CHOICES THAT KILL THE COMMUNITY by ANNIE LEONOR

I have had a lot of realisations the past couple of weeks and these made it even clearer about how thankful I am to be in this community to help out and to take care of everyone. It gives me strength to be around these inspiring people. However, this following entry is something that every community could need. Sometimes in life, things don't go well enough on your own. That's why it is even more important to have a group of people behind your back that are strong enough with and for you. But of course, everyone has to do its piece.

A great sister of mine held a talk about this topic and I would gladly share it with you. It's in German, but I guess you've all heard of it already. Thanks Annie for letting me post this. Enjoy!

Choices that kill the community

Picture: http://wickedtrick.tumblr.com/post/34978290970 

THE LAST: "WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY"

"A simple question, "How many have you loved?"

Is your answer, one and only? Or is it several, all of whom have shaped your life?" - Wong Fu Productions

Another great short film by the talented Wong Fu Productions. They amaze me everytime. Starting with their filmmaking, editing and leaving it off with their amazing storytelling. The plot of this shortfilm is simple yet very deep and that's what makes it so special. I am inspired, they inspire me to make simple things great and I can't stop raving about this one.

Just the other day I got weirded out by my mother who seemed to ask me a lot of question early in the morning where my brain wasn't really awake yet. So I kept nodding to all of her questions until she asked how my lovelife was. I nodded and added that it went well. She then said, "You know, your dad was my seventh!" And then she just left the house because she was late for work. Anyways, she left me there quite confused althought I knew in what context she meant it.
Just like in the video above, my mother taught me that if things go wrong with a certain guy, that life goes on. But more importantly, that the people who walk in and out of your life, shape your story on Earth. That is why I quite confidently go into the world being appreciative (or at least trying hard to be) with every person I get to know, because who knows how they can shape your life?
And don't be intimidated by how many partners your current other half has had because there are thousands of better reasons why she/he is with you right now. Just be grateful to the past people she/he was with because they made her/him the way they are right now - they learnt from their mistakes, they learnt how to treat to you better, they learnt how to teach you how to make things better than they did.
I am very happy and thrilled with where I am right now regarding my lovelife, yet I can't imagine and see what still lies ahead of me. But for now, I'll just stick to being happy, glad and excited because the man up there writes my story.

More from Wong Fu Productions :

http://www.wongfuproductions.com

*On my site: Strangers again
http://ezzycupcake.blogspot.co.at/2011/04/strangers-again.html

*Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/WongFuProductions

*Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/wongfupro

MEMORY LANE

EUROPEAN SERVANTS LEADERS' TRAINING

I am super excited for this upcoming event! And I am gladly supporting to spread the word of it! You will find all information under the picture or simply by visiting these sites:

FACEBOOK:

http://www.facebook.com/europeanslt

TUMBLR:

http://euroservant.tumblr.com/

TWITTER:

@EuroServant

INSTAGRAM:

@EuroServant

REGISTER ALREADY AND SEE YOU THERE!!!

Deadline for REGISTRATION is October 21, 2012.

Date of the ESLT 2012: November 2-4

Place of the event: VIENNA, Austria

Registration fee: 50 Euros

NOTE: The REGISTRATION is only OFFICIAL if sent to the official E-Mail adress european.slt@gmail.com by latest October 21, 2012

NOTE #2: Don’t forget to send us YOUR ITINERARY for the “Pick-up”-Service! :P - also to be sent to the E-Mail adress mentioned above!

So, BOOK THE FLIGHT/TRAINTICKET/BUS NOW! Now will be cheaper than any other day! Time is flying, let us seize the day!

Godbless!

(for other questions concerning the ESLT please do not hesitate to contact us!)

LAZYBUM BYE BYE!

I've been way too lazy on my posting nowadays and I apologize. Sometimes I just don't have anything post-worthy to write but I hope it's going to change now! Today is my first day back in University and I am very stoked. It's my first class in Principles of International Law and I am quite excited about that. First and foremost because it's held in English and I just miss my lessons in English and secondly because I am curious what stuff I am able to learn.

INTOXICATED by THE CAB - SWAG & PNOISE COLLABO

My brothers are at it again! Check the sweet collabo of PNoise and SWAG in this dance cover of The Cab's Intoxicated. Like, Share, Fall in love!

Follow them:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/PNoise/208775102491151

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SWAG/181456178575263

Instagram: @Pnoisecrew

Big ups bros!! Super proud of you!

Dancers: Raniel Mortel (SWAG) and Vicente Samuel Cala VII (PNoise)

Music: The Cab - Intoxicated

Directed/Filmed: Rusty Raymundo

"... but I stayed in my bedroom in search of something."

Ever since last year's summer, I have spent a lot of time trying to organise and furnish my bed room and yet I can say that I am not yet really satisfied, but I am getting there.
I have somehow settled myself with the colour white and baby pink, and yes, my room is very girly but for the people who know me, that's the most girly I can get. I see my bedroom as some place where I can be on my own, getting lost in thoughts and dreams and that is why I wanted it to be as cosy as it could possibly be. Not to forget my friends or any other guests who should also feel cozy and warm. My room has a lot of wall space so I am still figuring out what to put on there but I can tell, as soon as I've found out, I know my room will be finished. So here are some insipiration I used during the development of creating my own little world.


Pictures: tumblr.com

CONFESSIONS: CHALLENGES

Picture:  http://kushandwizdom.tumblr.com/post/30806492822 

Currently there is so much new going on and it takes some time for me to get used to it but I am getting there and my efforts are on the highest level. I took up the challenge to get out of my comfort zone and as much as I am very unsure and quite afraid of failure, I will keep on going because these signs are just pointing towards growth. Even though I feel like there was a set back in my personal growth, I cannot dwell on thinking that I am not good enough for every opportunity that opens for me. It is true, not everything turns out to be something for the longrun but then again, if doesnt work out, I can be sure that God has a greater plan for me. That's why I need to keep on reminding myself why I wanted this, for what and for who I do all this.
In times like these, I admit it, I feel pretty alone because I feel like noone can help me but myself to get through this. Of course, I will never be alone and I have the most supportive people in my life but in order to grow, I need my mind to focus on its own and not through other people.

I won't apologise for seeming helpless and I don't care if what I've talked about is not a big deal. Every person is different and also has a different way of tackling new things. All I need is the feeling of support whether I am going to fail or not.

AU REVOIR, L'ÊTE!

Picture:  http://www.radiowall.com/2011/09/01/chez-106-bonus-codes-1205/ 

It really took me a while to get back and write something. Especially for this summer.
Just a couple of months ago I was stressed with studying for my exams which I thankfully passed, I was stressed with Congress preparations which felt less as a burden but more of great bonding time and more of service and the time went by so quickly I was surprised that I did find some time to take it all in and appreciate it. I felt honoured to be part of the EYC's Service Team and it really felt good that people believed in me and gave me a responsibility.

We don't really see it but we do inspire people every day and we are persons that can be looked up to. It is impossible to live a life without mistakes, faults or bad habits but it is possible to turn your back on them. Life really isn't about fighting your way through it on your own - it's more about knowing you have the right people on your side and fighting through life with them. That's what I figured out at the most random moment. I really can say it made 'click' and I understood that being selfish about your struggles doesn't necessarily make you a strong person when there are people who want to help. What I don't wish for anyone is having to go through life on their own because they have nobody. Because no one wants to help.

This summer I have also learned to be less proud. Especially when it comes to family matters. I've learned that they really only want what's best for me and I used to doubt that before. I used to see that as a threat from them for not letting me grow up but at the end of the day and with time, I really understood what their point is and I am grateful that they stopped me from something that I would have realised was wrong before I even could. And of course, if you have expectations, you cannot stand there and wait for them to know what you want. That's where I had to swallow my pride and make the first step and I can say I'd rather have that now than still be on the same spot waiting for nothing and complain about it.

Sometimes you get the feeling that you as a person have to change. And sometimes it's out of all the wrong reasons. But I say don't change. You have no idea how much your personality as it is now has helped so many people before. I must admit though, that there might be some parts of you that have to go through improvements but make them good and change for the better.

Just when I wonder or reflect on things the quote "Good things come to those who wait" always seems to prove itself to me. And as much as I'd like to go with the flow and have this at the recent time and have that to be uptodate, I rather hold back, take a breath and ask myself why I want that and realise I am not that person to be uptodate at all and that I am more the person who waits for things because as well as I know myself, if it weren't for my patience, I wouldn't be able to appreciate things that I have now and I guess my life would have just gotten by in a speed that I couldn't keep up with.

Summer is over and another chapter starts. There are a lot of challenges I have to face yet but I say "just come at me, bro" because I know that when these challenges are faced and when the struggles are pulled through, then I know that I am growing as a person and to the person I want to be.

HAVE A GREAT SCHOOLYEAR EVERYBODY! SHOW THEM YOUR STUDYRANGER SKILLS!

THE VERONICAS - LOLITA

It has been way too long but I am super stoked that The Veronicas are finally back! I am glad they took the same music direction as their last record and I can't wait for the next album to be released. For all the fans out there, enjoy their new single 'Lolita'.

THE VERONICAS "LOLITA" from Spencer Susser on Vimeo.

Acoustic Mashup Version "Lolita" and "As Long As You Love Me"

CPH '11 with TRAVELGIRLS

Phew, summer is almost over my friends and I can say it was a summer full of ups and downs. I am stoked about school though and I can't wait for the chilly weather. I am curious what kind of big things are still going to happen until the year is up again! But for now I'd like to reminice about last year's vacation in Copenhagen with my Gals. How I miss it!

Picture credits to my lovely ladies.

    

WHAT YOU DESERVE by Chelsea Fagan

Just the other day I kind of felt pretty off life, if you get what I am saying. I just had a great vacation and just the thought of reality creeping up behind you in seconds was just pretty too much for me to handle. I pretty much think everyone has those bad days where your mind just keeps playing one trick after the other making you feel pretty miserable. But who are we kidding? None of those disappointments, hurts or pains matter because just by thinking and counting your blessings makes life worthwhile. And even if you do not feel like it, you deserve every good thing on this planet (except Dan Scott, because he really was a bad guy in OTH... joke).
So, I invite you to read this great article. It made me feel so much better after reading it. Hope it has the same effect on you too!

Picture:  http://weheartit.com/entry/34496680

What You Deserve

AUG. 6, 2012 By CHELSEA FAGAN

You deserve to look in the mirror every morning and see someone that, though not perfect, isn’t trying to be. You deserve to walk past the billboards and commercials that show staged-and-Photoshopped images of what and who you are supposed to be and laugh at them, secure in the knowledge that you are wonderful because you are real. You could imagine that the models themselves must be so much greater in person when not reduced to a pose and a cheesy tagline — maybe they are at their most beautiful when just stepping out of the shower, hair still wet, and excited to go eat a good breakfast — but you don’t compare yourself to them. You deserve to love your body simply because it is yours, and it is capable of so much.

You deserve to look past whatever is displayed on the outside, whatever code lingers on your skin to be read by society and neatly organized into some compartment about who you “are” — fat, thin, ugly, tall, awkward — and be even more in love with what exists within you. Of course you may have moments in which you regret past mistakes, or dislike a character flaw that you know you need to work on, or feel the rope of maturity tugging at your ankle saying “Come on, catch up,” but it doesn’t define you. You deserve to appreciate all of the wonderful qualities you bring to the table, instead of relentlessly harping on yourself for the categories in which you fall just a tiny bit short.

You deserve to look for love, if that’s what you want, and be ready to accept it when it comes your way. You might find yourself overwhelmed and even briefly in disbelief when you realize that someone actually loves you for who you are and wants nothing more than to be with you, but you should be able to embrace that unconditional caring with your own. You should wrap your arms around them and cover them with your whole body — flesh, bone, the ugly little cracks and scars that they can’t stop kissing — and know that you are a good person, who is worthy of such joy. You deserve not to question every person who gives you a compliment or tells you that you’re wonderful, not to wonder if they have some ulterior motive, or if you are somehow the victim of an elaborate prank. You should realize that you are worth loving because you are ready to love back.

You deserve to go through your day and take in the good parts, breathe in the good air and appreciate the little things that too often go unnoticed. You should know that a strong flower growing in a city sidewalk, a child laughing and blowing bubbles, or strangers that smile at one another and mean it are all things worth loving, and which make your day a net positive. You deserve to live your life for the joys and not the frustrating slights that are out of your control — to be able to say that, because you held the door open for an older man with too many bags on his arms, your afternoon was good. Though the profound effect these tiny moments of happiness can have on all of us are often lost in the shuffle of life and its myriad injustices, you deserve to look at them and see them for the victories of compassion and simplicity that they are.

You deserve to try, and give it your all, but be okay if you fail. You deserve not to spend so much of your life berating yourself for not having been “good enough,” especially when you’re not even sure what “good enough” might entail. Your job might be strenuous, your classes impossible, but you deserve to be able to do your best work and, at the end of the day, put your pen down and sleep well. You deserve to have a personal best that is good enough for you, to not constantly feel as though you’re outrunning yourself with expectations, to the point of sapping the joy out of a hard day’s work.

You deserve to be truly happy for others. You deserve a life that is filled with its own successes and triumphs, that is carved out in the image you desire, and that is not effected by the perceived victories of others. Sometimes others may get things that we wanted for ourselves, but you deserve to be confident enough with your own life and journey that someone else’s achievement is not directly detrimental to your own desires. You deserve to see success not as some finite pie from which we must all take exactly one slice, but rather a constantly evolving and growing garden in which we can all flower and reach the sunlight.

Perhaps most of all, though, you deserve to be okay. You deserve to know that a day in which you can just barely get out of bed because you are sad, or sick, or simply not ready to see the outside is not the end of the world. You deserve to know that moments of weakness do not make you fundamentally weak, only fundamentally human, and that sometimes we’re not going to be effusively happy, and that is okay. You deserve to be happy just existing and not constantly holding yourself up to a standard of fake smiles and forced cheerfulness. You deserve to not beat yourself up when you do not reach perfect acceptance of your body, your personality, the love you receive, or anything else that may come your way. Though you should know that you are worthy of these things, learning to be happy just in a kind of stasis with yourself is a long process, and you should know that we are all working on it. You deserve to live through all of your emotions, all of your states of motivation, and know that as long as you are treating everyone with kindness (including yourself), you have nothing to be ashamed of.

Source: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/what-you-deserve/ (09.08.2012)

GRAZIE ITALIA

The past two weeks I was on family vacation at our annual vacation spot in Italy. Who would have thought that the two weeks weren't boring at all? I must say I was quite sceptic at first because I thought two weeks were too long but I must say, I do miss it already. I loved the thought of waking up, lazing away worriless and hanging out at the beach to get some tanning done. The short day trips were also fun and I am glad we got to visit St. Anthony in Padova again. It's always a blessing to be there once a year.
We had proper family quality time and I am glad we had. Just like my mum said: "I love family vacation. You not only get to catch up but also reminice and laugh about the old times." That's best to do with the family, ey!