In the Life of DancerGal: Raya 2013

This year, I celebrated Raya for the second time around. I've been in a (relatively) steady relationship with SB for about 3 years plus now, but only started celebrating Raya with him since last year. Somehow, this year's Raya felt different.

Hari Raya in Malaysia, as most of you may know it, is a celebration of the mark of the ending of the holy month of Ramadan (fasting). So last year, I tried fasting for the very first time. I think if I'm not mistaken, I lasted like less than a week? A few days maybe? This year (and quite proudly!), I fasted for FOURTEEN days! Yupe! 14. I was super pressed for time this year though, so here's my random Raya story :)

It was the weekend before Raya when I got my Baju Kurung. I was totally traumatised by that experience. Imagine this. Last weekend of shopping before heading home for the celebration. Now imagine the number of people in ONE shopping mall. It was like hell on earth. It took me about 20 minutes to find the right one, bought it and got the hell out. To which, I actually did :)

SammoBammo and I in my yellow baju kurung! 

On the morning of Raya day 1, I arrived bright and early in the morning to SB's house. This was kinda funny but fun. Because SB was getting ready to the mosque, he shouldn't come into contact with anyone of the opposite sex that he isn't related to. So we couldn't even shake hands, let alone hug. Haha! It was pretty fun. And so, he went off while I went off with his mum.

After his mum was done with the hairdresser, we headed off to SB's grandma's house and the song that came to my head was "FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD"!!! I was so excited to get a whiff of the food that was prepared. But of course, I went in and made sure that I "salam" everyone and wished everyone. Once that was done, we made our way over for the food!

I'm sorry I don't have any photos cos we were too busy eating! MUAHAHAHA!

After the makan-makan session, we proceeded to the living room where we had some chatting and a photo-taking session. It was very relaxing and enjoyable :)

SammoBammo and I

All in all, I had an awesome couple of hours with SB and his family :) Thank you for the awesome Raya celebration. Selamat Hari Raya to all :)

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

Guest Post: Why Don't You Game? by SammoBammo

Record-breaking features by SammoBammo. Two articles in two days. Wish I had the brain-power to write like this guy. Oh well, I can only be inspired. Anyway, I'm proud to call myself a gamer. Are you? Read on and enjoy!

Why Don't You Game? - SammoBammo

Apparently there are 1 billion gamers worldwide, according to Jane Mcgonigal. Being a gamer here is defined as someone who spends at least an hour a day playing a video game of some sort. It could be a highly complex, immersive and sophisticated game such as MGS or Starcraft 2 or something simple yet fun like Angry Birds or Candy Crush.

Metal Gear Solid 4

StarCraft 2

Angry Birds

Candy Crush Saga

1 billion of us. Gamers. That is a lot of people.

Games play a big part of our community. We just don't realize it. 

What does it mean? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well according to Jane Mcgonigal it cuts both ways. Games like Call of Duty are highly addictive and a recent study claimed that the number of gaming hours devoted to CoD a year roughly equals a month's full time work. When CoD: Black Ops 2 was launched, employers and teachers noted abnormally high rates of absenteeism on launch day.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Not to mention the stories we hear, particularly in Asian countries of highly addicted gamers playing till they literally drop dead (read here!)

So maybe I should rename this posting, "Why haven't you stopped gaming, are you insane????"

Well, I am a gamer, and I love games, so for a little bit I am going to explore why that is, and I invite fellow gamers to do the same thing, ask yourself "why do YOU love games?". Well the obvious answer is it is fun. Definitely true, but let's take a closer look. Let's dive a little deeper, "what makes it fun for us?". After all, there are so many different types and genres of games out there, they might give different people something different to think about.

What was I thinking when I got into gaming?

I love primarily strategy and RPG games. This is because I find great satisfaction in creating something unique and wholly from my own intellect and skill. The gaming experience for me is entirely unique and non-repetitive. For example, an RPG typically involves a character you control that starts out as pretty weak and basic, but as the game progresses, it gets stronger and more powerful depending on maybe experience points, items or other factors that could or could not be within your control. Strategy games work similarly where you employ your own tactics to beat your enemy. Winning or losing is up to you and the learning curve is usually quite steep, which means that you can get better and learn from your mistakes. I love that aspect, as the saying goes in Starcraft 2, "more gg, more skill". This means, the more you lose, the more you learn, the better you get.

The Learning Curve

Yes that learning aspect. Gaming is an amazing way to learn without actually realising you are learning.  For the non-gamers, you would ask "Learn what? How to blast zombies?? (either with plants or rocket launchers depending what you're into, how amazing is that?)" So let's look at other media and see where, and if, learning takes place. Ask yourself, do you learn while watching movies/tv shows, reading, listening to music? If you answer, "hmm maybe, depends on what it is". The same thing applies to gaming!

The gaming industry is huge and expanding extremely fast, overlapping itself out of other entertainment medias even. USD5 billion revenue alone from North America in 2011. Simply put, there are a lot of games out there of different genres, platforms etc. So if it's perfectly normal in this day and age to assume someone watches movies/tv shows and listens to music, why not game as well?

The Global Games Market. Amazing statistics. 

Where does gaming and learning come together? I'm going to look at some of the games I play or used to play and see if I can figure this out.

Starcraft 2. 
Easily the game I most likely have spent the most hours playing. A few reasons why, is that its a family thing with my brothers and I. We have been into the game since I was in high school. Another strong reason is that I haven't mastered the game yet. No one has.  Average win rates are between 40-60%. That is the great thing about it, it is so well designed that the journey to mastering the game is the fun part in itself.

Terran vs Protoss

Zerglings rushing into a Terran base. 

The basic idea of the game is you collect resources, build an army with those resources and destroy your enemy's base with that army. It is quite straightforward. With 3 different races to choose from, each having their own strengths and weaknesses, adds another layer of complexity. You play on different maps that offer varied tactical scenarios depending on your own army's deployment and your opponents, and also the strength and composition of armies, adding on another layer of complexity. Questions that SC2 players have to deal with are like:

• What units do I build?

Terran Units

Protoss Units

Zerg Units

• Where do I attack?

An SC2 1v1 Map

• What is my opponent doing and how can I turn that to my advantage?

A Terran vs Protoss battle

• Should I obtain more resources or should I make more fighting units?

Mineral Fields

• What strategy are my allies employing, how can I align our strategies for maximum effect?

Through answering these types of questions as the game is being played it  develops decision-making, teamwork, communication skills, analytical skills and critical thinking.

Another game I loved to play when i was younger is Caesar 3. 
It's a pretty old game, released in the 90s but still very playable. I am in the midst of trying to find a copy, digital or physical, just to give it another go? In this game you play the role of a City Governor during the Roman times and your job is to manage the city's economy, trade, resources, jobs, living standards, security etc, like a real actual Mayor. Tons of games follow this formula, the most popular being the Sim City series, but I love this game in particular because I'm quite a history buff as well.

Caesar 3

So where is the learning in this game? Let's take a look.

Following a keynote by Steven Johnson, best selling author of books such as Where Good Ideas Come From, I realised these types of games teach not just 21st Century skills like in Starcraft 2, but teaches actual content and reveals real-world realities.

A scene from Caesar 3

For example, this game teaches: 

• Agriculture: A governor needs to ensure his citizens are well fed. To do that he needs farms planting crops and a granary. 
• Commerce: He will also need a market in which to distribute the foods, different foods are demanded by different neighborhoods based on income and affluence. 
• Urban Planning: He needs to ensure that there is good transport available from the farms all the way to the homes of the citizens, but not like next door to each other that would harm the desirability of the area. 
• International Trade: Some foods that are demanded may not be locally available, he has to trade for them.
• Economics: Lastly, all of these different components, the farms, markets etc need workers for them to function.

This is just a fraction of the game. Other aspects such as taxes, military expenditure, diplomacy etc just add more complexity and sophistication, which then offer more learning opportunities over a wide range of subjects.

So from my two favourite games, I've developed 21st century skills and expanded my knowledge as well. I didn't step into a classroom, I didn't open a textbook and I certainly didn't sit for a test.

So to those non-gamers out there, why don't you game?

S.B.

DancerGal Says: Okay. While I consider myself a gamer, the only real game I play is StarCraft 2. I would someday want to expand my gaming knowledge and I do want to start venturing into other games. Am very excited when I read this post. I am one of the 1 billion. Are you? 

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

Guest Post: SammoBammo's Why I Hate Exams Part 2

Last year, SammoBammo blogged about his feelings about exams. This year, he continues to explain more as to why he hates exams and how he views the future of education. A very good read, I must say! Read on!

Why I Hate Exams Part 2 - by SammoBammo

Following up on my previous post about exam-centric education that I posted last year, I would like to expand upon what would or should happen in place of the exam orientated methods of teaching and assessment we are so used to.

Previously, I blogged about the problems of learning for exams, and why in fact, it wasn't really learning at all, but an exercise in memorisation and regurgitation of information. So the product of standardised testing are standardised students, which is not what we should be aiming for.

What then should we aim for and why is that good? So let us look at what the 21st Century is about. Undoubtedly technology drives everything we do, and it is moving faster than ever before, this we already know, but do we really appreciate it fully? With technology we have found the amount of knowledge and information at our fingertips has expanded enormously. Before, a prescribed textbook for a subject is supposed to tell you all you need to know, for the entire year. Now, the possibilities are limitless.

But this, we already know.

What we need to consider as the next step, is looking at the way we learn. The way we absorb all this information and knowledge. How do we make sense of it and make us want to ask more questions? This may not involve too much technology, but of course new ideas that may sometimes utilises new technology. New ideas that not only expose us to more content, but make us more curious about discovering even more and connects us to other eager learners. Put the hands of learning in the student's. True self-directed learning.

Okay, so you can learn what you want, when you want and in the way you want. Now what? What is the point? Our knee-jerk reaction maybe: "how does this help me get an A?". Well, to be honest, I don't know if it does, and I don't know if I, as your teacher, care if it does even. Should you be caring? You will say your parents do I suppose. Or this is what colleges want, to get the degree you want to get the job you want. That is what you were possible told (brainwashed).

Let us think of another possible reaction, "How does this help me be the person I want to be". Lets work with this notion, that you are learning to be the person you want to be, instead of the grades.  Okay, that whole idea of university places and jobs is still on your mind, and with good reason. Lets alter our question then to "How does this help me be the person that colleges/universities want", following the logic that this of course then would be the person we are aiming to be. The better the educational institution, the more they want from you, the more they expect from you. Everyone has a strong academic background, they want more. What else can you do? What else have you done? What kind of person are you? What are you interests/hobbies/passions? Are you a leader or a follower? Can you solve complex problems? None of which can be demonstrated through grades or exams. None of which is seriously developed or obtained by studying for grades or exams. To be honest I am not really sure what exams demonstrate.

So what now?

We need to break our mindset away from the incessant chase for higher grades and better exams. We need to start looking at "What kind of person do I want to be" again, or we can translate it to "What skills do I want to have that will help me get into college/university". The 21st Century Skills. Creativity. Innovation. Leadership. Collabaration. Global Awareness. Strong Communication. These are just a few.

And how do we develop these skills? To a certain extent we have, in CempakaConnect, RAG Day and CBL, but those are just glimpses into a world which we must explore further. Ask yourself do you have a favourite subject? Do you have a least favourite (most hated?) subject? Why do you dislike some subjects over others? I ask myself, why do we have subjects??

The old idea is that subjects break up teaching to more easily digestible or categorised content, which is easier for students to absorb. Also it helps students specialise into certain areas that develop into degrees, which in turn lead into professional jobs. For example, high school biology leads to a degree in biology which leads to a career as a biologist. It’s all quite nice and neat. But is the 21st Century nice and neat? The career of biologist itself hardly exists anymore, after being merged and combined with other fields. The most successful in those fields aren't merely scientists anymore, but are entrepreneurs.

Yes, that word again. You've heard it many times. An entrepreneur has many definitions, mine is a person who utilises technology and 21st century skills to make a difference. Tell me which subject teaches that. You have no choice about it, in the 21st Century, whatever degree you do, whatever career or field you enter, you will be an entrepreneur. Subjects are a way of you being told what to learn. Let’s change that, let’s have you students, tell us teachers what you want to learn. No, better yet show us what you want to learn, or even better direct us to where you want to take your learning! Let’s have our class time be about you achieving objectives you set for yourself.

It’s difficult to think of learning without formal subjects and formal exams, but that is really what learning is, at its core. You actually learn best without being taught. Cempakans that are involved in gaming like me can relate to this, have you had to learn and master a game all by yourself without any direct formal instruction? Maybe it wasn't easy but it definitely was a lot of fun and you certainly loved reaching the end right?

Imagine that feeling in school, everyday. Learning that is across subjects, without too much formal assessment. Learning that is continuous, worldwide and actually matters to your future. Interested?

S.B.

DancerGal Says: This is a pretty lengthy but interesting read. It has come to my attention that the students these days aren't interested in studies because they don't see what's the point. If our education system continues at this rate, we may be seeing a higher level of dropouts simply because the children aren't interested. But that's my humble opinion. Thanks for reading! 

Love always, 

DancerGal Sheryl! 

In the Life of DancerGal: Anglican Sports Carnival 2013

Waking up at 6am in the morning to get to church by 7am on a Saturday morning doesn’t necessarily make us jump up and down with joy, but spirits were soaring high when the youths of St. Paul’s Church, PJ (SPC) gathered at the church compound that one fine Saturday morning.

This was it. Tony Pushpan, the main coordinator that got each and every one of us there, started to hand out the jerseys that were specially made for this particular occasion. Decked in bright blue, the boys and girls of St. Paul’s Church were ready to face youths from other churches at the annual Anglican Youth Sports Carnival 2013, held at University Malaya and organized by St James Anglican Church.

We met youths from many other Anglican churches, just as amped as us! The Lord blessed the day with great and shiny day. To begin the day, we started off with a prayer and we got down to business. Starting off with the athletics, the boys and girls of SPC ran their hearts out. Star runners included Kennedy Amadi , Jovenne Lai, and Alyssa Benny, led by Jeremy Joseph.

After athletics, we moved on to tug-of-war, held at the stadium as well, where a great team spirit story was born.  Our tug-of-war team, led by Andrew Jacob, were strong in strength and spirit. However, the team also included a large group of men who were playing badminton and futsal straight after. Tirelessly, they pushed on despite multiple times of losing due to a slippery end. On the side, those that were not involved pushed on their spirits by singing our victory march:

Oh when St. Paul’s…

Oh when St. Paul’s…

Oh when St. Paul’s goes marching in…

Oh Lord I want to be in that number

Oh when St. Paul’s goes marching in!

By the time the semis came about, the team could not carry on as they were exhausted and needed to use what was left of their energy for their upcoming events. But our team spirit was not dampened. A group of 9 boys and 2 girls stepped up to the plate and volunteered to play on! With spirits flying high, after what seemed like hours of screaming and shouting, we actually won 3^rd place! All in God’s grace! Seemingly pleased with those results, we separated into multiple groups, playing multiple sports.

Futsal, Badminton, Ping Pong, Scrabble and tele-match were some of the other games that we played. The two futsal teams (St Paul’s A and B) both reached the semi-finals with St Paul’s A (consisting of the BM congregation members) winning the silver medal. Uncle Fang & Patrick Walliams led the ping pong and carom team to silver medals while Padmini led a group of 10 to our very first group Gold medal at the end of the evening.

The best part of the day was obviously, collecting the medals!!! Each and every one of us took home at least one medal. By the end of the day, while everyone was tired and exhausted physically, we all left feeling happy and proud that our unity and teamwork made this all possible. The next day, we were complaining of muscle aches whilst showing off our medals. With God, truly all things are possible!

MotivationMY.com's 2nd Birthday!!!

In conjunction with motivationMY.com's 2nd birthday (and Founder Syafique's 27th!), we've been asked to blog about: 

What has turning 1, 5 or 10 years older taught you?

Before I start, I want to wish the Founder (Syafique Shuib) my heartiest congratulations. I remembered that very moment when I started getting in touch with motivationMY.com the twitter account, then followed by interactions with Syafique, leading up to the very first #twtupDOME with Achik and Fendi. Then, we got to know Kum Gheng, producer of Inspire.FM, and next thing we knew, motivationMY had its very own radio show! To see it grow so tremendously is truly inspirational and very encouraging! Here's to many more years to come! CHEERS! 

To be honest, I was cracking my brain about how to write this post. So, I decided to blog about what I remembered (or choose to remember) from 1, 5 and 10 years ago. :) 

One year ago: 

Me during Elaine's wedding in 2012...

One year ago, I was just one year into my job and things were starting to get pretty serious with my relationship. I also started playing host on Inspire.FM (actually, I only did 2 eps!) and I really got serious about this whole blogging thing. I think this was when I truly discovered my passion for Social Media and started blogging seriously. 

One year later, I'm still into the same things. My relationship is still just as serious (three years now!) and I believe I am the same person as I was one year ago, only with more experience and (hopefully!) a teeny bit wiser :) 

Five years ago: 

Ok, this is a bit tough. Did a bit to try and forget bits and pieces during five years ago. I was kinda stuck in a relatively bad, self-destructing relationship, and when it ended, I was pretty much self-destructive until my ex did something pretty horrible. Considering how bad it was, I was pretty glad that he let me go. I don't remember being into social media at that point in time. 

Five years later, my ex is married (honestly, I don't know that much) and I'm pretty happy for him. As for me, I am grateful that he let me out of that relationship. When that happened, I was able to fully understand myself and what I wanted and translate that into my current relationship. It helped me a lot and I believe in the term "You need to fail in order to succeed". I failed once and now, I work hard to succeed. :) As for social media, well, I'm here aren't I? :P 

Ten years ago: 

Back when I was 17, I was totally different. I didn't like people, I didn't like speaking to people, and I admit, I was a spoilt brat with a temper. Now that I think back, I don't think I'm that different. Just that, I wasn't able to find people that I could communicate with and now that I'm much older, I guess I kinda sorta broke those barriers and in fact, I make friends so much easier now. 

If I'm not mistaken, at this age, I also rekindled my friendship with Evonne Siew who has been my best friend since. The one I can really talk to, the one I can go to Singapore with and do absolutely nothing, because our company with each other is priceless. Ten years ago, I was afraid of many things. These days, the only thing I fear is not trying everything! :) 

I guess with this post, it's pretty evident. I've grown up. Matured. Lived with experiences, some I wish I didn't, but I am glad I did.

To be honest, in the past ten years, a LOT has changed and I just had to adapt to it somehow. In that regard, I am glad to be where I am right now and I look forward to living my next ten years with even more experiences under my belt.

Once again, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MotivationMY.com and thank you for all the opportunities that you have given me. Truly, it has been an honor and a privilege to have worked with you! May you go strong for many more years to come! :) 

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

In the life of DancerGal: How to make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy and Productive at Work?

Greetings from the land of DancerGal! It's been quite a while since I updated this little fella so here goes!

About a week back, I attended quite an awesome talk on "How to make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy and Productive at Work?". The speaker was this awesome lady called Cheryl Cran (yes, we have the same name! How cool is that???) and she's a leadership consultant. I know most of you might be thinking, "What's that?" so I'm gonna try and put in my own words about what she does. Cheryl's job is to basically make both employers and employees change or adapt their leadership or communication styles so that the company as a whole can be taken to much greater heights. She does this by breaking down the different types of people working in the company, which is mainly the different generations of people within the company.

TMI Consultancy Sdn Bhd which stands for Transformation Managed with Inspiration. 

This talk was organized by TMI Consultancy Sdn Bhd and hosted by Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur. It was pretty awesome as we were given special treatment by the staff of Hotel Istana and TMI was an amazing organizer!

It was fun from the second Cheryl stood on stage! We had so much fun, and not to mention, I embarrassed myself by going up on stage and did the "Gangnam Style" in stilettos. Probably not exactly the smartest idea, but I'm so happy I did it. :) That was our so-called "warm up" session, getting to know each other and Cheryl enticing us with AWESOME music selections. We danced to songs like YMCA, Twist and of course, the one and only GANGNAM STYLE!

Me going ballistic when I heard the Gangnam song... :P (*embarrassing!*)
Photo credits: TMI Consulting Sdn Bhd (Facebook)

Cheryl and I doing the Gangnam Style dance... Kudos to PSY!
Photo credits: TMI Consulting Sdn Bhd (Facebook)

We then sat down after all that huffing and puffing (well, for me at least!) to start on what we actually came here to do - Learn about inter-generational people, their attributes and how we can make our workplace a more effective, efficient, productive, peaceful and relaxing one. It's pretty stressful to have to deal with people from a different generation, but what is awesome is that when you learn about the positive attributes of one another, you actually realize that everyone is pretty cool and sometimes, that generation gap is what makes each and every one of us, more human :) Together with Cheryl after the lunch break, we created a Twitter hash tag for the talk as well. #TMIGenerations2013

The set up on our tables. A folder for our notes, a TMI clapper, and name tag! 

DancerGal and her TMI clapper

Cheryl speaking on inter-generational workplace
Photo credits: TMI Consulting Sdn Bhd (Facebook)

I was tempted to write "DancerGal", but I wasn't there as a blogger :P 

The awesome Sheryl and Cheryl combo! 

I can honestly say, I learned a lot about my own generation (Gen Y!) as well as the positive attributes about other generations and I am proud to be surrounded by people from all the generations, including the millennials. What really caught my interest was not only Cheryl's stage presence, but unlike many speakers, she wasn't boring at all. She admitted that she was a Zoomer with the attributes of a Gen Y and I totally agree! I also managed to do a quick email interview with her to learn more about her as well as what motivates her and some words of encouragement for us Gen Ys! 

DancerGal (DG): From an economic and financial background, what encouraged and motivated you into getting into consultation and leadership training? 

Cheryl: While I was in my career in banking and insurance I conducted training sessions and was speaking early on in my career. I was a leader at the age of 23 and found that I liked the constant learning and growth that came with leadership. When I left banking in 1994 I interned with a consulting firm and then was hired by an international seminar company to provide seminars on leadership. In 2001 I wrote my first book and my business has grown from there.

DG: Generally, those that read my blog would be from Gen Y. Would you have any advice for those of us who are struggling to find our passion?

Cheryl:  What I admire about Gen Y is that they are really keen to do what they love, to stay positive with their work and to make a difference. I don't really have advice rather I would recommend that a Gen Y find a mentor in the field they are interested as well as do an internship to learn about the field. ( I don't have space to mentor as I have clients I do this with right now) Read the book "What Color Is Your Parachute" and get a skills analysis done by an employment agency. This will help determine the best way to use your skills and to find fields that are aligned with your skills.

DG:  What would be the best and worst attributes of a Gen Y, since I am one myself?

Cheryl: Gen Y's are eager to get ahead and to contribute in a big way. The greatest thing about Gen Y's is their desire to help, to share ideas and to work as a group. The Gen Y's that I have worked with would benefit from learning to integrate their energy and passion with business results. Today's CEO's are still the Zoomers and Gen X and they are looking for Gen Y's who can provide technological ideas and creativity to help improve business. I find many Gen Y's could learn more about the business side of the company they are working for. In addition Gen Y's would be very smart to work positively with their Gen X or Zoomer bosses- a Gen Y who helps their boss looks good will always get ahead more quickly.

DG: Any words that you would like to extend to my readers or myself? :)

Cheryl: Staying positive is more than a mindset, it is a way of looking at life. Gen Y's are very important to our future, we need your energy, passion and technological savvy. Focus on building your interpersonal skills with the Gen X and Zoomer, focus on continual learning, read both business books and personal development books. Attend conferences and events where you can learn the 'how to's from successful leaders and business owners.

Thank you so much, Cheryl, for taking the time to answering questions for my blog. I truly appreciate the fact that she took the time to answering my questions. Learning more about one another's personal attributes and how we can contribute to our workplace and helping it grow as a whole was definitely a great experience and I will definitely take these lessons with me. 

Thanks again to TMI Consultancy Sdn Bhd for having me at the event, and thanks again to Cheryl for opening my eyes to my own abilities and strengths! 

I do hope that I get to dwell deeper into such topics and share more of it right here, on my blog! 

Love always, 

DancerGal Sheryl! 

In the Life of DancerGal: Mind over Matter!

So I went back to Bootcamp on Monday. Yes. Finally.

To be honest, this was a true test of mind over matter for me. As some of you are aware, I haven't been back at Bootcamp for the past 2 months, and I actually was sorta on-off back in December. So I have sort of been procrastinating my return, time and time again. I kept saying I wanted to go back time and time again, up until yesterday that is!

At about 3pm plus, I SMS-ed SammoBammo to complain that there was raining and thunder. Prior to that, the whole day, I had nerves flying all over the place. I knew that my fitness level has dropped tremendously, cos not only have I not been working out, I also haven't been eating well. I mean, what with my birthday, CNY and all just one after another. I really haven't been controlling my diet and I honestly haven't been working out on my own as well. I knew I had also put on weight (which I'm honestly really upset about!!!).

Okay, back to the case and point (sorry, I got distracted!). At around 5.30pm, I started to get cold feet. I knew I wanted to go back to the whole "eating clean, training dirty" routine, despite my busy busy schedule, yet I was nervous and afraid about what I would think of myself, how I would fail, etc. Thinking back, this was really stupid! Obviously I wouldn't have performed as well. I haven't been back at Bootcamp for the longest time, and did I ever really expect to perform at my peak again? Without the consistency? Yeah right!

So, to cut a long story short, I eventually attended the session. Suffered the session as I was one of the "newbies" in the group. As expected, didn't do too well, but lasted the entire session. It was a great session, great cardio and great workout.

Today, I am suffering DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) but I am very proud of the pain. Why? Because at the end of it all, NO PAIN NO GAIN!

Moral of the story: Don't lose sight of your passion due to laziness. If you have set your mind to it, you can conquer any mountain. Even the one that makes you cry because your body is aching THAT badly. 

I will be going back to Bootcamp again today (in the event of no rain, thunder or lightning) and I hope to maintain the consistency! Looking forward to more sweat, grime, mud and tears!

EAT CLEAN, TRAIN DIRTY! 

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!