The Cruel Mirror

It's day 199 of documenting 2025.

One more day to the big 200!

Super psyched! 😃

I don't even know what I'm going to write...or how special it's going to be...

But it's going to be great.

Wow! It's going to be on a Saturday!

And I've got quite a number of plans and tasks....

Hmm 🤔 

Maybe I can type it tonight and schedule it for tomorrow.

It has to be a special post...staying consistent for 200 days is not an easy feat.

Trust me, there's a story to tell.

No need to worry about that now...

Let's focus on today's post, which is going out by nighttime.

My mornings and afternoons are very occupied these days...there's no time to type then.

So it's only convenient to shift the posting to evenings/nights.

Anyhoo...

Today went well 🙂

I was able to finish recording all the scores for two classes, excluding two subjects taught by the same teacher.

Guess what?

The teacher didn't show up today.

So, my record isn't complete yet.

Asides that, I finished all my work for today....and now, I'm in recuperation mode.

I still got plans for tomorrow...but until then, it's all rest and play.

(Nothing extreme 😁)

Before I continue blabbing, let's see what we're highlighting today...

And after that, it's either I share a poetry piece from an upcoming poetry collection of mine.

Or a fiction story from our favorite character, Ursula.

365 Days With Self-discipline 

📌 On Your Inaction Hurting Others 

"If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. 

You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet."

Quote by Steven Pressfield

If you can’t shake yourself out of inaction for your own benefit, perhaps you can do it by having others in mind. 

This type of motivation is called

prosocial motivation ; it means taking action for the benefit of somebody or something beyond yourself: your family, your favorite charity, your community,

the environment, etc.

Spend some time thinking how your inaction hurts the people around you. 

For some people, the negative motivation they can get from such an exercise is more powerful than any words of encouragement. 

The guilt they feel upon realizing they’re betraying their family or harming the planet can be a more enticing motivator than getting the rewards for themselves, whether they’re internal or external ones.

If you’re the type of a person who often cares more about others than

yourself, this sort of motivation can turn you into a high achiever. 

However, be cautious not to overdo it: the point isn’t to spend your life working yourself into the ground, forever feeling guilty that you could do even more. 

Strive to produce value for everyone, including yourself.

Prosocial motivation...

Kinda like when I felt like someone needs me and I have to improve for that person.

That someone is not myself...so I'm thinking it's prosocial motivation I'm running on right now.

It feels great! 😊

Even when the resistance comes, I believe I can break through it this time, not succumb.

I hope it's that way for you...even in a small aspect.

Moving on...

I'm going to share a fictional story.

One from an upcoming series that I've been inclined to write.

Enjoy! 😉

Mirror, Mess, Mind Games

The silence didn’t come all at once.

It arrived in pieces.

At first, it was just the lack of notifications. 

The absence of constant pings, likes, and the quiet hum of other people’s thoughts bleeding into hers. 

Then came the blank mornings; no rush to check who had viewed her status, no dopamine hit from an “insightful post” or a kind reply.

She told herself it was a break. 

A reset. A spiritual retreat.

But the truth? It was collapse wearing a calm face.

Ursula wandered through her days like a ghost in her own house. 

The air felt heavier. Her room, once her creative cocoon, now stared back at her like an unanswered question.

She started noticing things. 

Like how long her dishes stayed in the sink. How long her laundry sat untouched.

She noticed how time didn't stop; it just walked past her, slowly, like it was waiting for her to catch up.

But she couldn’t move. Not really.

This hallway wasn’t a place. It was a feeling.

She wasn’t who she was anymore; the coach, the creator, the connector.

But she didn’t know who she was becoming either.

She tried to hold on. 

To journal. To plan. To pray.

But even her prayers felt like echoes tossed into a closed room.

Every little task became a mountain. 

And every emotion; hunger, shame, boredom, sadness...blended into one big, messy fog. 

She found herself eating without thinking, watching shows without caring, and ignoring everything she used to love.

She’d lie on her bed, scrolling through old photos and wondering, Where did she go?

That’s when the mirror turned cruel.

Not just the one in her bathroom; but the one in her mind.

It showed her all the goals left halfway.

The promises to herself broken quietly.

The way she kept choosing numbness over honesty.

She wanted to scream, but even that felt like too much effort.

Instead, she just sat; in the middle of the hallway. 

Not back there. Not yet ahead.

Just there.

Alone, and finally...listening.

This is just a snippet of the whole story I'm putting together.

It's in a collection of stories tied to one main character, Ursula.

But don't worry...all will be revealed.

Tomorrow.

That would be all for today.

Thanks so much for reading 🎀 

For the past 3 weeks, I haven't been promoting my blog posts on social media like I used to.

And I also noticed that less people are searching for my blog.

Meaning, just a few people eventually read the posts now.

You're here, despite that.

You're one of the few that truly want to hear what I have to say...

How I know that?

Well, you read from the beginning to this very sentence.

Thanks again ☺️

I'm Duon Ada.

I'm documenting 2025,

And I'll see you tomorrow.

Ciao 💕