Blog by Jedde

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."   - Robert Frost   Photo was taken in January 2018. More often than not, we find ourselves in between two roads. The road we choose often depends on how ready we are to face the unknown, how brave we are to unleash our courage in taking that step, and how prepared we are to fail. Either way, making this choice is never easy.  I faced this moment many times in my life and particularly, in the year 2017 when I decided to pack my bags and move to Singapore. I barely had any savings after working for my first job in Cebu. My family isn't wealthy. We can afford to eat three times a day but we've always been mindful of where we spend our money to ensure we can sustain our basic needs, and infrequently, our wants - usually in a form of our family day eating halo-halo in a mall. That's why taking this big leap was a question for many people. How am I going to su...

Many of us have mixed feelings about the lockdown situation. Some may feel hopeful and managing well in their homes while others may feel confused, anxious, and in dire need to survive. I know how that feels. I'm somewhere in between. While it is true that we are experiencing a huge range of emotions at present, there's one common thing we are all facing that's quite tricky to cope with: uncertainty. What are some of the aspects in your life that you're uncertain about? Is it the future plans you made? Perhaps securing your job? Maybe even not knowing which career to choose since everything seems hazy now? How to sustain your livelihood so you can provide for your family? These are only a few examples of the things many people, including you and me, are going through. It's stressful isn't it? Not knowing?  That's why today, I will share with you three easy tips to get you back on track in life so you can cope with uncertainty more effectively and healthily. ...

I sat on a cab feeling drained and tired. My mind had gone off somewhere else and my stomach was grumbling, hungry. It had been a long day and noticing that the amount of energy I'm left with could not even suffice for a subtle movement, I sat still, my eyes fixed on the moving scenery from the car's window. If I were to shift myself inside that cab, that one small movement would've demanded all my effort and so I remained inert. As if on its own and without much of my control, my mind transported me to different places and chose to linger in a time that has not even arrived yet - the future. There, I was shown things I needed to do, the plans that I needed and wanted to pursue, and goals I must accomplish. Not only did thinking about these thoughts made me anxious, but it also drained what energy I had left. This kept on for a while despite taking a toll on me because I had let it. When the chaos of the uncertain future had subsided, I realized that I had taken too ...

It's finally here - the final module of my Graduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology here in Singapore. I couldn't deny that I felt anxious, fearful even, knowing that the module which will officially conclude my six months learning journey at The School of Positive Psychology is Mindfulness.  Being a person who is used to being busy all the time, playing different roles, and running a hectic schedule, I began forming a preconceived notion that the Mindfulness course would be something I would dread, where we would all be asked to meditate all the time, and that it would be boring. I came to class with an open mind, and yet somehow, I found myself falling for my own self-fulfilling prophecy - I did  get bored at some parts. Along the way, a number of concepts were interesting enough and caught my attention. The teacher, Ms. Deborah Thurley, always patiently encouraged us to do mindfulness techniques at relevant times throughout the day. For example, when we...