Saturday night, coffee bar, laptop, calm piano music, alone.
Yes, it’s time for another self-reflection…
Last couple weeks haven’t given me a chance to put a pause on my feet: working, holiday parties, spending time with fam, and working on different projects in my spare time. I knew I needed to give myself some quiet space, but the end of year was obviously not a good time for that.
It feels like the phrase “Thank you” has been said so many times throughout the year as if it almost lost its original meaning. It’s becoming more of an ordinary expression to mention and less of meaningful appreciation. Maybe “grateful” is the word I’m looking for. It’s not easy to come up with some quiet time to sit down and brainstorm what we are grateful for, but there’s no one to blame on since we are all living in a schedule that’s fulfilled with miscellaneous things. Therefore, I need to take this chance to share some thoughts.
First, I’m grateful for everything that I have: being able to spend time with family, having a job, having friends to talk to and hangout with, being healthy, having some spare time to do the things I love. I may not be a rich man in money, but I think I am a rich man in happiness.
The word “Happiness” has two meanings in Chinese: one is 高兴, meaning you are pleasant and enjoyable; the other one is 幸福, meaning you are satisfied and feeling blessed for what you already have. In either case, I’m happy when the people I love is happy, and it’s always a pleasure to watch the people around me who are living a better life. For example, in the past year, some became a team leader; some found a better job; some created his own business; some graduated from grad school; some travelled to the places he wanted to go; some had great progress from workout; some were engaged; some were married; some had kids, and so on..
In the beginning of 2019, I set some goals for the year. In retrospect, I have accomplished most of them, though some theoretical ones are more difficult to achieve than those practical ones since there’s no specific actions to take to make it happen.
The first goal on my list was to go on a trip with family, which happened in the early of the year. We visited New York: ate some food that’s not easily found here in swfl, went to Asian clubs and had a blast, felt the skyscrapers in Manhattan, and left our footsteps in Central Park, Time Square, Queens, and so on.
Another goal was to love myself more. After the graduation, I managed to travel to SF myself for the first time, surrounded myself with some awesome people, and explored some amazing places that I’d never forget. Also, I had the chance to see snow on the top of the mountain in Denver. It was enjoyable for me because snow has been out of my sight for almost a decade, so it was nice to touch something that can bring me back to childhood memories.
Some other goals include:
- learn how to swim
- try not to stay home on weekends
- meet more new people
- watch sunrise for once (set this goal because I’m not a morning person)
- not sharing negative thoughts with people
- achieve a healthy work-life balance
- take good care of facial skin
- lessen concerns and keep positive
I can proudly say that I have completed all these goals. However, there are two goals on the list that turned out to be a bit too challenging for me. They are somewhat correlated. One is “Learn to manage my mood” and the other is “don’t get mad at those people who are close”. Controlling my mood has always been my weakness. Some potential solutions could be reading or meditation, which has been set as my new goal in 2020.
Year 2019 was so short that I could vividly remember when I set those goals. The only way to slow time down is to utilize it wisely. Unlike TV shows, life has no rehearsal, and every day is live. I would like to end this with some wisdom quotes that I think are very useful and I hope they can be beneficial to you as well.
- Go for the things you love and whatever makes you happy.
- Don’t get defined by other people’s comments.
- Learn to appreciate more about what life brings.
- Talk to wise, funny people more and try to avoid any negative energy.
- Don’t waste too much time on TV shows and social medias because time waits for no one.
- Improve financial management skills, believe me, the result could surprise you.
- Go out and help people because you could be one of them some day.
- Never cease studying.
- Try new things, and challenges if possible because our brain could easily get numbed by the same daily routine.
- Treat people the way you wanted to be treated.
- Less talk, more actions.
- Greatness takes time. So if you have some interesting ideas or goals, go for it and realize that it could take weeks, months, or even years to achieve. And when you want to give up later, think about why you started it.
- Last but most importantly, spend time with family or the close ones when you still can because life is unpredictable.
May your new year be filled with love, success and happiness. Let’s make this journey meaningful and splendid together.
Junshuai Feng 