Being Grateful

As time goes by, people tend to loose reasons to be grateful for once faced with problems and difficulties. At least, I know I did. But guess what it takes simply a person to make you realize that you have all the reason in the world to be grateful. Who was that? My Dad!

You can call me Daddy's girl, but I was so thankful that my Dad went through that surgery succesfully and was able to recover his health. Otherwise, I don't know how much guilt would I be living with since at that time even upon knowing he was hospitalized I still had to run a conference. But, thanks GOD! It's only by HIS grace..

I know it might not make sense to some people, but since then, I took some time to do lots of reflection and evaluation, and I found out that I have been complaining practically about even the simplest thing for the past 3 months. Now why would I do that? I have all the reason to smile and be grateful for! I have my supportive family, I could devote my time to AIESEC -something I truly love working on, I have my inspiring and supporting members, I could eat twice a day, I could breathe, and so many other things... So what more can I be less grateful of? Nothing! Oh oh, except that maybe I could be 5 cm taller? :D

Life has offered me lots of inspiring, challenging, educating and brilliant experiences that I can never forget my whole life.

Today, I somehow was opted to go through and read the "sugar cubes" that I have gotten from the past 15 AIESEC National Conferences in Indonesia. And yes! Another thing to be grateful for. Reading this "sugar cubes" takes you back to that starting point and reminds you how much passion and spirit you actually have. Yes, I was wrong to let go off that for a while but here I am all shining and glowing with even more passion and spirit to drive things further. It's all about passion! Passion moves people, passion inspires people, and passion keeps you alive no matter what. Also knowing that you have people to support you through both stormy and joyful rides. To those people, I give my greatest gratitude.

Hehehe... and just yesterday another reason to be grateful for. Guess no longer, I passed the hardest round ever for diplomatic service tests "defeating" over 9000 people. Amazing GOD! Wish me all the best for the few more rounds to complete.

Wow! Indeed being grateful is contagious. The beauty of life is not on how many happy moments you have, but on how much you can appreciate whatever comes your way and be grateful for. Now this is the time when I should salute David Pollay on his positive psychology and authentic happiness session. You're truly an amazing mentor and person.

Now it's time to spread that gratefulness to others and be inspired each and every day.

God Bless You all!

Peace

Brazilian Day

Somehow someday.. I will visit Brazil and explore this beautiful country. For the time being I'd settle for a day experience with my Brazilian friends here in Jakarta.

Until I met Fabi, who happens to be the older sister of Elias (MCP of Brazil 2005/2006), I never knew there are many Brazilians here in Indonesia. Surprisingly there are !! And funny this, I even had to meet Fabi not in Jakarta. So the whole story goes like this... I was on my way back from Poland after attending IC, and for some reason my flight was being changed to heading Singapore instead of Kuala Lumpur for a transit. And that's where I met her and Fabio (her husband). Long story short, we exchanged emails and promised to get together in Jakarta.

So last Saturday, we went for a Brazilian BBQ party in Jana (a drop-dead gorgeous Brazilian girl who has been living in Indonesia for 9 years)'s house and spent an amazing time there. We had some Brazilian dances, from Capoiera, Samba to Zuki -they even taught me in person. Whoaaa!! Also, bloody delicious food which I don't remember their names unfortunately except that it's Brazilian.. :D and some Cachaca do Brasil.

Some highlights from the day, was I realized that Brazilians are very diverse in their appearance -anyone can go to Brazil and be considered a Brazilian (I mean for real!). I met Daniela (a Brazilian-Portuguese girl) working for the US Navy (seriously!) who's looking forward to becoming a diplomat in the near future and her boyfriend Patrick -a US diplomat. And of course a whole bunch of other great people. Ending up the day was cozying in the sofa watching some Martial Arts program in Discovery Channel.

The whole day from start was amazing. I HAD FUN! I would say Brazilians -or rather yet Latinos are so alive and passionate. Don't you agree?! I'm already looking forward to spending some time in Brazil...

Childhood Memories...

I was looking through my old time pictures and yes I was reminded how amazing my life has been...

Most of my life was spent abroad being a true nomad. As a child, I'd say my life has been going through significant historic moment. I lived in Berlin and Bonn during the times Germany was split into East and West. I was in Pyongyang (North Korea) when their first President was Kim Il Sung until his death in 1994 and he was being replaced by his son Kim Jong Il. During the Pope's historic visit to the Philippines in 1995, guess where I am? Yeah! I was enjoying great times in Makati, Manila.

Those are just a glimpse of my past memories. Now, here I am a young gal who's living similar life as when she was a child. Even my future job will involve a lot of travelling (and talking :)) as well. Hhmm... I guess it has been destined up there that I will never settle in a place long enough. Is it because I'm so free-spirited? I dunno. One thing I know, I love my life! and the future is mine. :)

Here's to my Mom & Dad for the wonderful life experiences. You're everything to me. I love you both!

Making Things Happen

Every day starts today...

A brilliant quote from AI 06/07! But what does that mean? Personally, I think it is when we learn to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time-often just one baby-step at a time-and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

Summing up the message of the day, "Start today!" whatever it is your goals are. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Don't you think so?

So, what did I do today? I had a 2nd meeting with the lawyer that an SG member referred, to work on legalizing the MC (Yeah! Funny that LC is and not MC). Also managed to read through that 24 page document on the brand registration in Indonesia. :) I just found out that it takes a way lot more expensive to register a brand in Indonesia than in Singapore. Imagine 3x more!!! I don't even know whether the Madrid Protocol has anything to do with this huge amount of money. I guess I'll start bothering the alumni now.... hahaha

Not to forget an OL meeting with my LCPs talking about IC updates and bring backs. Yeah!

Ending the day with a great talk with the AP MCPs (Sharon from Singapore & Satoshi from Japan) and my best friend Katherine from Taiwan thru MSN. Thanks guys! Loved the pics...

Hugs

The Beginning

Someone once told me that time is a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I'd rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey that reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we live it. That's why I chose to live life as though everything is a miracle. All stories of life teach us something, and promise us something, whether they're good or bad.

Each person I met represents a world in me - they sketch, draw, and paint my canvas of life. I dedicate my gratitude to all those people. Thanks guys!

Til then,
Grace