm glad that some of last year's visitors actually remembered that. Partly because it was very moving (I even cried while doing the research hahaha) and also we included some public figures in the timeline. This year the main intention is to make the communities understand HIV and be able to contribute to help make a difference in handling HIV as whole. Why there was an unexpected crowd at our booth? There was a crossword puzzle there that requires visitors to read and answer the questions. I'm not sure if it was the prize that allure the crowd, but I was surprised that the visitors were actively reading the posters and even approached my team members, not for quick answers but for further explanation. And for that, I'm very thankful. I hope the visitors did learn something from what we exhibited.

Eh panjang pulak pasal WAD hahahaha

Beach cleanup with Mercy Malaysia Sabah Chapter.



This is my first activity with Mercy. Didn't really get to know the people because it was just a half day activity in Pulau Sepanggar. There were soooooooooo many plastic bottles on the beach that I started to think, if the drinking water is not filled into a plastic bottle, how should we sell them then...? No, I didn't find the answer hahaha

We collected a total of 1750.4 kg of garbage that morning. That is a lot! Prevention is indeed better than cure~ There were still a lot left especially those that are buried underneath the sand. We gave up on some since it was too deep to pull out everything.

Okay that's all for this post..
Yes... With this full schedule I am struggling to find time to study huargh~ And that story will be told in another post (^^)/

This post was written on 7 Dec. Stopped half way and completed tonight hahaha

Nov 20, 2019

Silenced...


"... forget about the ones who don't.. ."
Her silence simply means she is exhausted of uncertainty and doesn't care anymore...