You are your greatest asset

 

I remember reading an article online that challenged the idea of confidence. Confidence, the author believed in today's society is often contingent upon a certain social status, a flashy car, that big house or a pay raise at work. Human beings are constantly seeking and hoping for more. And we often fall short of these expectations. If we build our confidence and our happiness around things, when they are taken away from us, our sense of identity may be destroyed.

My parents once told me, when you look for a husband, don't base his value on the happy moments you have shared together, when everything seemed to be perfect. Don't make your judgement relying on his status, his job or the amount of stuff that he owns. Anybody can be confident when the road appears bright and blissful. What happens when things do go wrong? When he doesn't get that big promotion and you end up living together in a tiny little shack. How will he cope? More importantly, will he still love you, in the same way as before? When a person prioritizes his house or job as number one, the relationship will fall number two. You only have the capacity to love so much in life.

Real confidence comes from those moments when you have nothing to base your value on but yourself. You are the only asset you own. Not your car, your house, your job but you as a whole and complete person. Possessions can be as easily taken away from you as when you obtained them. After all, they are just things. Billionaire Warren Buffett lives in the same five bedroom house he bought in the 1950's and drives a fairly modest car. What I love about this man is that he knows what matters. You can take away the staggering $58 billion fortune he has made and he will still be Warren Buffett. He hasn't changed himself or his definition of happiness because of the amount of things he can now buy.

You need to tell yourself every single day that you are still you no matter the circumstances. You may be going through a rocky patch or facing a brick wall but that doesn't make you more or less as a person. Who you are is something nobody can ever take away from you. You are your own greatest asset.

You can take away my suits, you can take away my home, but there's one thing you can never take away from me:

I am Iron Man.

The true meaning of love

We all have a different definition of happiness. A few years back, mine would have been somewhere along the lines of: I want to be like Carrie in Sex and the City. Single, carefree, living in a little apartment in New York with a wardrobe filled with designer clothing.

Then I grew up, I hit my 20’s. I started studying for a degree, working and taking on more responsibility. The days grew longer, the nights shorter and everyday began to feel like a lonely battle going from place to place getting things done. Happiness didn’t come from that huge milestone, looking forward to a big party or reaching a certain birthday, it began to resonate from the little moments. Like going for a walk, reading a book, having a day off to catch up on my favourite TV show. And I realized that no matter how great somebody’s life seems to be, we are all given 24 hours in a day. No more, no less. The world doesn’t feel like such a big place when you think about that way.

At the end of the day, we are all dying. Each of us at our own pace. But the destination is inescapable. When you think about it that way, you can really put life into perspective. Time is something that you can never buy back. Find out what you want in life, what matters and fight hard for it. Today's post is about love. It's true version, the stripped down unmediated version. Love is undeniably what each and everyone of us is looking for in some form or another.

I want what every girl wants. I want to find someone who loves me. I want to wake up everyday feeling like I’m the happiest girl in the world. Not because he’s perfect or that life is always easy but because love itself is selfless and patient and kind. And when you’re with the right person, you won’t judge them, compare them or devalue them because you know that life is too short for that.  

Many of us dream that the perfect man takes a certain form, is a particular height, a specific profession etc. etc. But you know something? Love isn’t a dream, it’s happening right before our very eyes. He might not be as tall as you want him to be as attentive as you expect him to be or as good-looking but life brought you together for a reason. If he’s willing to see the best in you, help you through the hard times, work on your relationship and improve himself for the better, God put someone amazing in your life. Love is still patient but it’s not easy. Being in love and love are two completely different concepts. Being in love is experiencing the excitement and the fuzzy cuddles and the long awaited phone calls every night, loving someone is listening to their problems, facing your fears together and fighting the unknown. You can’t say you were never fated to be together when you chose to give up at the last hurdle. There is no easy path. It depends how much you want to be together. I hear a lot of people say that long distance relationships never work because it’s too hard. You know what? I have friends who have survived the distance because they accepted it wasn’t going to be easy because falling out of love is all too acceptable when you spend months and months apart but these are the people who really understand how to love.

True love means somebody else’s happiness matters to you more than your own. You can sit with your significant other through the darkness because you love them and that is all the reasoning you require. True love means that you can go through the tedious moments of everyday together and still feel content when you fall asleep at night. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never felt so scared in my whole entire life. I don’t like knowing that time is transient and that love isn’t as easy or perfect as the media makes it out to be. But we can’t fear when we can’t control. We all want to be loved. It's as simple as that. So need to fight to make it happen.

Nothing good is ever easy. A love that lasts is a love that goes through trials and triumphs. If you are both willing to put aside your differences and support each other, you might be the couple who will make it until the end.   

"How did you manage to stay together for 65 years?" The woman replied, "We were born in a time when if something was broken we would fix it, not throw it away." 

A famous father's poem to his son

Famous Chinese actor 陈建斌 wrote a really beautiful poem to his young son. It's called: Too much happiness. I've translated it so it may not be exactly like the original but nonetheless it's still really heart warming. 陈建斌 said this poem is for his son to read when he is older and it will teach him how to live life 'happily.'

Too much happiness

If you ask me to sing, I will sing.
If you ask me to dance, I will dance.
If you want to watch a movie, I will take you to Hollywood.

If you run, I will follow.
If you stop, I will rest.
If you want to fly, I will wait for you to land.

Don't worry about what other people think, you will find someone who understands you,
Don't worry about life's difficulties, it can only get better.

To find ourselves, there is nothing we should be afraid of.
To find happiness, there is nothing that should stop us.

If you want to jump, I will ask you how high.
If you want to spin, I will ask you how many times.

You are young, you are naive,
You came into this world so long after me,
Yet I traveled the entire world just to find you.

Where did you come from?
Where are you going?
Why have you entered my heart?

Your tears and smiles melt my heart
So that it becomes a real heart.

Just laugh

My little brother is one of the happiest people I know. I miss him a lot when he is not around me. I remember when I used to get mad at him, he would say to me. 'Krystina, just laugh.'

Laughter is the best medicine. Finding the simple happiness in frivolous things. Like dancing in the rain. Or hugging a friend. Or singing in the shower.

I did something today that I never knew I could do. I took my brother's words and applied them. After surviving on two hours of sleep and copious cups of coffee, I was dizzy and tired. I sat at my desk staring at the giant white folders not knowing where to begin. I needed to clear my mind of any distractions whether it be exhaustion or hunger or frustration. So, I did something extraordinary...

I said: "Krystina, just laugh."

So I smiled and took out the first folder. A simple change of attitude can shape the course of your day. I had never felt freer, or more jovial.

I also remember something else my brother said to me. A few years ago, I came home crying because I failed one of my maths papers. My brother was really little at the time, he said to me: "You looked so much prettier smiling."

Children are extremely honest.  They can distinguish between real beauty and the images that society tries to implant into our minds infested with makeup and plastic surgery and breast enhancing techniques. Real beauty comes from real happiness. Real happiness comes knowing that life is wonderful. And that thought will turn into a smile. That smile will lead to laughter.

So you should just laugh.

Next time someone breaks your heart, laugh. Tell yourself it's okay because laughing through the rain means you know that there is a rainbow waiting at the other end.

Next time you don't win the race, laugh. Tell yourself that laughing through defeat means you are ready to run again.

Next time you doubt yourself, laugh. Tell yourself that laughing at your imperfections shows that you are accepting that you are only human.

Next time when someone tells you that you are not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, laugh. Tell yourself that you are laughing because these people do not know you. They do not know that trying to push you down will only make you stronger.

Next time you feel overwhelmed, stressed, hurt, angry or sad. LAUGH. Laughter will not erase all the pain but it will remind you that you are still alive. Life will always open its arms out to you waiting for you to embrace it.

So just laugh.

Go where the joy is

This is the shortest piece of advice I have ever given but

'Go where the joy is.'



My love forever and always,

Krystina

Promise yourself

 A friend of mine posted this beautiful piece of advice by Christian D. Larson on Facebook. I now have it pinned on my wall. I hope it makes as much sense to you as it does to me.



“Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”

― Christian D. Larson

Choose happiness.

Bob Dylan candidly spoke about his wife: "The one thing about her that I always loved was that she was never one of those people who thinks that someone else is the answer to their happiness. Me or anybody else. She’s always had her own built-in happiness."

I am going to explain to you a very simple concept, yet, many have failed to come to terms with its existence. It's a little something called 'Happiness.'

Everyday we are experiencing emotional turbulence, arduous tasks and people we can't stand. Petty sentiments such as jealousy, disgust and negativity dissuade us from what should be the focal point of our lives; the pure joy of being alive.

Everyone experiences some sort of turmoil in their lives. Nothing is ever made to be perfect or to last forever. That is why we need to have what Bob Dylan calls a 'built in happiness' to experience lasting contentment.

Real happiness begins from loving yourself. When you know who you are and what you stand for.  Happiness resonates a quiet and inconspicuous confidence, often the product of age, experience and achievement.

There is a really horrible scene in Jerry McGuire where the boy says to the girl; 'you complete me.' This is the part that sends shudders down my spine. A lot of young people believe they need to be in a relationship in order to be happy. This is just an example of where we are going wrong. We believe happiness takes the form of a certain special someone or something. That is not the case. You have to make peace with what you have and accept your limitations. Here is the part that applies to this paragraph; a relationship should be the cherry on top of the cake. Without it, the cake can still stand tall and mighty. You are still deliciously desirable and COMPLETE on your own.

I'm currently reflecting on what makes me happy. God, family, friends, a good book, Sex and the City, playing the piano, Spring sunshine, Summer at the beach, singing in the shower, going for a run before sunrise, yoga, writing for hours upon hours...

These are the most fulfilling yet underrated things I can think of. Note: I didn't include traveling around the world or winning the lottery. I want to prove a point, in order to cherish the big things, you need to enjoy the small things first. Sudden doses of happiness don't last very long. You need attainable and consistent pleasures that you can reach out for whenever you require a happiness reminder. I am always excited at the prospect of traveling to another city or country but this only takes place once or twice a year. If I invest my happiness solely in special occasions, I will let the beauty of simple joys slip away .

'The prettiest dresses are worn to be taken off.'-Jean Cocteau.

We cannot depend on material items to build up our happiness. Don't get me wrong, I always squeal when I see Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger on sale but I know fashion is always changing. What was yesterday's treasure can well be today's trash. The only thing consistent is what you can control. In this case it is your level of happiness.

Look around you, you have someone who cares deeply for you, a home, a future and (I'm assuming) internet access. If only you can smell the sweet spring scent, hear the birds chirp, walk three miles, hug someone you love then you should be happy. I know it's not that simple. We have bills to pay, people to please, jobs to complete and the impending fear of what the future holds. Life can never be perfect. Happiness is a conscious choice. The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything but they know what they have is enough to keep them happy.

That my friend is genuine happiness. It is that simple.




My love forever and always,

Krystina