Does this apply to EVERYONE?

"It's amazing how much your life opens up once you stop filling it with meaningless activities and pointless drama. Cut complainers, haters, manipulators, and other idiots out of your life and watch your life expand in every direction."

-Isaiah Hankel

Like, you know, cut people who are actually related to you out of your life to make everything bearable? I'm not saying treating them like they're dead or something but just - I don't know - stop letting them affect me and the decisions I make?

Sometimes the positive thinking quotes/advice I read online contradict each other, I don't know which one to follow anymore.

My overly-emotional mind needs answers!

• Can he be more inconsistent?
• Why are you doing all of these now that there's nothing to do them for anymore?
• Do I still know how to kiss?
• Why doesn't he like me - like me?
• Do I still know how to...well...you know...?
• Why am I thinking of giving him, well, that thing guys like that girls hate doing?
• Can you just stop bugging me?
• Do I really need more friends?
• How should I tell my folks about the break-up?
• Why can't he just let it go? Him, too?
• Will he ever move on from her?
• Is there a chance in the high heavens for him and me to happen?
• Am I really just setting myself up for disappointment?
• Am I really not ready for anything or am I just preventing for a major heartbreak to happen?

Wedding-related question...

I am not getting married anytime soon. I am not even in a(n actual) relationship right now but this thought has been "bothering" me these past few nights:

When I get married, should I still wear a white gown?

I know I have pegs posted here before (when I was still ecstatic to get married - but hey, things change) but when I thought about it a couple of days ago, as per the Catholic and practically every tradition known to man, white gowns are worn by virgins and clearly, I am not one.

So... Yeah.

(I'm having a hard time closing blog entries lately, I don't know why.)

Great question.

"In love relationships, there is a fine line between pleasure and pain. In fact, it's a common belief that a relationship without pain is a relationship not worth having. To some, pain implies growth. But how do we know when the growing pains stop and the pain pains take over? Are we masochists or optimists if we continue to walk that fine line? When it comes to relationships, how do you know when enough is enough?"

- Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City Season 2, Episode 12

Ash Wednesday-related question.

If I've been abstaining for the past year months, will it be okay for me to do it now since I haven't been doing it for a long, long, looooooong time?

Weird fashion trend I do not get.

I am not a fashionable person at all. I wear a pair of shorts, a shirt and a pair of flats all the freakin' time. I can't even wear a dressy blouse on broad daylight because I'd feel overdressed even if I paired it with jeans so I'd totally understand if you bash me for saying the things I will be saying but I would just like to share my observation and hope that someone else shares the same thoughts I have.

(I can't even search the top I will be referring to without Googling it and even my keywords were wrong.)

So apparently, they're called cutout tops, not top cutouts (which is what I Googled).

Anyway, I don't really get cutout tops, especially this kind. The ones that have cutouts at the back, at the sides and even on the upper chest, I get. They make your look sexier or edgier, whatever it is you prefer but these tops that have cutouts on the shoulders? I really don't understand. Is it supposed to help you not get "jabar" when it's too hot during the day?

I know that fashion doesn't need to make sense but I would like to at least understand why it looks that way.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

(I hope some PSI grads or someone who went to a 7 Habits seminar can help me fully grasp this concept.)

This concept is habit #5 of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It has been confusing me so much lately, as much as habit #3 which is Think Win-Win but habit #3 should be for an entirely different blog post.

Anyway, I want to know if "Seek first to understand, then to be understood" means that I shouldn't voice out what I need to say right after the person I talked to gave me a piece of his/her mind. I mean I am not one of those people who's been given the gift of understanding...of patience so during a confrontation, I blow up like a volcano. I've (recently) learned to stop and assess my reaction just so I can give the other party a much more responsible and appropriate response but there are some situations (and people...UGH!) that I am not fond of and when they come marching in, armed with their opinions and what not, I get all annoyed by the sound of their first word and before I know it, I'm rattling on like a machine gun.

FYI, I am one of those people who don't really doubt the intentions of other people to me so you can imagine how hard it is for me to have to deal with people who doubt me and my choices and the need for me to be "understanding" while they don't seem to make the effort to understand me. I mean, bakit ako napalilibutan ng mga taong mahilig magduda? I know, How could I have attracted those people into my life? And don't they understand that what they're doubting about is rooted deep inside of them, hindi sa mga ginagawa at nangyayari sa labas ng katawan nila?

Obvious bang affected ako?

Anyway, yeah. That's what I want to...understand, if you will: Do I not respond right away, given that I still haven't understood what they said? When will be the right time to speak my mind?

Friday the 13th

Is there a story behind Friday the 13th? If there actually is, I wanna know. I don't believe the "bad luck" that this day allegedly brings to everyone. I mean, it's up to you if you're gonna have a bad day or if you'll let one small bad thing ruin your entire day.

And why didn't the person who conceptualized - so to speak - Friday the 13th make it Saturday the 13th or Sunday the 13th and so on and so forth? Why does it have to be a Friday for it to be bad luck?

Karma...

I've been trying to cleanse my being and I would want to think that I am doing a great job. I saw this list and I think the thing I've been lacking in is watching my attitude. I can come off as a know-it-all or a snob...or both. Does that mean that karma will still come after me and ruin a few days in my life?

Will you?

Will you judge me if I told you I didn't know what my bra size is? 'Cause I totally don't.

Can someone please answer this for me?

Is it wrong to fantasize about a celebrity - to the point that I dream about him every night - now that I am a mom?

I met Alain Delon on 9gag. (He's the dude)

To those of you who don't know, this man right here inspired my dad to name me "Aleigna". Apparently, grand dad loved this French actor so much. This man also Law of Attraction-ed Bry to our family, me thinks...

See what I did there? ☺

Lalaki bako?

I suddenly had the urge to splurge all my (really, really, REALLY) hard-earned money and buy shirts that I probably won't wear more than twice and then I realized while browsing through catalogues that I want men's shirts instead of women's. I mean, I don't like the fit of baby tees so I always end up looking at the men's section and find what I like there. Most of the times, too, I like the designs for men's shirt than for women's.

I also went to a high school classmate's website in Multiply to check out what she's selling now and when I saw wedges and all those girly high-heeled shoes, I closed the window.

Am I a man trapped in a woman's body? Why don't I appreciate girly clothes/shoes?

Don't get too carried away, Ale. If it's any consolation, you started wearing bracelets and bangles this year. And you love (rugged) bags. And you're growing fond of dresses. And the fact that you love (window) shopping online a lot means you're a girl.

Yes, I am convincing myself that I am indeed a girl.

How weird...

How weird is it that the worst nightmare I have ever had woken up to falls on the 12th of January, 2012?

Coincidence?

It makes me wonder...

I haven't told my parents yet about my decision to not be a slave of the corporate maja rajas (for the meantime) but I can't help but wonder if they'd accept that decision. I know they can't FORCE me to do something anymore because I am legally an adult already.

I feel that they will really disown me when I tell them I've chosen to be a homemaker instead of a corporate slave who works hard to make a company richer than it already is. I mean, they spent millions to send me to prestigious schools. Who wouldn't be mad, right?

Then again, different people define success in different ways. Will they be able to accept my definition of success or will they pretend my life isn't a success because it doesn't fit their definition of the word?

I've been having weird, weird dreams lately.

What does dreaming about your ex-boyfriend and his super - uhm - smart girlfriend mean? Bitter-bitteran pako sa panaginip ko last night.

I read somewhere na when you dream about something - or someone - you want it subconsciously. I read naman somewhere else that whatever you dream about, it's the opposite of what you really want. Then there are other sources saying that it all depends on the signs in your dream (e.g. vases, flowers or rainy locations).

And not only my ex, but Enchong Dee has been a regular in my dreams lately too. I don't like him in any way but I don't hate him either. Anjan lang siya. But he seem to want me so bad that whenever he appears in my dreams, he kisses me on the lips. Smack, torrid, romantic, you name it.

Sorry, I always get sidetracked by my own thoughts. So, uhm, there. What does recurring dreams and regular "cast" in dreams mean?

Is it just me?

I always find myself thinking of my college blockmate, Kizia, whenever I see her anywhere. There's a similarity but I couldn't figure out what it is.

Should I go back to work or not?

So I went on a job interview yesterday morning. I am qualified for the job,  and the boss was quite desperate to get some help, he didn't even bother covering it up. Still a production house and still kinda lost in terms of system. I can honestly help them, I am confident with that. But I am questioning my motive on why I want a job. Somehow, I am just making all the excuses to get one. Or not to get one. I don't know. I am confused.

Grown up problems suck.

Am I the only person not following the Harry Potter franchise?

I've read one book from the series and I watched the first film but that's it. It was dragging for me, both the movie and the book so I never bothered continue even if the whole world got crazy over it. I got hooked with Twilight only because of the hype. Harry Potter? Even if my family and friends push me to read and watch it, I wouldn't be bothered. The internet, television, radio, print ads, everywhere I see the last of the movie franchise but didn't get the least bit interested in it. I wasn't even curious how it ended.

I feel like something's wrong with me.

Saw this photo on Tumblr while looking for a specific HIMYM scene...

WHO ARE YOU, WOMAN?!