I Appreciate You, Yes You!

I’ve been active in blogging for almost a year now, and it’s really amazing!

My very first blog was last 2015, when I came back here in UAE for a job. If you haven’t read “Where It All Begins” then you might get confused if you’ve read “Life As An Overseas Worker” first. But what’s more confusing is this statement hahaha! Anyway, I deleted my first blog because I’m not confident enough and doubting myself if what I’m doing is right and okay.

Fast forward to 2019, I started blogging, still not confident but I don’t doubt on myself anymore. I cannot please everyone, I cannot blog based on what people really expected in a blog but I’m trying. I blog because I want to motivate people, I want to share my experiences and maybe give some light to some people who are experiencing and experienced what I’ve been thru. I might blog something that’s too personal to blog or might post a topic that is really unattractive for some people. My vocabulary is limited.

But I really love blogging, I love conveying my feelings through blogs.

Especially the blogging and writing community. I’m really grateful and thankful for the community. I’ve talked and established a relationship with other bloggers from different countries. I haven’t personally meet anyone from the community yet, but I really care for those people. OMG why am I in tears? hahaha I’m just grateful for having friends like you guys, for treating me nice and for spending time to talk to me. The connection and not being easily judged. I’m overwhelmed from the support I’ve been receiving, from the friendship you are giving, from the trust and most especially for accepting me not just as Yourstrulie but as Liezl. You guys are the best! I cannot express in words how thankful I’am to be a part of this community. I love you guys and from the bottom of my heart:

Salamat

Gracias

Arigatogozaimasu

Kamsahamnida

Shukraan Gazilaan

Dhanyavaad

Grazie

Thank You!

Those are the languages I know in saying Thank you, I don’t want to google it and the list might be long enough we will take a couple of more hours just to read it hahaha!

I really do appreciate you guys.I will always have your back! I will always be here to support you. I will always walk the journey with you.

Yourstrulie now signing off…

Joooooooooke!! Will never happen ofcourse, loving the community and there’s no reason to sign off yet. 🙂

Have a blessed day guys and stay safe!

Self Care In The Pursuit Of The Glowing You

What comes to your mind whenever you hear the word ‘Self Care’?

For me? Well, it’s about taking care of yourself not only physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You need to take care of yourself from within so you can happily glow physically.

Physical Self-Care

1. Eat healthily and properly. You should be eating lots of fruits and vegetables, they have the proper nutrients that our body needs. I wouldn’t recommend eating chips and the likes but, you can also have those in moderation. Drink lots of water, it will make you fight cravings and hunger and will make your skin glow as it will hydrate you. Don’t deprive your self when it comes to food, especially when you are on a diet. Eat and be healthy.
2. Exercise at least an hour a day. You don’t have to go to the gym so you can work out, you can simply do jogging or brisk walking around your house, at the park or you can watch workout videos and do it inside your home. Stretch your muscles every day.
3. Take a bath. This is so basic and, I know all of us are doing it. I, myself is taking a bath every day. Twice a day, too much right? Well, I’m taking a bath every morning before going to work, then wash my body before sleeping to remove dirt from being outside all day. You can also use dry shampoo if you don’t want to wet your hair every day.
4. Skin Care. Use sunblock lotion or facial cream to protect your skin from sunlight. Use lotion to moisturizes your skin. Use a facial mask twice a week or thrice a week to maintain your skin’s glow. Always remove your make-up before going to bed to avoid having pimples and dry skin. Do not prick your pimple, it might get infected and will leave marks on your face. Use once in a while a body scrub so you can remove dead skin from your body.
5. Pamper Yourself. Go to spa or salon and make your hair and nails done, or avail their massage services.
6. Sleep. Make sure to have enough and proper sleep. It’s a very powerful process to make you look fresh and lively every day. Also to avoid having an eyebags.

Emotional Self-Care

1. Stop Pitying Yourself. Easy to say but it will help you a lot. Pitying yourself will not do any good for you. Instead of doing it, try lifting yourself, say things like ‘It’s fine, I can still do it’ or ‘Oh well, it’s just not for me/ not my time yet’.
2. Avoid Toxic People. Avoid them, toxic people will just stay in your life just so they can use you as their emotional punching bag and stress reliever. Or use you if they need something from you. Stop. Don’t let them do that to you. It’s fine to help and listen to their issues but, if it’s repetitive and causing you to stress then stop. Tell them upfront that what you are hearing is a cycle and, it’s not helping the both of you.
3. Don’t Let Your Emotions Eat You. Think of happy memories, it’s okay to feel down and sad but, make sure to end your day with a peaceful you. Always getting upset and grumpy? Go find help from Physical Self Care.
4. Be Happy. Always choose to be happy and strong. Always choose to smile. Remember, there’s always a rainbow after a rain. So choose the right thing for you.
5. Guard Your Heart. Always take pre-caution in making someone close to you. Just because the person shows you kindness means that they like you. Kindness, is a natural act, don’t over-read people’s actions. Read between the lines. Don’t be a stone but, put a shield to protect it.
6. Talk To People. People who are optimistic and are always happy. People who will help you to lift yourself and motivate you to do good for others especially, for your self. Talking to those kinds of people will inspire you but always apply number 5 though.

Mental Self-Care

1. Read. Always take time to read may it be books, magazines, and comics. You need to enhance your skills and add vocabulary to your list. Or simply read for you to forget your worries in the meantime. You can also do some research, not only you will be occupied but you can gain another knowledge you can use in your daily life.
2. Listen To Music. It helps you calm your nerves and free some space in your mind. It will make you feel relaxed even if you are doing house chores or anything else while listening to music.
3. Don’t Over Think. It will give you a headache and sleepless nights. It’s normal to think that hard especially, when it comes to your problem but you cannot solve it by overthinking. Go to Emotional Self Care. You will eventually solve whatever you are thinking and facing. Clear your mind and start thinking of how to overcome it, not why you are facing it.

Spiritual Self-Care

1. Pray. Talk to him, no matter where you are and no matter what time is it. He will listen to you. You might not get the answers to your questions for now but definitely He heard you and have plans for you. You might receive other things than what you prayed for but trust Him. Submit everything to Him and He will give what is best for you.

Those are my self-care tips and advice (unsolicited again hahaha), it would be great if you could give me lists to add on mine.

Take care of yourself, friend! xoxo

photo: https://www.instagram.com/johnemeraldlirasan17/

Untitled 2019

Your eyes are blue,

Which is my favorite hue

Your lips are pinkish,

That I really would like to kiss

Your smile is so sweet,

My heart is melting just by looking at it

You are a man with a big heart,

And you are such a perfect art

I care for you the most,

Surely when you leave I’ll be lost

I adore you greatly,

And I’m sure I will be loving you solely

(Potential) Signs Of Being Abused In A Relationship

Have you ever been in a toxic and abusive relationship with someone? Have you tried fixing it or you are just inlove with the idea of being in a relationship and ignored the signs and red flags?

Couples at the beginning are full of love and joy, smile and laughters are endless. Those dates and late hang outs makes your heart flutter. Those hugs and kisses are too hard to end–until you came to know each other too well.

I have been in a toxic relationship before and thankfully not abusive but I can tell that you will not realize it’s toxic unless you are totally out of that relationship. Signs that you are in a toxic relationship (abused POV):

1. It’s always your fault no matter what he/she did to you (talking about physically and mentally, let’s add emotionally), it’s always your fault. You always feel at fault all the time.
2. You are mad at him/her when he/she cheated on you or do something bad but fall for him/her even harder when he/she “explained” to you and denied everything.
3. You put him/her first before anyone else. Before anything else, even if it means loosing your dreams and goals especially your life and career.
4. You don’t respect yourself anymore and just beg for his/her forgiveness, beg for him/her to not go (top of the list!)
5. You know the truth but still choose to be blinded by your love ( or is it really love?)
6. You will seek advice and comfort from your friends but won’t listen and choose to stay with him/her even you know for yourself it’s not healthy anymore. Even if it means losing your friends and family.

How to get away with it? Well it’s not easy, some people are abusive either, emotionally or physically. It’s even harder if it’s both. It may be easy to say this and I know it is hard:

1. But always trust your guts, don’t wait until it’s too late.
2. ALWAYS LOVE YOURSELF FIRST.
3. It’s okay to be afraid, it’s fine if you are afraid of him/her but always remember you have friends and family you can run in to.
4. It’s hard but you have to help yourself, you have to step up for yourself and for your future.
5. Don’t be denial and delusional. It’s hard to do this but you have to give it a try. Think of your happy times before you met him/her. You are happy even before he/she came to your life so you could do it also even when he/she isn’t there anymore.
6. Go out and have some fun, breathe some air and laugh (don’t laugh alone please lol). Don’t sulk in and don’t let depression eat you.
7. Always remember you are loved by many.

It’s really hard to get out of a toxic and unhealthy relationship, you just have to stay strong for your dreams and future with your family and friends. Be vocal, even if you can see your friends and family getting irritated and annoyed when you open your mouth to talk about him/her, it’s fine. They are not mad at you, they are concerned to the point of saying hurtful words to you just so you wake up from the nightmare you allowed to dream of. It’s okay to give up, sometimes giving up is not a sign of being a coward, sometimes it’s a sign of being strong because you are getting your self out from the situation that may drag you down. Especially when you are fighting to save your relationship yet he/she isn’t.

Giving up your life? Getting tired of it? Nahhh– run to your friends and family, they will give you a lot of reason to move forward.

We are here for you.

I’AM HERE FOR YOU.

I’m Not Okay But It’s Okay

I was walking yesterday to clear up my mind, thinking whether what I’m doing is right or wrong. I have lots of issues I’m struggling to fight with right now. I always seem to complain in everything. Like EVERYTHING! I’m too sensitive and always end up being emotionally stressed out and dramatic. I tend to be grumpy most of the time nowadays. Even in text messages, a person can clearly know that I’m irritated or not in a good mood.

Then I decided to do these things to get out of the spot I created:

1. I decided to go for a walk so I won’t allow my self to further hit the red button (becoming depressed).
2. Indulge myself by buying me a booba and a piece of cake. (Cheat day it is!)
3. Enjoy the breeze of the cold and gentle wind that touches my skin.
4. Gaze up and appreciate the beauty of the sky.
5. Oh and did I mentioned walk with your friend?Yes! Big help to have someone accompany you. Having someone beside you helps a lot. Most especially if your friend talks non-stop. Like you are having your own issues yet you are listening to other people’s issues.

Those are just simple and basics but surely you will automatically feel at peace, relaxed and start to become positive again. It helped me cleared up my mind and thought that maybe I’m like that because I was inside the house most of the time.

I realized we are just like the sky above us. Life is not all about joy and laughter it’s not always morning. Gloomy days, evening time will come and it’s okay, we are not perfect, we are humans who have emotions and feelings but always remember that it’s your choice whether to stay on that spot or not. It will not even cost you that much if you want to fight that issues and throw it in a bin. You don’t need a fancy tour, all you need is a courage to step out, appreciate life and continue building the better version of you.

My Ghostly Experience

Do you believe in ghosts or you are kinda skeptical about it?

I was about 5 years old when I first encountered them, I was inside the washroom, sitting on the bowl and infront of me was the drainage, I was playfully swinging my feet when I suddenly saw a bubbles coming out of the drainage until it forms into a blood I got so scared I ran to our room, opened the door, shut it closed and cried on my mom while hugging her. She asked me what happened and then I told her what I saw, she then went on the door to check and when she opened it, there’s traces of blood on the carpet from the washroom til the door of our room, as if it was following me.

When I was in college, my grandmother died and we traveled to my mom’s town to pay respect. After the funeral, we still stayed there for a couple of days without my friends knowing it (the extension), I was talking with my relatives when I received a message from one of my friends and asked how am I, I told her the situation and will be back after weekends, she kept on asking me if I’m telling the truth, got annoyed and asked her why is she being like that. Then she told me that one of our friend’s family saw me in a mall and greeted them and said I even kissed the youngest sibling of my friend. I told her no I’m still out of town and the mall where her family claimed that they saw me was far from where I’m living. It’s weird and creepy coz IT kissed her sister. They said it’s a doppelganger. After that incident, I got safely to my dorm. My roommates are not there so I’m alone, I decided to take a nap since I was so exhausted. I dreamed of someone opening the door and a woman in white entered my room, pulled the chair on my study table and sat there. I suddenly woke up and there I saw the door widely opened and my chair was moved as if someone just sat there. Is it a dream or it really happened?

Still in college, I kept on hearing voices calling my name. When I was about to ride a bus I heard my mom’s voice calling my name but she’s like hundreds of miles away from me, other times when I was walking inside the university I can hear kid’s voice calling out to me. One day I was inside my dorm when I received a phone call, I said “Hello” and it got creepy when I heard a woman’s voice mimicking the way I said hello and she kept on saying hello several times with a playful tone of voice until it got cut. I tried to call the number but the operator says the number is not registered—not unattended–not cannot be reached but not registered, I got scared and got afraid to be alone for a period of time.

I was on a tour in Baguio Philippines as part of my course, my roommates already taken a bath and when it was my turn I smelled a guy’s perfume inside the bathroom, I just shrugged it off and thought our guy friend visited us in our room, I was preparing the tub when I saw an image at the mirror, I looked at it and nothing was there so I thought I was just seeing things, when I was about to be finished I saw someone peeked at the mirror and when I looked at it there’s letters written on the mirror, I don’t know if it’s initials or just randoms words. I got scared a bit and hurriedly go out of the bathroom, my roommates looked at me and asked what happened, maybe it shows on my face that I was scared. I told them what happened and when they looked at the mirror, the letters are not there anymore. I also asked them if our guy friend went inside our room they all said no one visited our room. I just didn’t say anything after that.

It was weekend and I decided to go home, my mom and my dad told me that my little brother are so afraid and scared as he always see a woman outside of our house—no definite time. So when I arrived around 7:00pm-ish, we closed the door and the windows and the curtain because my brother is really afraid at that time. We were sitting face to face and chatting when I suddenly felt a gust of wind on my back and got chills and I felt right at that moment that someone or something was standing behind me. I saw my brother’s eyes widened and told him not to say anything. He put his hands on his mouth while looking at me, teary eyes. I was so stoned but managed to hold my brother’s knees. Here’s the thing, my mom was just steps away from us and watching T.V, we are really so afraid when I called my mom, she looked at us and asked why? I don’t know but she suddenly ran outside and kept on asking us why and what is happening hahahaha we are so scared that we just laughed at my mom’s reaction. We told her what happened and my brother told me that it’s the first time the woman went inside of our house. He cannot believe that I felt it before he saw the woman standing behind me.

I have lots of lots of experience with them but those are few that still gives me chills whenever I remember those incidents, right now I’m having chills just by writing it down. I just pray and keep rosary with me. It’s my protection from those spirits.

What is your scariest experience with them?

Believe It, It’s Unbelievable!

“One day’s burden is enough for one day” – Matthew 6:34.

I decided to watch the series Unbelievable in Netflix yesterday and it really affected me emotionally. I was thinking maybe other people are in this kind of situation. In the situation where MARIE experienced it for years.

The story is all about a girl, raped, bullied and outcasted by the people around her, people whom she cared and trusted. She was raped, accused and charged for falsifying her claims of rape because there was no evidence collected at the crime scene, no suspect and her demeanor after the incident was off.

At first everyone sympathizes with her, but because of how the way she act and her attitude made her former foster parent doubt and discussed about it to the police which later on resulted for them to believe the foster parent.

Unknowingly, another similar incidents happened and two detectives who happened to be women, both from different pd, worked on the case when they learned their cases have similarities. They created a team and caught the serial rapist after 3 years of a hard work. They also found out that Marie is really telling the truth since the evidence showed up from the hard drive of the suspect. To make the story short, the city where Marie lives got a refund of $500 (she paid the fine for “falsely reporting a crime”) and won a law suit of $150,000 which she used to start a new life. The suspect, was sentenced to 327 years in prison.

It was a really great series, I feel pity for the victims especially to Marie, for battling and suffering alone, for what she experienced — no one deserves to experience what they had gone through— what she had gone through. But she was a strong woman, she managed to stay composed, managed to stand still and fight for her self. She managed to face the day by herself. They are all strong. The smile they wear everyday, the hope they have and to deal with the trauma made them so strong. Kudos to them!

This series is an eye opener, just because a person doesn’t behave the way you wanted them to be means they are not telling the truth or nothing good comes from them. People reacts differently. Supporting and tolerating are two different words with different meanings. Supporting them doesn’t mean you are tolerating them. Supporting them means you are teaching them to be strong enough and have the courage to change for their own good.

Additional note to all, stop blaming the victim. Living alone, wearing short or revealing clothes and looks flirty doesn’t mean they wanted to be raped. Rapist will rape you even if you are wearing elephant pants and jacket in summer, anytime of the day. Rapist will rape you if they really want to.

Support them, show that they are not alone on this battle.

Have a safe day people!

Love, Future You!

Dear Past Me,

How are you doing? Are you alright?

I know you are in a hard situation right now but everything will be okay. I believe in you. You are strong, don’t mind those people who only used you, they are temporary yes but don’t let them affect what and who you are forever. Don’t dwell too much in the past please, don’t hurt yourself too much ‘coz those people doesn’t deserve your attention and affection. You’ve done enough. All that matters are your true friends and family. You are one step closer to having a good life. Hang in there, all your sleepless nights and hardship will be paid off.

Me? I’m doing great thanks to you, because of your strength I’m complete and contented. I’m happy where I’am, extra thanks to your experiences and hardwork I have a stable and wonderful job now. I have few friends but they are for keeps, no user friendly in the circle now lol! I also have established and started the business you really like, hoping to expand since it’s a great hit! Yeah, I still work even if there’s business, that’s what you like and now I like it also. Our brother has a good position in a company now, still addicted to volleyball though. Mama is still healthy and kicking! Laughing as loud as she can like before. Regrets? you know it already (read My First Love Left Me) and I don’t regret anything other than that because I have learned so much from it, the decisions and the choices you’ve made and I know you will still be making, taught me how to become a better, stronger and not so vulnerable person. Someday, when you reach me, you’ll be super proud of yourself and stop belittling yourself. Just trust on yourself and HIM.

I know you will be smiling while reading this letter of mine, you really worked your self out so hard and I owe you big time for everything I have now. Hoping you’ll stay stronger and stop thinking of hurting yourself goodness! Oh and by the way I have 2 kids now and 1 on the way! Happily married with the guy you really really dreamed of (he is a catch, nice one past me!) They are so adorable. They are just like you, strong and compassionate. I can’t wait for you to meet them.

Love,

Future You!

It’s not bad to boast and say good things to yourself every now and then, It’s kinda embarrassing but it will be of great help, it’s like tapping your own shoulder while saying “Good Job! You did great!”. It will make you feel better and more motivated so that what your future you can truly come true. Have you thanked your past you already? Or you are still in the process to become the better version of you?

(photo ctto)