Hi-llo, readers!

It's that time of the year again! The end has come yet again! We only have two days left of 2012 and I'm very excited for 2013 to start. I've said it once and I'm going to say it again, what kind of year the coming year will be really depends on us. If we want the year to be a good and happy one, we just have to decide to be happy and strive to have a good year. No amount of round fruits on the table or polka dot-wearing will ensure us of monetary luck if we don't do our part to earn some money throughout the year! And, please! No amount of jumping up and down will make us taller if we are past our 18th year (or is it 21st?)! Ha! I'm not saying that these practices and other ones like these should be ignored or something, I'm just saying that we can't just rely on these things alone to ensure us a better year. It really is up to us! So, let's, everybody, pray for and decide to have a better, happier and more meaningful 2013! Cheers! :)

I was planning to write about what my 2012 was like, but I didn't want to bore you with things that no one but me cares about. Suffice it to say, my 2012 was a full year for me. Full, I say, because it was a year like no other. I had high and low moments, I had realizations both beautiful and otherwise, I had experiences that will stay with me until I am brought to my grave, I had found new friendships and strengthened old ones, I had taken risks and faced good and bad consequences, I had learned valuable lessons, and I had fun! I won some, I lost some. All in all, 2012 was a good year for me, but not without the downside.

I'm not exactly a fan of New Year's Resolutions! If you've been reading this blog for quite some time now, you know that I don't subscribe to the idea of waiting for the new year to resolve to start or stop doing something. I am more of the "daily resolution" or the "take one day at a time" type. I believe that every single day is an opportunity to change oneself for the better. So, this coming January 1, 2013 and every single day after that, I will resolve to improve. Step by step. On a daily basis.

My Favorite Photo for 2012 (taken from Facebook)------------
12/12/12

December 12, 2012. For some years now and especially as soon as 2012 started, I'd been waiting and looking forward to this particular day. I don't know why but, somehow, I just really wanted to make this day unforgettable and significant. Well, for a start, it was already quite special because it was my mom's birthday and because of the Triple 12 thing and the fact that this will happen only once in a hundred years or in our lifetime, we'd been calling it Mommy's Debut. I wanted to make sure that I posted a blog entry on that day, but unfortunately my Internet connection started acting up that day and I couldn't connect to the worldwide web for more than a week. You can imagine how frustrated I was when December 13 came and I still couldn't post a blog entry! People who know me well know how frustrated and furious I'd be whenever I'm not able to push through with something I have already set my mind on! I seriously wanted to cry!

I'd been imagining what the day would be like or how I wanted it to be like for a really long time, I'd had plans, but things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. This, too, frustrated and irritated me. But, this taught me so much. Acceptance of things I can't do anything about, patience, and resignation, i.e. knowing when to actually give up or let go, are but some of the things I learned that day. Actually, the idea that the day didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to really bugged me and, by late afternoon, I was a bomb ready to explode! And, explode I did! I met with a good friend and, to her shock, I broke down and cried like a baby for a reason only I understood and knew. After I let everything out, I started to feel calm and I was able to focus on the good things.

People say that the first step to freedom is acceptance. All that frustration and anger I felt, I surmised, was coming from the fact that I was struggling against the reality of what had already passed, things I could no longer change. I wasn't willing to accept the mistakes I made and the negative aspects of the day. And, when I finally blew off steam and accepted all these things, I felt lighter. I felt free. I realized I was okay, after all.

Come to think of it, as I write this, I come to newer realizations. That day was sort of a symbol or a shortened version of my life. I mean, I know that that there are and there will always be bad things that may upset me, things that I have no control of, but there are also good things that will balance things out. There are things that will make me happy, even if sometimes I don't recognize them at first. At the end of the day, I realize now, one just has to forgive the world and, most importantly, forgive oneself. The decision is mine to make. I just have to open my eyes to the lessons and arm myself with these as I face life's challenges. Learning- that's what life is about!

Going back to that day, by day's end, I thanked God for it turned out to be a "perfect" day. I couldn't ask for a better one. It made me learn more about myself and about life in general. It gave me a better and improved worldview and disposition. So, 12/12/12 didn't really turn out the way I had always wished it to, but it proved to be even better than I hoped. And, yes, it proved to be a very significant and special day in the life of one Diandra-Ditma Aguam Macarambon. *winks!*

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9 years of blogging... and still going!

As part of the celebration of this blog's 9th anniversary (on December 18th), let me take this opportunity to thank every single one of you who actually reads this blog! For those who have been reading since this blog's early days, a million thanks to y'all! *high five!*

No promises but, hopefully, this blog will be more active in 2013! Inshaa-Allah.

I started this blog, anonymously at first, as a way to hone my skills (char!) in writing and I'd say it has really served me well. It had, through the years, become not only an avenue to develop my writing, but also a good way to find great friends throughout the world! Here's how this blog had changed through the years. Aaaww, looking at that made me feel sentimental! This blog really means so much to me! *sniffs!*

In these days of Facebook-ing, Twitter-ing, Tumblr-ing, and Instagram-ing, I would still encourage everyone, especially the young people (calling out all my students out there!), to write blogs, i.e. entries longer than a single paragraph and more than a picture with caption. Blogging is fun! Take it from me, I know. Hehe:) Happy writing! :)


**To read previous entries of this blog, please click on the Into the Ocean icon on the left sidebar. Again, thank you! :)