💃 Experiences

• Recovering from a major dental surgery. It's my first time to undergo such a procedure and it amazed me with how high my pain tolerance is. I was also able to recover almost fully in the first few days, much faster than what I had expected. This kind of makes me compare it with another metaphor with how I am with life -- I am strong, but the downside with that is that I find it challenging to receive help. However, deep inside, I truly appreciate it when I receive support. I found it important to be able to feel the pain, because it shows where we truly are. Painkillers feel like some kind of shortcut resolution, but actually it just masks and makes the situation worse.

• Learning to buy and consume in moderation. I bought a lot of food pre-procedure, to prepare myself for the soft food diet. However, I think I bought too much. I realized that I didn't have anyone to share this food with me (especially the sweets, because my parents can't eat too much of that). So one lesson I learned from this experience is to buy in moderation since there's the caveat that I would need to eat them all if I buy too many of something.

• Signing up as a VVIP for AWKP. I was always in the lookout for new communities to join, so I decided to subscribe as a VVIP (VurVery Important Pücker). It was an experience. The people were nice and super kalog (which aligns with the branding of the podcast 😁). Maybe my introvert side just got a bit overwhelmed with the energy of the crowd so I was more of a lurker than an active participant in the group. But I really enjoyed playing games with the Direks like those random "Bring Me" games and the Q&A events being held at the VVIP Tambayan channel on Discord.

• Brainstorming on a YouTube channel concept. For the longest time, I wanted to dip my toes into video content creation. Well because let's face it, most people don't read blogs anymore... right? Also for sure, I will be developing indispensable skills during the process. Well, I did a very intensive brainstorming and planned to launch a YT channel during this month. Unfortunately (hehe spoiler alert!), 5 months later as of this writing, I haven't created anything. I have actually decided to scrap this project altogether to prioritize other stuff. So yeah, there's that. But I'm just happy to have done that brainstorming session, because I learned to break down what I really wanted to do, and also I evaluated what I could get out of doing those things. I would surely apply that method in other passion projects that I would be doing in the future.

• Feeling the negative effects of social media. I seldom scroll on my socials, because I always tend to compare myself with others. Guess what, that's what happened during that one time I encountered a post of a friend. I felt that tug in my heartstrings and that heavy feeling on my chest. I knew it was totally wrong to compare myself with anyone really, but I just couldn't help it during that time. However, instead of going that downward spiral of feeling bad because I was reacting that way, I consciously honored those feelings, and validated myself. I allowed myself to feel those emotions, and then I tried to look at the situation in a rational way. I told myself that it was unreasonable to compare myself to that person because:
  
  - Life gave us a totally different set of cards to work with, and
  - This person sacrificed things, unbeknownst to me, in exchange of these wonderful things 
  
  I'm not actually even 100% sure if getting that same thing would really make me happy. And so with those statements, I calmed myself down. I really should stay away from social media. It's not really beneficial for my mental health.

• Having quality time with my parents. Our arrangement at home has slightly changed, and even though we don't explicitly say it, I know they also feel that way. I wanted to do some cheering up so I ordered food and then we all watched a movie together at the sala. I feel grateful especially during these moments because life allowed me to do these things for me and for my family. And my heart is always grateful because of this.

⛰️ Accomplishments / Milestones

🧠Game Changers

💡 Takeaways

•  “When you have confidence, you’ll create more opportunities in your life because you are willing to jump right in and take a risk.” - Toastmasters magazine, June 2022
• Aim to protect your inner peace. ✨
• The kids will be alright.
• Life is fragile, that's why it is precious.
• Let's learn to respect the spirits and energies around us.