Something Stronger Than Your Mind

I've come to the point of questioning whether having a strong mind is a blessing or a curse.

We always romanticize strong minded people, but the real deal is that there will be times that your greatest enemy will be your mind. It will shout lies repeatedly. We tend to succumb to these lies not because we are weak minded but it's the other way around - our mind is strong. It just so happened that it turned against us. Those are the times that you've got to be stronger than your mind. And perhaps, it will be the only moment that will make you realize that there is something stronger beyond what keeps our sanity -- Faith.

I am heeding to you to build your faith by having a personal relationship with Jesus. Accept Him as your personal Savior and know Him deeper because that will strengthen your faith, and whatever happens, keep that faith. It will be your greatest weapon the moment your mind becomes your enemy. 

And then, meet me at the phase where we both know that what actually keeps our sanity is our faith to Jesus and His help alone. I would love to have a coffee with you together with my husband. God bless. 

Tips on How to Pass Civil Service Exam (CSE)

First and foremost, allow me to congratulate you for taking your first step to achieve your goal, whIch is basically acquiring tips and reviewers for your Civil Service Exam, otherwise you wont be here reading this blog. 

Alright, let's get going to why you are reading this. Below are the tips I personally learned upon my CSE journey:

1. Don't just review, create a timeline for your review - upon registration for CSE, you have around 3 months or less to prepare for the day itself. Even though the CSC is not releasing yet the exam coverage you have to start reviewing. I suggest you buy a book reviewer because it allows you to make a time frame for each category you have to relearn. Divide each section of the reviewer and mark when you should reach the last page. The CSE is so broad, so might as well start reviewing upon successful registration.

2. Leave the last 2 weeks before the date of exam as refresher of what you did learn for the last 3 months - there's a big chance you will forget what you have reviewed, so allot your last 2 weeks as refresher for what you have reviewed for the last 3 months. 

3. Take down notes - have a personal notebook where you take down notes and important details that you will read back during the last 2 weeks for refresher as mentioned in tip no. 2. Also, studies show that you are more likely to remember stuff when you write it down.

3. Still take time to do what you are passionate about even when reviewing - take it lightly and still do what you are fond about. Whether it is writing poetry, playing guitar, nature tripping, baking, or whatever creative stuff it is, still have some time to do it. I strongly believe that not stressing too much yourself as you review greatly helps. You can also allot only at least 2 hours a day for the review and do some other stuff. Enjoy as you review. Personally, I exclude Mondays as my "no review day", so I think having a break helps. As long as you are achieving your time frame as mentioned on tip no. 1.

4. Join online community - as for me, joining the page of Ma'am Taj Martin (CSE FB Community) really helps me. You will be amazed by the hokage tips you can get from the online community which are beneficial to your goal to pass. I personally suggest that you involve yourself with the online coaches, like Ma'am Taj Martin, Maam Leonalyn, and Team Lyqa, rather than enrolling to a review center. You are really going to need their hokage tips on how to solve/answer questions in easier ways. You may also ask knowledgeable persons if you want to fully understand certain topics, like your prof/teachers, like what I did.

5. Practice Mock Exams with Time Limit - buying book reviewer, like Brain Box, usually comes with a mock exam. You can also find these CSE mock exams online and free. Please do not skip this tip. This will help you improve manage your time because the actual exam is really time consuming. You have to learn how to answer faster. So practice mock exams with time limit. 

6. Pray before and after you perform your review - among all the tips here, this is the most effective. Pray to God and talk to Him with all your heart. Let Him handle this battle. 

7. Don't announce that you are going to take the exam - you may allow some of your closest loved ones or friends but never announce it to the public. Believe me, you will feel less pressured and that will contribute to a healthy psychological well-being.

8. Check all the necessary documents/things you need to bring before the exam day - please don't do this on the day itself.

9. Check the exam venue before the date of your exam if possible - or at least google map it to plan your route going there. 

10. Be early on the day of your CSE - don't ruin all the efforts you have made for the last 3 months by being late. Be there at least 1 hour before the time. 

There you go. Hope these help. I really wanted to share these insights because it's the only thing I can do to help strangers acquire a passing score. 80% is not an easy score to achieve and that shows on the figures below:

I only passed because of the grace of God. That's why tip no. 6 is very important. After the exam, I already accepted that I indeed failed the exam, there's no way I could reach that 80% passing rate, I told myself, and if ever I passed, it's not because I can but only because of God's grace. Perhaps some of the guess I shaded, blessedly, turned out to be the right answers. I don't know, but I am sure it's not because of myself alone. And I pray, you too, pass this CSE and if not, don't give-up and try again. This was my score the last time I took CSE, it was also my first time. It's okay to fail. In my case, I turned it as a stepping stone to do better next time:

This is what I got now, praise be to God:

By the way, allow me to share my husband's rating as first time taker because I'm so amazed of his rating almost surpassing mine without a decent review as he say so. I don't know if he's bluffing, but during the 3 months of my review, I never saw him pick up my reviewer, so unless you have a brain like him, forget all the tips I mentioned 😅. But not no. 6 and No. 10. Never. 

P.S. if you saw the numbering mistake here, you are likely to pass CSE 😅.

Marriage Advice No. 2

I wrote our first advice last year, and just now comes the second. And again, I reiterate, that we are no expert, we are just sharing insights from what we are learning as married couple to maybe somehow help other couples too.

In any romantic relationship, love is important, but so is, respect, forgiveness, trust, faithfulness, understanding, patience, and the list goes on. Your relationship will not survive a lifetime if it is only anchored on love and love alone. It needs to be anchored on the list I've mentioned (and what I've said the list goes on). But most importantly, first, your relationship needs to have a deeper and strong foundation, and that is God. And those aspects will naturally be born as you go on with your relationship. 

And sometimes, in order to give your lifetime partner the respect, faithfulness, understanding he deserves you need to let go of things that makes him feel otherwise. That includes cutting ties or attachment that he doesn't approve of. I have to admit that I don't understand this at first. We argue over this thinking he doesn't widen his mind and see from my perspective. I have seen him as someone who lacks faith in my love for him whenever this issue arises. I actually made steps to make him build the same attachment I have with this person. And I thought for awhile it worked. It was only when I saw and felt my man's pain brought by the attachment I have with this friend, I realized that I am not becoming of a wife he deserves. I am hurting him. And I am choosing to hurt him with having this attachment he doesn't approve of. And I don't like hurting him. It hurts me too. And so, I cut the ties with my long time friend.  

Don't get the idea that this post is about me cheating. No. I would never hurt him like that. The attachment I am talking about is a long time friendship with an opposite sex. Do I love him?Yes, but I only love him as a friend. That's for certain. There are only few things I am certain about, and that's one of it. We've known eachother since High School, and he is one of the few people who stayed all through my life's seasons. That's why I don't understand why I have to cut our ties. Our friendship is that deep already, deep but not in a romantic way. That is maybe why it's hard to let go. I thought it could exist side by side with our married life. But I have married my man whom I vow to keep on choosing everyday over someone. And if it hurts him, I don't want it. 

So to that friend, If you're reading this... This is the answer to why I suddenly stop communicating with you. You always told me your girl is not bothered with our relationship, but my man is. I told you once that before, and you being friend with him didn't work. I will still be your friend and will always be your Basyang but let me be just a friend from a distance, supporting you quietly. I can no longer be by your side with all the activities we share interest with,  am sure your girl will do that with you. Continue living happy. 

And to you, my Man, I love you. I respect you. I understand you. I will be faithful to you for the rest of my life. And just like my vow, I will always choose you. I would turn my back to whatever is hurting you. Which made me realize, that If I were in your position, I would definitely feel jealous too and might do something unpleasant with you and your girl friend. But you always turn your back to whatever hurts me. Indeed, I  blessed having you. Thank you for being so patient with me. I love you everyday, always.  

And that my dearest readers, is our marriage advice for this season. Look forward for more. 

Rewrite The Stars (Kober-Koberan)

Ang panget. Pero blog ko 'to, e. Upload ko trip ko.

Remarkable Part: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Several months ago, the TV series of this book was released and have watched by many. And for quite some time it went trending on line. While I, who's not into "what's in and what's not", managed to ignore the hype -- the way I am ignoring Game of Thrones. Well, I don't know if ignoring is the right term, but seriously, I don't give an F ;p or they're just aren't my thing.

Anyway, a friend from work has a copy of the book even before the series came to life. I wasn't aware of it. I didn't know that Thirteen Reasons Why was originally from a novel. So, I asked her the difference between the two and which is better. She said, the series changed several things from the original story. And she suggested that I should try reading the novel and later compared it with the TV series.

And now, here I am sharing my thoughts regarding its remarkable parts... remarkable parts for me, of course. Who else will be the judge here?  ;p

1.

 ...money.

(Halfway reading this book, I started to question the story. Like, "Gosh, what kind of town / school is this? Why all the characters are evil? Lahat na lang masama ugali? Duh!" And then, finally, I read something like this. At least, the book still proves that there's still hope in humanity.)

2.

(I feel Hannah. People need to stop talking when they don't even understand what they're talking about: the subject or the situation. Sometimes we just think what to say, but obviously failed to feel. And the truth is, we become a sounding cymbals. It's so annoying. And sometimes, irritating. And that won't help anyone.)

3.

(This book didn't mention about God. Not even a single word about Him. What the book failed to tell as a whole is that people who go through situations like Hannah should surrender everything to God. Yes, give up! Give up and give all your burdens, heartaches, disappointments, failures, brokenness and everything in between. Give it up to God. Cry it all out to Him -- The Great Listener, The Father, The Comforter and so on. He knows what you are going through and He wants you to stop looking around you and fix your eyes on Him. You are seeking help almost to everyone except God. Hannah did look and seek help to people around her, although indirectly, and she keeps on failing. Why? Because people, or whoever that person is, they will eventually fail you at some point in your life. We do that and we are so good at that. But God will not. And the lines above, reminds me of God. This is a perfect representation of Him and someone who completely leans on Him. We should be that car and God is our owner. He is always around to fix you.)

4.

(This reminds me of my man. The only man, next to God, who tried harder and keeps on trying harder. And wouldn't it be nice to do the same with your loved ones? They will thank you in the end and you will probably thank yourself too. They will feel good, and you will too. It's a win win situation. :D)


So there goes your penny for my thoughts.  ;p
And by the way, I'm still not going to watch the TV series. So, will you do the comparison for me. :D

When Expectation and Reality Meet

Late last year, I saw this ring on the net and send the picture to him, telling that this is the kind of engagement/wedding ring I would like to receive.

Days, weeks, months have passed and I have already forgotten about this ring. And just a week ago, he held my hand and put a ring on my finger. Not realizing that it is the exact replica of the picture of the ring I sent him last year, until I look at the picture again and I was like “Wow! They are exactly the same! How the hell did he find one?” I was actually amazed by his researching skill. And I love his ability to make me ‘caught-off-guard’ by his little surprises.

He admitted that it was actually a replica, but I don’t care. I will never be impressed by how much an item costs him, it is always the effort that makes me love him more. And the fact that he pays attention and takes note proved that he is the one for me. 😊 I love how he loves me. ❤

I am blessed I have him.