2013

It's quite funny, when you notice that you start writing blogs during the start of the new year. Most of my blog posts were written last January, and now I am starting to write a new one again, in January.

Well, its the start of the new year, and I'm sick. Caught the flu virus right at the very first day of 2013. But hey, I think it's better you get the flu earlier in the year than later, so that your antibodies get immune and prevent them from occurring in the future. At least that's what I think.

One of the things that I'm pondering about this year is to start writing a blog in Japanese. I think that's a good way for me to actually apply what I have been studying the past year or so. Without further ado, I'll start by introducing a little bit about myself.

はじめまして！

私はケヴィンと申します.
今は二十二歳です。そして誕生日は三月四日です。二ヶ月に二十三歳になります。私が少し古いになりますね。(笑）
仕事はソフトウェアエンジニアです。大変な仕事ですけれども楽しかったです。それからサラリーはちょっと高いです。w w w 冗談ですよ。
趣味はギターを弾いたり本を読んだり日本語を勉強したり音楽を聞いたりします。大好きな日本のバンドはパフュームです。（あーちゃんが大好き！❤）
いつかは日本に住みたいです。それで日本中を旅行したいとくに北海道です。
イタリアン料理とか鮓とか刺身とかチーズケーキとかダークチョコレートが大好きな食べ物ですよ。
私の日本語がちょっと弱いんですけれど日本語の勉強を頑張ります。
ではここに終わりましょうか。

ありがとうございます。どうぞよろしくおねがいいたします。

明けましておめでとうございます。

Hiatus

More often than not, when God teaches you a lesson, it does not happen overnight. Some takes days, weeks, months, or years even. 


For quite a long while (since the last time I last wrote on this blog), I have been wrestling with God. I have been doubting His very existence. I have been sidetracked and lost my way for some time. I have made a lot of mistakes in that span. A lot of wrong choices and decisions. Things that glorify the self rather than Him. The list goes on and on.


But. 


Despite all I did, I was reminded of one thing. That nothing/no one can separate anyone from the love of God. Be it whatever things mentioned above. 


I have been asking God a lot of questions during those times. Sometimes, I search at the wrong places. Sometimes, I don't get an answer. Sometimes, God does say something to me, though not through an audible voice, but through experiences and events. But God did surprise me one day though, that He spoke to me through a friend. And what that friend told me coincides with what I have been debating God about.


God's love is always there. Despite all the sins that we have done, and will be doing. We are often fooled by the enemy that we lose His love whenever we do such things, yet what we actually lose is the assurance of it.


His love is permanent. And it will always be. 

When the Heart says Go, but the Mind says No

There are things in life that are always at constant conflict. Man and nature, viruses and white blood cells, hackers and security experts, the rich and poor, communists and capitalists, a magnet's north pole and south pole, i could go on and on, but i might not be able to finish writing if i do.


A person's heart and mind are, at the very least, not on good terms with each other. Every time a heart wants something, the mind immediately thinks about it and would always rationalize about the validity of what the heart wants. The heart would argue that the things in life are meant to be felt and enjoyed to the full, and rationalizing about it would essentially put a lid over the cup so to speak.


However, to an ordinary person, this battlefield between the heart and mind does not really exists, mainly because the mind is under control of the heart. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that the heart is not a good thing, or an evil one at that, its just that our minds are used to succumb to the heart's desire, therefore leaving no room for thought, to the extent that it becomes an automatic and involuntary action everytime our hearts feels like doing something.


What's sad about that is that we easily give in to the desires of the heart without really thinking about what consequences these desires might bring. Or maybe we'd just easily accept and live with whatever consequences it might bring, no matter how grave (or dull) it might be. What's even worse is that we are sometimes content with living this kind of life and not doing something about it.


Sometimes, what we think about is the 'now', the temporary, and not the eternal. And that's where we miss the point. These distractions are what's keeping us from realizing what's more important and what's more substantial in our lives. Although this is the case, all of us fall short of this at some point in our lives, for we are only human. But still we shouldn't make this as our excuse. I believe we should learn from our previous experiences, whether it be good or bad, because there's always something to take from those, no matter how small.


I've had my fair share of these. These momentary and sometimes guilty pleasures. I succeed at overcoming these circumstances at times, but its usually failure on my end. But only through these failures that I learn and grow, for His power is made perfect in my weakness.


This's probably a lot of musings for now, for the heart and mind is a very complex and abstract concept. Maybe I'll write off a sequel for this one sometime in the future, for this battle of heart and mind continues on.                       

The Month That Was. (or is)

Hefty January.


It's just the first (well technically second) day of the year and I find myself being caught up on a lot of things starting this month. Here's a rundown of some of the things I plan on accomplishing this month:


- Intermediate level of my Nihongo class.


    My beginner class ended about three weeks ago. Tentative start date of the intermediate class would be on January 10. And it would be for another 30 hours of finger lickin, tongue twisting and memory jamming japanese language fun.


- 2012 Annual Prayer and Fasting.
    
    More info can be found here. 


- Attend my Victory Group regularly.


    Well, I've been gone and missing in the group since I took my Japanese classes last November. And just when I thought I could attend regularly again, the impending schedule of my jap class starts to plague my schedule again. Hopefully I could talk my sensei into finding a compromise of not having classes on Thursday, no? 


- Start living a healthy lifestyle.


    And one step of that would be to attend and enroll in a gym. Got myself a one month unlimited gym voucher at Gold's Gym, and of course, I wouldn't let that go to waste wouldn't I? I plan on starting mid January, also still depending on my daily schedule.


- Attend online classes at Stanford University.


    They have a lot of cool and interesting subjects available via online classes. Like this one for starters. More information can be found on the respective subject's website.




That's just some of the highlights for this month of January. Not to mention the regular challenges at work, daily stress during travels, and my occasional delusional self. Guess I got my hands really full this time. But hey, being busy sometimes has its own benefits. Like taking my mind off someone for instance.