English Archives - Page 6 of 10

Just Do It!

November 4, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

No, it’s not hidden advertising and no, this post has nothing to do with Nike. But it does have to do with overthinking.

You know overthinking, the thing that keeps most of us stuck in doubt and fear. The same one that makes a problem out of what is possibly nothing. Also, the one that will make any circumstance worse than it actually is and will rob you of all the energy you have. Well, I discovered that overthinking not only creates doubt when relating to others, but it also leads to self-doubt and in the end, even to feelings of anger and diappointment.

Oh, the ‘what-ifs’ moments! Now I ask you, what is better – to act and have something to learn from, or to live your whole life with the what-if question? What would be your biggest regret? To have tried and failed but having lived that experience or to always wonder what you should have done? Think about it and choose one.

My fav quote about overthinking? ‘I think that I think too much’. And that is the first step – to admit to yourself and accept that you do think too much. The moment you realise that, is the moment you already know you are doing something you shouldn’t be doing, something that brings no good.

The second step is the hardest – is the one where you forgive yourself. Specialists have actually discovered that the human brain is set to make a natural tendency out of overthinking. So it’s not your fault but you can control it. And that brings me to the next step or steps – try to relax more, engage in physical activities, get busy, take deep breaths. Enjoy the moment, whatever it brings.

‘If it’s good, it’s nice. If it’s bad, it’s experience’. One of my mottos that I love and believe in, no matter the circumstance.

Did someone hurt me? Well, that says more about the person who hurt me than it says about me. But I’m glad that someone like that got out of my life and left the spot for someone better to fill.

Going through a heartbreak? Great, I may be down now, but at least not I know what I don’t want in a partner. Or what I can’t accept in a relationship.

Did I have a fight with someone dear? It’s okay, it will pass. Nothing in this world is permanent. People come and go, things come and go, situations come and go. And we always have a chance to experience something new afterwards.

Stay positive no matter what, because you can’t control the things around you, but you can control how you react.

And just do whatever makes you happy! 🙂 (Of course, as long as you don’t hurt anyone else in the process of making yourself happy)

How to – Relationships

November 3, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

I hear people saying – ‘I want a relationship’, ‘I miss being in a relationship’.

Well, that’s just plain wrong if you ask me. A relationship is not something you just want or have.

A relationship is something you make, you build from ground after getting to know eachother, after being through good and bad and not wanting to change a single thing about it all. True relationships are based on people who love and respect eachother, who are there for one another. And that is something you cannot fake.

At some point in my life, I was sitting with a guy I just met and we had a nice connection, we could talk for hours and not feel bored. Actually, we did talk for 3 hours in a cafe. And then he said those words – ‘You know, I like you and I think I want a relationship with you’. Oh no.

How could he think (first of all, he thought) he wants a relationship with me when he just met me? And second, what kind of relationship are people used to, since they just go and ask for one the moment they met someone?

We became too superficial. In life and love also… It makes me unhappy to realise that and it makes me even more sad to write it, but it’s true. People go aroung having ‘relationships’ of 2 weeks and saying ‘I love you’ to the first person they like. The saddest thing of all? Many of them really believe in what they hear. And then we wonder how we got heartbroken.

We start to confuse ‘like’ with ‘love’. We ourselves are confused about what they mean and how they feel. We’ve become so eager to have, to feel, to experience something that we don’t know yet, that we throw ourselves into anything that makes our heart racing. We overplay everything and push ourselves into things we can’t handle anymore at a certain point. We don’t even think that maybe someone else will get hurt in all this. We don’t take anyone into consideration, but our need to feel alive. It’s all about the lust.

We know no limits when it comes to getting what we think we want. So what if there’s another person involved, a human being with real feelings? Nope, all that matters is here and now. I really did came to the conclusion the we need to know how to play, before we get into this game.

My thoughts on the struggle that has become having a relationship? Elizabeth Burke states it too well.

How Long is Forever?

October 26, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

A few days ago I found a picture in my Facebook news feed, one that was added by a friend of mine. On this note, I would like to thank Gabi for his kindness. When I saw the pictures he took of the locks in Verona, I wrote to him that I will steal his pics for my iPhone wallpaper and also for the blog. He then offered to send his pics to me, in full size. It took him 7 emails to send all those to me 🙂 And he had the patience.

So, as I was saying, I saw this picture and the first thing that went through my mind was – ‘How many of those couples are still together?’. How many of the couples who have a lock there still hold on to their promise?

I want to think of myself as a realist. I am romantic enough to believe in love and all that ‘together forever’ thing, I do hope that there’s a person for everyone, I would even use a lock to decorate the bridge there, if I had a chance and reason… But something made me think about the love stories I know and also even the ones I lived.

I’ve seen many beautiful love stories that ended sudden, mines included. But this is not about me or my failures when it comes to love, this is about love itself and the people who manage to cherish it.

We have a tendency of making promises when we are happy with one another, when we’re looking through the rose-colored glasses, when we’re still in the honeymoon period. And then what? What happens when all of that is over and the real issues make an appearance? Day-to-day life shows us how we really are. The moments when you’re overwhelmed and you still find the time, mood, understanding, energy for the one you love.

I do have some favorite couples among my friends. Couples that I’ve known since their beginnings, that have stayed together through the good and the bad and that still love and support eachother. I simply love them together, I look at them and they give me hope that fairytale love is possible in real life too. There’s someone for everyone.

I’ll leave you with a saying that I love – ‘Don’t make promises when you’re happy and don’t make decisions when you’re angry’.

31 Days Challenge, Day 25 – My Vienna

October 25, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

That I was in Vienna when I turned 18, you already know thanks to my Day 17 post. But what you don’t know is that my memory box also has stuff from there.

So, on our way to the Schonbrun Palace, me and my mum had a fight. I really can’t remember the subject of that, but I do remember it made me so mad that I started to ignore it. So, there we were waiting getting on the subway, when I saw an empty seat so I went to sit there. On the chair, there was an Airways chewing gum. I smiled and I thought – ‘Hey, this should be in my memory box’. I have no other comment on that, but it made me smile.

I’m addicted to chewing gum, but I haven’t used a single pill from there!

On another note, I really liked the cards that the hotel had for every room. So much that I kept one. Mine had an eye. my mum’s had lips. I saw that there were others with legs, hands, noses, etc.

I loved this hotel, even if the staff was gay. Yes, they had pretty boys wandering the halls of the hotel… Oh, and I also loved their breakfast buffet!!! Like really, they had everything and anything you can think of. And if they didn’t, they would made it especially for you! It was an incredible large room filled with food and most importantly, sweets!

Oh, I do need to go back there!… *feeling melancholic*

31 Days Challenge, Day 23 – Princess Me

October 23, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

One December I received this tiara that confirmed to me and others around me the thing that I suspected all along… That I was a princess.

I wore it on the day I received it and made everyone around me think I was crazy… Literally. I also wore it on the day that I had my 18th bday party and on my prom night. About the man that made me a princess, I wrote here and here.

anamariapopa.com blog post princess tiara surprise present ana maria popa

And this is me being a princess on my prom night!

31 Days Challenge, Day 22 – Full Age

October 22, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

You already know that I had my 18th bday party at a gay’s club. If not, here you can read about it.

So, I had a really tough time finding a place for my party. I have this little habit of paying attention to details. So I would always find something that wasn’t right with the place. I was losing hope when I found this beautiful place that was cozy and had an Audrey Hepburn (I love her) picture on the wall, was painted in purple and had fluffy pillows. There was only one thing, one small detail – it was a gay club.

I still loved it so I went and stated my case in front of my mum, who was supposed to financially support my party. She understood the situation and I had it my way!

The owner of the club told me at the end of the party that she admired me for the determination I had to plan my party all alone, finding a plce included. And of course, she was surprised that I wanted her place to celebrate and that I even kept my word when I asked her to make the reservation.

In my memory box, the hand-written check holds a special place.

And from the pics taken at the party, this one is my fav, right from the cake moment 🙂

31 Days Challenge, Day 21 – Why Settle?

October 21, 2014Ana Maria Popa Leave a Comment

What do you do when your plans don’t go as you wish and you find yourself in a different situation? I’m gonna tell you, you just enjoy it.

This June I went to Brussels, through Couchsurfing. Already had more than a couple of experiences and I’ve always met nice and interesting people, with whom I still keep in touch. So now I accepted accommodation from a Romanian guy. At some point, I thought to myself that it would be funny that this is the only time I get into trouble, but I let all that go because I thought that he’s the same nationality as me and he wouldn’t do anything wrong.

So I arrive in Brussels and meet with him, we go groceries shopping and ice cream eating and then home. I start making dinner and I find myself being hugged from behind and kissed on the neck. ‘Okay now, wtf…’. I try to explain to the guy how things work and usually what Couchsurfing means, but he said he felt this strong connection between us. Bottom line, he got kinda upset.

The next morning, he went to work and I started wandering around the city and meeting some friends I had there. I checked-in on Facebook with them, had fun, added pics, etc.

In the evening when I meet with my host, he was still upset and I tried understanding what was wrong. Apparently, it was disrespectful of me to check-in with other guys when I stayed at his place… And he started acting like a child.

I started packing my things and at 11PM I left his apartment to go to one of my friends who was a student in Namur, a small city at 1h30 ride by train from Brussels. Oh, and he lived in a dorm room. So, at 1AM we started cleaning one room so that I could sleep there. Even then, I remember laughing so hard on this situation and experience.

And for the next 4 days I spent my time in such lovely company with my friend and his colleagues, that I do not regret leaving that night with my bags and wandering in a city I had just arrived in.

I returned to Brussels the next day to meet a dear friend with whom I had no time to meet in Bucharest – one of those delightful coincidences.

So instead of just spending my time in Brussels, I had the time of my life in Namur and spent one wonderful day on a trip to Bruges with the people I had just met. I laughed, I ate icecream, I had fun, I took lots of pictures, I received a heart balloon that I took on a trip, I recorded videos of all, I loved it! And as a souvenir, I kept the keys from the dorm room, haha!

Believe me when I say everything happens for a reason, even though we don’t know what that reason is. Now I would like you to think of a time when you were denied one thing or a moment when things didn’t go as planned and analyze if it wasn’t for the best, in the end.

In Bruges, I found this cute little Hello Kitty Bracelet on the pavement!