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"The key to stay sane, positive, and calm is to set your expectations just right."

Many times we feel disappointed, angry, or sad because things didn't turn out the way we wish it would.

And that happens because we expect to much.

In life, things happen beyond what our brain can imagine.

It is uncontrollable and can seem unbearable.

But things will feel alright if we've prepared ourselves for anything that could happen.

Because life isn't perfect, neither are we. So why expect things to run perfectly too ?

God has made the best plans for us, so just enjoy the ride no matter where it leads us to.

People change so don't expect them to stay the same forever.

Let us grow and become a better version of ourselves, 

with or without the support from people we wished we would always have.

We lose and we gain people in our lives.

Because maybe, there isn't enough space for too many people in our hearts.

Expect life to be exciting, because it really is.

My favorite thought from #88LOVELIFE by Diana Rikasari

10 Tough Truths that Help You Grow

Hello, it’s been a while I haven’t post anything at all. And tonight I’m not yet sleepy sooo I’m going to do a little brood hehe.

Well, as you look back on your life, you will often realize that many of the times you thought you were being rejected from something good, you were in fact being redirected to something better.  You can’t control everything.  Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out.  Let go a little and just let life happen.  Because sometimes the truths you can’t change, end up changing you and helping you grow.

Here are ten such truths…

1.       Everything is as it should be.  It’s crazy how you always end up where you’re meant to be – how even the most tragic and stressful situations eventually teach you important lessons that you never dreamed you were going to learn.  Remember, oftentimes when things are falling apart, they are actually falling into place.

2.      Not until you are lost in this world can you begin to find your true self.  Realizing you are lost is the first step to living the life you want.  The second step is leaving the life you don’t want.  Making a big life change is pretty scary.  But you know what’s even scarier?  Regret.  Vision without action is a daydream, and action without vision is a nightmare.  Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.  

3.      It’s usually the deepest pain which empowers you to grow to your full potential.  It’s the scary, stressful choices that end up being the most worthwhile.  Without pain, there would be no change. But remember, pain, just like everything in life, is meant to be learned from and then released.

4.      One of the hardest decisions you will ever face in life is choosing whether to walk away or take another step forward.  If you catch yourself in a cycle of trying to change someone, or defending yourself against someone who is trying to change you, walk away.  But if you are pursuing a dream, take another step. 

5.       You have to take care of yourself first.  Before befriending others, you have to be your own friend.  Before correcting others, you have to correct yourself.  Before making others happy, you have to make yourself happy.  It’s not called selfishness, it’s called personal development.  Once you balance yourself, only then can you balance the world around you. 

6.      One of the greatest freedoms is truly not caring what everyone else thinks of you.  As long as you are worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them.  Only when you require no approval from outside yourself, can you own yourself.

7.       Some people will lie to you.  Remember, an honest enemy is better than a friend who lies.  Pay less attention to what people say, and more attention to what they do.  Their actions will show you the truth, which will help you to measure the true quality of your relationship in the long-term.

8.      If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never have enough.  If you are thankful for what you do have, you will end up having even more.  Abundance is not about how much you have, it’s how you feel about what you have. 

9.      Yes, you have failed in the past.  But don’t judge yourself by your past, you don’t live there anymore.  Just because you’re not where you want to be today doesn’t mean you won’t be there someday.  You can turn it all around in the blink of an eye by making a simple choice to stand back up – to try again, to love again, to live again, and to dream again.

10.   Everything is going to be alright; maybe not today, but eventually.  There will be times when it seems like everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong.  And you might feel like you will be stuck in this rut forever, but you won’t.  Sure the sun stops shining sometimes, and you may get a huge thunderstorm or two, but eventually the sun will come out to shine.  Sometimes it’s just a matter of us staying as positive as possible in order to make it to see the sunshine break through the clouds again. :)

xo,

Klara

Sky Watching Event Guide 2015

 Here are some of the most noteworthy sky watching events coming up this year. Don't miss it!

All of events and dates used here were obtained from the U.S. Naval Observatory, the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and The Old Farmer's Almanac.

January 3, 4 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower. The Quadrantids is an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at its peak. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Bootes, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

February 22 - Conjunction of Venus and Mars. Conjunctions are rare events where two or more objects will appear extremely close together in the night sky. The two bright planets will be visible within only half a degree of each other in the evening sky. Look to the west just after sunset.

March 20 - Total Eclipse of the Sun. Dark shadow of the moon will trace a curved path primarily over the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, beginning off the southern tip of Greenland and then winding its way counterclockwise to the northeast passing between Iceland and the United Kingdom.

April 4 - Total Eclipse of the Moon. This lunar eclipse is unusual because the entire disk of the moon will just barely squeeze inside the umbra (the dark shadow of the Earth) making for a mere 9 minutes of totality (the shortest duration since Oct. 13, 1856). To see this eclipse well you will need to be positioned in a city along the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Across much of the United States and Canada, this eclipse will coincide with moon set; the farther west you go the more of this eclipse you will see. In the Atlantic, perhaps the faint smudge of the penumbral shadow will be visible before moon set. In the Eastern time zone, the darker umbral shadow will create the appearance of a "bite" on the moon’s upper left edge.

May 5, 6 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Eta Aquarids is an above average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet Halley, which has known and observed since ancient times. The nearly full moon will be a big problem this year blocking out all but the brightest meteors. If you are patient, you should still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

June 30 - A Brilliant Double Planet. Shortly after sunset, in the west-southwest sky, two bright planets, Venus and Jupiter, will be strikingly close together. They will appear to be only about half the apparent width of the moon in Earth's sky, potentially making for a very eye-catching sight.

July 28, 29 - Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Delta Aquarids is an average shower that can produce up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. The nearly full moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. But if you are patient, you should still be able to catch a quite few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

August 12 - Perseid Meteor Shower. The Perseid meteor shower is usually considered to be among the best of the annual meteor displays thanks to its high rates. Lucky observers can sometimes see up to 90 meteors an hour during the shower.

September 28 - Total Lunar Eclipse. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth's dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of North and South America, Europe, Africa, and western Asia.

October 28 - Conjunction of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Conjunctions are rare events where two or more objects will appear extremely close together in the night sky. The three planets will form a tight 1-degree triangle in the early morning sky. Look to the east just before sunrise.

November 5, 6 - Taurids Meteor Shower. The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. The second quarter moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

December 13,14 - Geminids Meteor Shower. If there is one meteor display guaranteed to put on a very entertaining show it is the Geminids. The moon will be a narrow crescent and will set early in the evening, leaving the sky dark all through the rest of the night – perfect conditions for watching shooting stars. This will be your chance to see an average of as many as two meteor sightings every minute, or 120 per hour!

God Always Answers Prayers in 3 Ways

With God, all things are possible

– Matthew : 19-26

Do you ever feel like God doesn’t answer your prayers? Sometimes you cry out to silence and nobody is there? Even when it feels like God isn’t answering you, He still there and He still cares. God always answers prayers.

I was on Instagram liking posts, when I came across an account who had posted this:

God answers prayer in one of 3 ways: He says YES and gives you what you want. He says NO and gives you something better. He says WAIT and gives you the best.

He says YES and gives you what you want.

God desires the best for you. He loves you. John 3:16 tells us that He loved the world so much that He sent His only son to die for us.  

For God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him

shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is the ultimate sign on love. Jesus compares God’s love for us to a father’s love for his son. He’s saying that if an earthly father knows how to do good for his son, how much more will God do for us? All we need to do is ask. If our heavenly father believes that it is the best thing for us, and the best time to receive it, He will not hesitate to grant our request. He loves us.

He says NO and gives you something better

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways”, declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

- Isaiah 55:8-9

Sometimes, we ask for something we want, and God will answer “no.” Like what our parents do to us, they can’t possibly give us everything we want. Some things that we want aren’t good for us. We should remember this when God responds no: He always has something better in mind.  He might not want you to have that career, car, house, or person in your life. But that just means He has something better for you.  He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. His ways might not look like your ways, but they’re always better than your ways. Always.

He says WAIT and gives you the best

For in this hope we were saved.

Now hope that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see,

we wait for it with patience.

-Romans 8:24-25

We hate having to wait. We live in a drive-thru generation. We want what we want, and we want it now. Sometimes it doesn’t work that way with God. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. God desires that we become more patience. Unfortunately for us, patience is like a muscle. It has to be put through some tough workouts in order to grow and become stronger. Your patience has to be stretched in order for you to become more patient. Therefore, God won’t always give you what you ask for right away. He will sometimes make you wait in order for you to grow.

So, when was there is a time in your life that God responded either yes, no, or wait I have something better for you?

xo,

Klara

Tentang Jeda

“Seindah apa pun huruf terukir, 

dapatkah ia bermakna apabila tak ada jeda? 

Dapatkan ia dimengerti jika tak ada spasi? 

Bukankah kita baru bisa bergerak jika ada jarak? 

Dan saling menyayang bila ada ruang?”

― Dee, Filosofi Kopi: Kumpulan Cerita dan Prosa Satu Dekade

SPASI

Kita telah belajar banyak dari spasi, bahwa hadirnya jarak telah mencipta begitu banyak makna.

Namun rasanya teramat naif bila kini aku berkata: aku begitu menikmati keterpisahan ini—detik-detik ketika hanya bisa bicara pada udara. 

Waktu memang terlalu angkuh untuk mengerti betapa jahatnya rindu yang mendera. 

Hingga bila kita mau jujur melihat ke balik jiwa, ada luka di sana, yang tak pernah butuh pemulihan apa-apa kecuali jumpa.

Apa yang semalam turun bersama hujan—apakah harapan atau sekadar kenangan? 

Barangkali hanya waktu yang benar-benar tahu. 

Tapi bukankah waktu ada di pihak kita? Jadi tak ada lagi yang perlu kita takutkan kecuali Tuhan. Tidak badai, tidak juga gempa. Terlebih hanya angin biasa.

Aku akan menjemputmu di sebuah taman tanpa bunga. Di taman itu, mungkin juga tak ada kolam air mancur, patung-patung artistik, atau hiasan apa saja sebab kehadiranmu saja sudah mengindahkan semuanya.

The Three Things

We all want love in our life, we all want to laugh, but sometimes life can knock you down and toss you around a bit. When life does this to you, just remember these 3 words: Live, Love, Laugh.

LIVE

Remember that we are not promised tomorrow. If you have lost someone close to you, you know exactly what this means. So, live your life to the fullest.

Wake up each morning ready to face life, ready to learn something new, ready to try something new.

Let go of your cares and engage yourself in life.

LOVE

First and foremost, love yourself. How can you love anyone else if you don't truly love yourself first ? Be good to yourself, take care of yourself. Don't let others abuse you and stand up for yourself. Love others. Be kind, give a smile, a kind word, a helping hand. There is no greater emotion than love, so show it to others and yourself.

"A baby is born with a need to be loved - and never outgrows it."

Hug is the deepest language to say "I love you" or "I miss you so bad"

"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."

LAUGH

Learn to laugh at yourself and at life. Laughter is a natural high. Surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Rent some funny movies, go to a comedy club, read a funny book. It has been proven that laughter can help sick people get better.

Keep laughter in your life. Sometimes you have to laugh when it hurts, because it can change your mood, lift your spirits, and keep you from letting life's battle field take you down. 

So always remember to live, love, and laugh!

"A good time to laugh is any time you can."

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book."

"Remember, men need laughter sometimes more than food."

“Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired. 
Smile, even when you're trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision. 
Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your voice is crappy. 
Trust, even when your heart begs you not to. 
Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see. 
Frolic, even when you are made fun of. 

Kiss, even when others are watching. 
Sleep, even when you're afraid of what the dreams might bring. 
Run, even when it feels like you can't run any more.
And, always, remember, even when the memories pinch your heart. Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now. And without your experience---you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric. What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day. So don't live life in fear. Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started.” 

― Alysha Speer

xo,

Klara

All images sources from the Internet

New Year, New Blog

Hello people, this is my very first post. Actually, I've run this blog before but I decided to delete all my previous posts and started again because it was too messy and unorganized. Well, stories are something that had always been part of my life, and I don't think they will ever stop being part of it. I still want to share my stories, so rather than closing this blog, I choose to re-design and re-arrange this into a more interesting page for you to read. Oh ya, I'd be happy to receive comments from you on my future posts! So feel free to ask anything and we can learn from each other :)

All right guys, I'll start my post with My 2015 Resolutions !

Here is it :

1. I want to have more family time. College had such a great impact on my life. I have to accept the fact that I must live separately with my parents and this busy-college-life make it so hard for me to meet them. So this year I decided to provide time just to call or send them text messages daily and when I went back to Bogor, maybe I'll just stay at home, spending more time with my family than my friends.

2. I need to drink more water. Drink water right after wake up, drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, choose water than soda or any other sweet-unhealthy drinks.

3. Go to sleep earlier. In 2014, I often wake up with headache because I always sleep after midnight and I have to wake up on 6. This lack of sleep feels unhealthy so in 2015 I'm sure I'll change this bad habit!

4. Eat healthy. Live separately with mom force me to manage anything including the foods I consume. Last year, I eat a lot of instant foods and forget to eat fruits, then I got Typhus and had to stay at hospital for 2 days. This makes me wary so this year I'll eat healthier.

5. Learn to drive. I'll have a long holiday during June-August 2015. I wish I can learn how to drive at that time.

6. Involved in community. There are so many communities that I want to join like financial market community, college magazine, event organizer club, and entrepreneur community. I'll try to join one or two of them this year to expand my knowledge, experience, and relationship with others.

7. I want to visit new places. I want to explore many new places, especially in Bandung. I haven't visit Tebing Keraton, Bukit Moko, Dusun Bambu, and many other beautiful places in Bandung. I'm sure I'll post about it if I went there.

8. Exercise Regularly. Join car free day if I have time. Run at least 1/7 2/24. Attend yoga class. 

9. Enjoy life more. Smile and laugh more often, and be grateful :)

I decided to print this 2015 resolutions paper and put it on my bedroom wall. This way I will be constantly reminded of the resolutions that I've made, which will make it more likely that I will actually stick to them.

So, what are your resolutions for 2015 ?

xo,

Klara