So I was told, to be grateful for 3 things in your life everyday and you will view life in a more positive perspective and not to compare your life against others who seem to be doing better than you. So today I'm grateful for:

1) A healthy body and a normal menstrual cycle
Seems something like I always take for granted and even complaint about sometimes, but these few days, talking to people and getting to know them better helps me to be grateful and appreciate the perfect health that I have. Menstrual pains, that I constantly complaint about, seems such a small problem when some people don't even have their period for 6 months. Seems like heaven and lucrative even that my friends don't have to go through such pain every month, but coming to think of it, it's not normal and it does affects your health as a whole. Many other complications comes when your body does not function "normally".

2) The luxurious choice of being alone, but never ever have to feel lonely.
Reflecting on my life, I've never been lonely. Regardless of where I go, I always have the company of friends and family with me; be it my internship in Langkawi, my trip to Australia and my 2 years fellowship now in Miri. Why I say it's a luxurious choice? Coz there are colleagues of mine who are placed in schools where they are sole rangers. They have no choice but to be alone, and they feel lonely. I on the other hand can have the choice to join social activities or choose to spend some alone time with myself...something I use to take for granted as well. I used to be so busy with activities that I crave alone time, but thinking about alone time for a long time seems like a road I don't want to walk down. I love spending time alone but I sure do not appreciate being lonely.

3) For supportive family and a Mum who teaches me so much
So little credit has been given to my mum and it was entirely my fault, so today I'm going to make that right. It's always so easy to focus on the bad side of people, that we forgot to highlight the good side of a person. Well my mum? She's pretty awesome, like how she makes sure your favourite dishes are on the table after you've been away from home for a long time. I know she always has me on her mind when she goes shopping overseas, maybe coz we spend alot of time shopping together ;), maybe coz we are girls and have more in common as compared to my brothers. It was my mom who taught me how to cook and trained me to do housework. I'm proud to say I can survive on my own not because I went to hotel school, but because my mum trained me well. Every dish that I cook here for my housemates are of my mum's training and none of it came from my training in hotel school nor my industrial training. My mum taught me selflessness through her actions. My mum is one of those mum who would be full when there isn't enough food on the table, would develop a love for a certain part of the fish when the whole family doesn't like that certain part, wouldn't feel hot on a sunny day so that we the children can enjoy the air-con at the back of the car. That's my mum. I don't only learn this or realize this now that I'm away from home, but I realized this long ago and practice it on the people who are placed under my care. I love others the way I love because of her. Sometimes not mentioning something doesn't mean I don't realize it. My mum is strict, and she doesn't exactly express her love in ways that the physical eye can see, and sometimes when we are not mature enough to see with our hearts, we think that other people's mum are better because they shower their kids with very physical love. My mum's tough love made me who I am today, though I would say with tough love comes with some scars along the way, but nevertheless it made me independent. I might not agree with everything my mother does but she is still the best mum I can ever ask for. Perhaps my mum and I are pretty similar. We never admit in front of others how good the other party is. People would praise me, and my mum would give all sorts of negative comments about me and likewise for me; but one day my mum secretly told me, "actually I'm proud of you when people praise you, but then I cannot say "yalor yalor" like bragging only so must say something to counter lo" Apart from that one time, my mum has never said that she was proud of me; through my PMR, SPM and the awards I win in high school. There were times I doubted if she was ever proud of me. I remembered she said it was such a waste that I took Hotel Management with the results that I got, and after 4 years of studying I'm now doing something totally different than the degree that I took. I remembered her saying how did I turn out like this, to want to do something like TFM, how she dislikes the fact that I would be going into rural schools, meeting "don't-know-what-sort-of -people" as she call it and asking why must I be the one to go, why not let other people do it. Even after all those questions, she still allows me to pursuit what I want to do, and not only allow but also by supporting me financially and sometimes emotionally too (which was so rare! of all my Uni years doing similar kinds of things she wasn't even THAT supportive, it was a waste of time back then to her -.-) Perhaps she has "given-up" on me, that I am old enough to make my own decisions. Though my mum did not explicitly express her pride in me, but I do see it in her when she tells my relatives "She's a teacher" with a smile. Maybe..just maybe..she is finally proud of me =) I love you mum!