Breakup

Okay, I know I talked about breakup a lot lately. Please, don't be annoyed. It's just that I didn't know who else to talk to about this. Why? Because I know they are bored listening to this too. And their responses were all gonna be like, 'oh, you'll find another', 'don't be sad', 'any guy who dumped you are a total moron', 'you should not even be in a serious relationship for a start', in short - all the things said just to make me feel better. You see, sometimes you just want to be heard. Not to be given some common advice.

Anyway, this recent breakup is actually kind of big and different to me. Why? Because we were actually engaged! It was not official yet because we tried looking for the date but both parents knew and we have bought the ring for the engagement. We bought an apartment. We threw a housewarming party. We made loan for our future. We prepared almost everything. And when you're engaged, and you're a woman, you planned for the wedding as well. So being a typical woman, I planned for the wedding too. I have checked out the wedding dresses, I knew what I want, I went to some bridal shops, picked a few wedding invitation cards, picked the wedding theme, visit some places for the wedding to be organized, analyze budget, sign up for wedding websites, downloaded apps for wedding planning, just name it - I'll have it. I didn't do it alone. Most of the decisions were made by both of us. I mean we're the one who were getting married. So can you imagine how big it was? Yes, it was huge.I can say that we were ready, not just for the wedding, but for our future as well. So we thought we were ready for everything; physically, financially, spiritually.. and little did we know, we are not emotionally ready for each other, for our marriage.

So now you see? How this breakup is different from my other breakups? But after all the storm, I can actually see the light now. I mean, I've taken too much responsibility for my age. For fuck's sake, I worked and looked for every opportunities I can to earn money when I was always told to relax and focus on my study. We (my ex-fiance and I) bought an apartment in which we agreed he will settle the deposit and few other stuff while I'll settle monthly payment and maintenance, when being a student I shouldn't even think of owning an apartment. I refuse to take money from my parents wherever possible, when I can just ask anytime I want. I need to take a break. I need to let go of some responsibilities that I shouldn't take in the first place. I need to act like my real age. I need to stop growing up for a while. I have been a grown up lady since Form 4, taking responsibilities into my own hand. It's not time to be responsible, YET. So can you see what I see? I see freedom! AHAHAHAHA so that's the light for me.

I remembered when I told people around I am engaged, people keep telling me that I am still young, that I should enjoy the world, that I should enjoy my single moment, that I should see what other options do I have, that it is not that time yet. But I always ignored them by saying the sooner I got married, the more time I will have to spend with my spouse. Well, I guess this time I was wrong. They were right. Another light for me. :)

However, if any of you guys are thinking of getting married around my age (early 20's), don't listen to me or anybody else. Listen to what your heart has to say. I never said it is wrong to get married in such an early age. It just that it didn't work for me. What didn't work for me might work for you. Okay?

Just a quote for the day:
Some things need to fall apart to make ways for better things. (Zoey, How I Met Your Mother - Season 6, Episode 17)

Trust

Have you had your driving license? Do you notice the changes in you before and after you know how to drive? You might have a lot of answers for that but I assure you, the one that I’m about to tell you is going to blow your mind.

Remember when you were young? When you’re just six or seven years old? When you had to be accompanied by your parents everywhere you went? At that time, you did not know the direction to go somewhere nor did you know how to drive. All you knew is to sit down and trust your father. Whether he drove fast or slow, he was using another way or not, he was talking on the phone or not, you just sat down quietly. Why? Because you trusted your father. You knew how much he loves you and that you will be safe as long as he is around. What about today? After you know how to drive? Be honest. Have you ever told your dad to slow down the car? Or drive faster? Or go a little bit to the left? And a little bit to the right? Or brake earlier? Or use another way? I believe all of us have done at least one that I have mentioned. Why? Because we already know how to drive and we thought we know everything. Suddenly, we do not trust other drivers anymore. We do not trust our dads anymore.

You see, that is what happened to us today. As we grow up, we started to have doubts in God. We thought we know better. When we were young, we have never questioned Him. We trusted him because we know wherever ways He took us and whatever ways He did it; He did it for the best of us. However, as we experience the things around us, we suddenly thought we know better. We ignore His love, His way and His judgment. We started to doubt. When we ask something from Him, we ask ourselves, ‘Is He listening?’, ‘does He care?’, ‘why is my life like this?’ and even ask, ‘is there God?’. When we ask something from Him, we forgotten that He does listen and He does care. He might take a longer ride with you, a different road than the one you expected. It is just simply, maybe, it is not the right time to give us what we want, or He has something else better than the one we asked. He always has a better plan for us. All we need to do is to trust Him.

So if today you feel down and think that nobody is there for you, remember this; God is there and has always been there for you. Be strong because “He hears your prayer, He feels your pain and He knows you try so hard to overcome this endless fight. Just don’t give up” (Jayesslee, Failure in Disguise).

Post-breakup Activities

After a breakup, most people will do a lot of stuff just to forget about it whenever possible. Some try to look for a new person to fill that hole in, some start new habit, some just broke down and cried, some stay home, some can't stand to be home, some spend their time with their friends, some just want to be left alone, in short; most of us just try to do something, keep ourselves busy to make sure we will not think about the breakup much because it hurts a lot. However, some just continue their old routine as if nothing ever happened. What about me? Well, I have to say that I fall into the first category.

I try to make myself tired so that I will not think about the breakup during the day and will be able to sleep at night. I planned my future activities in order to keep my mind busy thinking of what should be done next and determining what my goals are.

For these two months, I don't actually have to plan anything to keep myself busy because I am already busy teaching the kids in school. However, like usual, things keep coming to me and what I usually do? I just say yes! Ahahaha so for a one week holiday starting this coming weekend, I will be busy working at McDonald because my manager called and asked if I could lend a hand. Of course I said yes! Because I'll be able to keep myself busy and get money from that. Ahahaha in fact, I'll start my practical (have to practice my skill in working there because it's been almost a year after I quit) tomorrowwwww! Can you believe that? Ahahaha

Then, the next holiday will be on September. I will most probably go for a cycling (fun ride) in Taiping and Ipoh, Perak. It is a two-days event and I am just waiting for my other two friends to confirm. Once they have confirmed, we will register our names straight away and I can't wait for that! To be honest, this is gonna be my first time cycling that far (if I could make it to the end) because the total kilometers I'll be cycling is 90km! Ahahahaha On the first day, it will be at Taiping (35km) and the second day will be at Ipoh (55km). When I first told my friends about this idea, one of them actually said, 'you're crying in your room just because you've had a rough breakup? Bitch please, I go out and cycle like mad because I've had a rough breakup. Lala's logic'. AHAHAHAHAHA anyway, if there's any one of you who are interested to join this event, you can just click on this link and check it out. The registration has just opened last few days. :) - http://www.mica.com.my/

After that, I will have another few days to spare. I was thinking of having a vacation in an island but then I will start thinking a lot as well as I'll be spending my time all alone. Wanted to go for shopping but is boring. So, any ideas what should I do?

Then, come the lonnnggggggg holidayyyyy starting late November until early January. I actually thought of joining my French friend, to Iran, for some volunteering programs but the ticket is so damn expensive! If you're reading this, Yogo, I am very sorry. Huhu then I asked around, and a friend from India said there is a volunteering program in India (Mother Teresa Mission Charity) but he said he couldn't join me as he is going to be busy with exam around that time, and he wouldn't let me do it alone just because he thinks it is dangerous. Sigh.. I hate you, Shamin. And I am sorry if you're reading this. Ahahahaha so I thought of volunteering in Cambodia. Too bad, right now they are not taking any volunteers. Then my friend said I should help out his mom to handle some charity programs in Sabah. I was like, okay, that sounds good. However, his mom attends the same church with my ex's family, and I don't think it is a good idea to be involved that much with his family right now. I mean, how can I forget if I keep seeing them? That's one of the reason I didn't want to go back my hometown that soon for my year-end holiday anyway. You know what, I just can't believe how much trouble do I have to go through just to volunteer! Ahahaha so now I thought I'll just find some volunteer programs around Malaysia because I'm more familiar with my own country and plus I should put my country first when it comes to volunteering what. Right?

So that's about now. Just a reminder to everyone who just had their breakups, "some things need to fall apart to make way for better things" (Zoey from How I Met Your Mother). :)

How I Met Your Father

Dayyymmmmmmnnnnnnnn (say it in a two-syllable damn) !! Haven't updated this blog in like forever! I knew that but I only realized that after I received an email from my French friend asking when am I going to update about what's happening in my life because he has not met me in a while. So yeah, I'm here.

Let's get back to the post's title. I bet you've watched How I Met Your Mother before. It is about how relationships come and go for Ted, the main character, before he actually met the mother of his children. So this post is another version of it, where I'll be the main character. (Well, I am the writer, anyway. Ahahahaha) Before I start, I'd like to remind you that this post is gonna be long and talks about breakups (mostly). Maybe to some, breakups are okay, but still most of us find it rather depressing, devastating and all the negative adjectives that can be found to describe breakups. For me breakups suck but not until I realized that others actually thought I am ALWAYS doing great after a breakup. Well, you guys are totally wrong. Now here's the story:

My friends and I were talking casually when they suddenly talked about breakups. About how they broke down so terribly it was so difficult for them to stand back on their own feet. Then one of them looked at me and asked, "I bet you have never experienced this". I was like, WHAAATTTTTTTT?? That was an extremely blunt accusation! And I totally couldn't accept it! Ahahaha you see, I am a woman and I have a very soft heart. I get angry and upset very fast especially when it comes to the day of the month. I am ridiculously sensitive especially to people that I love. So, you see. I am as normal as a woman can be.

So let me tell you about my breakups experiences. The first one; when I was 13 years old. Now, don't judge me. Yes, I was involved in love relationships at a very young age. Since he was my first boyfriend, I thought I was so madly in love. Mind you, when I was at that age, I didn't know how to dress up. I wore boys' shorts, I tied all my hair to the back (without any styles) and I was nothing. So my boyfriend at that time maybe wanted something more so he cheated on me. Twice. With the same girl. Take that! Ahahahaha I was so frustrated that I started to look at myself at the mirror. I thought, 'hey that girl needs a change in appearance'. So I did. I started wearing short denims, skirts, dresses, even 4-inch heels! And it paid well. My boyfriend came back to me saying how sorry he was and that he wanted to get back together but you see, the power was in my hand. So though I still had so much feelings for him, my ego put away all those feelings right there right then and I proudly said NO. You thought it was easy? No, I actually cried each time I hear our songs on the radio until I was 16. YES, it was that difficult.

Now, to the second breakups. It was a long-distance relationship so it was kind of difficult. It got even more difficult when we contacted each other less. We met each other like once a year and he only replied my text message (in average) once a week. Imagine calling. He wouldn't even bother calling me. But I was blind. So I waited. Up until one time, a friend made me realize how stupid I was that at last, I broke up with him. We actually broke up a few times but he successfully talked to me that I'd agree to stay with him. Those first few breakups made me cry like a baby but the last breakup? I actually felt relieved because I knew that was so gonna be the last one we'll ever be together. Can you see how every breakups made me stronger? Also, smarter? Ahahahaha

Next we go on to the third one. He was a charm. He took care of me. He was like a prince to me though he has a dark skin. Ahahaha not being racist here, but in the fairy tales, the princes always have fair skin! So I almost thought that he was the one (I was only 17 back then), until I saw he was texting a girl he always claimed as his childhood friend (saying it in a way that he is not even a single bit interested in her) and they were talking about how they had a 'good time' in the car 'last night' (you know what I mean). I was so upset! I mean who wouldn't right? So I broke up with him and suddenly he pointed out all weaknesses that I had to the extent that I was the one who felt wrong back then. To think about it now, I was so easily manipulated. Stupid. No, it's more like MORON. How did I deal with the breakup? I drank in front of my TV alone (I was living alone back then), I started smoking and I stopped focusing on my studies. Yes, that's how terrible my life was after the breakup.

Then, came an angel. Ahahahaha he stepped into my life when he saw how broken I was. He got me back to my own two feet and before I knew it, I was already flying. He was like the perfect man ever invented by God and this time I have to tell you that I was wrong. You see, after all the reasons that had caused my breakups before, I started to look at men as worthless human being. For me, all of them are just the same. So, I didn't appreciate them much. All they know is to hurt others. But boy was I wrong. This guy was so perfect and I just blew him away like that. He did his best to win me and I was in love. But it was just too scary to fall in love again. I remembered that time when he was busy preparing for his exam. It was important because he needed to pass the exam to be in the medics. He is crazy about being a doctor. It's like he had planned it much earlier. Wait. It was us. We planned it that way because I wanted to be a pharmacist and have my own pharmacy. That was the dream we created. The plan we wanted to have. However, as time went by, I realized that having a diploma in pharmacy won't take me anywhere especially when I was studying in a government sector. Then, education course offered me a degree. I hesitated but because of the degree, I thought 'well, that should be good. I mean good salary, secured job. What the hell, right?'. Andddd there came the problem. We drifted apart as our goal changed. I started to doubt him due to our long-distance relationship. It was difficult because I didn't understand our different schedule anymore. I slept early, went to class on working hours, an exam per semester but his was totally different. He went to bed like early mornings, went to class (even at night) and it's like he just had exam every week! So these differences in lifestyles had actually caused me to doubt him. I started to ask myself, is he really studying till late at night? Is he really having a class at night? Is he really having exams every week that he was so busy studying? Those questions killed me everyday. Also, due to my past relationships, I started to become phobia. Most of them cheated on me so it was difficult to really really put my trust on men. Sighhh.. we argued almost everyday till one day I just couldn't take it anymore so we broke up. But the last thing he said to me was so heartbreaking that I will always remember it to this day. He said, "sweetheart, I'm sorry I work too hard for our future". It's sad, isn't it? I was being selfish.

Let's move on to the next relationship. Well, this one is rather different. Why? Because we didn't break up just because we chose to. We broke up because we had to. We couldn't be together. You see, if you are following my blog, you'll know that in my country, a Muslim cannot get married with a non-Muslim. One of them has to convert. And in my case, usually the non-Muslims are the one who have to convert. So when I meet this guy, it is almost like in the movies. We were from different states, met in a small island. We studied in a college together until a month later I was offered another course and so I left. Eventually, he moved too because he was also offered another better course. We did contact each other after that. Almost everyday, every night. Until again, I was offered another course. I was so excited because it was the same course as his. So, I texted him and you know what happened next? Turned out we were going to study at the same college again! Wasn't that magical? I mean we knew each other at an island that both of us were not familiar with. Then, we met again in a state none of us know of. The magic didn't end there. I then continued my study at his college. However, he suddenly started to ignore me. We didn't talk to each other. It's like he was so 'busy' after I reached, when before this he had always got his time for me. I knew I wasn't his girlfriend but still he can treat me like his best friend. I mean we were. We were so close back in our previous college to the extent that people thought we were dating (actually, I was hoping the same too). Ahahahaha I felt so betrayed, I was so mad and I said to myself, 'hell no, no one is going to hurt Lala ever again'. So I stopped contacting him for like a year until the magic appeared once again. I was on a holiday with my girlfriend in Cameron Highland when I accidentally bumped into him in the middle of the road. I was walking on the pavement with my girlfriend, when he was driving with his friends. I didn't know how but we just saw each other. Later that night he called me and asked whether we can meet up. So we met up and talked about nothing and everything. He explained about his awkwardness towards the beginning and blah blah blah. We actually talked until we could see the sunlight. It was seriously like a dream to me. It was wonderful. It actually made me wonder, were we made for each other? I mean, who wouldn't think that way? It's like God created a pathway so that we will keep bumping at each other. So we were sooooo madly in love until one day I made a terrible mistake. I invited him to my sister's wedding. My family got to know that I was in a relationship with a Muslim guy and I was asked, straight away, to leave him. I was so frustrated. But what can I do? I love my God and I love my family. I was condemned, blackmailed and all the negative verbs were done to me. I asked him if he wants to convert to my religion but he insisted me to convert to his instead. We got into a huge argument and in the end we just decided to let go. It was the toughest decision I have ever made. I cried myself to bed everyday on that particular month we broke up, I watched our movie that we had made for each other with all the pics we collected since 3 years before, I drank beer whenever I was left alone (which is almost everytime), and in the end I even decided to suicide (not only decided, I actually tried but I was a coward I tried to save myself in the end). Did you see how bad I handle breakups? I may look strong to you but I am just exactly like you guys. I may look happy to you because you haven't seen me in my room trying to end my life. I have to admit. No matter how hard-headed a girl I seem to look, I am still a weak girl, that needs a man to hold me strong (which always, in my case, is my father).

Getting bored, ey? Well, this one gonna be the last breakup I'm gonna share with you. So sit up straight. Ahahahaha this guy? I had never imagined to be with someone like him. Why?
1. He is a guy in a uniform (for me people who work in army, airforce, navy, police, are all could not be trusted. Well, I have plenty of reasons which I'll go to that later)
2. He works in West Malaysia (I've been wanting to work in rural areas back in my own state, to serve my people)
3. A very strong government supporter (I am more to the opposition)
4. Humble isn't something he lives up to (he compliments himself more than he compliments others. Well maybe it's good but I live in humility and being humble is my way of life)
5. He uses high tone/pitch when he talks to the family (it made me into thinking, how is he going to be the head of the family if he is going to shout at everybody?)

But my aunt set us up as she thought we were best for each other. You know, the concept of Yin and Yang. So we tried. At first it was awkward. I mean we barely knew each other. But then, surprisingly it got better quite fast. Our parents arranged us to get married as soon as possible, and before I know it, we already bought our engagement rings, own a car as well as an apartment! We were a practical couple. We did things for our future and it was so perfect! I was happy, he was happy, but little did we realize, we were focusing too much in making our future so perfect that we forgot we need to live our present life first in order to grab the future. So when we started focusing on our future, we stopped living in the present. There was not much of memorable dates or that cheesy romantic dinner. It was all about plans and plans and plans about our future. When we go out it'll be talking of which paint to buy for the apartment, what to put in the kitchen, what kind of sofa to be in the living room, do we need TV or not. These things became more important than having our time together. Then, his father started to interfere. Of course, having a good relationship with your father is good. But to the extent that you share all the things that only a couple should share is too much. It was frustrating. I mean, why want to talk to others when you can just say it to each other? Though in movies they always portray that girls talk about their boyfriends' weaknesses all the time, it doesn't happen in reality. We only brag about our boyfriends. We don't talk much about our problems because it should be private. So slowly, we began to argue more and more. Oh and another thing, both of us didn't say out loud about what we felt towards each other. That was another problem. We kept it to ourselves and tried giving hints as if our partner is a mind-reader. This became another problem. All of these things, at last, went to the surface and killed the relationship. I'd prefer to admit that I was wrong because I was such an arse and everybody told me so. I tried talking to him, which was the first time for me. I mean, I have never talked a guy into getting back together with me. For me, what's gone is gone. I don't look back anymore. But this time, I tried. Twice. And he wouldn't listen so I guess that was the end of it. We broke up (more to he broke up with me) and to compare to my previous breakup, I accepted it more openheartedly. Maybe because the previous one, there was nothing we could do to be together even if we love each other so much. But this one? We can actually work on it together but he chose not to. So it was a decision that he made and after trying to change his decision twice, I guess God just has a better plan for me. Of course I was still affected with the breakup. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat much (I lost 3 kgs in just a week) and I kept myself home whenever possible. It was tough.

Now, kids. Wondering how I met your father? Keep on wondering because the story is gonna be long. I'm still young and I guess there will be more to come. So, wait for another episode. Ahahahahaha