With my awfully long disappearance from the blogging world, i know inevitably my time has blazed past. My Summer has been busy with house moving. From renovating the new house, to shifting and unpacking of stuff, getting furniture etc, i feel as though my life is like a never-ending to-do list. One after the other. Loads of admin to change addresses, loads of bargain hunting, and more importantly, loads of time being siphoned to be present at the new house being a supervisor, inspector, and coordinator. One type of works after another, proper coordination of deliveries, and timely arrangements of installations which are crucial to avoid any domino effect in house renovation schedule. All these certainly were piling pressures that exerted itself on my daily, otherwise unadorned life.
But YES, thats what also spiced up my life. The never-ending lists of things to do presented itself as unceasing opportunities for learning, constantly challenging my motivation and determination. They remind you how humble you should remain as a person in this world trying to eke out a daily existence. They add flavour into our daily routine activities - how often do you ever concern yourself with the material of your kitchen solid top, or the length of your bathroom mirror? how much do you understand about the nature of floor and wall tiles, the varnishing of wood, and perhaps the specifications of your toilet bowl? And i am very appreciative of that - to be able to get exposure, despite not being very informed about it still. And of course, renovation and house moving do not happen many times in one's life, unless of course money is infinite for you and you love to shift houses.
Besides that, and more ceremoniously perhaps, house moving can signify the ushering in of a new life. Hence my title - renewed and recharged. I need a new life. A life which i have an improved well-being - PERMA (Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement). And i know the root of all these changes have to start within myself. Just like building a tall skyscraper, you would need to prepare the necessary scaffolding and foundations. I think a change in environment is likened to the scaffolding. You need to institute new routines, activities and lifestyle changes to facilitate a change in your life - in this case for a better well-being. Some of these structures i have put in place as for now:
1. Defining places to do certain stuff at home. For e.g. study room just to study, bedroom just to sleep, balcony just to reflect
2. Taking a swim everyday
3. Writing down What Went Well every night before i sleep
4. Treating my house as a recreation resort, 'checking in' into a chalet.
I believe that mental conditioning and proactive exercises are the key to changes. Sometimes just using the mind may not be enough. In 'doing', you get to set up a virtuous cycle where you first reap the benefits of such actions which feed into subsequent motivation to further your doings :)
It's been a week since i started writing What Went Well. Me and a few friends have started on a blog to encourage everyone to share and get inspired by others. Knowing and appreciating things that went well helps us to count our blessings, aid us to feel fulfilled. Humans are always going through ups and downs. Borrowing a professor's words, we need to give ourselves the permission to be human. to have the right to experience the myriad of emotions when subjected to life circumstances. But at the same time, we have to possess the resilience, to be able to cope with them effectively, and rise above occasions. And to do it, we have to create avenues and structures for change by ourselves. No wonder they say everything starts from within.
Indeed, when Magaret Mead said:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has"
Never underestimate the power of the mind and human will :)
