Gratitude Journal 2019
This is going to be a yearly thing for me. Today is Oct 24, 2019.
Try to answer these following questions for yourself too.
What's a simple pleasure that you're grateful for?
These past 2 weeks, I felt the need to take 30 mins of alone time at the Starbucks 🧜🏻♀️ near the office. Some days, it's just me, my coffee and my thoughts. Some days, I listen to podcasts coz I want to keep learning and improving myself. The intention is to set myself up in the right mindset 🧘🏻♀️ before I start my day. And to do it right, I "breathe in the blessings and exhale with gratitude" 🙏🏼 before I head back to the office.
What's something that you're grateful to have today that you didn't have a year ago?
I'm definitely not the same person I was last year.
I have a year's worth of challenges I've overcome. 💪🏼 They didn't kill me, so that means I've become a stronger and wiser survivor.
I've gone on several travels ✈️ with friends and family this year and had some good times to add to my memory bank.
I've gained a few more pounds 🐷 than last year which means I've had tons of good meals.
I've had the chance to live another year. #blessed
Write about a happy memory.
So happy and satisfying to tick off some major items on my mom and dad's bucket list.
I was able to take them to Shanghai and Beijing this year and took the G-train 🚊(one of the fastest trains in the world) from Beijing to Shanghai. It was on my dad's bucket list.
I was able to orchestrate to have them travel to Canada 🇨🇦 and USA 🇺🇸 with my best aunt and uncle to visit my 2 other pairs of aunts and uncles and their families. My folks along with my aunts and uncles are not getting any younger. So spending quality time with each other is precious for them. This got ticked off my mom's bucket list. 📝
Write about someplace you've been that you're grateful for.
I'm grateful to get to the state of mind that I am now. 😌
Giving less sh*t with what other people think. The goal is to get to a point when I don't give any sh*t at all. Not in a mad angst-sy way. Just in a mind my own sh*t way. 😁
In times of "crisis" when I usually feel perturbed and frustrated 😤, I can now pause, step back, take a deep breath before I react badly. Well, I was able to pause most times. It's still a work in progress. 😜
Some people in the office even took notice of this change and said so because they expected me to be triggered by some events and was expecting some not-so-good reactions from me but I just seem to be unaffected by them. They don't know how much I came close to pop my lungs taking those deep breaths to avoid my usual bad initial reactions. When asked what has changed, I just replied ... "I learned how to let go of the negative emotions coz it's just gonna kill me." There won't be any shortage of incidences that will frustrate me. So it's either stress is gonna kill me or I learn how to let go. "If it won't matter 5 years from now, then don't spend more than 5 mins being upset by it." Curse like a f*ckin sailor 🤬 while flinging my arms in all directions like a Hindu goddess if I must. But when 5 minutes ... well, 15 minutes or 50 minutes are over, I then force myself to put on a grin like Maleficent and try to move on. Forcing the grin helps to shift my psyche, try it. It'll look scary to other people like Maleficent did but do it anyway.
What's an accomplishment you're proud of?
Getting through the 1st year being a General Manager. People management is f*cking hard! So many egos to navigate around! Including my own big ego that I've been trying to train and rein in. 🙃 Damn if you do, damn if you don't. Why can't I just care a lot less and just do enough to get by? The job is gonna be so much easier that way. Well, because my ego tells me that's not something I can be proud of. 😑
I'm grateful that our big boss recognized all the efforts I've made and all the things I've done for the company the past year that he rewarded me by paying for my plane ticket ✈️ for my trip to China 🇨🇳with my folks. It feels great to be validated. I'll just keep doing what I think is good for the team and hope for the best. 🤞
What's something you're grateful for outside your window/door?
My neighborhood. My ala-Singapore 🇸🇬 crime-free, flood-free, the clean and orderly neighborhood of BGC. It might just be me but I make a sigh of relief when I get off my bus stop 🚌 every end of the day. It feels nice to be in love with this city. 💛
What do you like about your job?
What I like about all the jobs I've had is it's like getting paid to learn. F*ck MBA! I've learned it because I've lived it, I've done it, I've failed at it, I've tried it. I take practical exams every f*ckin day! #schooloflife
What mistake or failure are you grateful for?
On the job, in my wanting to do things now ... I made quick decisions that apparently have a bad impact on one of the teams. And because of that, they don't think I'll think on their behalf. Not good.
I'm grateful that my ego is not so big for me not to see my mistake. I've been trying to earn back their trust. It's not easy coz we have different views. They think they're right, I think I'm right. Lord, please bless us with the wisdom to see it from each other's perspective to make the best decisions. And Lord, please give me patience! Please rain patience on me!
Try to answer these following questions for yourself too.
What's a simple pleasure that you're grateful for?
These past 2 weeks, I felt the need to take 30 mins of alone time at the Starbucks 🧜🏻♀️ near the office. Some days, it's just me, my coffee and my thoughts. Some days, I listen to podcasts coz I want to keep learning and improving myself. The intention is to set myself up in the right mindset 🧘🏻♀️ before I start my day. And to do it right, I "breathe in the blessings and exhale with gratitude" 🙏🏼 before I head back to the office.
What's something that you're grateful to have today that you didn't have a year ago?
I'm definitely not the same person I was last year.
I have a year's worth of challenges I've overcome. 💪🏼 They didn't kill me, so that means I've become a stronger and wiser survivor.
I've gone on several travels ✈️ with friends and family this year and had some good times to add to my memory bank.
I've gained a few more pounds 🐷 than last year which means I've had tons of good meals.
I've had the chance to live another year. #blessed
Write about a happy memory.
So happy and satisfying to tick off some major items on my mom and dad's bucket list.
I was able to take them to Shanghai and Beijing this year and took the G-train 🚊(one of the fastest trains in the world) from Beijing to Shanghai. It was on my dad's bucket list.
I was able to orchestrate to have them travel to Canada 🇨🇦 and USA 🇺🇸 with my best aunt and uncle to visit my 2 other pairs of aunts and uncles and their families. My folks along with my aunts and uncles are not getting any younger. So spending quality time with each other is precious for them. This got ticked off my mom's bucket list. 📝
Write about someplace you've been that you're grateful for.
I'm grateful to get to the state of mind that I am now. 😌
Giving less sh*t with what other people think. The goal is to get to a point when I don't give any sh*t at all. Not in a mad angst-sy way. Just in a mind my own sh*t way. 😁
In times of "crisis" when I usually feel perturbed and frustrated 😤, I can now pause, step back, take a deep breath before I react badly. Well, I was able to pause most times. It's still a work in progress. 😜
Some people in the office even took notice of this change and said so because they expected me to be triggered by some events and was expecting some not-so-good reactions from me but I just seem to be unaffected by them. They don't know how much I came close to pop my lungs taking those deep breaths to avoid my usual bad initial reactions. When asked what has changed, I just replied ... "I learned how to let go of the negative emotions coz it's just gonna kill me." There won't be any shortage of incidences that will frustrate me. So it's either stress is gonna kill me or I learn how to let go. "If it won't matter 5 years from now, then don't spend more than 5 mins being upset by it." Curse like a f*ckin sailor 🤬 while flinging my arms in all directions like a Hindu goddess if I must. But when 5 minutes ... well, 15 minutes or 50 minutes are over, I then force myself to put on a grin like Maleficent and try to move on. Forcing the grin helps to shift my psyche, try it. It'll look scary to other people like Maleficent did but do it anyway.
What's an accomplishment you're proud of?
Getting through the 1st year being a General Manager. People management is f*cking hard! So many egos to navigate around! Including my own big ego that I've been trying to train and rein in. 🙃 Damn if you do, damn if you don't. Why can't I just care a lot less and just do enough to get by? The job is gonna be so much easier that way. Well, because my ego tells me that's not something I can be proud of. 😑
I'm grateful that our big boss recognized all the efforts I've made and all the things I've done for the company the past year that he rewarded me by paying for my plane ticket ✈️ for my trip to China 🇨🇳with my folks. It feels great to be validated. I'll just keep doing what I think is good for the team and hope for the best. 🤞
What's something you're grateful for outside your window/door?
My neighborhood. My ala-Singapore 🇸🇬 crime-free, flood-free, the clean and orderly neighborhood of BGC. It might just be me but I make a sigh of relief when I get off my bus stop 🚌 every end of the day. It feels nice to be in love with this city. 💛
What do you like about your job?
What I like about all the jobs I've had is it's like getting paid to learn. F*ck MBA! I've learned it because I've lived it, I've done it, I've failed at it, I've tried it. I take practical exams every f*ckin day! #schooloflife
What mistake or failure are you grateful for?
On the job, in my wanting to do things now ... I made quick decisions that apparently have a bad impact on one of the teams. And because of that, they don't think I'll think on their behalf. Not good.
I'm grateful that my ego is not so big for me not to see my mistake. I've been trying to earn back their trust. It's not easy coz we have different views. They think they're right, I think I'm right. Lord, please bless us with the wisdom to see it from each other's perspective to make the best decisions. And Lord, please give me patience! Please rain patience on me!
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