The blog title is from the movie "A Walk to Remember", and unlike typical teen movies, this one has a strong message. Basically, an unpopular girl falls in love with the typical jock, through her belief in God and her perseverance of faith. If you're wondering why I'm rambling on about a movie.. don't worry, I'm about to explain. haha

Well, there's a scene in the movie that explains exactly how I feel about faith in general, and how I feel about God. Basically, the unpopular girl, Jamie, says to the unbelieving Landon:
"How can you see places like this... and have moments like this... and not believe?"

And Landon says:
"You're lucky to be so sure. "

With which Jamie replies:
"It's like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it."

I was baptised as a Catholic when I was a baby, and have been practicising ever since. Now, I'll admit, I don't go to Church every Sunday, I don't pray to God everyday and I don't say my holy rosaries. But you know what makes me a Catholic ? The fact that I believe in God, my faith.... When something bad happens, I don't blame God... because I believe that everything happens for a reason.... and though it's hard to understand at the time, I will eventually. I don't blame God for the bad things that have happened to me, I instead, thank him for the good things that have happened.

If you're wondering whether I believe in fulfilling your own destiny, I do. We are all in control of our lives. But when I say that God has always been there for me, I mean that when something has gone wrong, he has been there to look after me and to promise me that things will be alright.... So many times, I've gone through hell and thought: "How am I going to continue?" but God was always looking over me.

I'm not here to force anyone to believe anything, I'm just here to tell a little story about something that happened to me today.. and I believe that it happened because of my faith.

For quite some time, my elder brother and I have not gotten along. After the birth of my daughter, things were great.. Lawrence and I spent a lot of time with my brother and my sister-in-law... But things happened, and as a result, not only did we not talk but bad words were said. This caused a rift between me and my younger sister as well, and it seemed like it was having a ripple effect.

And I'll admit that I did a lot of things that I shouldn't have, as did my brother. But instead of letting the situation get worse, I decided to not let it continue. So even if he was rude to me, I wasn't. Even if I heard them say things, I didn't mention it. And it wasn't because I was a pushover or because I didn't want to stick up for myself, it was because regardless of everything, I still loved my brother. I still wanted to make amends, I still wanted to talk to his wife, I still wanted to know about his kids and how they were doing.

So instead of being impolite, I tried my best to be civil, I tried my best to be honest with them and not exclude them from my life... What I found was that when I was polite to them, they would be polite back, then I would be polite.. and so on.

And the most amazing thing happened today. In gosh knows how long, it seemed that for the first time, things were really getting back on track. They asked me for a favour and I thought: "Why not?" so I did it. I came over to drop off the favour and to my surprise, they invited us in. We stayed for an hour and it was one of the best hours of my life. They asked about Alisha, I held their son, they shared things with us... and it felt like things were as they used to be.

And I know you're thinking: "Well, you made that happen".... well, yes, that's true. But do you know why they began talking to us again ? Because Lawrence and I had faith... we believed that it could happen ! And, I don't mean that it was necessarily religious faith, but that it was because we didn't give up... we thought that if we tried hard enough, they would realise that we were good people ! And it seems that they did...

And so today was the greatest morning.. it started off great.. We spent an hour somewhere I thought we would never be....

And so I guess my contemplative thought of the day is...

Sometimes those closest to you, can hurt you the most.... But if you think that what they've done is even slightly unforgivable, try your best to forgive... I know it can be hard, it sure was for me, but life is way too short to bear grudges or to care about whether who's in the right or wrong.... Family is forever.... If someone reaches out their hand to you, reach back....

Lawrence and I honestly believe that if we hadn't been polite, believed that it could happen and held on, then we wouldn't have had that hour we had today...

Just remember, whether it be your studies, your career or just a small dream you hope to achieve, you CAN make it happen. Just believe that you can and go for it !

I was once told by my high school teacher: "You never know your capabilities till you've tried your best" and that's a quote that's stuck by me to this day. If you want that job, want to move somewhere, or want to study that degree, do it !
Forget what everybody else says... you are in charge of your life and if you think that dream will make you happy, then others around you should be happy for you !

It doesn't matter whether the people around you believe in you or not.. When I was failing Chemistry and Physics in Year 11, I studied so hard in Year 12 that I ended up getting an A in Chemistry and getting the best test scores, beating the top kids in the class! Do you think my friends supported me ? Absolutely not. They accused me of caring too much about school, yet these were my supposed "friends". So, already on the verge of depression and using school to cope, I landed in a greater depression because I had no one there to support me. But now, I've learnt that I don't care who's proud of me. Everybody can call me stupid for all I care. But I know deep down inside that I'm not. Because I have faith in myself, and God has faith in me.

So yeah, this entry wasn't intended to be all about religious faith, but about faith in general. If you go about life with a negative attitude, all you'll ever get is a negative result. Try to hope for the best and be optimistic... Be realistic, but not pessimistic.

I feel so lucky to have the life I do and I thank God for all the good that's ever happened to me.. even the bad.. because without those experiences, I would never have learnt to stand up for myself, appreciate the good people around me and do what I feel to be right.

Now start living your life.... tell people you love them, go on that holiday you've always wanted... make the best of the time you've got.... don't spend it reading my blog :P haha j/k

Sorry, I know that this was a pretty long entry so I better go before your eyes fry and your brain disintegrates. LOL

But yeah, hope that gave you a bit to think about... Be happy kk, life is about being happy! :)

And remember this:

"Happiness is a mode of transport, not a destination"

All my love,
Thuy xox