I have nothing to do today, so I will pay a visit to my office. Just to slowly get back into the grove and prioritize things to do in the new year.
I have come up with my New Year Resolutions:
limiting animal meat in my diet
losing 30 pounds of weight
reducing fat and salt consumption
walking faster
None of these – except the walking part – are new wishes.
I have tried to be vegetarian for a very long time. My first trial in almost 20 years ago ended up with altered brain chemistry (I think Vitamin B deficiency). So I ate animal meat every once a while, sometimes more than once in a week. I remain however being mostly a plant eater. I will try again – I feel for the animals.
Losing weight has been my life long goal. It hardly happens 🙂 But every little bit of consideration and exercise helps.I should have hope that even small actions will bring me small but significant positive effects.
Now that I am over 50, I am more and more concerned about potential health problems. So salt and butter/olive oil can get less consumed now.
I am an avid walker, but I hear that walking fast even for a shot period of time can bring extra cardio benefits. So, I will aim for it.
As per New Year Resolutions – I too am skeptical that they work, but what I like about them is that it gives us a chance to reflect and realize what we want for ourselves. Having these goals in mind is important. Sometimes we find new inspirations and goals, and they change our lives, too.
If you have resolutions and cannot complete them, do not worry. Give yourself a pat on the shoulder as you have actually prioritized yourself and wanted to improve your life. This is a golden act.
I am grateful for the Holidays Break that makes me reflect on myself and realize my wishes.
Yesterday I did shopping and donated some books to thrift store. The books have been with me for some time, in great condition, but their pages have not been turned in many years back, so it was time to depart our ways and let them be enjoyed by others. I also purchased a lovely blouse and two trousers from the thrift store. I cannot wait to enjoy them 🙂
I am so grateful that I have a thrift store close by that allows me to both donate and shop great items at great prices.
I purchased a few puzzle books from the book store that I wanted to and I am very grateful for them too! I do puzzles at nights and it is a great, fun activity 🙂
I then went to a mall and shopped pet items such as, cat food, litter boxes and scoops (I change them every two weeks), some grocery and personal care products. I am well stocked up except for the toilet paper. I hope that I will get a big pack of it today.
In other words, I am slowly getting ready to the New Year.
I still do not like to think about work. I like my freedom to get up anytime and not reading or replying to my emails. I am getting ready to reflect on my new plans for the new year 🙂
I will now go look at my fiscal situation for 2022 and post my main findings.
I hope you all are having a wonderful time with family and friends, or at least have the plans to do so.
I have completed many critical work pieces prior to yesterday and I could not be happier that nothing urgent (for now) is in my list. This feels like a miracle. Hope it will stay this way till the New Year.
I missed blogging. I missed reading your blogs. This break is an excellent opportunity to do these.
Hello folks, are you having a good Saturday morning?
I am.
Got a little bit early, which is great. Getting up early makes the day full and efficient. I have coffee next to me and my foster cat Mona is dozing on the carpet. House is clean and I have food in my fridge. People that are most important to me are alive and well. The frigging pandemic is not over, hurt a lot of people and families, but we still kick in. Hang in there, folks.
I am off and it feels good. Except that I did not have any plan so I feel like I am not utilizing these days well. Oh, well 🙂
I still have a week to contemplate on the summer and life. I made a pledge with myself to enjoy this summer. And I did. Thank you for this universe (or my mind and pain of losing my mom).
Life is literally too short and too unpredictable (duh!). Please enjoy it. Starting now 🙂
This year, I made a commitment to enjoy my summer. This means walking freely around the neighborhood and taking pictures of yards, houses, blue sky, clouds, interesting mail boxes, bird houses, and anything else that I paid little or no attention earlier. I love, love it! It gets all mind off the daily struggles and stress, and make me enjoy the moment. I also get to realize how beautiful my neighborhood is 🙂
Looking at the pics and remembering the conversations I had had with the neighbours put a large smile on my face. It makes me happy. It is a, well cherished and appreciated new item on my hobby list.
It is not the first hobby of mine. In 2016, I became interested in bread making and sourdough – it has been an amazing journey. Each dough, each bread is such an exciting experience. Healing in a very smooth way.
Then, I became interested in jamming and pickling. Cannot tell how much I enjoyed planning, doing, admiring, eating, and sharing them with neighbours, friends, and co-workers.
At around the same time, I also got interested in succulents. What a wonderful interest. I made friends with other plant enthusiast and shared many of the plants with tons of people. I still get pictures of the grown plants by the proud owners. Isn’t that something lovely? Joy. Joy. Joy 🙂
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Folks, if you have a hobby jut for your enjoyment (at least initially – you sure can share the products with others and get an extra joy out of your hobby), you are one of the lucky bunch. Cherish those moments. I found that the memories made of these hobbies are the ones that really gives me happiness even after many years.
Have a good life. Have great hobbies. Have wonderful memories.
Hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday, folks! 🙂
I have taken a couple of days off lately. This gave me a chance to reflect, stop, and do other stuff 🙂
On top of that the Friday’s Rogers outage (that left me without internet, cable, or phone) gave me the a chance to realize that I had time to do anything. But during normal times, with work and daily routine of browsing the internet, social media, and Netflix, I had little time committed for anything else. It was a hugely interesting finding. So I have time. I just am too busy with certain things…
Hmmm.
I have been thinking lately that maybe I would like the idea of retirement. It would mean a complete life change but that is okay (why not to get excited about yet another new chapter in life?). I am usually very energetic, works very hard, and I am highly functional as well. But this year I feel like I take bullshit less and rather spare my time on new things, so I keep thinking maybe I was getting lazy OR I was choosing what was important. Hard to know right now. But time can show. Throughout my career, there were times that I worked like hell and then slowed down prior to great changes. It can be just one of these episodes.
Or maybe getting older, I was getting wiser and interested in more enjoying life. Like this year I made a commitment to enjoy the summer more. In previous years, time just flew. What is the point? I am over half a century. My parents died. I too will die one day. So will the people I care about. So what is the point of all of these if we are not going to enjoy life, cherish family and friends, and be hopeful and rested?
So dear folks, I may be slowing down and enjoying my environment a little bit more. Maybe I am getting lazy at work, but I doubt it – I think I rather sort better and act on important things now, which saves me time and nerves. So life is good right now and I submit myself to its flow. Whatever it will bring, I hope to take with ease.
Happy Sunday folks – hope you all are having a relaxing and joyful day.
The summer has shown its face with increased temperatures. The time of the mighty fan is approaching real fast. Where I live the summers are mild, but still. Once you get to use to cool weather anything above 25 C feels a little bit too much 🙂
Like many of us, I run and run after the Holiday season. Now is a great time to take a break. I have taken a couple of days off and it was very refreshing. yet, in a couple of days back at the office, I felt the same exhaustion again 🙂 I need to take more time off. In the coming weeks I hope. Life is good – at least I have paid vacation times.
How is your life with COVID-19? many places lifted the mandatory masking. I see maybe more and more people without a mask indoors, in public transportation, in workplaces. I am terrified for these people somehow – it is such a contagious virus. Is having a mask on more dangerous than catching up this virus, the risk of long covid or worse yet, giving it to someone else particularly those who are at high risk of serious consequences?
I am lucky that I have an office, but one coworker came talked to me without a mask. I was surprised and could not know what to do, but next time I am asking everyone in my office to wear a mask or stand out of the door. The reality is that this pandemic is not over, the virus is not mild, our boosters are nowhere to be replaced, and I love life more than I can imagine.
I cannot imagine how we all will feel when the in person meetings are back fully. I see pics of people indoors with no mask, and I think I am losing my mind. This is not the message we would like to send out – the pandemic is still on. Sadly.
It is slightly raining here, but I think I will dare walking around the neighborhood. Fresh air is awesome, so is breaking a sweat – it really does help me feel better and relaxed.
While my antidepressant works wonders, I have been feeling kid of “stretched” lately again. I wonder whether I need a dose adjustment, or I am just going through a rough patch. I do not think that anything has been pressuring me more than what normally is, so I think it is likely that I may need dosage adjustment.
However, I also think that I must try other ways to help me feel better, like exercise/walking and being grateful – they always have made me feel better. I can also take some time off. The fact that I did have a 4 days long weekend lately and it helped me feel fresh was amazing. So, I think taking a week off soon should also be in my to do list.
Works is as usual. Sometimes very exciting and sometimes just pain stressful. I missed when I was a graduate student when everything I have done was exciting! Studying. Researching. Finding solutions to problems. I missed that feeling a lot. My current stress comes from managing others and political issues, more than the work itself. I blame myself somehow that after all these years, I am still not skillful enough to handle this stress. While this sounds harsh, I also think that it is an opportunity to maybe sort things out better.
My family and I have always been value-oriented. We work hard, be fair, like to be treated fair, protect the vulnerable, help others in need, and appreciate and compensate when someone deserves it – whether through genuine words or through financial means. Nobody’s rights have been dismissed by any of us, or taken advantage of. We do the right thing.
How does such a value-oriented approach to life and work/workplace work in the workplaces?
The fact that the so called developed countries and cultures have just been getting into the EDI – equity, diversity, and inclusion tells me that I and my family are ahead of times…..
I am proud of this. For sure.
This also explains why we find it difficult to survive, function, and get appreciation in workplaces that did not bother focusing in fairness, equity, inclusion, and basic human rights so far.
Yes.
I am very proud of myself and my family! Despite all the set backs our approach has generated in such environments, we know that we are making a difference and are ahead of the game, not because it is a buzz thing to do, but because it is the right thing to do.
Folks, it is yet another beautiful Sunday. Hope you all are having a peaceful, safe, and fun day.
We have a slightly rainy day. Like many Canadians, I had planned to work on my yard, and clean and tidy it up. Not been happening so far, but I hope to get to it this afternoon, if not, tomorrow the latest.
So far, I have mowed my yard only once two weeks ago. I am not an enthusiastic mower. But more importantly, I have seen posts about the need for dandelions and other wild plants with flowers, that feed our bees. So, Win-Win. I am keeping my dandelions as long as they are with flowers, and hope to clean the plants out after that. I am sure they will appear again next year.
I have however mulch that I want to use to replenish some areas with heavy grass. Like the underneath of the trees. It was two years ago that I carried over – on a shopping card – 20+ bags of mulch to finally make my yard a little bit better. It was quite a success and thanks to staying at home during the pandemic that helped me save time and finally do something about it.
How is your pandemic life going like? We have a lot of cases here. And deaths. It is heart-breaking. So far I have avoided the virus – I think; unless I was one of the asymptomatic ones – and I feel like I am absolutely too lucky to be so. Is this what is called as Survivor Guilt? Boy, I do not wish to get this virus, at least repeatedly, so that it can wreak havoc on my systems. Nope. Long covid scares me and for the right reasons. Please take care of yourself and those around you.
On the positive side, I have taken Friday off and tomorrow is a paid holidays, too. So I have been enjoying my long weekend with minimal work. I have been studying information for an upcoming interview, a voluntary but very important position with a national organization in my field. I am excited about it and I feel confident with each information I gained. I passed the pre-interview processes and now will be interviewed by the CEO and that feels amazing to me 🙂 Wish me luck, good folks. It is only every once a while that I get this much excited AND confident to make moves & applications. I am very excited about this opportunity and what I can do in that capacity. We shall see how that goes. but so far so good.
Tonite, I had the most wonderful dream. My mom was with me and my sister and hugging us tightly. smiling, and speaking to us so vividly. It felt very alive and real to me and it makes me happy! My mom, my beautiful mom. I love you We love you. Rest in Peace and wait for us – we shall meet again.
My mom is sick. She suddenly became ill and has not been getting better. We hope that she will see a really good doc in the coming days and will find some relief.
My minds does all the tricks. It is as if I either accepted the fact that she will be gone soon, or there is nothing wrong with her. Neither of them are evidenced, but this is the reason I hate my reasoning so much nowadays. It is as if, I do not care.
But that is not true, either. I do care. She is my mom. She is the only person who treated me well.
So, why are my emotions so frozen? I wonder whether it is a trauma caused by the thought of losing my mom; the antidepressants I take; or the fact that my dad’s death 5 years ago prepared me for death of yet another loved one.
I wanted to explore life and overcome challenges. I wanted to have a life and have a job here in Canada, but not in my home country. I built a life I was more or less content with. I was, this year, finally feeling good, with the introduction of my foster cat and antidepressants to my life. I was brave when I was young, then got scared (aka anxiety), and I could not be brave enough to solve my problems with my family and build a life there.
I am sorry that I have not spent more time and be with her when she needs me most. I am also ashamed that I lost my courage in life, thanks to traumatizing events and anxiety, and could not fix these issues earlier in life.
I am just dropping these thoughts here to let it go.
Please do not leave any comments. I know you will be supportive.
But right now, I need to face my emotions as they are.
Have not been blogging lately – time to pour my mind into this page 🙂
First of all, what a beautiful weather we have been having this year! It is still chilly but the days have been bright and sky has been blue. My heating temp is low now and I have been opening the windows since late March. Trees in my yard are getting full and blooming. What else do I wish? 🙂
Work is going crazy and I am so behind of so many tasks that I am stressed again. But the great news is that I got promoted (yes, I have!) and it is the highest position for my profession!! It has not happened over night – for decades I have studied and worked my ass off, moving from one country to other to develop myself further, and today here I am! I am proud. So is my family. I am so happy that I was able to give this news to my family. Should my dad be alive, he would be absolutely delighted.
While I dreamed of this promotion for so long and worked so much for it, I still do not feel extremely awesome 🙂 It is interesting. I think it is important but not the most important thing for me. Yes, I have the satisfaction of reaching this point and making my family proud. But I have not changed as a person and as a professional. I keep thinking that I have tremendous experience and I cannot wait to do my biggest work yet. So, my future goals are vivid and I am striving to achieve them. I think for people like me, the journey itself is the most exciting part.
My foster cat Mona is doing well. We took care of her main health issue, but ended up with a new one. Now we are trying to fix that and I think we will do this easily as well. She is such a strong girl. Not sure why we end up with one minor issue after the other. I want her to be well. I know that once she is free of health issues, she will be up for adoption, which breaks my heart. But I would rather have her healthy than having issues. My beautiful girl. She has never lost her energy or enthusiasm to play with me hide-and-seek, or given me a huge anxiety. Always ready for a head scratch and affection. I love her so much.
Today has been filled with working, cleaning the home and doing laundry in between, shopping, and cooking. I cannot believe I have done all of these all within a day. Sometimes stress can be helpful I guess. For example, in a few hours I prepared a speech to be delivered next week. Generally, I would have the speech ready a few week before the date so that I could feel confident. This time, I needed to leave it to last week. Stressful? yes. Has stress helped to get it done in a short time? Yes. Go figure 🙂
Anyways folks, life is continuing and it is good right now. I have booked for my vaccination and I cannot wait. Tonite, I am relaxing with watching movies. Tomorrow is another day. We shall see what it will bring. I hope it will be a wonderful day for all of us globally.
I am glad that the harshest months of winter – January and February – are behind us. Yet, I feel like time flies and I have some sort of grief coming with this.
Nevertheless, I think we must celebrate reaching to the middle of winter. Spring is always joyful, and makes us feel much better. Nature awakens; yards, tress, and birds become alive and joyful. Having a window open and getting fresh air in are certainly priceless and delightful.
This weekend was fine. I worked in the morning and am ready for the week. I must say the weekdays continue to stress me and weekends continue to relax me. They say so much about the life-work balance. I wonder if this balance is ever achievable?
What is that balance, anyhow?
I was reading an essay about it the other day, and the author claims that there is no such thing as a balance, as there is no true border between work and life. Also, the term itself implies that either our work or life – or both – are miserable and unbearable.
Truth.
In my profession, having this balance is almost impossible. We work anytime and any day, as we always chase for new things and have serious obligations. The expectations increase day by day, especially happened during the COVID-19 pandemic for some unsensible reasons – as we have a highly competitive job. So either we will perform normally and risk being called and feeling unsuccessful and a failure (duh! even with a little bit of or work, we do amazing and incredible things), or hurt ourselves with countless of hours of work, stress, thinking, writing, reading, discussing, training, and presenting. All to feel competent and successful. Whoever has implemented this self-inflicted, unhealthy, and counter-intuitive system must be very proud of themselves. There seems to be no way out of it, unless the vast majority think the same way and stop slowing.
Slowing down is a term I have been associating with the pandemic. I heard it from many of my friends and colleagues, and it kind of makes sense. I believe that I could be not only healthier, but also more creative if we could slow down a little bit.
On the positive side, I feel like I have slowed down somehow and tipped to scale towards the life part of the work-life balance, especially now that I have a lovely foster cat with me. Spending time with Mona, even feeding her or cleaning her litter box are giving me much needed mental brake. I am determined to continue with fostering even when she is adopted. My beautiful girl. May she always have the best, kindest, and most compassionate people around her, the best meals and cleanest litter box, and the best vets.
A somewhat boredom-filled weekend. I keep reminding myself that I have all the opportunity to feel good, but can not stick to it. This is pretty much how I survived the last few decades, prior to the start of the antidepressants. In the last 3 months or so, this is the 2nd time I feel like it does not work.
Logically, the medication works. I generally feel much better, more optimistic, and more effective. I do not get bothered by small stuff and do not get stuck at miniature shit. Expecting that I will never experience these while taking this medication is what my fault is. Expecting that the medications will fix everything.
These being said, things have been spiraling up and far regarding the pandemic. While we are still doing much better, now we have a case or two of the variant virus. The cautions are highlighted, as a result. Naturally, as a person who lives in a place where the case load is low and life pretty much continued as before, except with limited social interactions, use of mask, and working mostly from home, I took it kind of hard. It took me sometime to remind myself that this virus is nothing to be taken lightly. With or without the vaccines. And, where the hey are the vaccines? Has any of you been vaccinated yet?
There is no mention of when we can get the vaccines. I am not in the risky group category, so I think that it will take some time.
Our works have been tremendously affected. We continue to work and produce ideas and results, but honestly I keep thinking that this focus on work has made me forget the reality. The reality is that we all are going through a very tough and serious patch of time. I have hope that things will get better, but when? Perhaps none of these that we keep doing at work will have any value in the long run if we cannot keep ourselves and the rest of the globe safe from this virus. How long are we looking for? At least a few more years is what my prediction is.
I can forget traveling and visiting my family for at least two years. Will my family be okay during this time? My friends? Myself?
Our lives have changed, whether I realize it or not. Things have changed, we adapted, but harder days are yet to come. One thing I really find peace in is that this is a collective journey. There is so much compassion and understanding in so many different people, communities, and institutions.
Perhaps, in the post-pandemic era, our lives, work places and practices, and how we go through our days will be much different. Many of us will be out of work. Some of us will have new jobs. There will be different values, different priorities. Perhaps we all will start homesteads and happy with our simplier, more frugal lives.
I have no issues with frugal and simple lives, as long as the basic rights are protected and healthcare and education are accessible by all.
I predict that in the years coming, I will volunteer more, and support the community and the vulnerable. I please ask once again you to help foster animals. It does not have to cost you anything – just talk your animal rescue organization. Give these creatures a beautiful, safe and loving environment. Let them feel the love and care. You will feel the happiness of their companionship and satisfaction of helping others in turn. Please foster or adopt an animal from a shelter.
Be the hope for a life that was otherwise put in a very vulnerable position by humans. Do it.
The fact that I started taking antidepressants right around the same time as I started fostering Mona makes me question whether I feel better compared to before because of the medication or Mona?
I have no answer to that…..
I am continuing the medication because I am feeling better and it seems to make me take things lighter and have more time for myself. I can handle emotions easier and get stressed less.
Today I am convinced that she is an enormous support to my emotional health. She has been my support pet for the day and possibly many other days.
I am very grateful for Mona and the shelter organization that allows me to foster her.
May she always be safe, loved, cared for, free of accidents and fear, and have the cleanest litter box and finest meals.
Mona has minor health issues, like constipation or some other small stuff. We are following vet’s recommendations but time to time she gets it again and it worries me. The fact that I love her so much means that her wellness related matters are painful for me. I am scared that I do not understand if she has a serious issue and cannot take the appropriate steps (like contacting the organization for a vet visit), or they will quit on her.
How painful are these thoughts?
Love is meant to be joyful. But pain is also a part of it. I find serenity in making sure that I follow all recommendations and report all issues, even if they seem small. They are experienced and can decide whether it is a serious issue or not. I also find serenity in praying and asking for protection, support, and love for her and improved understanding for myself to help Mona.
I sometimes feel guilty because I am a hard-working professional and especially during the day I cannot pay the attention Mona deserves or asks for. But evenings are ours and so are the nights. We spent quite some time, play, and interact. I love her when she listens to me and falls into sleep. I love her when she wakes me up in the morning when she gets hungry by walking on my pillow.
Just today, I seriously considered adopting her. Emotions are high 🙂 The hard reality is that I am capable of doing this, but I have to choose between her and my family – the only reason that I am fostering is that when I start traveling for extended period of times, I cannot take her with me. What will happen to her? Where will I leave her to? Fostering helps with this.
These being said, sometimes I think that life is too short to think about such things and we really do not know what the future will bring. Just today Canada announced that they plan to quarantine all Canadians returning from out of country. The moment I thought things were getting better (with the vaccines being administered now), now we have more restrictions for travel. I feel strained because I was hoping to visit my family next year. But who knows what will happen then?
Sometimes, there is no perfect solution that we can come up. Sometimes, life turns in unexpected ways. I will leave it to life to decide…
The cool fall is upon us. It is very enjoyable. We can expect some snow in mid November. This will change the game to hibernation season 🙂 Our winter is long and we get too much snow dumped. But, life continues and eventually Spring comes.
I have had a busy week. the more I try to focus on important things, the more small, urgent stuff appeared. That meant in some cases I did not get perfectionist and sent my letters/emails at around 90% perfectness. Acceptable, isn’t it?
It is.
I also, for the first time in a very long time, did not fill feedback forms I was supposed to, to help my unit’s assessment and future plans. Rather, I sent a short email with my main points. I will let the administrative staff to use my email to communicate to others.
You may ask yourself “What is the deal with these two examples?“. Well, I used to follow all directions meticulously and put my best mind forward. Sometimes, it is too tiring and requires too much of my time and energy. While I have energy, my time is getting less and less available with each big steps I want to take. So, to save my time for what matters most to me, I had to change things and how I operate.
I am proud of myself. The change and deviation from my usual work practice is little, took me a long time to implement, but I made it eventually.
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I have been thinking about love and fear. When I feel dependency or attention, I get scared. I get distant.
I have been extremely interested in my freedom. It works wonders for me and I love this life-style. I do not need to care for someone, or cook. I could not make a mother, to be honest. This is how I feel. But, sometimes, it feels okay to care for something, a cat for example, and provide love & safety. Even though it restricts my freedom. Loving a wonderful creature should not create fear. It should create excitement.
This is how I finally convinced myself and decided to foster a beautiful kitty, Mona, yesterday 🙂
I started writing gratitude journals years back to help remind myself all the great things that was happening in my life. Writing these almost always makes me feel good. That is for sure. It is therefore one of the ways that I help reduce the emotional distress coming out of anxiety or depression. For example, just to be able to remember that I walked in a warm and quiet day with blue sky (and, hence, not only enjoyed my moment but also did something good for my health) sounds great, is it not? It is. Obviously, it also says that I made a good choice that day. Extra gratitude!
But, this kind of approach is fragmented – I start everyday again and again, as if it has no link to previous days or the future.
A couple of days ago I realized that there may be additional things to consider while practicing gratitude journaling.
If I restrict things to write about to experiences, choices, and activities of the day, I almost always lose the continuity and being grateful for things that are continuous. For example, having the freedom to pursue my dreams. Having the ability to change things. Having the ability to feel happy. Reminding myself that even the worst thing shall pass one day. Good memories. Good friends. Good experiences.
There are things better and bigger than what is happening a day in one’s life.
Let’s focus on this greatness. Boundless opportunities. Bigger picture. The full life. The whole experience.
I was happy for the entire morning yesterday. Really happy.
I was excited about the day. The great weather. The ability to walk, The ability to work. The ability to survive and do all bunch of other things. I had a life and it was going well.
Since it does not happen all the time, it was precious! It was beautiful! It was energizing!
🙂
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Then, what happened?
Well, work related shit happened and I had to find a solution to a confusing situation that directly relates to me. It is important that I find the best solution so that I can feel that my interests are protected to best.
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I increasingly realize that finding solutions to complex situations is one thing that drains me and stresses me…… Since it is an intense mental process, and I cannot help but have that urge to find the solutions right away, it means that my work and life are interrupted and I feel heavily overwhelmed until that solution miraculously shows up in my mind.
If only I could develop some sort of confidence that I am capable of finding solutions without getting into an intense thought process.
Another thing is when I need to write an email. Sometimes I find myself revising it so many different times until I find it making the point clearly and without giving away more than what it is intended to. With work-related emails, there is always a chance of being mis-understood or having negative consequences if the email does not sound right. So I draft and sometimes revise them multiple times, which is another annoyance for me. BUT today I realized that I revise them to make these emails better, which is better for me – so I should actually trust my instinct, keep revise until I am satisfied, and be happy to revise at the same time.
It appears that a change in the perspective is something I can benefit from.
And, the more I analyze, the better I can see why I experience certain annoyances…. This reminds me my worry journal that has been therapeutic. Time to get the dust off it.
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Regardless of what, though, it has been great to remind myself yesterday that happiness was possible.
It sounds odd, but there are benefits to this fatal pandemic.
Our lives have been interrupted and changed. We do not know what the future will bring, and whether we and everyone else we care about will survive this virus.
We do not know whether we can keep our jobs and mortgages, and put food on the table, and if so, for how long.
We do not know.
Every morning I get up with one thought on my mind – that we are in fact going through a disaster. Some of us, like me, are experiencing it mild, some others are experiencing with daily death and suffering around them.
It is a very depressing and anxiety-creating situation. But, I think I am also good at keeping myself busy and pretending that nothing is happening. This must have kept me sane so far.
I feel horrible writing these words, but this pandemic has been good to me. I realized that I have a high quality of life in my personal life, but low quality of work life.
While I knew that I had a stressful job, I did not know that my life outside of it was a blessing!!!
There are things at work that I fully dread and would love to get rid of, like some roles that drain me but bring me little or no recognition or benefit in return. There are some colleagues who are the worst and I would not like to see or interact with them anymore. This is in fact a great time for me to shake shit out of my shoulder.
It is also strange to be happy that I am not going home this year (my flight has been canceled). I am not feeling bad about this. I will enjoy staying here and experiencing summer. The good weather. The peaceful working from home order. I will. I want to.
The 5th month into the COVID-19 pandemic – how are you all doing?
Seriously – how are you doing?
Sometimes I think that I am denying the seriousness of this pandemic and keeping myself busy just to not think about it.
Thank goodness, at least I can walk and talk to the people who most matter to me.
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Have I gotten a little bit soft as a result of this pandemic? Perhaps.
Have I shed the emotional baggage off my shoulder? Not yet.
Have I gotten a little bit more determined to turn my life around? Not even close.
So……..
What is happening?
Perhaps the lessons I must get out of this are; a) patience is needed, b) we cannot get what we want all the time, c) sometimes more is needed for something to work out in our lives.
Realizations… Wisdom… All great words… Not so much action.
I need to act on things that have been bothering me.
How is it going everyone? Hope you are all healthy and staying inside, washing those hands, and keeping sane in the face of anxiety.
Canadian provinces have been projecting numbers based on some models, and the numbers of cases and deaths some of them are estimating are horrifying. I increasingly become aware that we are looking at a long and serious ordeal. Whatever I must do, I must keep healthy, isolated, strong, employed, engaged, and connected.
As long as I have my job, I can do any of these. Goodness help us – my organization has been under financial crunch for sometime. It is, I hope, not the time that they start let us go. I doubt it – they can reduce our numbers to some extend, but I as a moderately senior employee should not be in the immediate line. I hope.
I can continue to walk everyday (around 1 hour), keeping away from others in the street. The majority of the time this is quite possible, but today three gents were walking (they were side by side – are they not worried at all?) and I was not able to navigate my way away from them, as they decided to walk right towards me in the last second. This kind of things make me nervous. Anyways – walking is good for my physical and mental health. So I am looking forward to continuing this activity.
I can continue to eat healthy, drink tea with lemon, ginger, and honey everyday. I like it. In the last few weeks since I started self-distancing, I have been having light coughs and sneezes every once a while (nothing serious). It feels like cold, and what better remedy than tea? I believe tea, ginger, lemon, and honey are therapeutic together and keep my body strong.
I can do grocery shopping only once every two weeks or so, and not go to office unless it is really needed. My plants will dry up, I am afraid.. They were so nice and beautiful. Some of them were just flowering… This is sad. But they drying up is preferred than me getting this virus. So we will take it easy.
I can continue to frequently wash my clothes, gloves, and others that I use while outside. I can sew and put on masks while outside, particularly while shopping. I can continue to wash my hands and keep them away from my face (boy! how hard is this? Just right now both my nose and eye are itching!).
I can continue to contact and communicate with my family, friends, and colleagues. The daily human interactions are for sure important and help me against the threat of psychological isolation.
I wonder whether I can cut out some more expenses. I am pretty frugal anyways, just pumped up shopping lately to stock up essential items. I plan to do yet another big shopping next time, but after that it just must be the food. I cannot keep fearing the financial hardship to come during and after this pandemic. I think we all feel this one way or the other. As a bank official said today, we will get out of this pandemic “a little bit less wealthier”.
Well.
As long as we get out of this pandemic healthy and with healthy family members, I will be okay with this.
My day has started early, at around 6 am. That makes it a quiet start to the day, which is very enjoyable.
It is January 1st.
It is 2020.
It sounds like a great year to me; I may have got a cold, sneezing and with runny nose, and having headache as a result, but new year is new year, and I am hopeful.
Do you also think that 2020 (twenty-twenty) looks and sounds full, energetic, hopeful, real, and soft to you?
Perhaps it will be a kind year. Perhaps we will finally have that world peace, a positive and global economy, perfect access to human rights, education and health care services we all deserve, and bounty of opportunities and positive experiences.
Who knows?
Hope is hope. There is a reason that hope has survived centuries – these may all happen.
We are closing a year with all the happenings and entering into a new chapter in our lives with great expectations. This day deserves some closure on our emotional world and some new paths in our life directions.
While reflecting during the holiday season this year, I noticed that in terms of having plans for the new year, I felt like floating randomly rather than swimming in a direction towards where I want to land.
Was this a bad thing? A good thing?
Upon further reflection, I have seen that I have achieved quite a bit of what I wanted in the last years, and was maintaining these in my life as well. This meant that I did not need to have specific plans to integrate them in my life. These included my financial plans/savings, being resourceful, keeping hobbies (like books, baking) and work-productivity and all. I had a great job (even though stressful), a house (even though still paying off mortgage), a simple and effective life-style, and was constantly reflecting on life, myself, and my work. I was healthy and did not have a chronic health issue and such. In the book of many, these meant I had a good life.
So, eventually that sensation of floating turned out to be an indicator of a good thing 🙂
It also meant that there were other things to change and improve in my life, I could work towards higher levels of satisfaction and meaning in life.
Eventually, my wishes and plans for my life from now on all came on the following four areas:
Wellness and well-being
Recognition
Success
Sorting out what is important and what is not
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Wellness and well-being
I want to lose fat.
I am over-weight. I have always been, I guess. But this is getting a little bit our of hand.
My weight-related issues have controlled me and my life my entire life. I was fat. Ugly. Disgusting. Unwanted. Unliked. Unloved. I feel resentments towards those, including my own family members, that unknowingly sow the seeds of low-self esteem in me because of my weight, and making me resentful towards them.
I want to feel better about myself; I have that years of training – by both the family and society – that I can only be pretty if I am slim. I cannot shake this up. I believe that I will feel better, pretty, and confident if I lose weight.
A second and perhaps a less important motivation is health-related. I want to drop the extra fat so that my knees, back, and feet experience less pressure & less wear and tear. I want to feel strong and able for a very long time. With my lower back issues in the last 4 years and my feet/knee problems since this summer, it is becoming at an alarming level. I believe that it will also help with metabolic disorder – if I have that – and heart health should I lose 15% of my body weight. This is, my friends, 33 pounds.
They say that in order to accomplish a goal, it must be as specific as possible, have a time-line, and be measurable.
My timeline is a year from today; by the end of 2020 I plan to lose 33 pounds off my current body weight.
The plan for this?
I must just control my out eating; when I eat what I eat regularly I slowly lose weight. But when it is the holidays, there is a social, a trip, or visit to home, I eat and eat and eat. End result is gaining what I have been losing.
There must be a way to end this process.
I will also cut out wheat – I will try to bake breads using different flours and see whether this makes a difference. And will be drinking green tea. The rest can be pretty much like before.
Exercise, bone health, and supplements
I have been walking steadily almost every day, which is great. However, winter is here and it will be kind of difficult to walk on the icy weather. Nevertheless, I am determined to keep walking as much as I can. In addition to this, I re-introduced my in-home exercises during the holidays. They are light stretches and weight-training exercises, such as push-ups or lifting dumbbells. I also have back exercises that straighten my abs and back muscles. I can feel the sore muscles on my back, abs, and arms which tells me that these exercises, however, light they may be are working 🙂
In terms of bone health – I must pay more attention to taking my Calcium supplement and drinking my milk. I have no hots for the milk, my friends. Yogurt is great, but not the milk. So, I do not know what else can be done, other than reminding myself to take my supplements.
I also have iron, vitamin Bs, and vitamin D supplements. I want to use them time to time, even though a regular use is not needed. Iron particularly may be needed as I am moving away from eating animal meat again. Vitamin D is great as it is the winter season and it helps absorption of Calcium.
2. Recognition and 3. Success
I have been working very very hard and meticulously, and I have made lost of positive contributions to my field and work-place.
I rightfully now accept and welcome all the great recognitions, awards, thank you notes, and letters by my unit, institution, and national and international organizations. I also welcome and accept with open arms the success that I deserve, promotions, invitations, awards, acknowledgments, and all the other indicators of success that are a part of my line of profession.
I have no hesitation to welcome these.
2020 is that year – once again but in a very longtime now – that I lift my chin up with confidence, satisfaction, and pride & be excited about my work and my accomplishments.
4. Sorting out what is important and what is not.
This is a must. Does it take minutes even hours to decide what gift to pick, what action to take next?
Both in my professional and personal life, I do find it increasingly difficult to confidently make decisions for no apparent reason.
I have no plan for this, other than to ask my self each time whether it is worth my energy, time, and mental efforts. I must remember that these are important too and should not be depleted so easily. Luckily, I picked a book yesterday just on this topic – I believe it will be helpful to me.
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With these and with love, I end this post. I wish all of you a great new year, my friends. May it bring to you whatever your kind heart desires and deserves.
It has been sometime that I have noted down my gratitude.
Believe or not, they are right when they say that “it is the little things in life that makes a difference.”
But more importantly, since there are so many “little things or experiences” that are available to us every single day that by just reminding ourselves them and by being grateful for them, it is possible to feel good without needing a huge life event, a lottery win, or a miracle.
Try it yourself 🙂
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I am grateful;
for sleeping well and getting up without caring for what time it was – check
honestly, when was the last time you got up only you wanted to get up? For me the last few days were exceptions – other times I always had work to do, an office to go to, house chores to do, a bus to catch, etc. It feels amazing to sleep knowing that you can get up whenever you want and when your body feels it just right
for enjoying my morning coffee – check
this drink is the best thing to smell in the morning!
for speaking to my family and my uncle, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer – check
my uncle sounds good. His wife sounds hopeful. Or, maybe they are just not aware of what this disease and its treatment course are like. They show little concern. Not sure this is just a visible mask they put on. Nevertheless, I enjoy seeing them upbeat and well. My own family, on the other hand, is quite demoralized by this diagnosis. I try to keep contact and support. One day at a time…
for walking and seeing the first flurries of the year – check
we always get the first snow around this time of the year 🙂 I love that white fluffy stuff. It is such an innocent thing. Cannot wait for the first serious dump of snow 🙂
for eating a healthy and hearty salad – check
I have eaten too much yesterday, with a lot of junk food…. this shows on my face, which is puffy. I know that I must be changing my relationship with food, especially with junk and easy food. When I am presented with food, I cannot help but eat. Not always, but you know, I am tempted. So even though I steadily and slowly lose weight in my own routine, whenever I travel, eat at airport or at professional meeting meals/snacks, go out for lunch or dinner with friends, am offered a treat at the office, or go out for shopping, I find myself either wanting to eat or eating. I am trying to be mindful of this pattern now.
for appreciating the moment and taking everything light and joyful – check
it is strangely beautiful that when you allow yourself to just do nothing and immerse yourself in the feeling of freedom (to do nothing), positive feelings start to fill your heart and mind. Everybody should take “freedom weekends” like these! I certainly must 🙂
I have a number posts started and then halted. They did not feel genuine enough. As if, what ever I would write would be just an automatic statement rather than me speaking. Who needs the dry facts and reports? Nobody. But we need conversations.
That is right.
Lots happened since I last posted here. Some good, some not so much, some just meh. Overall, I could say there are positive progress in how I manage things.
For one; I started to lightly delegate the tasks that I am not even supposed to do, but end up on my shoulder anyhow. Very, very light improvement, but quite significant. It feels right and I am happy with it.
Two; I did not work this past weekend, which is again amazing. I rather wanted to shop, see other places, and do things that excite me. Well done.
Three; I did get a professional award, which felt quite good! It is an international award which makes it extra sweet. I feel confident. Much confident and this is so well deserved.
Four; I realized that as long as I continue to react to, rather than manage or just ignore emotionally, the adversaries, I will find myself in the same stressed or over-whelmed state. So, I am head-butting some small challenges, rather than avoiding them. Maybe I will get de-sensitized. Maybe I will get crazy. But maybe I will just float with the situation while also making realistic decisions and taking realistic steps. We will see. This is a classical getting out of the comfort zone trial….
Fifth: I continue to be mortified by death and my own aging. Fearing death has been a recurring theme since my dad passed away. I do not want to die, as I do not know what it feels like, whether I would have strong regrets. Not having the people, or coffee, or plants, or anything else that I in fact love around myself… This feels like horrible to me…. Even though billion and billion of people and animals have experienced this since the dawn of times. I also feel like I have wasted my life as I am now close to 50 and my hair is silver gray. Somethings cannot be done anymore. Some looks cannot be had. There are regrets. There are “what is it that I am missing today?” feelings. This one will require me some reflection and acceptance…..
Death anxiety? Middle age crisis?
Both are real.
So, let’s honour this sweet moment of life and peaceful evening.
I do not even know what I will write in this post 🙂
Here I go.
Today has been a good day. It was bright and warm. I worked till noon at the office, taking care of a number of critical things. Then I walked back home (grateful for this decision of mine) and started a new a highly critical work. It went really well till now and I am quite pleased with my performance. Home office works for me 🙂
I do not know how my colleagues interpret my absence from the work office… I sometimes hear things that make me nervous. Once my boss asked why I was mostly absent from the office. It was a couple of years back. The question was careful but made me feel defensive and nervous. I may be the only one who appreciates this opportunity to utilize the home office. I made a mental note to talk more about it. One last thing I want is its working against me. I do so much better at the home office and feel so much better..
I found a chance to chat with my neighbours and it was quite pleasant as well. It is so important to have good neighbours… I am one of the lucky bunch indeed. This is a very satisfying and exciting thought – I am grateful for this as well. If you have good neighbours, go appreciate them as well as yourself – they would not be so good to you unless you were good to them.
It is warm at nights, but it is manageable. I know how hard it can be to sleep at temps above 25C. I could not be happier in this regard. It is great not to need and AC. I am grateful for this as well.
I want to go back to walking. I have been walking almost everyday from office to home, at least. This makes me feel good about myself. I must admit that sometimes it is difficult – I find myself at the bus stop so easily. How do I make the decision to rather walk? Habit? Not wanting to wait for the bus? Finding a chance to relax my mind while walking? Any of them can be quite powerful. The end result, walking, is the best, but I wonder how I make my decisions?
I am such a habit-person, who has a routine and sticks to it; my work days are ordered, so are the weekends. Anything different that needs to be done requires most often a prior planning… Sometimes this is great, sometimes it makes me bored – especially when all of a sudden I find some time at my hand. Dilemma….
Anyways; other good things include eating apple at the office (very healthy), giving away a couple of more succulents to a colleague (always a pleasure to spread the love of plants), having a dinner with home-made chickpea meal and sourdough (yummy), and taking this time and evening to just relax.
It turned out to be more like a joy journal entry, but I am pleased what went through my mind while writing this post 🙂
Are you one of those persons who would feel thrill and satisfaction by the number of work/tasks done?
I certainly am.
What a waste of precious moments of life…..
I try to remind myself that life is bigger than what I occupy myself with – work, work, work-related issues, stress, and success (eventually). It is such a high octave thing that takes almost all of my focus and leave almost nothing for the rest. Like myself, family, or friends.
Doing nothing seems like something that can connect me back to life.
Just for tonite, I stop listing all the work I have done or will do tomorrow. And focus on doing nothing – how about that?
I have taken significant steps to change things; the way I work, live, or interact with others. Just because I realized the amount of change I have been thinking about or implementing, I came to realize today that I am re-constructing myself, my work, and my life. I am also re-constructing my attitude towards myself, work, my family, my co-workers/friends, money, and my life.
It feels great!
I have done what I thought was best at times. I cannot regret, and I am not willing to. They serve me well over sometime, but not anymore. Time to change, time to do differently. For a better tomorrow as I want today.
I am fine with that.
As a matter of fact, I am encouraged, excited, and happy about these!!
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What progress I have had so far?
I am more compassionate and supportive of myself. I feel the need to take care of myself and my wellness is becoming important. This is very healthy and natural – I take that it is a real need and this is empowering.
I am less concerned about the mistakes I may have done, developed new interests and skills, and feeling successful after a 2.5 years of high stress and hard work season. I am very aware of my strengths and capabilities, and I am more confident. What remains to be implemented is to take it easier and maybe stop working regularly at the weekends. And say no more often.
I value life and am curious about it more like when I was young. I want to be out there with life, within life, and I want a fuller life that is not restricted with my work or how stressful or constrained I may feel. I want to taste it – whether it is visiting new places, meeting with new people, having a new outfit style, trying new things, or simply just buying myself a lovely meal, I want to experience life in a wider way. It is my birth right, like is yours.
I am forgiving more and letting go more. This positively affects my relationships. I also speak less and listen more. I am more authentic or genuine than before, less reserved, but equally loving. I am putting myself more out there without fear or fear of rejection, stigma, etc.
At work, I am speaking of my mind less and developing a political attitude to less annoy others, but still make the points I want to make. I do not need to insist on things that others would not agree to. Sometimes my job (at work) is just to bring them over for discussion. Let everyone think and decide.
I have stopped recording my expenses and savings as of yesterday. I realized that it was a constant battle for me to see how much I had spent and how much of it was extra (which meant I beat myself for it). I do not need this in my life. It served me well in the last few years, but came to a point that it started to harm me. So I am stopping it until next time I need it or benefit from it.
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All started in action by re-arranging the furniture of my bedroom yesterday. The “new direction” of my furniture made me realize it was needed, felt great, and was full of opportunities for me to realize. I then visited a nearby book store and purchased two books – both inspirational. I sat at a cafe and started reading it. It was quiet, and the 6 bucks I paid for the tea and scones were the best 6 bucks I have ever spent. This was one of my most enjoyable things to do at the weekends, which I had stopped in the name of saving money. Now I see that I can enjoy it still. And I will as long as it continues to be enjoyable.
Then, I met with some friends and decided to dress up. Boy, it was a great idea. I went there not expecting anything (that is, not having any prior plans or thoughts) and I just took it one moment at a time. All the new experiences I have had and all the new people I have met, and all the positive thoughts that went through my mind as a result, are priceless. Life can be very awarding if we step in it and watch what it can offer. Not all the time, but this does not mean that it does not. I will take my chances with life more now.
I also decided that it was time that I had stopped worrying about work. This week I am going to take a couple of days and shut my work email down. I do not want to think about work. Just myself. My plan is to be visiting new places, a public library or two, some art galleries, and simply sit and read a book at a cafe. All while dressed up like I would love. I also would love to smile more (honestly it makes one feel better right away), immerse in what life can offer, eat better with healthy food, and continue to reflect on and celebrate the wonderful change I am leading.
I have experience from which I have learnt. And I have faith that the next days will be better and everything is happening as they are supposed to be. I trust that this is true.
I have a previous team member of mine, who would like to re-join my team. Knowing what a terrific and efficient team member they were, of course I am delighted to employ them again! However, I also feel like I am their mentor so I should be thinking about their best first. I kind of think that if they work in a different department, it would be much better for their development and future career plans.
I did communicate these thoughts to my team member. He in fact made a contact with the other department, even though they were reluctant – they think that their work, development, and progress under my leadership will be faster and more effective (it is always great to hear such feedback from my team members – if there is one thing I am good at is to help them and their projects progress on time and without much of a delay. This often means that I shoulder a lot of things myself and move things forward, and hence extra stress, but the end results – their success – is always satisfying).
The team member is now at the cross road of choosing which department to go; mine or the other? I encouraged them to think what is best for them, but also expressed my willingness to welcome them in my team. I am sure this helped them feel great about themselves, having a secure place and offer always does. But I hope it will not complicate their decision process.
I kinda leave the rest to life – I would be more than happy to have them in my team. I would also be more than happy to have them develop themselves in an area that they are particularly interested in, even though the other department will not take responsibility for my team member’s development or progress as much I can.
I have been thinking for many years what a small-scale/restricted life I have had; how my perspectives on experiences and opportunities were focused but small; and how expanding or changing my perceptions/the way I evaluate things would be useful to see the beyond and brighter (especially lately). The events in the last weekend motivate me to seriously think about this now.
I think I have a small-scale/restricted life because I live in a small city with small number of activities that interest me and I work the majority of the time, or occupy myself with it, which leaves little room to reflect on or experience anything else. I have known this for a very long time. After years of struggle, I came to accept the beauty of the simple and safe life this city provides me with and all the financial awards and mental satisfaction (despite its stress) this job gives to me. It also gives me the opportunity to not face what I must face in life most – my fears; by working and trying to control my work, I get a sense of safety away from my own thoughts (it is not new news to you that I have anxiety).
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My perspectives on experiences and opportunities are focused but small-scale as well; in the last few years, I focused on saving money/frugality, simple and leaner life, with little outside activity. I do not even read books as much as I used to. My plans or priorities concentrated around money and appreciating the beauty of simple and frugal life. There is nothing wrong with these, but it naturally restricts the options one may provide themselves; no vacation somewhere; no movies or other cultural activities; no new furniture I may need; no spontaneity; no sense of adventure. As one of my family members rightfully told me this weekend, money is not everything, however.
The main reason I wanted to save money was to cope with the daily expenses after especially buying my home and investing for my future. This is the right decision and I benefited from it. I would love to be comfortable in my future and have the freedom to pursue interests, take care of myself and my family’s needs better. I am almost half a century old and I do not have enough accumulations for my retirement. But I wonder whether I over-did and strained myself to a point that I have lost my jest for life or spontaneity. Where is the energy and excitement coming from unique and exciting experiences?
There must be a difference between being grateful for everything I have (or not) and be happy with status quo, and aiming better by looking for additional things/way/experiences to better my life, my experiences, and nourish my mind and soul with even at the expense of money.
Being grateful is amazing, but forgetting to aim for better if that is going to enrich my life and remove this being “restricted/small life” feeling may not be. This is what I am trying to say here. That is what my family member was trying to say. Life is short. Our plans and predictions may not happen, good or bad.
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Just last week, I was thinking about letting my mind expanding or changing my perceptions/the way I evaluate things, which would give me a different view, different opportunities, and better outlook about life. Take work-related stress for example; I am stressed but I also progress and succeed. Why can I not be happy for these?
Challenging my beliefs/opinion on my approach to work and people was one thing that came to my mind. Rather than evaluating my hard-work as stress, I could approach it as something that gives me an opportunity to reach my goals. Rather than evaluating people as annoying, I could see them as souls that needed attention or love. Rather than being feared about being un-appreciated, un-credited, under-respected/recognized, or threatened, I could talk or ask whether these were correct or how to fix. I have not done any of these. But I can. Maybe the situation I evaluated can be evaluated in a different way. If so, would the restrictions I put on myself and the stress and negative feelings I experience be relevant anymore? No.
What keeps me away from this?
I know my anxiety problem is contributing to these. I want to control my life/experiences or be prepared as much as possible to protect myself and my future. I know some of the risks are real so I still need to be vigilant.
But can we really protect our future by sacrificing today?
The day was kind of wasted, or this is how I feel about it.
I meant to finish cleaning home (which I have, YAY!), get the cable technician fix my cable issues (got the appointment a few weeks back), and the go for a little shopping.
So, I waited, waited, and waited, and called the company twice, only to be told that he would show up. Well, he is 6.5 hours over due, so I do not think he is showing up. This also means that sadly I missed my opportunity to get out of home and do some shopping for my own enjoyment…. I am not only frustrated, but also fed up with that company. In a year that I want to take things easy, that may mean I am looking for a new company soon, for which I am not sorry.
The same for my VISA card – I want to change it. The hefty annual fee is not making me happy. The points I get in turn are not worth it. This bank is the only one I work with and I have been paying all the interest and shoot (intentionally changed the word here – I am a kind person and for a bank, I will not change this quality in me). Plus, this year the bank rep refused to waive my annual fee twice. Twice! He offered me another credit card from their bank, which I will gladly refuse. I will be shopping for a credit card soon and I deserve this. Thank you very much both of you the companies – you clearly sock (again, intentionally changing the word here).
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Since this is the 3rd day of the holidays already and I have not done much for myself, like reflecting or reading, my feelings are exaggerated towards emptiness. I have the entire night in front of me, which I can use to my advantage. The truth is reflecting the year without reflecting about the work is not possible, and I do not wish to think about work just yet. So, for tonite, I am putting this aside as well.
I can watch a movie, I can browse the internet, I can read about plants. The usual stuff that I always do anyhow. What however interest me is to find a new topic to explore an learn. Something I have not tried before; not sewing (I shave sewn some place mats and washing clothes today, by the way – YAY again!); not plants; not books or poetry; not jamming, pickling, or baking.
Something new!
What is gonna be?
I have the entire night to figure out.
Let’s remember that the new year is the year of Ease, Comfort, and Appreciation.
We have a crispy and windy day today. The ice on the side walk is concerning, but still a short walk to the convenience store was refreshing and enjoyable.
I love snow. I think it lightens up my usually gray city and give a sense of “hibernation” time. Having a mug of hot tea at my hands and watching the outside from the windows are my favorite “me times” in winter. And if I have a plant on the window sill, then it is even more enjoyable (you know my love for plants).
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I would love to just chill during the 10 days following this Friday. I have been thinking just yesterday how my 2018 has developed, and it is amazing to be able to see the progress in some areas, changes occurred, and things to be highly grateful for. I am looking forward to a detailed reflection to remember and enjoy each significant experience, close the unnecessary issues or memories, and open space for new hopes, plans, and opportunities. It is an amazing feeling 🙂
I am unenthusiastic towards cleaning and decluttering I must do at home and the office (my traditional holidays activities), yet I know that once I start, they will go on, and once they are finished, I will feel a lot better. I may also do some small furniture re-arrangement here and there, and certainly shop and take advantage of the sales. I may as well buy one or two more plants, even though I promised myself not to purchase anymore. I may gift myself, right?
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When comes to holiday gifting, I am not very good at it. I lovingly gift my next door neighbours, who have been nothing but lovely and helpful people – I could not ask for more. I bought them a nice set of table clothes, which I hope will be enjoyed very much. While they were the only people I was planning to gift, I was given two nice gifts lately, which excited me. The positive feeling of this joy has prompted me to pay back and buy gifts for a couple of friends and colleagues. I lovingly chose them and will lovingly give them away. What a great feeling….
One of these gifts is to our administrative director. She always is considerate and help get gifts and cards to us when need/occasion arises. Just last week she organized a gift card for a member of our floor, who does an amazing job cleaning and ordering our work-place. I could not help but think that we have never returned her favor and gifted or recognized her specifically. I picked something for her, which I am sure she will enjoy. I will know tomorrow from her face 🙂
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So, my friends, this is a great day and a great time of the year. For many the holidays means a lot. Although I do not celebrate Christmas, it is still a very enjoyable time of the year; I will take a break, rest and reflect, and clean and declutter the house/office.
I woke up thinking that if my body is happy, my mood is happy too.
I am saying this because I am actually very lazy in the mornings and while I need to use the washroom, say in the middle of the night, I keep staying in the bed, cannot easily sleep as a result because my body feels uncomfortable. Ouch..
So this morning around 5am, I did what I was supposed to do and went back to bed and had a great resting sleep.
Tell me about it 🙂
I believe that my thoughts help determine my mood, but noticing that when my body feels good, my mind feels good too was a great revelation. I am almost 50 but hey wisdom waits for the right time to come I guess…
I could relate this to two other activities; walking in the morning makes me feel great the whole day and if I force myself to smile then I feel instantly good too. Go figure!
Ladies and gents; do you have such interesting body-mood connections yourself?
Tell us in the comment section so that we all can learn from each other.
It had never really occurred to me why I have chosen such a name for my blog. I could use my name, something that was important or fun for me, or something related to then-focus of my writing, which was poetry.
Just yesterday night it came to me that the life I define as “my life” was a part of life, and more importantly, it was a part of life I keep define based on my “interpretations of what was going on in it”.
This was quite strange, because it told me pretty much what every wise person/book was saying – I make what my life is and I am responsible for it. It also said that I was in control of it, I could change and make it better with an intention and a switch in my perspective.
How does this sound?
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Having control over my life is very liberating and empowering. It means I am not the victim, but rather the boss and mastermind of my life. I may not change what I do not like, but I sure can change how I interpret or care for them.
Having control also means that I may have so far limited my opportunities unknowingly because I draw the line for what I accept in my life, what I care for, and what I do not have.
What if I choose to have more positive light in my life?
What if I want to take steps to get out of my comfort zone and move up and farther?
What if I want to take more risks and dramatically change things like the work I have, the city I live in, or the way I spend my days?
What if I explore and find out what is more important to me – my current life and the current/future financial stability or moving back to where my family and spending time with them?
What if I leave my fears out of the door and open space for more love, hope, opportunity, and joy?
What is I accept the miracles, self-love, kindness, and being in the moment?
………..
Earth would not shatter, but my life could certainly expand.
I could both change the way I interpret things already in my life and reach out to opportunities, miracles, money, success, recognition, wellness, and happiness available out there further away from the circle I have drawn for my life.
I can be courageous enough to re-evaluate my perspective and expand the circle of life around me with a clear intention, a child’s amusing and hopeful attitude, and a little bit effort.
I do not know what these mean for me or whether or when I would start taking the steps. But I am glad that at this middle age of my life, I finally understand myself, my life, and life as a whole better.
It is mine and I draw the lines. I can change these starting now.
It has been a day alright; I have done work, managed to walk for half an hour during the lunch time, managed an aggravating situation better than how I would normally do, did not eat well, took a painkiller for my lower back, and am ready to go to bed for a healing and resting sleep.
I keep thinking that whatever is happening in my life is happening for the best. I know that my life is unfolding around me and I can watch, reflect, and adapt. I know that I am getting more interested in keeping my wellness and my family a priority. Work and the issues related to it has much less, but still huge, effects on me. I will take it one thing at a time. Maybe I will learn not to care about it that much eventually. I believe I will be better and my life will be better. With or without this job.
Sigh… The job. The best job in the world, but so much struggle to do things right and on time, with enormous effort on my side..
One thing I am noticing more chronically is that people around me think that I know everything and I do everything effortlessly. So whatever they may need, or cannot do and need a help with, it seems they are sure that I will fix it. Has this ever happened to you? How did you manage these situations and start protecting your time and well-being?
……………………………..
At least, thinking and seeing my plants make me very happy 🙂 I have always had plants at home in the last 10 years or so, but I had not paid that much attention to them until the last one year. I owe it to succulents, and one haworthia one of my friends have gifted me with. It grew fast and made me joyful. I was then hooked to succulents and cacti. According to my estimates, I have around 40 different species of plants between my office and home. Seeing all the colours, vitality, and energy steaming from them is priceless. Loving them fills me with love, happiness, and excitement.
I have not written much lately – what have been going on in my life?
Well. It was mostly quite positive experiences 🙂 🙂
Affirmations and mental health/outlook: I have had quite reduced stress levels since I came back from home-visit. I was into affirmations, which miraculously made my mental state and thoughts positive, and me happier and healthier. They do work, my friends 🙂 I think we all need to “hear from ourselves” that things are exactly as they are supposed to be, there are many beautiful things and people happening in life, there are many opportunities out there (most may be shaded by the daily clutter, but if we stop and think about them, they do appear), and love, peace, health, success, recognition, and money all comes if we think like this. Happiness is a possibility and is available. We just need to open up to it. And maybe spend some time everyday reflecting on them 🙂
Succulents and new friendships: I have come across another plant enthusiast and we hit it off right away. We have similar interests and are at similar stages of life. Exchanging succulent cuttings was a blessing that I cannot cherish enough. Certainly a great experience, not only for getting new succulents, but also getting to know a person like myself in many ways and developing a kind of friendship at the same time.
Budget and frugality: My budget has been going well, with a frugal life style re-implemented. I spend more than I project, but I continue to save every week consistently. I found that health related expenses (vision care, medications, physiotherapy etc.) take up a good chunk time to time, but other times it is fine. I find ways to save, however small they may be. Of course the exceptions would be new succulents acquired every once a while, pots and soils purchased for these beauties, and occasional social activities. I made it regular to go to thrift stores for pots and I also purchased a number of nice blouses at such reasonable prices that make my life abundant and easy. I am grateful.
Changing how I work: In terms of work, I continue to change how I approach it and how I let it to shape my personal life, mental health, and life priorities. I have got new responsibilities, an additional role that I was interested in and for which I am really excited about, and am dropping yet another role that does not serve me anymore (and was getting on my nerves. They may want me back, and in such a case, I may re-consider it, but until then). And, I realize once more that a lot of people that work with me get dependent on me to conduct, move and complete the work, which is so much more load for me than I should shoulder. I distanced myself from a couple of colleagues that saved me some time. But I must also do this with my trainees, which is a challenge. I will continue to work on finding a solution to this.
Changing myself: And just this weekend, I realized that my next personal challenge will be to “express things positively” rather than negatively. This weekend I met with a friend of mine and I at one point was hard on myself and was criticizing myself (I was criticizing myself for not rescuing more plants from a certain death; they were being discarded and I took 4-5 of them to care for and the rest I did not pay attention because I already had these types of plants). She said “I cannot believe you have turned such a positive experience to such a negative one“. She was right.
I decide right now not to use “I should” “no/not” as much as I normally do.
I have been away for some time – almost two months.
I first went to a family visit, which was amazing. I did not use internet much at that time, which was amazing by the way (no more work-related stress while being with family and de-stressing).
Then my desktop died on me. Argh. The poor thing was only 3 years old, but just like that the entire thing just shut down. I went to a tech service. There was nothing to be done….. Okay. I said, I will order a new one. And I have and it is just installed and ready to use 🙂
I have missed blogging and being connected to all of you! I cannot wait to scroll down and read the posts. I must say the last few months have been interesting and having no computer at home was more interesting than ever, but I also need to say that I enjoyed it very much. I was able to watch TV and read books, and contemplate. It was peaceful and I think that is because I was forced to not work at home. I want to limit my computer use at home. We will see how that goes 🙂
Happy summer and August everyone! Hope everything is going well with you!
It turns out that I have lots of things to be grateful for – so here is the list 🙂
I am grateful for waking up early and hitting the road when it is quiet
I am grateful for working really efficient and taking care of a couple of important things – this feels highly satisfactory and also increase my self-confidence
I am grateful for my money making my life easier and comfortable
I am grateful for the new cactus seedling appearing today, even though I am losing two others to mold (I have lost 3 so far – life)
I am grateful for keeping calm today – how lovely! 🙂
I am grateful for mowing the most of my yard this evening. Through the end, my mower got broken. At first I was kind of like sigh…., but then I realized this was an opportunity to buy a new and better one that can make this chore much easier for me. It can be more expensive but it will hopefully make my life easier as well
I am grateful for all the food I have at home
I am grateful for the opportunity to shop tomorrow – what is it about shopping and feeling good? 🙂
I am grateful for keep working, although I have been working very intensely in the last one year and I am stressed. I am amazed by my boundaries and the way I function 🙂
I am grateful for laughing a couple of minutes ago while watching a TV series 🙂
I am grateful for staying away from a colleague/friend who makes me nervous
I am grateful for the weekend, which will let me do some work and also give me time to recuperate
I am grateful for my plants. I do not know how many I have right now; At the office I have the cacti seedlings and 4 pots of plants. I also have 2 plants rooting in water – I will plant them next week. At home is much more: I have 5 cacti; 4 succulents; a gollum jade, 4 haworthia, 4 jades, some leaves rooting including christmas cactus, a snake plant, a spider plant, a hoya; two palm-like plants, bambu, an earth star, lots of succulent props… Where am I going with all of these plants? 🙂 Sharing will feel awesome 🙂
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What do I appreciate about myself today?
I appreciate myself for trying to do right all the time
I appreciate myself for keep working
I appreciate myself for realizing that I can use my money to make my life comfortable, even though it may be expensive for now
I appreciate myself for keeping positive today
I appreciate myself for allowing myself to relax and enjoy tonite
I appreciate myself for having plans for the weekend
It has been somehow stressful day; I have so much to do! 🙂
Yet, I also felt like I could use my time better and I could award myself for doing well as well. This is really lovely – I think I have started to support and value my efforts a little bit better. Self-care is here 🙂
One thing I am doing this week is to cancel showing up in events that celebrate the achievements of my team members. It was a hard decision to make, but I am glad I have as it gives me the much needed time. It is a first too. I talk to my team members and they understand the reasons well as well. I would think this was selfish, but maybe I should be a little bit. In order to protect my time and reduce my stress levels created by the lack of time to recuperate.
I have been to my counseling session yesterday. I talked for 40 minutes. How lovely 🙂 Was I reserved? I was. But I also talked. I did not get a huge number of new thoughts/realizations out of the session that I did not already know -main points were: mental health is important; I worry all the time; I am not interested in getting medication for anxiety or depression unless it is the last resort; I am close to burn out because of the intense work and stress (my counselor’s assessment); I must eat better; and I must exercise. And, time to care for myself – physically and mentally.
It is always good to hear from someone else that I must care for myself. This makes me feel supported in my decisions to not attend extra events this week and the weeks to come. This does not mean that I come first all the time, under all conditions – that would be selfishness and being self-oriented. It means my wellness should come first.
having a relatively positive day – check a millions of times!
thanks goodness for this!!
getting new plants from friends – check
always a pleasure to get new life forms from people around me. I think we are forming a plant share community, which is great 🙂
seeing my cacti seedlings were thriving in their container in my office – check
they look really healthy – all green and slightly grown 🙂 one of my colleagues offered to take care of them while I am away, which is a blessing 🙂 They no longer have the mold problem, which makes me suspicious – did I mistake an hairy seedling for mold? Poor thing. Or, it may be that 5% hydrogen peroxide solution that I have been using since last week may be doing its work just right.
facing a report that I was dreading and anxious about and seeing that it can be handled – check
my fear about this report was not necessary. I feared quite a bit, though (anxiety does this unfortunately). Yet, I did face it and it is manageable. I will remember this next time I have an anxiety bout 🙂
having a meeting and making my points contrary to the majority – check
this kind of things risk my place in committees. Yet, i cannot help expressing my values and the information I have. It is always tricky – to make the points without alienating others. I usually suck in this, like today, but eventually the points were taken and I am very pleased. This being said, I have a huge difference with a senior member, which I know will cost me later 🙂 Smile! 🙂
protecting the members of the sub-committee and thanking them for their hard work when nobody does – check
this sub-committee reports to the committee I talked this morning. They have done extremely well and are supportive of my points. I felt like I needed to appreciate their contributions so that we all can go ahead in the future. It was well received and I am glad I took my time to thank them.
working nice and easy and taking care of little things I needed to do – check
I will be on vacation this summer for a few weeks and it is important that I complete the many things lagging right now. I want to feel great before I leave for my vacation and truly enjoy my time. I am looking forward to it! This means the next few weeks I will be working really hard, but this is not something new to me. One last push 🙂
I was emotionally quite drained yesterday and found myself sleeping at around 7 pm. I slept around 12 hours and in the morning, I felt quite better.
I had quite a dream yesterday night. One of those dreams where you want to move in a certain way but you cannot. Everything I hanged on to to get up from the floor turned to something else and absolutely useless, and I was making an extraordinary effort to even move my arm holding on to that something….I was so focused on moving my arm and getting up in my dream that I did not even notice, talk, or support the person (a family member so dear to my heart) who was next to me in my dream.
There are many messages in this dream, I found quite reflective of my mental state and life/work struggles. I neglect the people most important to me (family), I find myself in constant struggle to even go through the simplest tasks (but I keep going despite everything and persistently try, which makes me admire my energy and determinism), and I am disappointed by the resources or opportunities available to me (or, I feel like nothing or noone supports me or they are not what I think they are).
What a dream.
I know that this dream is a work of my subconsciousness that is in a healing process. I believe it made my mental state better.
The whole day, I felt remarkably calm.
I knew that I must have changed things.
I knew that I was resisting to many things or changes.
And now I know that sometimes failure, the one thing that I am so afraid of, is actually needed. Sometimes, my friends, things do not go the way we wish them and there must be a stop point in resisting to let go or change the directions of our lives. if we cannot make this decision, then the failure makes us realize that we came to an end. Failure, in such a case, is a blessing, as it stops you from moving in the wrong direction.
I think it is time that I gracefully accept the failure. This feels safe and surprisingly good.
This does not mean that I let go of my current efforts to produce ideas and hard work. It means that I am kind of unattached to all my plans and wishes right now, and I have stopped beating myself about the possibility of current or future issues, problems, or unsuccessful work.
This is a relief.
I am not naive enough to think that all my issues are resolved or this mental clarity is permanent. But I am not afraid at this moment of issues or their effects on me. I may get up tomorrow feeling anxious and extremely caring about every single plan or wish of mine, but right now, I will soak in this peaceful feeling.
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I made my appointment with a psychologist yesterday. I resisted this idea for a decade or two. Maybe this is what is giving me these feelings of letting go. I am not sure. But I want to feel good and gain my composition, strength, and happiness again. I want to see and think more clearly.
Life is interesting. It teaches you everything you need, whether or not you want it is not relevant. It fixes you.
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In the mean time, I started to eat better – I ate some carrots at noon and cooked a meal for dinner. I ate healthy stuff. I took my time to cook for myself. I walked a bit during the day. I considered cutting coffee a little bit – from 6 cups to 3 cups maybe. I did my back exercises – not fully, but at least I recognize that if I do them, my healing will be speedier. I made a conscious choice of not filling my mind with worry about a problematic report that I expect to get tomorrow. I decided to smile more today and being a more pleasant and positive person – and it went well. I decided to not listen to music or TV shows late at night and rather focus on reflecting on the moment.
I decided to write these here so that I can document the reality.
Which I hope will change in a better way starting soon.
finally making it a part of my reality and consulting my doctor about my stress levels, anxiety, depressive mood, and sleep problems – check
it has been an interesting experience. I am not new to having stress, anxiety bouts here and then, depressive thoughts, and lately sleeping much less than usual. While I was feeling perfectly fine during the day, I thought I would consult my doctor. She suggested nicely to exercise 6 times a week; try melatonin for some time for my sleep – if it does not work out, I can get a pill later; and see a counselor to get a better idea about other ways to manage my stress and occasional anxiety I get. Perfect. I always thought that it would feel weird for me, but it did not. I said to my doctor and I believed in it completely when I said – that I want to feel good. well done, I would say 🙂
taking the bus this afternoon, rather than the cab – check
painting one of my old-looking pots with the new paints I have bought yesterday – check
eating a large bean salad with joy and appetite – check
working nice and easy – check
deciding not to work this evening – check
watering the radish and flower seeds in the yard – check
my radish seeds have done amazing! They appeared around a week after the sowing and I could not be more excited 🙂 There is something incredible about growing something from seeds 🙂 🙂
using my new watering can to water the yard – check
why did I not think about buying one before??? It is such a useful thing and only costed me 6 bucks this weekend! It takes a couple of times to fill and then water the seeds/seedlings, but without it I would not be able to do this, either, so I am so grateful that I have purchased it – there will be many flowers and seeds coming out in my yard this year and many years to come 🙂
growing cacti seeds – check, check, check!
I planted them 10 days ago and yesterday I have seen my first baby cactus, and then yet another one a few hours after that. This morning, an additional one appeared and this afternoon I noticed yet another one, too! What a joy, friends! I never thought that I could germinate them, but I did it!! Checking every morning and every once a while during the day and seeing new green tops showing up is an amazing feeling – I am so excited!
Today, I am turning my regular thought pattern of working of problems, and rather, note the random beauty and safety around me.
Like the light coming into my bedroom window right now – what a majestic thing! It is free, available to everyone, and has found my way. I am lucky :). Ligth finds me.
The song I am listening to right now is peaceful, melodic, and intense at the same time. The guitar is both speaking and dancing. All the peaceful and lively melodies find me feed my soul, get my attention and lift my mood up.
I created two lovely sourdough loaves today and shared one with my good neighbours. To be able to share without feeling the need or enforcement is such a bliss. I like this about myself – I like to share the things I cherish. I am kind to my neighbours and I treat them time to time with nice food, little gifts. I am abundant and kind.
I find things to do when I need to. Like today I painted a number of small terra cota pots for my yet-to-come succulents and cacti (planted seeds last week – wish me luck). I have hobbies that let me create and get excited about what I can do.
I feel less anxious than Friday and this is wonderful. Once again, my fears triggered by external resources/people and made me remember what I should be careful about in my future steps (about work). I welcome this fear to make my future less problematic and I let it go now – it served its purpose.
I planted a number of seeds in a windy day. Some may have gone around to my neighbours’ yards. May they find their niche, germinate, and make someone happy and joyful. Nature and I have so much to share.
Rain and wind knocked some of my daffodils and tulips. One tulip is standing tall and is about to bloom. Like this tulip, I too stand up no matter what.
Everything is available in life and I claim my part of life right here, right now.
How about this as a turn of the way I often think?
yesterday I was feeling uneasy again, but today has been a relatively better day – I will appreciate this!
eating a home made dish with lots of healthy veggies, yogurt, and garlic – check
meeting with an ex-team member of mine and having a great chat and doing some work together – check!
this gave me extra boost! She is a very intelligent and genuine person and talking to her again and learning about her wellness and successful endeavors were a bliss! It made me literally happy 🙂
taking the bus on the way back from the office – check
I was lucky – the bus was waiting right in front of the building and I catched it – that saved me around 8 bucks from cab fare today 🙂
feeling bored and then doing some work after 5pm – check
I have a busy next week and I just got an additional tasks right this evening. I decided to start it so that I can make my weekend and next week a little bit easier. I am glad I have. I feel good and less stressed and time-crunched now 🙂
eating two juicy clementines that were delicious – check
drinking fresh kefir – check
I feel so much better when I drink kefir. I feel lucky to have these grains. They work so consistently!
seeing two seeds germinating in the yard – check
I planted them last weekend. It was a slightly rainy week, which I guess helped. I am looking forward to seeing more coming up.
Plants are my new hobby! I shared three succulents with my friends and everyday coming home and checking how they are doing is an incredibly exciting experience. The cacti seeds I planted last weekend do not have much of an activity. sadly sun is low this week, which may be affecting their germination. I will see how this saga will go on – let’s cross the finger 🙂
having plans for the weekend – check
I need to work, but this is okay. I also would like to go for shopping and get new pots for succulents. I also would like to get additional pots for my yard to plant seeds. I have herb as well as flower seeds to grow and I am very excited about these 🙂 I bought two big bags of soil a few days back, which was easy to do with the help of my shopping cart. I can go get two more this weekend. I want to plant potato in totes!! I have seen it in the internet and I am curious 🙂 I will try 3-4 bags of them and see how this goes 🙂
walking in the morning for 10-15 minutes – check
I am not walking lately. knowing what a healthy activity it is, I welcome this opportunity
enjoying the show I am watching – check
doing my back exercises – check
realizing that I have around 300 bucks accumulated for my next mortgage pre-payment – multi check!
I may not be able to save my money as much as I wish, but I keep saving from here and there a little sum that will help improve reducing my mortgage on the long run. I am excited about these and now I am motivated again to stop taking the cab and use that money to increase my pre-payment. I hope to catch the bus tomorrow morning – wish me luck!
I came to realize that my emotions are quite strong.
Sometimes even stronger than my thoughts. They say our emotions are created by our thoughts. These thoughts must be quite silent or subtle for me – maybe my inner voice? – which make it quite difficult to identify them. In the absence of knowledge of my thoughts I am bound to feel the emotions as they come and go. The only ways I found that work are a) to force myself to remember for the good things that happened, and b) no resisting the emotions and rather let them be. They leave after a while.
Many years ago when I feel this way I wold read books. Reading and writing, as I do right now, seem to alleviate a significant part of these emotional burden. I must confess it has been quite some time that I read a book. Maybe tonite is the night.
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I have been to a meeting today. I have been serving in it for a year. Today after 2 hours (it usually lasts 3-4 hours), I could not take it anymore and left. I usually would stick to my commitments but I did not feel like it was going interesting. And by the look of how it moved, it possibly would take longer than 4 hours today. I threw myself out and bought myself a chocolate bar or two and arrived home.
I like this – I cared about myself and prioritized my own well-being and comfort over my commitments, this time an unfruitful one. It does not happen frequently and I have just realized what a great change it is!! One of the positive outcomes of this otherwise highly stressful and hard work year.
I could be getting ready to prioritize myself over the work issues or tasks. I know this would take quite a long time – I am not naive enough to think that just like that in an hour I completely dropped the long habit of living for work and started to live my life out of work… But this is a start and I appreciate the opportunity to experience and realize it.
I could be ready. For a better personal life and self-care.
During these times I appreciate the comfort my money provides me with. I am not sorry that I spent money on cab or chocolate or some extra food to enjoy today. While I recognize the need to use my money better and save for my future, I also recognize the fact that treating myself sometimes is necessary and even better.
We all have some coping skills at the face of stress or adversity. No sure what mine are; food, cardio exercise, books, writing, or plain going through it. I miss my stretching classes but cannot attend them now because of my lower back issue I experienced few weeks before. These classes give me some kind of peace, some kind of joy. It is hard to beat, but when I start them, after a few weeks I pull a muscle and end up popping muscle relaxants and pain killers for a few days. It is strange – but there is a 100% connection between the two. Is it something I do at these classes that triggers it? I am not a superstitious person, but it crossed my mind a couple of times that maybe I am not supposed to have this relaxation and joy I experienced at these classes. This should not be interpreted as I feel like I do not deserve to feel joyful or relaxed. Rather I think whatever makes me tense serves for a purpose.
What is it?
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One of my bosses described me as “intense” may years ago. I remember it very well. I know that I can be quite reactive and say whatever comes to my mind, without being political, and can fiercely object if it is not fair, clear, or right. To me, this is a good characteristics – do you want what I really think, or do you want me to say what you want to hear? I have never been good at being political. Always objective, just, and authentic.
In many ways, I can see why people would have a problem with this. Diversity of opinions and democracy and free speech has little place in teams that are focused on certain tasks, want to get things done, or find strength in their togetherness. The committee I served today is a good example of it. Listening to diverse points of view and having discussions around topics require time. When you have around 50 discussion points on the table, naturally nobody wants to hear different opinions or discussions lasting longer than a minute or two. People want to move on and finish on time.
Maybe if I stay in this committee long enough, I would also assume a similar priority and practice – just vote what the majority votes for, keep silent, and move on. Maybe everybody else thinks that this is not the best we can do, but the best we can have. Like Churchill said about democracy. Maybe all hard-working committees are operating under a similar modus operandi – executing a plan B successfully is better than struggling for a hard-to-get plan A.
I just realized that so far in my own personal life, I settled with plan B. I did not have time or energy left, after spending most of them on work and career most of my adult life.
I am not sure whether I am struggling with my career or just growing.
It is sometimes hard to know, my friends.
I know I am struggling; I work harder than ever and trying to do many new things all at the same time. It is exhausting, stressful, and requires enormous amount of energy and focus. I do these because I am capable of doing, but the real motivation is the increasingly toxic and criticism-filled environment that makes me feel like I am not worthy and dispensable. I guess I am trying to show that I am not; I am a valuable and contributing member of my work-place. Even I say so now, I, the worst critique of myself.
It is strange writing this here – the real motivation after my over-work is being my frustration towards my work-place. Very counter-intuitive, is it not?
I think I must accept the fact that I had lost, and I am still at lost the majority of the time, my self-confidence in this position. The negative attitudes at my work triggered a reaction to turn things around. That is why I am working so hard and taking new roles. With each work and role accomplished, I gain confidence. Or, may be this is just an illusion. Hard to know….. But if it is real, then this hardship has been incredibly useful for me! 🙂
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I am also growing. A lot changed in me since last year.
I am detached to my work-place and with each blow or slab to the face this detachment is growing. This is strange but also liberating indeed. It forces me to re-evaluate my wishes and my wants, and somehow forces me to think outside of my current box. Just yesterday I realized I could move to another country for work. Would it not be terrific? A new country, a new city, a new apartment, new bakery, new neighborhood, lots of plants, tall windows, people and lights in the street day and night. Energy, change, excitement, new experiences. Wow – that is a great picture!
I also became more assertive since last year and I am good at saying no now 🙂 Well, at least better than before. I can also express myself and my frustration better. I can keep my stand better. This is lovely.
I also care much less about things that I would otherwise do; mostly related to work and work-related recognition. Less stress, less anxiety, more room for more important things. I hope.
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There is an apparent duality in my interpretations of these experiences, like in anything else I guess. One can argue that it is a point of view. Maybe one day I am struggling and maybe next day this experience makes me do something, which grows me (like the job application I made in Europe yesterday). Maybe it is all struggle and my mind finds some kind of serenity in finding/believing in positives (in order not to lose it).
I do not know really. Only time will tell. Right now, I know that I both struggle and grow at the same time.
It is a delicate balance; if struggle gets worse, the balance will tip down on this side and I may sink deep. If I grow, the other side of the balance will lift.
My aim is to lift myself up.
The balance is still unstable though. So, my struggle to end this struggle (what an irony – I need a new struggle to end another struggle??) is continuing.
Technically an improvement would also mean a change in something. But changing directions into an entirely different area requires more courage or some enforcement, do you not think?
After the nerve-frying episode yesterday, I am looking for job opportunities. Not that I am very interested in leaving my post right now (I have commitments for another 2 years), but I like having the option and seeing what is available out there. It gives me some kind of hope, some kind of fresh look at my life. Most importantly, it tells me that I am free.
Freedom and freedom of choice are so important. After all, if we cannot have some freedom or control over the manageable/changeable aspects of our lives, what is it about? Tell me.
Some may argue that we have limitless capacity and opportunities. I would like to think so too, but it is hard to make it an objective reality for me.
Middle age crisis may be a real thing. I have always loved what I have done until I the last few years when it started to become more toxic – obligations, responsibility, and demoralization are all too much, too burdening. I am capable of doing a lot of things, but the constant criticism and disapproval of our work or ideas make it hard to keep going. Appreciation is a great motivator and a great keeper of self-confidence. I like it here. I try to perk myself up by looking at the work I have done – it is a beautiful experience and I can objectively see that I have done a lot. This gives me at least a momentarily satisfaction and joy. But the weight of the negativity is always heavier than the positive sides.
At one hand, I fell like a failure, and on the other hand, I know that I am better than this and with the same effort, care, and energy, in a different setting I can do much more. I am thorn between accepting the status quo and changing in a way to find myself again….
Finding myself.. What a beautiful thing.. Also sad – why did I lose myself at the first place? How did I end up in this situation?
Is it a risk or an adventure to change my current work place and career? Will I have similar problems in my next place and position? Is there something wrong with me? If so, I am pretty much guaranteed to have similar experiences in the next phases of my life.
This might be one of the reasons that I still am not writing my resignation letter. I am in the process of understanding myself and figuring out whether I can do better in another place? Sometimes, some cuts are deep and the callus is hard to remove. I am looking at my inner callus and seeing what it is like. I may not like, but every experience, good or bad, help me figure it out. This is one of the silent inner wisdom I know is there. It helps me keep going.
I also know rationally that the future is brighter than this. I know everything, whatever is happening at my work place, is making me one step closer to my future self. I am very hopeful about my future and my future self. Maybe all of these are the signs that tells me this status quo is not the best for me and there is a much better future for me. However burdening these days may be, maybe these burdens are actually telling me that it is time to leave this and open a new route in my life. A new route which will be brighter, healthier, and full of opportunities and joy that I have forgotten I am entitled too.
It is strange that I am actually hopeful about the future….. But I am. I am not happy here but I fully trust the future. I may not know what to do so and how, but I know I will figure out.
I feel so detached to my job. Maybe that is a good thing, maybe not.
Maybe it is a good thing. I am not fully satisfied with my job or my work-place anyhow. I am exhausted by the work-load. I can hardly find time for my own personal development and enjoyment. I am away from the people most matter to me (my family). I am frustrated and my nerves are fried frequently. I often ask myself “what is it that I want from my life and my future?” and I have no answer to that. I feel dried up. I feel living in a microcosmos that consists of mostly work, its problems, and the anxiety it creates.
On the other hand, my job is often respected. My salary is good, thank goodness. I have a simple life where I am – grateful again. I can have quite a frugal life if I want and save money each year (well, maybe not this year but that is okay). These are good things.
So, maybe detachment is a good thing so that I can actually leave here and open a new chapter in my life. It is somehow exciting but considering that I must find another job, it is anxiety-creating as well. I am scared of not finding a good job, a well-paying one.
Anxiety is a horrible thing, my friends. It stops you even you take a step. It fills your mind with all the negativity or possibilities that hope and excitement are buried under a heavy cloud.
Of course, one can argue that if I cannot change my circumstances, then perhaps I can and should change myself.
I am not sure that I can change myself. The way I think and take things. Not so much really. If I had worked less, maybe I could see things more clearly. If I had relaxed, maybe I would get less frustrated. If I had not cared, maybe I would not be emotionally impacted. It is hard to change myself, though I made some significant changes this year. Ironically I am working more, but at least on things that I benefit from. Like the committees I work at – they personally and professionally improve me. Like the new projects I am designing. Like my creative juice sometimes running full-bodied and sweet. At other times, with other tasks, however, I am heavily burdened.
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I had started the day more or less well. What triggered this turn of emotions was a note from a superior showing the “stick” (where are all the carrots??). I feel intimidated, threatened, and certainly under-appreciated.
I just wonder how long I should take this sh.t and why I do not have the courage to quit myself. It is like I rather am waiting for something to happen so that I can say “that is it! I am quitting!“.
I am waiting, I see.
It is not a full detachment yet, with each “stick” I get closer to it. Maybe it is a good thing.
And, I have serious suspicions of this work-place making me mentally sick.
Depression? Anxiety? Both? Or simply, being fed up?
deciding to feel good as nothing much in our daily/work life matters that much – check
I have had a kind of relaxing but also somehow nerve-pitching week. All work related issues of course. On the other hand, weather has been incredibly nice and Spring is really here. I have been feeling awesome about this – there is a real feeling of “hope” and “new beginnings” induced by the arrival of Spring. Should I be wasting these great feelings with focusing on shitty things and behaviors?
No.
Right. 🙂
walking to the office in the morning – check
I have been walking in the last few days from home to office in the mornings. This feels great really 🙂 Last year was the first time I had made it a routine activity to walk in the mornings (weather permitting). It makes me feel calmer, energetic, happier, and healthier 🙂
working without much of stress and taking care of a tricky document – check
I knew that it was gonna be tough but I also told myself repeatedly that I would do overcome this too. The last year has been particularly very challenging in terms of work, stress, agitation, changing myself and my work attitude, growing my gray hair (I did not update you on this, did I? Man, I have gray hair alright – looks better somedays than the others, but I am still resisting the idea of dyeing it 🙂 ), and undertaking new professional roles. One of the benefits of it has been to go through really tough time and tough decisions, so no new challenge is a big deal (at least so far) – great! 🙂
taking my time to enjoy the plants on my floor – check
it has been a pleasure really, looking at all the beautiful plants and flowers that have been around me for so long but have never been cherished or recognized by myself. I feel awesome now that I know each one of them. Plants are amazing, friends. There are so many different types of them, they do survive with little help, and they make one feel great emotions and joy…. Go hug a plant 🙂
walking to a nearby store and buying groceries – check
there have been many food that I needed and were on sale this week – I feel lucky 🙂 I want to get some succulents nowadays. There were some aleo vera that were on sale in this store, but I did not want to buy them this time. There is a store 30 min away on foot that I can go check sometime to see whether they carry succulents. Even reading about the succulent made me feel excited and happy yesterday 🙂
drinking fresh kefir – check
eating good home-made food – check
making a conscious effort to not dwell on negativity – check
enjoying a comedy show – check
having a simple life with minimal expenses today – check, check, check! 🙂
sleeping well and long, and seeing my dad in one of my dreams – may he rest in peace – check
having my favorite breakfast with tomato, sourdough bread, and coffee – check
walking in the yard and seeing a number of bulbs I planted in the Fall sprouting – check 🙂
working on a new report and almost finishing it – check
pulling a muscle or somehow aggravating my sciatica – not check! But it has been a much manageable episode so far, and my pain and muscle relaxants were around and effective – so let’s check this one too 🙂
baking a meat pie and enjoying it – check
drinking fresh, frothy, and tasty kefir – check
watching a series that makes me laugh – check
having the day off – check
realizing that my sciatica is turning into a chronic problem, unless I take better care of my back and strengthen my core with the exercises given to me. I should also be careful in my movements. This one came without any warning, like the previous ones. It starts usually when I try to pick something from the floor. This must be something I must particularly be careful about. Also, no matter what I must keep having medications available so that I can manage this better. Being aware – check!
having almost no work-related stress – check 🙂
having a good weather and feeling the Spring – check
being excited about the lives in my yard and planing to plant more flowers and bulbs next year – check
Only sometimes I remember my dreams and remembering three dreams in the morning was absolutely interesting!
waiting at home for the bus so that I could continue my frugal, simple, and responsible life style I missed so much – check
feeling happy when the bus comes – check!
Our buses runs every 30 min – give me some credit for taking them, please :)))
working nice and easy during the day without much of a stress – check
giving a small loaf of sourdough to one of my friends and seeing her joy and excitement – check, check, check 🙂
I am grateful for this feeling of happiness coming from sharing my bread, marmalade, or pickles – looks like my friends really like and appreciate them, and this just makes me hugely grateful! How did I come up with the idea of baking bread? making marmalade or pickle? Boredom, which motivated me to try these endeavors, has been good to me indeed 🙂
coming home early and taking a new yoga/stretching class – check
I dedicated this session to appreciating myself more (wow – I am really getting healed here 🙂 ) and I spent the entire one hour by focusing on all the good things and appreciating my ability to do so. One of the best 12 bucks spent ever 🙂
eating home-made food and a large salad – check
having a no-spending day – check!
I am excited about this. I think I am slowly coming back to my frugal self. Today is the second day of being frugal in a very long time and it feels fantastic. If only they did not expect a snow storm soon – that may mean that I may need to take a cab to or from work. We will see how weather will develop.
I plan to do some sort of pantry challenge next week so that I can consume what I already have. This will help me with saving some money and also enable myself to consume what I already have and replace them with fresh ones. I really need this so that I can get my chequing account back to a healthy level, which always feels good. Time to do this!! 🙂
Being calm and relaxing this evening – check
I am not working tonite and it feels good to me. I know time to time it gets really heavy but nowadays I feel like I deserve a break and I aim to cherish it while it lasts
interacting with only lovely friends and colleagues today – check
eating yogurt – check
being excited about all the good things and people in my life -multi-check!
So this past year has been hard on me – it was highly stressful; I worked long hours; I was skeptical and suspicious of my professional future; I have got my blood pressure peaked a couple of times and almost got panic attacks; I have got my self-confidence shook very very strongly; and I have mostly ignored my daily, personal, simple, and frugal life so that I can channel my energy and time to my work-related efforts and use my money to comfort myself during this hard time.
The hardship started last summer when I realized that our work-place was getting more and more toxic (mostly because of financial issues) and they were openly making comments about firing people. How demoralizing? Very indeed. I worked so hard and did so much for my work and this organization that after all of these, if we get this kind of treatments instead of appreciation, it was time to think about what to do with my future.
This was one of the nicest things I have got out of this experience – that I was better than this and I deserved recognition by my work-place, not depreciation like they tend to favor.
I also did not want to spend my time trying to prove myself over and over. All these years and after all I have done, what else do they want?? (they do want lots of thing, by the way. It is never enough for them).
Most importantly, I realized that I was better than my current work-environment let me be and I was longing for developing further and reaching my personal and professional potential.
I applied for a job, for which I did not receive any response back. But that is okay. The important thing was I had started to react to my work/position here and I was being detached from it. This was wonderful – I never thought that I would leave my current job. Great experience!
I worked harder and on different topics, which took time and required a lot of courage. I did these. They have not yielded outputs yet, but I am hopeful and determined that they will.
I took new roles. That meant lost of time and reading/discussions/practicing to learn new things and taking new risks. It has been tough, but I am moving on smoothly.
I exercise new leadership roles and I am developing and discovering about myself in such roles. While this is emotionally challenging (a lot is expected from leaders and knowledge and experience together are required for effective leadership), there is so much I learn about myself that it is amazing 🙂
I also aimed to change myself.
I realized I did not want to do what others were in fact supposed to do (my job requires a lot of this if we want things to move – sad truth is that as a project leader you shoulder a lot of the burden others should) and starting to say no. I first said no to reviewing a report, then another, and then another. I try to save my time for the things I want to deal with now.
I raised concerns and demanded better working conditions when my work place came to me with a silly tasks to be done (which can be done by someone else pretty easily).
I started to distance myself from the colleagues who ate up not only my time, but also my nerves with their negative, demanding, and belittling attitudes. This is one of my most significant victories….
I started raising my voice when my friends or colleagues unfairly criticized me – they think twice now I guess. I found that generalization is very easy and people tend to do this pretty frequently. However, seeing the view from the other side is necessary to understand things better. Many people miss that. I am vocal about this now when it comes to me or my work. I won’t take unnecessary and unfounded criticism that easily.
I say no to socials with people whom I do not wish to spend yet another minute.
I started to value my time, energy, well-being, professional efforts, skills, and performance more than ever (talking about confidence that my work-place was trying to diminish with the talks of firing us.. What a nice turn of self-opinion? 🙂 )
I started to be a little bit more smart and took steps to strengthen my position in my work-place while also developing myself further. I have two positions at my union’s committees and I am not only learning about our rights as workers, but also how to support myself and other workers against any organizational or professional issues. I feel safer and well supported. And in many ways, also protected. I will continue to work in one of these committees in the coming years, which I know is very beneficial for me. It is like a shield that can defer many silly attempts on me and other vulnerable colleagues. I am loving this.
I recently realized that I was very content and pleased with my efforts, hard-work, development, and changes. With this comes confidence and shutting down any effort to belittle me or my work. This is, my friends, priceless.
After all, this hard time is turning into a better and more pleasing experience. Like winter ending and Spring flourishing.
2. getting up at a time good enough to catch the bus on time – check
3. working well in the morning, getting stressed at noon, but keeping the work till evening – check
4. almost being finished with some work that has been on my list for so long that its heaviness has been extreme – I want it to be done. Hopefully soon 🙂 – check
5. enjoying the warm and bright day and getting a feeling of Spring – check
6. walking back to home in the afternoon – check
7. saving around 20 bucks from cab fare by taking the bus or walking today – check
8. doing grocery shopping and appreciating everything I purchased – check.
I have got a big bag of potatoes and lemons. I consume lemon quite a bit, potato – not so much. But it is more or less durable and potato meals, soup, and salad are all very enjoyable food. I am feeling good about having food the next few weeks and I feel quite abundant 🙂
9. eating fish and a big healthy salad – check.
Lately I have been trying to award myself by eating fish or any other fried food (before someone starts about the unhealthy habit of fried food; for some reason they make me feel good the next day. once a week should be okay, right?)
10. Keeping calm – check.
It is strange to remember that in January I have had almost panic attacks. A very stressful time it was. I have come so far, slowly but steadily. I am very grateful – check!
11. Finishing the lose ends of many small tasks and reports, and feeling energized about this – check.
I have a number of small things to finish this weekend. Once they are done, I hope I will start bigger and newer projects. It is so exciting! – check
12. Did I mention that I said “no” again yesterday? Face-to-face this time.
A colleague of mine thinks that she can interrupt me anytime while working alone or with others to ask or talk about what she needs or wants. How is this acceptable? yesterday I was working in my office with a team member of mine and that person just stepped in my office and start talking and asking me things, with no acknowledgment of my team member or us being working on something. Very rude, self-centered, and selfish. I decided it was the time that I take control and indicate need to respect my team member, and I asked the person to talk later. Can you imagine? I did it! And I did not even feel bad after that!! I am on the right track, my friends 🙂 -check, check, check!
1. not working like crazy and taking my time and phasing out for an hour or so at the office – check
2. sleeping well and waking up with not so many negative thoughts – check
3. delivering a very interactive presentation, connecting with the audience who was hesitant and passive at the beginning but became cozy and excited about the presentation later, and making it a memorable experience for everyone – check
4. taking a cab and making it an easy and comfy experience to pick a card for my team member who will leave soon for another job – check. I have been meaning to do this for sometime. It is strange that when we look for a nice card they are nowhere to be found. I picked a nice one that I am very happy with and wrote a nice thank you and appreciation note for her. I hope she will like it!
5. eating grapes – check
6. eating a previously frozen home-made soup – check
7. attending an odd yoga class that aims to release muscle tension and finding it one of this interesting life experiences – check. My goodness; it was a crowded class, there were a lot of people shaking, making noise, breathing aloud, and making sure that we the rest of the pack laugh uncontrollably as a result :)))))
8. looking good with a new hair cut today – check. it is strange that a hair cut can make such a positive change in our outlook and how we feel. I will remember this and will use it as a means of therapy in the future 🙂
9. Being hungry and planning to eat something in a bit. It is getting late but I appreciate having appetite – check
10. watching an old movie that I always loved and enjoying my night – check 🙂
One of these days that I am calm and feeling good about myself and the work.
One of my team members and I finished a big project today, which was on the go for 3.5 years. I cannot believe. She made that happen and she is leaving soon to move on with a better career. I could not be happier and more proud of her. May she always find success, happiness, and support in life. She has got my full blessing.
I feel like accomplished now a little bit and am feeling hopeful and excited about my work again. Results of this project will be used in many other projects and noone in the world has ever produced such results. The more I think about it, the more I am realizing what a unique and exciting project this was. I must be happy and proud of myself as well!
This realization brings me some sort of confidence and excitement – I have done very well indeed. There is hope that I will sign under the many more difficult and exciting projects. This is such a much needed feeling for me. I would not be surprised if I shed some tears out of joy 🙂
Now I have space for future projects and my calendar is more permissive to move on with others that I have been planning. Happiness! 🙂
I have four presentations to do withing the next four weeks – two of them being this week. I am ready for them. The other two, on the other hand, needs work. Ok – I can do this! After that my next biggest task will be writing a new type of report, which I am looking forward to. It will be challenging at the beginning, we have been keeping it under the radar for some time, and now I will have time to work on it. Something fresh, interesting, and developing me further as a professional. Excitement!
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I was telling one of my friends today that I wonder how I and my life will develop in the next three years. I know that I have been changing my approach to others at work, becoming a little bit more focused on my own interests and reducing my commitment to others’ work, being interested in challenging and developing myself by taking new roles and responsibilities, becoming more assertive, and most importantly, questioning my own look at my life. I told my friend today that I sometimes think about resignment. Not that I want to but I guess it is one way to free myself from all the little issues and attitudes that bother me. Thinking about resignment gives me some kind of relief from the current issues. It also helps me with un-attaching myself from work. I was always overly committed to work and as such have ignored the other important things in life.
What are the important things in life?
Certainly my family is important.
I am important.
It is time that I let these realizations sink into my mind…
It is exciting that I am curious about my future, don’t you think? 🙂 This is certainly becoming an exciting anticipation for me – I want my future to be better, happier, healthier, and more meaningful. I want to have dreams and plans. I want to do different things. I want to feel good about myself and my frequent efforts to do so!
May the next days bring joy, success, happiness, health, and good people, experiences, memories, and opportunities to all of us 🙂
Last week I woke up around 5-6 am each morning and went to bed at my regular time (around 11 pm). This is like 6-7 hours of sleep per night. Today I woke up at 4 pm after 5 hours of sleep and worked a full 12 hours at the office. Surprisingly I am not even feeling tired.
This is not normal.
I think I am at a heightened state. I knew that I was stressed and working very hard since last July. But I did not think that I would adapt to this prolonged stress situation and perform high. I realize it now that I may be close to a burn out, and thus, I should slow down to prevent it.
I have an important submission to make tomorrow. After that I will have to take care of many things but I will take it easy. I plan to take the Friday afternoon off and have a kind of long weekend. I want to sleep, eat better, and just wind down.
I can do it.
With this, I am not saying that I am capable of doing it.
Two; get a new computer after making your homework and selecting one suitable for your needs.
Since it takes some time to do #2 above, I spend 3 days without computer at home.
Three days!!!!
What do you do without a computer at home?
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First; keep calm.
Second; see whether the radio-clock works and you can listen to music/news. It did work, which was a huge blessing. May I say that this was the first time I listened to the radio in the last one decade or so? Well done.
Third: get bored and read a work-related book (that I have been meaning to do since last summer and feel good about this). Score!
Fourth; get bored. And, boy, what a boredom it was. So go to sleep early.
Fifth: since you are going to bed early, be prepared to get up early. 5 am to be exact!
What do you do with all the time at your hand?
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First; you (I) take a cab just because buses do not work at that hour, and work, which is awesome. It gives much needed time to finish a couple of things.
Second; since home is not attractive anymore, you also spend more time at the office, which is great. This way you continue to work and finish tasks.
Third – among all of these catastrophic(!) mis-order of daily life, you kind of realize what an important role computer has in your life. It is the window to the outside world and number one channel to interact with others. It is one tool that helps you relax, read, write, listen to music, and watch TV. It is one thing that keeps your life in order with the planning sheets and record documents. It is one thing other than a human that can make your life easy, comfortable, cherishable, and fun.
I remember him with his smile, sky blue eyes, nice skin, strong chin, beautiful voice, and presence. I wish things were different and we could go back and fix everything between us. I wish I could be there for him and kiss his cheeks once more. I wish I could say daddy again.
I cannot.
But I also know that he and I loved each other and we would not wish for another dad, another daughter. He showed his fatherhood and introduced us to not only life but also death, and walked through his lonely journey all by himself. Like his dad, like his mom, like his brothers. At least he was not alone.
Rest in peace dad. One day I will find you again. I promise.
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In the last few days I have been getting really tired of being annoyed by some people and my work being the most important thing in my life.
I had to have dinner with two colleagues I really dislike (!) and a third one I somehow like. I hated the idea of spending my time with the people I disliked but the night went okay, thanks to my third colleague. The two continued to annoy me during the dinner and it has come to a point that I do not want them to affect me this way anymore. I do not know why I cannot let go off their ridiculous ways, but this is what it is. I will find additional ways to further distance myself from them. At least the benefit of this highly annoying dinner was that finally I have had it enough. It came to a point that cannot be ignored. And this is a good thing. A large part of our relationship is over.
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And I have been thinking for sometime that life has been going, I was getting older and closer to death each day, and all I was thinking about lately was how miserable, stressed, unappreciated, and financially insecure I was at work.
One of the changes that has happened this past summer was that I did not want to dwell on small issues and rather use my time, effort, and skills for bigger issues, bigger fights, bigger good. The fact is this: I happen to find issues in anything in life (a professional curse) and dwell on them full force. The question I asked myself was whether I wanted to have a bigger professional life and deal with bigger issues taking similar time and energy, and having similar levels of irritation/stress. The answer is an easy yes. That is why I undertake a lot more this year in terms of leadership and committee work.
I have started to extend this to my personal life. This morning I was talking to my sister and I said since my social life is small, even the little social interactions, if a little annoying, annoys me big time. I said that I have decided to have a bigger life and then get annoyed if I must. Maybe I will learn one or more things. Maybe I will meet great people. Maybe I will find ways to enrich my own inner life. I know it will be better, no matter what.
As part of this, I am excited to say that I re-started my stretching/meditation classes tonite. Just like that I showed up there, purchased my plan, sat on the floor in a quiet, warm, and cozy room with others, breathed in and out, calming my mind and soothing my body. And I just felt that calming my mind was one of the most fantastic things I have ever done for myself lately.
getting up early and going to work before 8 am – check
working with a team member very effectively and finishing a project of 3.5 years – check, check, check! 🙂
remembering to celebrate the end of project – check!
walking in the evening – check
working at home for 3 hours on a report and thinking “what do I do wrong to have this hectic year full of work and stress?” I must change things again – it is the time. I should say no more often. I should write my reports better so that I will not have to revise and change them significantly – this is causing me to work on them more than required. I must look for opportunities to lessen my paperwork. I can set aside time each day for little work that would not require full focus or energy; these could be taken care of really fast and would give me acceleration. I notice that I work incredibly efficient in the morning – so I can aim to get up earlier and do the important work first. From tomorrow on I aim to get up around 7.30. check
getting no discount from an international meeting. I did not really want to attend this meeting this year. I asked for a discount in attendance fees and I was not awarded it this year. I feel relieved, even though this is a rejection! 🙂 There will be other opportunities – a new city, a new type of meeting. I am looking forward to the opportunity to find it out! – check
being ready for important work tomorrow and having good plans for tomorrow and the weekend – check
securing a seat at a committee of my union for another year. This is important for my professional development and feeling more supported and secure – check
missing the bus and walking in the morning to office – check
treating myself with a muffin – check
working long hours without losing focus or energy – check
having a lunch with a friend, a very rare treat for me during the week days – check
getting a ride back home by a colleague in the afternoon while it heavily snowed – check
drinking kefir and loving every drop – check
keeping calm the whole day – check
realizing despite feeling largely like a failure, how well my projects created unique outcomes in the last one year and will continue to do so in at least the next two years – check
feeling sleepy and getting ready for a resting night sleep – check
The day started before 9 am with a good night sleep and not so negative thoughts rushing in my mind. The Sunday morning routine, which consists of shaping my sourdough loaf and then drinking coffee nice and easy while also browsing the news and emails, went without any rush or stress. It was fully relaxing.
A couple of things that I have done differently than my routine weekend activities were speaking to my family a little bit early, dressing up for the afternoon funeral, taking the bus to go to office, and working there for a few hours without any distraction or humans around.
This may sound weird, but not having anyone around gave me peace today.
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I then walked to the funeral home nearby and paid my respect to the deceased person I knew. She was lovely person with a genuine interest in anyone she met with. I hope she had had a lovely life and lots of laughters. She sure was loved.
At the funeral home, I gotta meet with a few colleagues of mine and found a chance to talk with them as well. It was nice to feel like a community and supporting our friends during these difficult times. Togetherness means a lot in these situations. I am glad I have showed up there today.
While I stayed longer than I planned, I left there feeling at peace. The walk back to home was around 30 min and relaxing. The chilly but clean air makes a positive impact on me – it was one of these rare occasions lately that I just walked effortlessly and without any work related issues in my mind. There was no stress today.
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I keep thinking that I am not a funeral person. I believe this was the 3rd funeral I have ever attended in my life. I know this is weird, but I am not used to death even though I am mid-aged. I have a tendency to get emotional, break tears, not know what to say, eventually feel like a drama queen who thinks that she behaved like everything was about herself, rather than a concerned person who supports the people who have lost a loved one. I find myself ridiculous, in summary. But I also like the fact that I am aware of my behavior or naiveness. I know that next time I will become closer to what I think I must do and support those people with words, actions, and care.
It occurred to me once again today that I did not attend my father’s funeral almost 2 years ago. Not that I did not want to. I could not. It would require me to fly around 24 hours to reach to my home country and then an additional 12 hours to reach where my father used to live. I could not see myself doing this trip without breaking emotionally. So I rather stayed here and lived every single pain, concern, and true sadness of this new reality of my dad.
One of the colleagues I met at the funeral today told me that we come to life alone, and we leave life alone. How true. It is this part of the journey that made me sad more – the process of death and going through it all alone. Did my dad know that he was dying? Was he scared? Did he need me or someone else? I will never know. But I know that by giving my full attention to him in my thoughts I at least felt like I was with him then.
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Death changes you. That is for sure. It is so powerful. But so is life. Another colleague of mine I saw today said that it was all about what we wanted in life and whether or not what we have right now was it. If not, what were we waiting for? Let’s make that jump to start the journey towards what our heart wishes.
How interesting to hear this from someone else today.
I told her what has been on my mind for sometime – I know that this was not what I wanted, but I did not know what I really wanted and hence cannot take the steps. Yet.
She smiled and said – its time would come eventually.
I believe in this. Life is precious. My life. Your life. Anybody’s life.
I will be attending a funeral tomorrow for someone I knew.
Like many of us, I have many minor things in my life and thoughts that actually do not matter most in life; work-related issues and people’s behaviors would be the top two. I stress and hurt myself over these.
What is the purpose of all these fuss that clogs our vision and prevents us from seeing what really matters in life? I do not know. Maybe we are taking it too serious. Maybe we need to secure our physical, mental, and financial well-being before we can let go or enjoy life. Maybe we are conditioned too much or scared unnecessarily? I do not know really.
Will it matter eventually?
Soon it is gonna be two years that I have lost my dad – may he rest in peace. I had realized only after his death that in reality, one day we are alive and the next day it is done.
Thus, the question: What really matters?
My family matters
I matter
Making a positive contribution to society or others matters
Feeling good matters
Feeling free matters
Being hopeful matters
Being treated with respect and fairness matters
Feeling optimistic or in control about my future and retirement matters
Seeing things a little bit more clearly matters
Developing skills to know what is important and what is not, and to act or change accordingly, matters; if you have any suggestions on how to do this, please drop a line or two in the comments section
What am I supposed to learn from all of these work-related failures and then shape my future accordingly?
Two important applications of mine have been rejected recently, one being today, making my hard-work in the last few months nill.
I think I am kind of catatonic because I am not even feeling the sting of this situation.
Things are not going well, re: work and my career. I understand that I must learn something and move on, but what the hey is that? When will I know what it is?
I kinda believe that I must stop all my attachments to my current work and whatever I feel is necessary or important (except my family and my well being), so that I can open roads for wider opportunities. Maybe I am not supposed to continue here, but move somewhere.
Where is it?
Maybe the future is bright, but I realy do not know..
Will it reveal itself to me?
How many more times must I feel like I am making one last effort to turn things around?
I have not given up yet, but it would be nice if I could get something out of all of these hard times..
1. I am grateful for sleeping well and peacefully. I had no dreams and my morning was easy and without negative thoughts crossing my mind.
2. I am grateful for working till noon and learning some important and complex information that will be very useful tomorrow in a meeting and three other meetings the next week.
3. I am grateful for baking my sourdough and eating it warm with butter 🙂
4. I am grateful for eating fruits today.
5. I am grateful for chatting with one of my neighbours.
6. I am grateful for not working a lot in the afternoon and enjoying this freedom
7. I am grateful for listing the work I must do for each of the day of the week. I have important deadlines this week and I cannot miss any of them. This kind of lists help me a lot keeping track of things.
8. I am grateful for speaking with my family today; it was a nice and lovely talk that brought laughter to my life 🙂
9. I am grateful for getting interested in affirmations. I know that my mind listens to itself a lot and my mind usually focus on negative issues or problems. Why not the opposite? I am making an effort to read some lovely affirmations and reflect on them.
10. I am grateful for one of my colleagues not sending me their comments this morning. I feel free to move on without the need to integrate their comments in my report and the need to deal with the frustration and negative feelings their words would bring. I really dislike this person. I must exercise forgiveness to remove these feelings from my life. Or, remove this person from my life. Which one is easier?
11. I am grateful for having a safe and sound home; power to heat my home; clothes, furniture, and all other things that make my life safe ad comfortable. I surrounded myself with great items that I like or use. All is welcome in my life.
12. I am grateful for listening to the fearful voice in me during my anxious moments. Although it is hard to listen to it, it helps with extracting information that will be useful for me to prevent future events. That can be the main benefit of anxious thoughts…. So be it.
13. I am grateful for feeling free and knowing that I can do whatever I want to do!
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for easily having a mixture of both positive and down moments during the day. I survive it and I do not resist it
I appreciate myself for eating better today
I appreciate myself for being kind to myself
I appreciate myself for changing and implementing new ways to enhance my life. For example; I decided social media and news was giving me depressive thoughts – so I will limit my exposure. I will continue to say “no” to unnecessary tasks; I will continue to turn my email off at the office while working; and I will continue to let my perfectionist habit to ease while doing un-critical work. I will handle my interactions with my colleagues better too; I will keep it to professional topics while interacting with them; I will not help or listen to those negative people that drain my time and energy. I will keep thinking about how to do this better. Things will get better. This new chapter of my life, leaving things behind, and being excited about a new life experience is exciting!
Today was an interesting mix of feelings: I have been feeling kind of better one moment, and the next moment, feeling the same as in the last months when I was quite stressed and anxious.
In the middle of all of these “transitional” feelings, I felt like it would be so nice if I had closed this chapter in my life and open a new one; after all, thinking about what happened or did not happen would only make me feel frustrated, resentful, or anxious while thinking about how I changed and what I learnt along the process would only make me energized, freed, and hopeful.
Choice is quite clear.
Somethings will likely continue: I will still have to work hard and long hours; deal with issues and find solutions; deal with people; and deal with stress.
But I will also keep saying no to extra work; lose my perfectionist attitude on un-critical tasks; turn off my email when I need to focus; delegate some of the tasks to others; pamper myself with little indulgences (such as chocolate); be kind and supportive to myself; read inspirational or positive news and stories; and spare time for myself and my daily routine. I would also not dwell on the past issues or experiences and make my mental space less toxic and foggy.
How does this sound?
It sounds and feels great to me. I am ready to forget past feelings and replace them with a clean sheet of mental and emotional space.
I am releasing the negative thoughts about the people who gave me hardship; I am releasing the negative thoughts about myself; I am releasing the negative thoughts about life.
I am welcoming the opportunities; lovely people; success; calmness; peace; hope; and self-appreciation.
I feel like I must write these last sentences over and over to make my stubborn mind digest them 🙂 I may or may not be able to do these right away, but I know that I am moving away from negativity towards a new chapter in my life, and away from feeling like s.it to feeling stronger, determined, and hopeful 🙂
I was talking to a cab driver this morning who told me for an unrelated (economy-related) issue that “it cannot go worse than this; I think we hit the bottom of the rock, it can only get better from here – up“.
I believe in this and had said a similar thing to a friend about my own recent stress and struggles. Together with my experience with my friends yesterday (which helped me to actually demonstrate myself that I have had the confidence to stand up for myself), hearing this from a stranger today has helped my mind to materialize this hopeful attitude.
With these positive experiences, as another step towards making myself less stressful, I decided on an important report that it did not have to be perfect. It was already in a good shape and as such, I submitted it today. Additionally, I finished another one tonite, which will be submitted tomorrow 🙂
Two big jobs that have been on my list for weeks are now done.
Wow.
I did it.
These are the second and third imperfect (but perfectly in good condition) work that I have submitted in the last two weeks or so. What a beautiful change in how I approach my work and personal wellness. I feel relieved and happier.
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I have been hard on myself for taking the cab (rather than the bus), but I guess life has had its own way of telling me that sometime what we think as bad can actually be pretty good for us.
Ok. So you think you have friends and tell them that you are not feeling well. Two of them take you out for an afternoon coffee and they start lecturing you about how you should not feel this way or that way; how you should do this or that. And when you react to what they say (which is mostly not relevant to me or the situation I am in), they mention that your perception of things and their efforts are affected by you not feeling well, and as such, is distorted.
Well.. Well.. Well..
Excuse me!
In order to understand the person across from you, you must first listen to, rather than questioning or lecturing. Over-generalization of everybody and every situation is NOT a good practice. I understand that my friends were trying to be “friends” and “helping”, but this is not the best way to demonstrate these.
I rather wished my friends asked me how I think they could help or what I would need from them.
Let’s keep this in mind next time when we have a friend who is going through a stressful time.
On a separate note, I am glad that I stood up to my grounds and expressed myself.
A very busy day, it is well worth it. This week seems like a highly productive week with many long term tasks/projects being coming to an end, as such, is highly charged and satisfactory – I could not be more stressed and excited at the same time! 🙂
We woke up to 15 cm of snow dumped during the night. The roads were in bad shape, but the cabbie made it to my building safe and sound. It was quiet around the building, which I assume is because of the many people not showing up to work. I do not blame them – I hope they have had a lovely day away from work.
My anxiety levels are down, but I keep feeling overwhelmed. I feel the need of winding down and showing compassion to myself. That means no work for the next few hours. I plan to reflect on the positive things that has happened lately and realize how I fit in the center of all of these. Hard work pays off eventually; my efforts are met with results; I turn the work around to my best; and I feel less stressed as a result. At least, I must 🙂
I had read many years ago on a newspaper of a newly appointed manager of a unit. He had expressed that “he was looking forward to the challenges everyday may bring“. I never understood this, as challenges do not sound pleasant or easy to deal with. One of the constraining issues for me was a new addition to my team, which requires a lot of attention to help them keep moving. In some ways I feel pressured to spend time and train personally, because the skills this staff wants to develop requires my direct involvement. How do I deal with this “challenge” in these time-pressuring times? By further stressing and feeling inadequate, of course.
The last few days I was trying to think differently and open myself to “opportunities” out there. I did not necessarily think about the new staff, but I think this case is developing into an opportunity; she sent me some information (which she developed herself) that solves some of the problems and also demonstrates that they can develop these skills without much involvement by myself!! Is that not wonderful? 🙂
When the mind is strained, it is so easy to close ourselves and turn blind to the opportunities and rather move towards challenges, I guess.
By the way, last night two of my previous staff emailed me; one became a mom and her baby girl is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen 🙂 The other one wants to see me sometime, just to catch up and I could not be happier to do so 🙂
These are the moments that make this job something I thank for.
1. I am grateful for sleeping late but waking up early. I woke up with things to do in my mind, which was overwhelming. Yesterday night I decided not to resist to this idea – after all if I resist something, the annoyance increases. I will see how well this will progress in the coming days.
2. I am grateful for taking the bus – my hero! Right on time 🙂
3. I am grateful for working with a team member of mine the whole day; we are finalizing a project of 3.5 years and she has done an amazing job. Understandably we are very excited about this. We will continue on Wednesday again, but what we have done today was a wonderful work 🙂
4. I am grateful for treating my team member to tea/coffee and snacks. These absolutely help us to have a more cozy work environment and provide some comfort while doing a serious job.
5. I am grateful for walking back to my home this evening; a first in a while. I am coming back to my routine slowly… I feel accomplished with each of these small steps; re; taking he bus, walking, not taking the cab, eating better, etc. Yay! 🙂
6. I m grateful for working at home in the evening of another report due next week. I am kind of late but have moved it very well. While walking to home I was thinking that I did not know how to fix it, but as soon as I sit in front of the computer and opened the document, it just moved on.
7. I am grateful for working at the office till 6pm, not coming home early to work, and hence stress myself further at home. Not leaving the office early to come home to work is one of these small steps that makes me feel good and makes me feel like I am back to my routine.
8. I am grateful for eating a large potato salad filled with green beauties. Very healthy and it was yummy 🙂
9. I am grateful for turning my email off while we worked at the office today. This is my second or third time doing this. I did not even missed it. What a distraction it seems… I am very proud of myself for doing this change as well.
There are a number of changes I have implemented lately and I will be happy to state them here again:
turning off the email while working on important things
leaving my “perfectionists attitude” on un-critical tasks
saying “no” more often
motivating my team more
eating better and healthier
treating myself with weekly chocolates and little pastries time to time
making an effort to work at the office, rather than at home
supporting myself during these stressful times and showing compassion
making an effort with positive affirmations
making an effort to stop resisting the thoughts that annoy me
taking the bus or walking, and protesting the cab company
making Fridays “eat fish/meat” day – this has been going on for the last three weeks and I noticed that I feel good about this. Whether it is fish or red meat (which I rarely eat) – I am not sure. In all cases I eat a large green salad, which I suspect is helping a lot too
believing that I have time, which reduces my stress, even though that usually means working at nights at home
understanding myself, my needs, my priorities, and hurdles – particularly my own criticism towards myself and my work
realizing that my daily home routine is important and without it I feel over-whelmed, stressed, and somehow absent…. It is important to spend time without thinking about work and making my mind work on rather other things to give it a break
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for making an effort to feel good
I appreciate myself for eating better, pampering myself, and caring for myself
I appreciate myself for keeping calm and focused today
I appreciate myself for changing and improving my quality of life, especially at work
I appreciate myself for taking time to write these, which help materialize them
Yet another beautiful and quiet Sunday morning cherished with coffee and a lovely music at the background.
What is it about Sundays that makes us so hopeful and positive? Absence of work? Family/me time? Or just the feeling that like the rest of the (most of the world), we are too entitled to chill, wind down, rest, and do nothing on this day? Freedom to do anything we want or do nothing if that is what we want is a great feeling. Let’s immerse ourselves in this freedom today.
Being free of obligations and things that stress/strain us important. I increasingly have realized the importance of this lately. I like being free and not rushing from one job to other at work/home; I like being free from the stress and the need to think and find solutions. I like being free from the requirement of being at one place rather than the other; I like being free from negative thoughts and stress.
Is it easy to attain?
“ell no.
I was reading somewhere else that at this age, we are required to be competitive and put more strains on us than before to produce. Produce services, products, or ideas. I have such a job, which under different conditions (without the pressure) is highly satisfactory, valuable, and lets me get the best out of my skills and knowledge Yet, the pressure hurts my creativity, happiness and maybe health, and reduces my personal space and priorities to a minimum. Is this right?
I do not think so.
Without the personal wellness and satisfaction, how do we expect ourselves to function well in a competitive job/work environment?
It would be awesome if the organizations had flexibility in the expectations from their employees; some are hard-workers, some are creative, some are meticulous, some are visionary, and some are good managers. It is important to find such organizations and positions I guess.
This being said, I kind of understand the pressure my organization is under. It is supposed to deliver what it promises, is supposed to do these with the right budget, set of employees, and expected outcomes. When I think from this point of view, my heart aches for my organization. This is economically difficult times and everything suffers as a result (well, maybe not too wealthy).
So, what shall we do?
I would love my organization and others to create a supportive environment and work through carrots, not the sticks. If we are together, we may function better and in unity. And in unity is the strength, understanding, and solutions. Working towards a common goal is a beautiful feeling.
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I was joking the other day to a colleague of mine that my last report before retirement would be about this kind of things; experience and understanding gained as a result of the work experiences and how it shapes our lives, profession, and future ideas. There is a growth alright – however difficult it could be – that makes my understanding better. I am hopeful that in the future I will come up with my best ideas, experiences, projects, and reports.
I hope I will continue to be that hopeful and positive.
1. I am grateful for sleeping till past 9 am; I was surprised with this but obviously my mind or body needed this rest. So it is welcome.
2. I am grateful for enjoying my coffee and feeding my sourdough starter; it had risen well and was smelling very fresh and sourdy 🙂 Good baby!
3. I am grateful for speaking with my family and being happy altogether – what a great feeling to be happy together with the people we care.
4. I am grateful for reminding myself that I will make an attempt to not let others hurt me with their greed, unkindness, and mean and demanding attitudes. This is very important for all of us; why do we permit this kind of people or their behavior in our lives? I know at work it is important to keep these people in our circles for our work, but is there not a better way? There is. I will find it out. I am determined to keep reminding me this and make an effort to find ways to manage mean or negative people.
5. I am grateful for walking to a store and buying eggs and other items that were on sale and I had needed. It is important to be able o care for ourselves – whether this is food, exercise, or pampering ourselves, let’s do it!
6. I am grateful for treating myself with chocolate today 🙂
7. I am grateful for working on a report and then stopping to enjoy my evening. I meant to reflect and nurture myself by reading a book. I have read for a while and now it is time to chill in dark, writing my journal, and listening to music.
8. I am grateful for eating healthy with eggs, tomato, garlic, and sourdough bread. It was a light but tasty dinner.
9. I am grateful for liking my graying hair 🙂 What a wonderful feeling!
10. I am grateful for liking to care for myself; I love shopping and getting things that I need or consume; I like making my own bread and eating it with love; I like cleaning myself, my home, and my clothes; I like functioning and still kicking and never ever ignoring my own needs!
11. I am grateful for being abundant and having everything I need being available or accessible to me.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for keep going and not stopping my routine
I appreciate myself for letting myself to be happy with my family and others
I appreciate myself for pampering myself with chocalate
I appreciate myself walking to the store even though it was a chilly day
I appreciate myself for eating healthy and not needing expensive or luxurious things to eat
I appreciate myself for realizing the progress in me and in my thinking; I learn; I realize; I appreciate; and I move on.
I have had ups and downs today, but I know that writing here will make me focus on the positive and I feel better good after that! 🙂
1. I am grateful for sleeping well and waking up on time. I have not used an alarm clock for so many years that come to think about it, it is amazing that I wake up when I need it ! 🙂
2. I am grateful for taking the bus; good for my pocket, good for environment, good for the community. yay! 🙂
3. I am grateful for encouraging a team member of mine who feels over-whelmed by a new task he needs to do. I am frustrated myself that it is not done yet, but sometimes a little bit encouragement can go way above and beyond. I shall see.
4. I am grateful for coming to home in the early evening to work and getting stressed. Honestly it makes me more stressed than being at the office. So I must stop this and embrace my office full time…
5. I am grateful for starting reading and revising a long report. I have been dreading this, but I have started and it will go on. My plan is to fix it hopefully tomorrow and move on. It is a report written by three of us, two of us being seniors. The other senior and I have different approaches and different levels of meticulousness. It creates and has created problems for both of us. I want this to be over before we get more annoyed with each other and hurt our relationship further. I ask myself; why is it me who is taking it low and still do her part? Is it because I walk what I talk, or because I am silly? Do not answer that :)))
6. I am grateful for doing grocery shopping in the evening. I bought all bunch of fresh produce and also fish. I love fish nowadays 🙂 I am feeling better after eating it with a large bowl of green salad. I cannot thank enough for these food.
7. I am grateful for feeling excited about tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday; I will first drink my coffee and browse internet for emails and news, and then clean the house. At noon I want to go shopping and take advantage of some sales in a nearby store; I would love to get some eggs, butter, and paper towel.
8. I am grateful for feeling a little bit angry about my efforts and being appreciated by others. As such, I have got more confident (or pissed off and does not care anymore). next time somebody tries to walk over me, I sure will stand taller.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for working – no matter what I keep going
I appreciate myself for getting more confident, knowing that I deserve a much higher level of appreciation
I appreciate myself for keeping my grounds – I will do that increasingly
I appreciate myself for being excited about shopping and the weekend
I appreciate myself for not getting anxious nowadays and feeling relatively better
A relatively good day and I am happy to share these with you:
1. I am grateful for getting up a little bit earlier and catching an earlier bus this morning 🙂 It was a chilly morning but I just made it to the bus stop. A minute later my hero bus showed up and it really made me feel lucky and happy 🙂
2. I am grateful for having a very quiet time in the office before anyone showed up. It was beautiful and gave me much needed stress-free time 🙂
3. I am grateful for keeping calm the entire day, decluttering my office and opening space for new paperwork, relieving myself from stress induced by lots of things around.
4. I am grateful for sitting at a meeting that lasted 4 hours this evening 🙂 It is not bad for a person who has got a lower back problem 🙂 What helps in this situation is that whether it is an effective meeting with opportunities to learn something new and contribute. I have got these today so I am satisfied.
5. I am grateful for eating lots of healthy food in the office; apple and baby carrots being my favorites 🙂
6. I am grateful for changing my cab company today; yesterday one of the cabbies made me think very hard about taking the cab at all – mean people have no place in my life. While one bad apple should not make the entire batch of nice and kind cabbies bad, I felt like I must preserve my self respect. So I decided I did not want to pay another dime to this cabbie and one way to achieve this was to change the cab company. Over.
This will also give me much needed chance to stop taking cab, unless really needed, and rather focus on taking the bus or walk.
7. I am grateful for not working tonite
8. I am grateful for sitting in the dark, listening to a nice music, and writing my journal. It is “me” time, alright 🙂
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Things that I appreciate myself about today:
I appreciate myself for focusing on work and feeling logical and calm
I appreciate myself for making my self-respect a priority
I appreciate myself for not working tonite
I appreciate myself for learning
I appreciate myself for keeping up with the ever changing priorities and work dynamic
I appreciate myself for being genuinely happy for a colleague of mine who will take a leave to recuperate after a highly exhausting and stressful work conditions – she deserves this. I wish her well.
1. I am grateful for sleeping well and getting up with relatively mild thoughts in my mind.
2. I am grateful for taking the bus this morning even though it was really cold and windy. Sometimes I love my persistence 🙂
3. I am grateful for having three meetings today all with some kind of progress. This feels good. I have a new team member who is visiting our organization for a couple of months. She is nice and intelligent. I hope to be able to make this an enjoyable and beneficial visit for both sides. We immediately identified a technical skill for her to develop, which is one of our strength. This feels awesome. We then have a small project to develop together, which again feels good. If we can work well and if we are lucky somehow, we can make this 🙂
4. I am grateful for working till 3.30pm at the office, which is pretty good for me. I took the cab and ate junk food in the evening, but hey, at least some small goals I have had for myself are done today: sleeping well, taking the bus in the morning (despite the cold), eating better (lots of carrots today), working mostly at the office (till 3.30 pm), not having anxiety was a huge plus, working (albeit at home till late) but nevertheless finishing some work. I now have a “me” time for another 1-2 hours before I go to sleep. That should be okay – at least for today.
5. I am grateful for not beating me up for taking the cab in the afternoon and eating junk food. I came to realize that in order for me to have a life just the way I want it, I must fix the work situation first. It is sad that the stress and time-commitments of the work takes priority over my own personal life. It is really sad…. I keep going in this difficult time; poor budgets, poor conditions, and poor recognition. I have not given up yet but I keep wonder when or if that would happen…..
I will know when it is over. It is not over yet.
6. I am grateful for working; I may be stressed. I may be anxious. I may be depressed (time to time). But I am functional and am giving my 100% to this toxic work-place. I have been working in this field for 24 years now. This is a long time; I studied, I worked, I moved up, and now I am no sure where my career is. Frustration is a common experience with everyone I guess. After all these years and dedication, do you not expect recognition? respect? Some kind of satisfaction and ease?
I do.
Maybe that is what exactly I should be grateful for.
7. I am grateful for being safe, healthy, warm, and sane today. It could have been much worse – I could have lost my mind :))))))
Joking.
But it is a possibility, you know 🙂
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for making an effort to feel good by taking small and simple steps
I appreciate myself for bringing carrot to office – they make wonderful food, especially when I have no time to have lunch
I appreciate myself for working…… At least things are moving
I appreciate myself for being calmer and more confident re; finishing work and figuring out things
I appreciate myself for knowing – knowing myself, my feelings, my abilities, my limitations, and my wishes
1. I am grateful for sleeping well. My mind got full of work-related issues and stress right away, but I made a mental note (again) to monitor what I think and let them stop if they are negative. One day I will do this!
2. I am grateful for taking the bus in the morning. What a chilly day it was today… I have not chickened out and taken the cab. Good job!
3. I am grateful for enjoying my coffee at the office and eating two apples. Apples are good for me and they are also very delicious 🙂
4. I am grateful for working really well in the morning without much of a stress. I had a meeting in the afternoon, which went really well and gave me much needed mental break from my own work and issues (would you believe that I am grateful for a meeting? hah ha 🙂 )
5. I am grateful for the bus being at the bus-stop right after I left the meeting and went out of the building. It was great to take the bus in such a windy and cold evening. I am lucky 🙂
6. I am grateful for cooking for myself and eating well.
7. I am grateful for realizing that if I do work well in the office, then I do not have, to or want, to think about the work at home. This is pretty interesting. I remembered that before I started to work hard and for long hours last summer, this is what I used to do; I usually enjoyed my evenings and nights by focusing on my relaxation, reading, writing, or watching movies. I was quite content with my life at that time. Home was home. Life was good. I ate less junk food and I felt better about myself.
I contemplated on this quite a bit this evening. Since the work load is still high, I still need to work at home. I did it today and I will have to do this in the coming days and weeks (if not months). I wonder whether getting up earlier would help with this? maybe instead of 8.30 I can be at the office at 8 and use that extra time to do work? I wake up at around that time anyhow; why not to use this for my advantage? Then in the evening maybe I would have more time for myself?
I hope so 🙂
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for enjoying this moment; it is quiet, I feel good, and I still have time to enjoy the rest of the night
I appreciate myself for making an effort to turn things around. Even I relapse, I try again. I respect that.
I appreciate myself for increasingly remembering that anything new at work may mean new issues for me; It may feel overwhelming (and it does), but then I may and will find solutions to them. Maybe I will fail too, but is it not how I learn and grow?
I appreciate myself not working right now and feeling optimistic about life and myself
I appreciate myself for changing or gaining different perspectives, and for not resisting to these
1. I am grateful for sleeping well and getting up with the feeling that I care about myself and support myself with kindness, understanding, and food. Great food 🙂
2. I am grateful for baking sourdough loaves. I baked two loaves today; both turned out to be delicious. How did I start with baking bread? It is a dilemma really. I remember that my first trials were frustrating. I am glad that I did not give up.
3. I am grateful for speaking with my family. we all love cats and talking about cats make us all cheerful and happy 🙂
4. I am grateful for cooking a healthy meal for myself and eating it with lots of garlic. Garlic became somehow common in my life lately. This crunchy and tasty food is making me feel better, presumably by reducing my blood pressure. I will take it! 🙂
5. I am grateful for seeing a change in my perception of my conditions. I see the glass half full increasingly. For a person who is known to be highly critical and skeptical, this is a wonderful change that has naturally come to my life.
For example:
I complained about my work a lot, but what if it is the best job for me for now? What if it is better than other alternatives I may have had should I have made different choices? I may have a stressful patch at work, but it is a meaningful job that allows me to contribute, create, train others, and learn. It also comes with a great salary. Although my salary is eaten up significantly by the taxes and extra taxes, it is still good enough to let me pay my mortgage, have an abundant life, and invest for my future. These may not be as much as I wanted them to be, but when I think that it could have been worse, I can do nothing but appreciate and like it…
The same thing with the city I live in. The economy may not be good and the future does not looks prosperous here, but it is a small and safe city with a very simple life. What if it could have been worse? Full of crime, traffic, and complications? I am indeed lucky to be living here.
Thus, I may have been going through a hard time, but it could have been much worse. I am grateful for realizing this.
6. I am grateful for being kind to myself.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for eating better, drinking kefir, eating fruits, cooking healthy food, and baking my own bread
I appreciate myself for seeing the positive out of the negative, even though it may not be visible at the beginning
I appreciate myself for exercising my right to say “no” the other day and having no negative feelings about it, which says that it was the right thing to do
I appreciate myself for taking time to relax this evening after days of non-stop work
I appreciate myself for getting excited about my plan to shop next Saturday
I appreciate myself for exchanging nice words with someone I know and feeling elated about it
I appreciate myself for working on my issues; I know I am angry deep down. I will find out why and I will release it
I appreciate myself for mentally supporting myself when I feel like things are too much and I cannot handle them
I appreciate myself for being ready for a busy work day tomorrow. I know what I will do and I am confident that I will do well
After an anxiety-filled and psychologically turbulent week, I am feeling a lot better now (and for now). This is a blessing and contributing factors are the followings:
1. I am grateful for my past experiences that helps me with understanding the causes of the anxiety and tackling it.
2. I am grateful for my family and the blogging friends being supportive during this difficult time.
3. I am grateful for the warm weather that makes my life a little bit easier.
4. I am grateful for seeing some plants and flowers still being alive in the yard. It is amazing how resilient they are during winter. It gives me hope that despite the estimations that they would be dead now because of the snow and freezing conditions, some of them still survive. I shall too survive this time and the future ones to come.
5. I am grateful for eating better lately, which makes me feel like at least I am good at taking care of myself.
6. I am grateful for donating a number of items to a charity. I had had collected them from home in the last one year and now almost all of them are gone to be enjoyed by other less fortunate individuals. What a blessing.
7. I am grateful for buying drawer organizers yesterday and seeing that they do their job very well. Now my measuring cups and utensils are in different containers and my drawers are well organized. What a difference they make in how I feel about myself and my life!
8. I am grateful for treating myself with little indulgences; a small bar of chocolate yesterday and another two today. Knowing that I care about myself, try to release some of the pressure off my chest, and support myself is great.
9. I am grateful for shopping yesterday and today. It gave me a much needed mental break from the issues. I also purchased lovely items that I would need, coffee being one of them 🙂
10. I am grateful for having the day to myself and so far having a more or less pleasant day and feelings.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for caring myself.
I appreciate myself seeing the positives after negative experiences.
I appreciate myself for being open about my current anxiety and stress.
I appreciate myself for constantly trying to do good and feel good.
I appreciate myself for functioning well despite the mental clutter, stress, and feeling anxious.
I appreciate myself for cooking and baking healthy food.
I appreciate myself for surrounding myself items/furniture etc. that are all either useful and needed, or loved and appreciated.
I appreciate the fact that I donate to charity whatever I am done with and in usable condition.
I appreciate myself for not further pressurizing myself with my own expectations.
I appreciate myself for keeping a clean and well organized home that gives me a sense of peace and accomplishment.
I appreciate myself for taking time to reflect upon, identify, and write all of these great things here.
My recent bout of feeling anxious and down has several causes I can think of. One of them is the re-prioritization of extensive work in the last 7 months of my life; I worked day and night and with great intensity. I have undertaken new roles, new projects, and faced lots of issues to deal with. I have been trying to grow and get stronger professionally. That meant giving my own emotional and physical health a lower priority and some parts of the jobs the same.
Right now what I am feeling is lack of control over my work and personal life. My mind keeps presenting me scenarios of negative outcomes, one being failure. Anxiety I am feeling is real.
I find some level of serenity by facing the issues, realizing what happened and why happened, and getting back to my past experience to predict for the future. My issues are the ongoing neglect on the other parts of my professional and personal life that if not handled soon can create negative outcomes; the reason they have happened is because of the toxic and negative work environment that pushed me to work at a high level continuously and the need to deal with this stress with unhealthy habits or food; and my past experiences tell me that this too will pass if I handle things well now, re-prioritize things in my life, be kind to myself, and the anxiety I feel is often an alarming but useful reminder of these changes.
I may be a control freak and I have no shame in telling this. My job requires a good deal of control for a high quality work, so maybe I am well cut for it. Maybe it makes me this way – who knows?
It is well known that in my line of work, there are many pressures that we need to deal; internal or external. Nothing new to me. I will take one thing at a time. Some things need to be dropped. Other things need to be started. I cannot prioritize my personal life yet, but I will start with controlling the work first (obviously it is very important for me) stating with neglected parts of it, starting tomorrow.
I may also ask for help. My mental health is important to me. If this goes on for a period of time, I will be speaking to a doctor.
In the middle of all of these reflections, I keep wondering how that life-work balance works for everyone.
I am feeling kind of anxious and down. My best remedy is, as usual, remember the people, things, and experiences that I am grateful for. So, here it goes:
1. I am grateful for being healthy and well. I am safe, I have a job, and I have financial abilities. My emotions may be over-whelming right now, but I know from my past experience that eventually my anxious thoughts are trying to help me correct or remember things, and my future acts and experiences, thus, are going to be better.
2. I am grateful for talking to my family and their well-being.
3. I am grateful for cooking a large pot of bean meal today. I love beans! They are hearty and tasty. My freezer have 5 containers of bean meal that will be consumed in the coming weeks. It is a peace of mind to know that I have home-made meal to be consumed later.
4. I am grateful for the weather being chilly but not extremely weird. It is winter alright; with snow, cold weather, lots of high winds, and some sunlight in between. I predict that in May we will have a better weather and all these will be over. 4 more months of this… is.. manageable.
5. I am grateful for baking a wonderful loaf today 🙂 I have more than enough bread to keep me going the entire week.
6. I am grateful for feeling what I feel, however un-pleasant it may be, and going through the turbulence. I know that I am at the eye of the thunder, but this too shall pass.
7. I am grateful for all the food I have at home. I am abundant and well cared for. What a blessing.
8. I am grateful for watching a funny show. It feels good to be paying attention to something positive and have a laughter every once a while.
9. I am grateful for being warm and cozy at home.
10. I am grateful for today being Sunday so that I can use the day to deal with my emotions and emotional turbulence. Tomorrow is another day.
11. I am grateful for tomorrow being a work day so that I can focus my mind into new and fresh topics.
12. I am grateful for wanting to resign but deciding not to. What am I gonna do if I resign? Finding a job is not easy and financial strain will be too much. I pray that there will be better days ahead and my mind will cool down. I know I am not calm or well right now. The last 7 months have been very busy and stressful. I prioritized work more than my own personal well being. In addition, I prioritized a part of my job over others. Now it is time to pay attention to other parts. I feel like if I can control the work better, I can control my personal life easier. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am right. Only the time will show. In the mean time, all I can do is to keep doing my best, be smart, and keep my nerves cool. Wish me luck.
13. I am grateful for realizing that I am not well emotionally. I will use this realization as a start point to pamper myself and find solutions to the situation.
14. I am grateful for having this option to vent out here. Facing the adversary and acknowledging it is the first step to solve issues. I believe in it.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for trying; trying to keep my head above the water and trying to face my feelings
I appreciate myself for working, even though that means I work at the weekends and late nights. At least I am functioning and my professional performance is good
I appreciate myself for getting tired of working at home, which is productive but also causing some kind of social isolation. Hope to fix this soon
I appreciate myself for eating healthy food
I appreciate myself for having past experience that helps with identifying issues and their root causes, as well as mechanisms to deal with them
I am in the 10th day of my paid holidays. I have done what I planned to do during this time; did not work or think about it, cleaned and decluttered my home, and interacted with my family always everyday.
One things I have not done is to reflect on 2017, my experiences and having a closure on both the issues and the exciting developments. Each year I have done this, with some success being appreciated, sour points surfacing, and some important lessons learnt along the way. When these doors are closed, there open doors for a fresh year ahead. Overall, it is a healthy exercise.
This does not mean that I cannot reflect right here and right now:
I have had an interesting 2017. I worked really hard especially in the last 6 months of the year, mostly from home. It stressed me but also made me create new ideas, projects, and reports. No day was wasted. I can say that I made an extraordinary effort to turn things around at my professional life. Whether they will turn out to be fruitful is to be experienced in 2018. So, there is hope there 🙂
I have become more assertive and said “no” at work a couple of times. I am looking for many such occasions in 2018, which will be an interesting experience to come. Hope I can do this well.
I have not visited my family this year, which was hard on all of us. We have differences and lack of communication when comes to certain feelings, but I am hopeful that we will continue to have more open communications in 2018. After all, there is nothing more important than my family and their well-being. I just wished I could support them better. I feel limited and incapacitated in this regard, bu who knows maybe in the new year I will be able to change things for the better. I am hopeful.
On the personal side, on the general I have done well with my finances and savings. It was a golden year. But I do not wish money to be my most important focus this year. There are people (like my family) and myself that deserve a much better appreciation and care.
I took time off and stayed in a European city for 5 days, mostly spent with working or dealing with the cold I had got at that time. It was interesting to see how I would deal with things under unusual circumstances.
I have had my nerves fried as a result of hard-work and it has been venting out lately. So one other benefit of the holidays time off for me. I just wished it did not affect others around me, especially my family. We are trying to find a common ground on communicating better, which is very pleasing. I love my family.
And I realized how brave I was because since July I am also transitioning to gray hair. I do not like looking “that old“. This is exactly how I feel. Old. Not wise, not aged well, but old. I keep thinking “when did I passage to this age?” Life is fast if we do not stop every once a while and re-evaluate our lives and choices. I have come to this conclusion many times lately. This must be exactly what they mean by the middle age crises. I am right in the middle of it.
These being said, I am aware that a day, December 31st of each year, is not the only day that we can reflect, celebrate, appreciate, change, or improve things as we wish.
Maybe that was the reason I have not particularly reflected this year until now.
Somethings just change by themselves. I welcome this.
It turns out today was a paid holiday for me 🙂 Can I be more uninterested in my employee rights? 🙂
Anyways; I went to office and worked with a team member of mine till noon. I then cleaned the office and looked out of the window to register the fact that I was now starting an off time without much of an obligation….. What a great opportunity to feel free… I just cannot feel it yet, though…. I hope it will occur soon.
I then went to visit two thrift stores. If I remember correctly this is what I had done last year as well – start the holidays with something exciting like thrifting! I found two shirts, a lovely long and soft cardigan, and a new backpack. Altogether they costed me around 28 bucks. One of my most expensive thrift store haul, but then the items are in great condition and the backpack is so cool that I cannot believe how lucky I have been to find it 🙂
While yesterday I had felt pretty excited about Friday (start of time off from work for 10 days), this morning I woke up feeling kind of sluggish.
I, as usual, went to office, had two meetings and came back home to finish work at around noon, but I got overwhelmed again; there is so much to do – some I want to do, some I must do, and some just appears out of nowhere. My blood tension increased again I guess.
In the last 6 months, this is the second time I have had my blood pressure increasing. Both are stress related. Both stresses are related to work.
I want to feel good.
I am increasingly noticing the things I like and things I do not like. These will be my compass to re-organize my life and work in the coming year.
For example;
I dislike doing others’ works
I dislike pressuring emails or words
I dislike not being appreciated
I dislike people not knocking my door before waltzing in my office
I dislike people not doing their parts and leaving me on the limbo or with more work
I dislike the sacrifices from my time and energy and work I feel like I must do to protect my team members and to move our projects
I must change.
I like shopping
I like planning for shopping
I like saving money from sales or use of loyalty points
I like trying new hobbies, such as jamming, pickling, and bread making
I like thrift store visits and hunts
I like being abundant and able
I like walking and feeling energized
I like reflecting and progressing
I like being in a clean and decluttered environment
I like supporting people in need
I like looking at my fridge and pantry and realizing how much I have
I like reading a decent book
I like watching a nice movie
I like being excited about daily and little things; whether it is walking, taking the bus, or being resourceful
I will work on limiting what I do not like and enriching my life with what I like in the coming year.
I have three more days to go and then I will be free for 10 days!!
Freedom is something that I really cherish I guess. Just yesterday I was feeling like if I did not have to go to work today, I would have stayed up late and watch a movie. Three more days and I will have this freedom for 10 days 🙂
I thought I was exhausted last week, but this monday I woke up feeling better and having a clear mind. Things did not look so bad to me, so I am working and keep going. There will be many things that I had planned to finish that will remain undone, but some other stuff are being done. Like today we have finalized a document for a team member – she was joyful, and so was I 🙂
I plan to finish cleaning and declutter my office on Friday, my traditional activity right before the holidays. What a beautiful plan 🙂 I think after this I will go for shopping or visit a thrift store or two. A nice start to the holidays.
All of us deserve to feel light and good about ourselves and the coming opportunities. I hope all of you out there have great plans, positive anticipations, and wonderful smiles on your face.
We are looking at a lovely Saturday again and I cannot help but take my time to enjoy my coffee and the hope that the day may bring 🙂
I woke up early today which helps with my “taking time” routine. When there are enough hours in front of us, it is easier to relax, is it not?
I have a number of things to do today and I was thinking whether having lots of things to do is a good or a not-so-good idea. At one hand it helps me with boredom (what am I gonna do if there is nothing scheduled?) and on the hand hand it also makes me feel like rushing to start and complete things. Good kind o f stress? I will leave it to you to decide.
Our weather forecast says that we will have a snow storm or something like this today. Canada has been embracing an early winter the way I know and I am not surprised that our shoveling season will be open as of today. Nevertheless, I keep thinking that we would usually not get snow until after January, except last year we have had a couple of snow days in December. I got to remember that through a post of mine from last year – how wonderful that is? Our blogs are serving as a great memory books for us. At least for me. What a magnificent tool.
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I think I just completed 3 years with this blog. What a great evolution I have had; I wrote poems, short stories, ranted, shared great news, reflected a lot, started bread, pickle, and jam adventures all in front of your eyes. I have also got to know some of you through your posts and interactions at the comments area. I learnt, I got inspired to change/improve, and I laughed and sometimes I cried with you. Virtual communities exist and change us in many ways.
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Now it is time for me to start cleaning the home and hopefully start the pickling and jamming 🙂 I will be trying strawberry marmalade today from frozen fruits and I cannot wait to see how it will turn out 🙂
I woke up feeling a little bit lost thinking that my life priorities need to change and I should re-prioritize what are important.
For my entire life, my work was prioritized mostly because I love what I do (mostly).
In the last 3 years or so, I prioritized my personal and financial health over work a little bit after I purchased my home: I was not highly successful in terms of personal health (I had a lower back problem that ended me in the emergency, which still acts time to time; I have not lost the extra weight I am carrying around even though I am 5-10 pounds lighter than 5 years ago; and I have not been consistent about eating a variety of food every week). But I was more consistent with the financial planning, frugal spending/budgeting, and savings.
The last 6 months, I became agitated by the toxic work place and all the pressures. One solution to overcome this feeling was working more (irony, is it not? 🙂 ). So I worked almost non-stop since the beginning of July. I feel tired, stressed, and somehow more accomplished. Sadly, working hard and stress also means eating junk and getting lazy and not walking as much as I would. Also not saving as much as I would.
Thus, I realized this morning that sometime setting priorities do not work and we may not be able to keep up with all of them at the same time. It does not mean we cannot try. It just means that realistically it may not be possible and that can be okay.
In other words, I forgave myself for eating junk food! 🙂
Joking.
I forgave myself for changing priorities and not sticking up with the most important one.
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I know that my traditional annual reflection time (aka holidays ) is coming and it is only natural to realize these now that we are close to it.
For 2018 I would like to prioritize my health and well being, work, and family; they go hand-to-hand. Financial plans will be my least of priorities this year. This does not mean that I will not be budgeting and aiming to save; just reminding myself what is important more.
Family cannot be prioritized enough. We as mortals are here for this moment and may not be the next one. What $ and work can replace the people we love? They will be on top of my list.
I enjoy not having a chronic disease, but who knows what will happen next year? Probability of having one increases with each age. Thus, I will care about my eating, exercise, and lower back as much as I can.
And work? I can continue to work but maybe a little bit less intense and more effective. What I need is a way to control my feelings and find a venue to vent them out and clarify my mind. The yoga classes offered close to my home always relaxed me, yet looks like they also exacerbated my lower back problem. Goodness knows, I want to start again to feel that way. I wonder whether there are programs designed specifically for people like me having back problems? One thing to check.
I have had interesting times lately. I was tired, stressed, and almost exhausted. But then things moved, issues understood, and most importantly I realized my own stamina and the importance of small things in life that attract my attention and give me joy 🙂
1. I am grateful for walking this morning to the office. I missed the bus literally by 30 sec and thought I would just walk. It was windy and chilly, but walking gave me a chance to clear my mind and feel good about life as a whole.
2. I am grateful for going thru the meetings without losing my cool and already thinned nerves.
3. I am grateful for shopping this evening and purchasing frozen berries 🙂 I will be making marmalade with them. I want to do this this weekend but I want to also wait for the canning kit I ordered so that I an start using the kit and water can the jars. I will see how I feel this weekend.
4. I am grateful for walking in the afternoon without difficulty. It feels good to return back to my regular walking routine. It is healthy, free, and quite an accomplishment for a lazy person like myself 🙂
5. I am grateful for tomorrow being Friday! Three more meetings to go through and then the weekend will be here 🙂 I plan to slow down next weekend, only finish the ends and bits and welcome the free time after that.
6. I am grateful for the fresh produce I bought today. I want to cook a couple of dishes this weekend so that I can eat better in the coming days.
7. I am grateful for the frozen meals I have eaten yesterday and today. I had a beautiful soup yesterday and a bean meal today; I had cooked and frozen them sometime ago. It is such a great pleasure to be able to eat home-made food when I am busy.
8. I am grateful for all the socks and clothes that keep my body warm and sound during the cold temperatures.
9. I am grateful for having money at the chequing account that enables me to afford what I need.
10. I am grateful for trusting life and take it as it is sometime.
11. I am grateful for liking to try new hobbies, like jamming and canning, and sharing the food with friends and neighbours.
12. I am grateful for having the night to myself – no distraction and all peace 🙂
13. I am grateful for the internet, my computer, and TV that make my life enjoyable and time passing fast.
14. I am grateful for the three little jars that one of my colleagues gave me. They are cute and cute and cute 🙂 It is one of these little things in life that makes me joyful and excited 🙂
15. I am grateful for being healthy and safe.
16. I m grateful that my family is doing well and they are healthy and safe too.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate the fact that I am generous with my team members and friends
I appreciate the fact that I decided to prioritize my financial needs this year
I appreciate the fact that I have become more self-sustaining with my new canning interest
I appreciate the fact that I walked today twice
I appreciate the fact that I keep my sanity despite what have happened at the work-place lately; re; pressure of keeping our positions, increasing our work load, and demoralizing atmosphere
I appreciate the fact that I decided to undertake less of others’ work in the coming years and prioritize my own time for my own work
I woke up tired and with a puffy face, but the rest of the day moved on without much of a trouble between four meetings. I am done 4 out of 15 meetings scheduled this week and this feels good 🙂
Meetings are supposed to be beneficial. I always try to get at least one thing that will benefit the rest of the meeting attendees or myself. I have had it today as well. Hence, my consciousness is clear; I have done my best and exercised the regular practice of gaining something out of the meetings. But goodness knows, it would be much better if we did not have meetings for everything. Honestly this year meetings (on the average 13 hours a week and lately even 25 hours a week) got the best of me; I need time to do my work out of meetings as well. I know I am not the only one who thinks this way.
Two things that soothe my nerves are;
1) I decided to not focus on relaxing when I am stressed, and rather decided to focus on being smart. I know I have a hard time relaxing so imposing on myself to relax did not serve me well till now. I am shifting my perception and rather would like to try being smart; behave in a way that will work for everyone and keep the emotions out of things (so that I will not have my occasional bursts during the meetings if I am pressurized – it does not benefit anyone). The plus side is that I do not argue with myself whether I am smart or not. I am smart. So right away I feel like I have the necessary foundation to handle things well. This is quite a progress on my account. Hope I will be able to walk this talk.
2) We are getting close to the off time. From next Friday on, we will have a 10 days off with two days in between being a non-paid vacation time. I plan to work at that time and this is not a issue for me. I often benefit these quiet times at the office. For me, the most important thing is to be away from the pressing issues and my regular work routine. I will be happy to work during these two days. Other than this, you know I am looking forward to the last week of December; I will be shopping, cleaning my home, decluttering massively, and attending socials if the opportunity arises. Add on top of these being away from the work routine and you know that I will have a great time!
Looking forward to sharing my happy and excited experiences during the holidays.
I have been to a short trip yesterday for work and it has gone well. I made new connections, made a great presentation, got people interested in what I was to say, and enjoyed a number of meals and long walks in a city that was surrounded by water. Island cities can be really magnificent.
I was very tired physically prior to this trip but I returned back replenished. My mind particularly. This change has been great to my fried nerves. Hence, I woke up feeling better and with a shoother mind. Things look a lot positive and lovely now 🙂 The lesson learnt is to take breaks if we can and focus our minds to different things on the face of adversary. I know this very well theoretically; I am a difficult learner, but I hope one day practice will make it perfect 🙂
Now I have a lovely day in front of me with no activity scheduled. I need to go shop a little bit, which would mean walking. I have neglected walking lately because of the pressing deadlines, but I will take this opportunity today to re-gain my love for walking. I am kind of reluctant right now, but I know I will find it great once I start, so as soon as I finish this post I will put on my walking shoes, grab my shopping tote, take myself out to street. I am sure the crisp air will make me delighted.
I have been thinking; without taking new challenges, growth is stalled. Why do I not look at the problems as challenges and see how I learn and grow?
Taking issues as challenges will be my #5 topic to reflect during the reflection season (aka holiday season).
I have been dealing with a lot of issues all my life, both at work and at my social life. I yesterday mentioned about “liking my comfort zone” in the last few years. It is somehow related to this.
I have many work-place issues that I constantly try to solve. Little, big does not matter. They are constantly occurring. There are times that I am free of them, which are blessing. Naturally when one appears after such a period of comfortable time period, I react negatively.
I will try to take it easy next time. Next week I have an important meeting that can change things for me. I trust life. As long as I keep my cool, it is gonna be fine. I suspect that I will have to make a hard choice after this meeting, but it is possible that this choice is the better one. I must trust life. I must trust the unknown.
I will then decide with a soother and more rational mind.
This has been something I have been keep visiting but never fully committed to:
#4 topic for reflection during the holiday season for me is to take more risks. Being more bold. Doing things differently or doing different things.
I have had a tendency to move around my comfort zone, both at work and at life in the last few years. This past 6 months I somewhat moved into two new fields at work. It has been a bold step that was hard on me (too much stress and too much of a hard work), but it also helped grow me. Being interested in new topics, challenging myself, and then producing things/reports/projects that look really good gives a huge satisfaction. I would like to keep growing this way at work. Who knows; maybe I will even change my work 🙂
As per my life and life-style, I need to apply a similar mind-set. The trouble is that as I age, I find that I need/enjoy more of stability and less of challenges. Social interactions would be one example – I am getting more and more enjoying a solo life and limited social interactions than before. Good? Bad? I do not know. But this might be one area to challenge myself.
Another area may be changing my style. This past weekend I wished I had worn dresses 🙂 Would that not be amazing? With proper leggings/pants, summer or winter I may be able to enjoy this new style. I think it will be just fine together with my new (naturally silvery, pepper and salt hair) 🙂
Goodness knows, maybe I will even go out to musicals or concerts 🙂
Being more assertive is my #3 topic to tackle this year during my reflection season, aka, holiday season.
As I age I found that I got more understanding and tolerant. While these are great qualities, they are not always great. Sometimes we must sit back, evaluate, and then say no. Whether it is our own ego’s or somebody else’s request, it does not matter.
This past year particularly I have had a number of experiences with my colleagues and work-place management where I was literally taken advantage of and burdened with extra work and ridiculous requests. Since winter I have been distancing myself from such a colleague and I still need to handle another one. Also, for some time now I have been asking questions and not saying yes to everything my management asks me to do. Hear me my fellow bloggers and do not sign anything before you absolutely sure to understand. There is so much sneaky management tricks that may fool you, especially if you are like me and tend to trust. Consult your union, knowledgeable people around you, or a lawyer. This is real.
So I have had some progress in this area and I know that I will keep going until all becomes manageable. There is more to be learnt and I am looking forward to it.
I kind of started doing my traditional holiday reflections today; I am early this year 🙂
Anyways.
#2 topic for reflections during holidays will be my life.
In the last few years my main personal interest was to have a more frugal but enriched and simple life. I have done a good progress in this.
Life goes on and years pass fast. While I am busy with work and trying to control my finances, many other aspects of my life are neglected. One important thing would be my family. Other important thing would be my health and emotional well-being. It is time that I realize as I get old, things that I can do get limited. What is important forme in the remaining years of my life? I must find this out.
This year, I would like to remove money out of my main focus and rather concentrate on these under-served areas in my life. I know that I enjoy simple and frugal life and being resourceful. If I focus on these, I know that financial stability will follow. It is a shift in perspectives. Hopefully this will work out well.
Additionally I want to have a healthier and stronger body and mind. I missed my weight-training exercises and leisure walking. I missed my push-ups at home and exercises that help strengthen my lower back. Maybe I would care my eyes better; since I keep working and reading, I wear my glasses all the time. This is not good – my vision is negatively affected. I lost some weight in the last year and I can keep doing this by focusing on it. My aim would be to lose another 10 pounds. This is not a huge amount, but can take significant effort. I will see how it goes.
Also I want to keep developing new interests and abilities. Lately it has been pickles and marmalade. What will be the next interest of mine? Will I start writing that book finally this year? Is this my next project? Will I start a side-kick, an additional source of income this year? Will I start or undertake something with a significant impact on not only my life but others? Is it my time to start being an advocate?
What will happen to my work, though. Without the stability it gives me, none of these seems like a possibility. I am seriously fed up with the environment and the responsibilities I have. Maybe I should keep looking for work elsewhere? Other positions? What would it be? Where?
I feel like my life will reach a tipping point this coming year.
I need to protect my time better at the office and let others do their work. Not me. I repeat, I should not be doing others work.
Period.
Since last July I have done well preserving my energy to mostly my own work. That costed me my 5 weeks of annual leave being spent at home working hard to do my own work. What a ridiculous situation… I still do not know whether I should be laughing or crying over this.
On the positive side, however, it is good that I have realized this and prioritized my work and performance over other colleagues’.
During the holidays you know I like to reflect to improve things in my life. This will be area #1 to further improve.
Every year I would be very excited about this. Except this year I have not come to that point yet.
See, I have been working non-stop since July and it kind of became a daily habit. Today I have submitted an important report, a third one in the last 6 months (which is very productive). I must be excited and relieved, but not yet, I see. I think it is because I have a short trip to make this week for business and I have some more deadlines/tasks to complete in the next few weeks. I should not be complaining that I am still on the “work” gear – it is very useful for me and my work. I just wished my mind was rather focused on the 10 days of off time, start making plans, and get excited about them 🙂
I kind of think that two weeks later I will start slowing down. This would mean wrapping the little works, making and documenting projects for the new year ahead, and finally cleaning the office for once and best. this would mean dusting it, putting aside all the paperwork, or better yet dumping all in the garbage. It is my favorite thing to do at the office! What a great closure to a year of hard-work 🙂
And as per the off time, my plans are more or less the usual; clean the every bit of the house, especially the floors; declutter nice and easy; donate the unwanted/unneeded items; shop and get stuff that I need, socialize with friends; read a book or two (have not done this for some time – it is the time that I get the pleasure of reading again); thrift; sew a piece or two; and reflect.
I have lots to reflect this year. As per work many things happened, first demoralizing/toxic organizational things and then the hard-work I have been doing since July. I have had three trips this fall (including the short trip I will make this week) and the one in Athens was particularly memorable. Also, I am getting used to my gray hair and do not even care about it anymore (what a strange thing that is….).
After celebrating and noting cherishable memories and experiences, it will come to this : “What do I want to change or improve then?”
1. I am grateful for pampering myself in this long and tiring period of hard-work. I eat food my body craves for, I keep myself warm and cozy, and I make my daily life as comfortable as possible.
2. I am grateful for the snow we have had today! The first real snow of the year, which is always delightful to watch. The slow fall of the flakes, the white sky, trees, and roofs, and the need to drink a cup of hot tea. Magnificent! (remind me these in three months when I will be completely fed up with it 🙂 )
3. I am grateful for two productive meetings today. One of them motivated a team member of mine and the other myself. I had asked for a favor from a colleague of mine and she did it during this meeting. I feel awesome 🙂 She was great really.
4. I am grateful for receiving the garbage collection schedule for the new year in the mail. It will help me remember to leave my garbage and recycle bag out on exact dates.
5. I am grateful for the new cardigan I got from the thrift store this weekend! It is a lovely piece, very soft and cozy, and keeps me warm. Come to think about it, this past year I almost renewed half of my wardrobe by purchases from thrift stores. They did not cost me a lot of money, they were fun to look for, and a delight to use. I feel lucky 🙂
6. I am grateful for working at home and finishing up a report. It is due Monday and I think I have done really well. I had decided to draft it just 4 weeks ago, immediately after another big report. I was tired and exhausted then, but was also motivated to start this one because of its benefits. I have got quite a support from my colleagues and superiors who have seen its draft form. These make the time and energy spent on this report just fine 🙂
7. I am grateful for my elbow feeling better thanks to physiotherapy. I never thought that it would be so beneficial considering that I waited like 5 months after the initial injury. Human body is a miracle and medicine is awesome 🙂
8. I am grateful for tomorrow being Friday! I have only one meeting in the morning and the rest of the day I am free to finish small tasks and maybe go visit a thrift store. After all, I feel like I have deserved this break and the excitement to see all bunch of diverse items and clothes. Have you ever thought why we can find more diversity in thrift stores than regular retail stores? Very interesting.
9. I am grateful for being interested in life and work, although the latter has been getting on my nerves a lot lately. While the work place has been toxic, I found an opportunity to engulf myself in productive work rather than resentment. This feels like a good luck to me.
10. I am grateful for my computer, internet connection, and everything else I have that make my life comfortable and enjoyable.
11. I am grateful for being grateful.
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Things that I appreciate myself for today:
I appreciate myself for working hard and seeing the benefits of it, even though my nerves seem to be on the edge
I appreciate myself for keeping a simple and abundant life
I appreciate myself for saving and investing for my future
I appreciate myself for stretching
I appreciate myself for liking and getting excited about little things in life
I worked a lot this evening and as a result I am feeling hyper now 🙂 Does that happen to you, too?
I am used to work till late, especially lately. It makes me tired and less thinking the itsy bitsy stuff, so actually I love sleeping well and not over-thinking during these intense work periods. Nevertheless, I am kind of annoyed tonite and am looking forward to winding down and relaxing.
While I sleep longer and deeper lately, interestingly I also dream more. Last night I have had two dreams, one about a little child that I met last weekend. He was one of these really kind and lovely kids. I felt quite an affection and protective feelings toward him.
Meeting with him made me think – should I have had kids?
Having a child has never been a real wish for me; it was partly because i was not married and was very busy with my work/career/life struggles. When I met this child, I kind of felt like I should have had kids. The love and affection I felt was awesome really.
Then I remembered what an anxious type of a person I was and what a control freak of a mom I would turn into should I have a child. I know from a friend of mine that when you become a parent, anxiety related to the kids’ welfare, wellness, and happiness become the most important thing for you. It would not be something I could easily master or move on. That is a sad truth.
Or maybe I could. There are millions of parents on earth and some of them must have personality like me. So, if others can manage it, so can I. why not? Right?
Adoption is always a choice. In the past, once or twice I have had considered it and eventually ruled out. Not that I would not like it. But because as a single person I did see it as a difficult task to take. I know from years back a single woman who adopted a lovely girl. She had a busy career as well, but did excellent with motherhood. I wish I had kept contact with her so that I could get an insider’s opinion/experience on adoption and child care.
Sometimes life is brutal I guess. I know what I have become has been shaped by my past choices. if only I was 20 years younger, perhaps I could make different choices.
That reminded me a new year eve 7-8 years back. I had that very strong wish to actually go back in time and re-start my life 10 years earlier. I had a lot of regrets and naiveness around me then. What if stories were true and one could move back in time?
I have a similar, albeit not as strong, wish today to go back and re-start my adult life. I wish we had not lost certain things in life, like our youth. I wish we could have better choices. I wish we lived our lives differently…
Logically I know whatever life I have right now is the best. There is no going back to certain things, abilities, experiences. I am old enough to know that whatever happens, it must be better than a less desirable outcome.
Today, I want to believe in this more than most other times.
First of all; I have not worked this weekend 🙂 A first in the last 6 months or so. I am still tired but my spirit is high, so all is well 🙂
Second of all; I baked my first corn bread and it was delicious – that is so exciting! I can bake it of my guest as well 🙂 I feel like my baking and cooking skills are significantly improved by this dish… I love this feeling 🙂
Third of all; I thrifted today after a long time. I spent hours going through everything with excitement. I tried on maybe 30 pieces and bought three; one blouse that I was hoping to find (I have its exact same copy, which I love, love, love! I was hoping that I could find a similar one so that I could wear it for a longer time. Today my dreams came true 🙂 ). I also bought two good-looking cardigans that i am sure I will wear with love. A very good day indeed 🙂 I plan to thrift next weekend too.
Fourth of all; I cooked multiple meals for me this weekend, which is awesome. I usually would refrain from cooking or cook one meal to last 2-3 days, but not this weekend. How lovely is this? 🙂
Fifth of all; I found a great deal on my favorite french press and ordered it 🙂 It is expected within a week or so and I could not be happier 🙂 I literally got it 75% off.. WOW! It is good that I have waited so long. Jack pot!
Sixth of all; I re-started push ups and back exercises to help ease my back problems and strengthen my arms, chest, and abs. My muscles are aching – that means my exercises are effective. I am happy with this!! 🙂
Seventh of all; yesterday I used loyalty points for a large amount of shopping (like a hundred bucks) to purchase personal care and cleaning products. I found all items I was looking for and I only bought things that I will use or need. So every point/dime was used for a good purpose and no waste! 🙂
Eighth of all; I am feeling good and lucky with all these positive experiences and this makes me relaxed and happier 🙂
