Passive Bella

♡

[sotterrami]

[nepenthes25]

[blackmessydesk]

Habits of successful students

Discipline: “discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to”, which means that you have to force yourself to start doing things. 

Concentration: when you make a real effort in your work (study, homeworks etc…) you will be more likely to actually focus, understand and learn. 

Organization: always set tasks and goals and organize a study-schedule. Maybe you don’t really want to plan all the week, but if you just wake up and open your agenda/bullet journal/iphone calendar and write down all the things you have to do, setting due dates and deadlines, you’ll feel more conscious and encouraged to stay on track. 

Tasks-splitting: sometimes, you write down your tasks. Some of these tasks may be very hard and complicated, and it will take a long long time to complete them. So, you can split them in smaller tasks, so you will feel satisfied after a shorter period of time, instead of studying for hours and still seeing that chapter undone on your study-schedule. 

Watch the sunrise: when I wake up late, I feel like I don’t have enought time to do my work and lose my motivation. I literally panic and then I think “whatever, I could not complete all the things anyway”. So, if you wake up earlier you will feel more positive and  controlled. 

Smart reading: try not to read your textbook just like a newspaper. For every paragraph you read, try to underline and write down key words and then your question about that subject. Literally, turn your textbook into questions. If you write down question - particularly why…? - and think about the answer, you will be more likely to remember that stuff later. 

Healthy lifestile: if you don’t drink enough water in the morning, you will be more likely to have a decrease of concentration in the afternoon/evening, so: stay hydrated. Try also to have some snaks every one-two hours: feed your brain. 

[reimenaashelyee]

2017: a pictorial letter for the New Year.

[maleenkatharina]

Sometimes you just need a good cry. Even if you don’t know the reason why you’re crying.

(via maleenkatharina)

[growing-in-christ]

I can not express how much truth there is to this. I have been in that position- living with the overwhelming feeling that the pain is never going away or nothing is ever going to get better. But it does. It did. Because of Jesus. There was a point where the only fight I had left was to say, “Help me”. (That’s literally all I said right there in my kitchen while I was loading my dishwasher.) And with my willingness to allow Him to work, that’s all it took. If “help me” is all you have right now, I promise you, it’s all you need.

[chibird]

Some flowers and tired vibes~ Sending all my energy to everyone.

[passivebella]

Oh, Praise His life who paid my debt, and raise His life, up from the death. ♡

[passivebella]

08/15/16: Sappy

I miss staying up late on tumblr and reading random posts.

I miss writing nonsense things here (even though no one notices/reads it).

I miss not being stressed with acads and grades. 

I miss talking and hanging out with some people.

I miss having late night random thoughts.

I miss reading for leisure. (YA fiction huhu)

I miss creating mixtapes/playlist with random songs.

A lot of things has already changed. I miss a lot of things that I used to do freely. But then as I grow old, life becomes more demanding. Priorities are set. But I guess even if I’ll get a chance to choose between those times and the present time, I’ll still choose today. That even though I am usually stressed about a lot of things, there’s something to look forward to in the future. Because I’m moving forward with life. Everyday, instead of choosing to stay and be contented on who I am, I have a chance to be a better person that I am yesterday. I just hope I could do some of those things atleast once in a while. 

[passivebella]

most girls: i need this shirt, i need this lipstick, i need a new haircut, i need those shoes!!!

me: i need this notebook, i need these pencils, i need these sticky notes, i need these pageflags, i need these stickers!!!

[passivebella]

Blog under construction

Hi! So you read the title right. My blog will be on hiatus til’ I get a new laptop. As much as I want to write a lot of stuff here, customize my blog and reblog amazing things, my netbook can’t handle tumblr and my browser always crashes or freezes or whatever. It’s kinda pretty annoying. I still might post here occasionally using my phone though. But rest assured, I’ll be getting a new lappy and be back for good here in tumblr within the year. Lol. CIAO

[passivebella]

It has been more than a month since I got this book and finally, I was able to finish reading it last friday. Yay! It was a gift from one of the godly women that I look up to (Hi Ate Aileen. Haha.), and Praise God because this book made me realize A LOT of things. I am glad to share some of my insights throughout the book here in my blog.

In our everyday life, we make decisions. And those decisions whether big or small, affect our lives. We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us. Who am I today is the result of the decisions that I’ve made in the past. And personally, I always have a hard time on making decisions. I wanted to pursue God’s will so much that I always struggle to know God’s will. I am always uncertain on which path to take and have been praying that God will soon reveal to me His will clearly.

Knowing God’s will is really all about knowing God. God’s will doesn’t need to be big nor extraordinary. It can be through little steps/actions. I was actually convicted by God about how I’ve been living my life safely, asking myself, How many opportunities have I missed by not taking a step?

“Sometimes we wait for our plans to work out before we do anything. Then it’s too late.” (Pritchard,2004)

“In our search for certainty about God’s will, we end up paralyzed by an inability to make up our minds. “ (Pritchard,2004)

God won’t reveal to you His whole plan. You don’t need to see how it will turns out first before you start moving. God reveals the way step by step. In Psalms 119:105, it says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” You gotta take one step forward for Him to reveal the next step. It also shows how much we need to depend on God. He will guide us day by day, moment by moment, and step by step. That’s why it is important to seek Him daily.

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Even if you don’t see it, even if it seems like it’s not making any sense,even if it’s hard, despite of the uncertainty, KEEP ON TAKING THE STEPS. The people in the bible doesn’t know where they are going but they still chose to go. Living by faith means taking the next step anyway.

“If you are willing to do God’s will, you will do it.” (Pritchard, 2004)

God looks at the heart. He wants total willingness. He doesn’t reveal his will only for it to be treated as an option. Then we ask, how do we know what is God’s will that we need to do? We say “I’m willing, now what do we do?” God answers, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” (Prov. 3:6) When you need to know, you’ll know. Sometimes we focus too much on what we want to do for the Lord that we forget Him. If we have a true and intimate relationship with the Lord, we will surely know His will. His word is full of His will. Have we read His word? God reveals Himself in the bible and if we don’t even take time to read it, we might miss His will for us. This is one of the points that struck me. Many times I get frustrated because I can’t clearly understand God’s will. (Or I don’t even KNOW what He wants me to do.) I’ve been praying that He will reveal to me on how can I serve Him. But examining myself broke my heart. God wants me to read His word. He wants me to spend time with Him. To focus on Him alone. That no ministry nor any sacrifice is more important than spending time with Him and pursuing Him. Praise God for convicting me.

Where do you begin in discovering the will of God? You begin by doing what you already know to be the will of God in your present situation. (Pritchard,2004) As a daughter, God’s will for me is to obey my parents. As a student, God’s will for me is to study hard. As a friend, God’s will for me is to love them. I realized how much I’ve been seeking for something big that I fail to see those that is already revealed to me. “Whatever your hands finds to do, do it with your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10) God’s will for us can be more than those simple things but it is not less than that. God wants our obedience to the simplest things first before he entrust greater things to us.

To conclude everything, Discovering God’s will is step by step. You’ll have to decide whether to take a step or not. You don’t have to be 100% certain about it. You don’t need to be anxious on how it will turn out. Focus on the Lord and not on the decision.

Once you are open and soft and bendable before the Lord… once you are willing to take the next step… once you are willing to do God’s will… at that point you must believe that when you need to make a decision, God will give you whatever wisdom and insight you need at that moment, so that whatever decision you make will be His will for your life. (Pritchard,2004)

Don’t be afraid even if you make a “mistake” because God allowed that to happen for the good. He can use it and bring you exactly where He wants you to be. So when you came to that point where you need to make a decision, don’t be afraid. Make the best decision and surrender the results to Him. Believe that His plans will prevail.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose.”

Praise God! For Him be all the glory forever and ever.

[cosmicwizdom]

Of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Hard is what makes it great.

- unknown (via worshipgifs)

....

[passivebella]

Happy New Year

Time does flies so fast. Summing up my 2015, I can really say that it has been truly a great year. The people I met, the new experiences, the lessons I’ve learned, and all the memories I will treasure made me somehow different from who I am last year. Praise God for all the blessings and opportunities that I received this year. Most of the time, I don’t deserve them but He is faithful. Praise God because he opened some doors for me to be closer to Him which makes this year more memorable.

My year wasn’t only about the good stuffs though, there are downfalls, frustration and some regrets too. The last two months of my 2015 has been quite the most unproductive months for me. The routine of procrastinating and cramming only makes me weary and frustrated at the end of the day. I actually wanted to smack my head so hard to wake me up to the reality that I need to start doing something or else I would end up having the same regrets over and over again. The motivation that I have on the start of semester seems to be lost and I don’t know where to pick it up.

As the year ends, I hope those not-so-good stuff will teach me to be a better person for the upcoming year. Those stuffs should be left in 2015 and I wanted to start the year filled with overflowing positive vibes. I’m really stoked for 2016 because there’s so many things to look forward to. I’m hoping and praying for a more focused and better ‘me’ this 2016 and may this year be a good one. Happy New Year, Everyone! Start the year right. :)

[second-year-studying]

1 hour to beat stress/anxiety and get on with studying:

How to deal with stress/anxiety/anger/a bad day in 1 hour, so that you can go back to studying, or whatever else you need to do …I wrote a general post recently about dealing with stress/anxiety/depression and some of you guys said it really helped, so here is a more short term fix for a bad day:

Personally, half the time I won’t do this and I will just sit in front of the telly or go to bed without studying, and then feel worse in the morning, so I’m hoping than an actual written checklist might make it easier for you guys not to do this. If this applies to you, then actually make yourself a checklist and stick it on your wall, or in your planner for when you need it!!! Force yourself to look at it, and physically cross the things off. As I said in my last post I think it’s so important to have a method to be able to deal with your own stress without asking others for help, and consciously making the decision to deal with your stress and get on with your day is the first step.

As usual these are the really obvious fixes, but doing this in order and in the space of an hour is what actually works for me. Don’t skip steps even if you don’t see the point / can’t be bothered to do it, force yourself to follow the list:

First do some exercise, which if you’re anything like me when I’m stressed/upset is probably the last thing you want to do, but the fact that you’re doing something rather than just moping around will immediately make you feel better about yourself. Even if it’s just 50 jumping jacks or sit ups, it will change your perspective from feeling sorry for yourself to doing something about it. (10 minutes) 

 Drink a glass of cold water, it’s just calm and refreshing, and refreshing is exactly what you need to do before you start working again.

Get a bath or a shower, even if it’s the evening or if you’ve already had one … you’re basically just washing away all that stress. Put some loud upbeat music on to stop yourself from doing all that shower-thinking, you will feel refreshed. I would also advise having a playlist of songs that will actually improve your mood for when you need it. (15 minutes)

Put on clean comfy clothes, brush your hair, put on deodorant/perfume/ anything that makes you feel more put together. (10 minutes) 

Take ten minutes to clean up your space, light candles and spray room spray, (if you don’t have any of these, please buy some, they are the cheapest most effective fix I swear). (10 minutes)

Make a hot (or cold) drink: tea, coffee, iced tea whatever it is. (5 minutes)

Lay all of your work/books/pens out in front of you, make a list of what you need to achieve today/tonight. You already know you’re having a bad day so set a realistic/achievable goal.  (10 minutes)

Now you can start work. If you still feel stressed, make allowances e.g. leave your tv/music on while you work … it might slow you down, but you’re doing something, and thats pretty great considering where you were an hour ago :) 

[passivebella]

Merry Christmas!

I hope you’re all having fun with your families. Tbh, I can’t feel the christmas spirit in our house tonight since we’re not complete. They didn’t prepare that much for christmas because they said na sa new years eve nalang daw. But there’s no reason to be sad. As the two famous networks’ station IDs said “Magmahalan tayo ngayong Pasko” & “Thank you for the love”. More than food and gifts, Christmas is about Jesus. We may not know the exact date He was born, if it is really December 25 or not, the fact that He came into this world will never change. We received the greatest gift that was ever gave. Redemption. So, Thank you for the love, Father. Your boundless love for us that never ceases. I hope we will also spread this same love to other people. Magmahalan tayo ngayong pasko. Whoever they are, show them the same love that you received from Him. Learn to love the most unlovable in them because God loves the most unlovable in you. The story of the cross never gets old and it is surely a great reminder of how much God loves us. Amazing Grace, how sweet thy sound. Christmas time will always be merry if we remember the reason for this season.

Happy holidays, tumblr community! SML *hugs*

[passivebella]

Merry Christmas, tumblr community! SML *hugs*