Taken at Quarry Rock, BC
I give you a quick conclusion at the beginning of this post:
At some point in this life, we need to "slow down" and appreciate the present.
You're welcome. But continue reading if you want to dive more into my universe of thoughts.
This is not to encourage you to be slow in life and lazy - no. Many of us had been taught by our parents, our environment, society, etc - to be very good (especially in Asian culture) in everything. People with acceleration seems really cool and we tend to "compete" with their life.
First of all.
I myself am a complicated person, a deep thinker, and a very sensitive human being. When it comes to competition, I am always down and can't stand slowness. Maybe one of my pet peeves is slow people - who can but won't due to their slow/lazy initiative. I can be very annoyed with a person who just spends their days at home doing nothing without any goals, vision, or even life.
Because I believe in dreams and processes. I am a goal-maker, God gave you vision by dreaming first, then you gotta go out, kick your own ass and figure it out. Life is short to just be spent at home doing nothing. I know their lives aren't my business, but it's just annoying. Ok, this is the base.
Well, starting from that point, I grew up so quickly - like literally. You can ask my former coworkers, friends, or anyone who joined me on a project to make something. I am super quick. I want everything to be fast and perfectly done. I hate being slower, stuck, and not knowing how to finish a problem, those things gave me panic attacks and anxiety because I want to be fast! Then lots of thoughts come creeping into my brain:
"I am now more than a quarter of a century, I should be established enough but I ain't!"
"At this age, I have not gotten a lot of saving to support my family, how about the future?"
"I am no longer that young, I should do something as an accomplishment, but what?"
Familiar with those things? Apparently, the "accel" mindset is not only on my work timetable but also happens in my personal life. Little did I know the habit of being fast shapes the way I think more than just working. I am more thinking about what gonna happen in the next 5 years rather than what should I eat for dinner tonight. I care more about who's gonna stay with me in the future rather than enjoying the presence of the newcomers in my life. I save and plan more for future finances rather than give myself a reward for working too hard.
My brain couldn't stand itself from those things and suddenly in the middle of nothing, my brain whispered, "Enjoy your present". I realized that sometimes I missed a lot of the journey beauty while driving to my destination.
I stopped to see through my gallery pictures, moments after moments, were created without turning back. Every second in this life can't be returned the exact way it was. And sometimes I failed to appreciate them because I was busy with the future - too much. Why? Why did you do that? It was not totally wrong to be very sharp with the future but happiness is made of little things that happen every day. Life is a collection of memories, good or bad, not a perfect statue to show off.
At last.
Here in Canada, I was totally alone, with no family and no friends. Then I managed to work in a beautiful mountain, working with a bunch of cool people from around the world.
I learned to enjoy the very moment of my life:
Be chill when the bus was late
Feel the snow melt on my face
Walking with heads up while staring at the stars
Sip my hot coffee in the early the morning shift
Be silly with my girlfriends in the cafe
Fall so many times on the butt while snowboarding
Talk about shitty nonsense that has no purpose
Hike a mountain with a sweaty sweater
Dance like no one is watching
Dress with my most sincere smile
Respect other people even though their view isn't the same
Argue with a friend over a deep topic
Cover my full belly with the thick jacket
Pray while still trying to sleep in my insomnia night
Walk the dog out in the snow
Pee finally after holding for hours on the busy days
Talk nicely to someone rude
Eat testers in the grocery stores when waiting for payday
Dinner with friends after a long tiring day
Not opening social media for more than a day
Eat the same things for three days
Speak a few new phrases from a new language
Be lost and take a random bus to a random place
Get wasted at a party
Joined a conversation with strangers on the train
Do nothing on a day off without feeling boring
Exhale when the manager canceled the shift
Exhale when the manager canceled the shift
Going out with no makeup
Took ugly selfies
Set no alarm for tomorrow
Yawning so big
Yawning so big
Be homesick
Cry hard after a tiring and bad day
Laugh in the next afternoon
still, so many little things happen every day...
and I appreciate them from the bottom of my soul.
The goal isn't to be happy, but content :)
For all of my friends that concerned about making a good life, slow down for your moment, each second is precious, good or bad. Let's collect memories while we are going to our destination, and appreciate the people we're crossing paths with because these all are just temporary.
Chill, because in the end everything will be placed at the right time.
Vancouver, 19 Feb 2019 / 16:28
Hai Gita! Good luck ya disana :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a really beautiful post! And it is so true. Taking time to slow down and appreciate things is so important.
ReplyDeletethe-creationofbeauty.blogspot.com
Really love this post, thank you for sharing your photo! Great shot!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, love it!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. Thanks for sharing. Really had so much reading it...
ReplyDeleteI love the overlooking view
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome post, nice view too!
ReplyDeleteI love the view, so relaxing!
ReplyDeleteNice blog!
ReplyDeleteNot a huge commenter but had to leave a compliment!
Keep it up!