Fortunate Life

Today I learned something simple but important. I realized how often I drift away from myself without even noticing it. It happens quietly, almost gently. I shift my focus to what other people think. I adjust my tone to make someone comfortable. I soften my boundaries to keep the peace. I silence what I truly feel so I do not create conflict or appear difficult. I do not do these things out of weakness. I do them because I care deeply. I pay attention. I value harmony. I want connections to feel safe, warm, and steady. But sometimes, in my effort to be gentle to others, I forget to be gentle to myself. The Stoics teach that we should guard our inner peace the way we guard something priceless. They remind us that the world will always have noise, expectations, and opinions, but our inner self is something we can always return to. Today I thought about that. How many times have I abandoned myself just to be understood. How many times have I minimized my own feelings just so someone els...

This post is part of my 30 day journey reflecting on Carl Jung’s teachings and how they unfold in my own life. Each day, I explore a different aspect of the psyche, inner growth, and self discovery through personal reflection.

This post is part of my 30 day journey reflecting on Carl Jung’s teachings and how they unfold in my own life. Each day, I explore a different aspect of the psyche, inner growth, and self discovery through personal reflection.

This post is part of my 30 day journey reflecting on Carl Jung’s teachings and how they unfold in my own life. Each day, I explore a different aspect of the psyche, inner growth, and self discovery through personal reflection. Life often feels like a pull between different parts of myself. There is a part that wants to rest and a part that wants to achieve. A part that wants connection and a part that wants solitude. A part that wants certainty and a part that wants to explore. Jung believed that inner balance is not about removing these opposites. It is about letting them work together. Each side carries something important. Each one shows a truth about what I need. I used to think I needed to choose one version of myself. I thought I had to be either strong or gentle, logical or emotional, brave or cautious. But now, I am learning that I can be many things at once. I am allowed to be complex. I am allowed to have different feelings at the same time. Recently, I noticed how tired...

This post is part of my 30 day journey reflecting on Carl Jung’s teachings and how they unfold in my own life. Each day, I explore a different aspect of the psyche, inner growth, and self discovery through personal reflection. There are days when I feel small. Days when I doubt myself, question my worth, or wonder if I am moving in the right direction. Jung believed that every person carries an inner light, a natural strength that grows when we pay attention to it. For a long time, I did not see that light in myself. I often focused on what I lacked, what I feared, or what I felt insecure about. But little by little, I began to notice moments of clarity and courage inside me. Small moments. Gentle moments. But they mattered. My inner light shows up when I choose honesty over pretending. It appears when I listen to what I truly feel instead of ignoring it. It grows when I take care of myself, even in the smallest ways, like resting when I am tired or saying no when something feels t...

This post is part of my 30 day journey reflecting on Carl Jung’s teachings and how they unfold in my own life. Each day, I explore a different aspect of the psyche, inner growth, and self discovery through personal reflection. My emotions used to feel like something I had to control. If I felt sad, I hid it. If I felt angry, I swallowed it. If I felt afraid, I pretended everything was fine. I thought that being strong meant staying calm and steady all the time. But Jung believed that emotions are messages from the unconscious. They show us what needs attention. They reveal what is happening inside us, even when our mind tries to deny it. When I started paying attention to my emotions instead of fighting them, they became easier to understand. Sadness began to show me where I needed comfort. Anger pointed to places where I felt hurt or unseen. Fear reminded me of the parts of my life where I still feel uncertain. I began to notice that emotions come in waves. They rise, they peak, ...

This post is part of my 30-day journey reflecting on Carl Jung’s teachings and how they unfold in my own life. Each day, I explore a different aspect of the psyche, inner growth, and self-discovery through personal reflection. There are parts of myself that I do not show to people. Some moments of insecurity. Some old fears. Some quiet anger. Some softness that I protect. Jung called these hidden parts the shadow, not because they are bad, but because they stay in the dark when I do not want to face them. I used to think the shadow was something negative. Now, I see that it is simply the part of me that I have not accepted yet. It contains the emotions I push aside, the qualities I think I should not have, and the things I do not want people to see. When I ignore these parts, they do not disappear. They just stay hidden and sometimes show up in ways that confuse me. A sudden reaction. A feeling that seems too strong. A thought that surprises me. But when I sit with these parts, ev...

There are days when motivation feels like a distant memory. Projects feel overwhelming, energy is low, and the drive to take action seems to vanish. On those days, I sometimes find myself binge-watching movies, scrolling endlessly through reels, or doing things that don’t align with my goals—just to fill the void and escape the pressure. It’s normal—motivation isn’t constant. The key is learning how to keep moving forward, even when it fades.  I’ve experienced this many times. There were weeks when proposals went unanswered, or when a training session didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped. Some days, I just wanted to stop, sit down, and let things pass. But I realized that waiting for motivation to magically return often meant losing valuable time and momentum. One framework that helped me understand these moments is the Emotional Cycle of Change , developed by psychologists Don Kelley and Daryl Conner. This model outlines five emotional stages most people go through during voluntary...

I’ve noticed something about myself: whenever I’m hurt or going through something heavy, my first instinct is to think my way through it. I replay moments in my head, ask endless questions, and try to come up with answers. It’s almost like my mind is a safe house. Maybe it started way back when I was younger, when I didn’t know how to handle certain experiences. Back then, I had no tools, no support, so I did the only thing I could—I escaped into my head. Instead of letting myself feel the pain, I shut it down and started overthinking: “Why did this happen? What’s wrong with me? How do I fix it?” But here’s what I’m slowly learning: Healing doesn’t come from logic. It doesn’t happen because I figured out the “why.” It happens when I allow myself to feel again . Safely. Gently. Without judgment. That’s why no matter how many books I’ve read, or how much advice I’ve consumed, some patterns kept repeating in my life. Because knowledge alone isn’t the same as healing. The real shift beg...

I just finished watching Brené Brown’s TED Talk on The Power of Vulnerability , and I can’t stop thinking about something she said: we numb vulnerability. The moment those words came out of her mouth, it felt like she was talking directly to me. Because that’s exactly what I do. I numb. I don’t always call it that, but I know it’s true. When things get too heavy, when emotions feel too raw, when I sense that being open might expose me to rejection or hurt — I retreat. I keep myself busy. I distract myself with little routines. Sometimes I even act like I don’t care, when deep inside, I do. It’s my way of staying safe, of keeping control. But here’s the part that hit me the hardest: when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the good ones. I realized that every time I put a wall up to avoid feeling hurt, I also block joy, love, and connection from fully entering my life. It’s like closing the door not just on fear, but on hope and happiness too. I thought about the moments in...

Last November 6, 2015, I attended the 1st ICF International Coaching Summit held at Marriot Hotel in Pasay. Mahilig akong umattend ng event kase marami akong natutunan. This year nga ilang local at International events held in the Philippines na ang ang aking na-attendan pero sa lahat, itong ICF coaching summit ang pinaka tumatak sa akin. Why? Kase hindi lang nito na feed ang aking mind, na touch din nito ang aking heart. Ang pinaka bet ko is the last talk with the topic "Transformational Skills for Changing Time ni Eileen McDarg specially ng sabihin nya ang mga katagang "If you lost your WHY, you lost your way" Ng banggitin nya ito, bigla akong napaisip... Why... what is my reason nga ba to live? Parang patalastas lang ng nescape ...Para kanino ako bumabangon? Ang nakaraan... Dati, bumabangon ako para sa pamilya ko...Namatay kase ng maaga ang dad ko at ako ang panganay kaya need ko na tumulong coz nag aaral pa ang aking mga kapatid. Teacher ang n...