I’ve been reading a lot of motivational things lately. If you know me personally, you know that I’m not a person that reads self-help books a lot, or attend those workshops or necessarily believe in the theoretical versus the actual. I tell people I’m very grounded in reality, which sometimes can come off as cynical. Maybe it’s because of what’s happened to me in the past, or sometimes I’m just being over cautious to the point of paranoid.

I’m trying to see things more positively. I’m trying to be less sarcastic and cynical. There is just too much reality sometimes trying to grind us down to nubs and it’s not helpful being another voice in the chorus of negative Nancies.

So I try now to write down what I’m grateful for the day, or what made me happy even for a second, because every second counts. That quote that says “don’t just add years to your life, but life to your years” isn’t just something that can be brushed off, it’s something to think about. What are we living for anyway? Is it to spend all hours stressing out about things you can’t change, or is it being happy about the things you’ve accomplished? Even if it’s just getting up in the morning, sometimes life can be so overwhelmingly sad that you just want to hide under the covers and not deal with it, getting up can be a big deal. Laughing about a joke your friend made, even if it’s something that you wouldn’t necessarily laugh at. Or looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking “I don’t hate it” is a Yay! moment. 

Life is short, if you don’t pay attention it flies by and you’ve missed the important things. The milestones of people you love. The events that change lives. The opportunity to be with them, even if you have to take the extra step to do so, it’s worth it. Because that can all change in a second and all you’ll have left with is regret.

So let me start your day with a photo that’s made me grateful for a couple days:

This view, and the opportunity I was given to enjoy it, with the music I love and friends I cherish, is something that I am glad to have started the work week with.

What’s your motivation today?

I read somewhere that Steve Jobs said, “Things don’t have to change the world to be important.” I truly understand wanting to change the world, and weirdly, the person who said this has changed how the world sees a phone, but I can truly relate to what he said.

I want to say, change yourself and change your world. It can be as small as changing how you eat breakfast, therefore making you cheerier for work in the mornings, creating more opportunities for friendships to form. The butterfly effect, where the smallest change can change the biggest things.

Your tiny decision of sleeping in five minutes can change the world. Don’t forget that.

But I digress, I was saying about changing your world. Your decisions matter because they’re yours. They change your path, your role in your circle, how things around you work.

When I decided to leave my job of four and a half years, I surprised even myself. It was not a decision I made lightly, and was made over a matter of months through a back and forth deliberation. It was a place I was happier than I had ever been, with people I know it would be the hardest to leave. But I knew in my gut it was the right decision, the voice in my head, the pesky one saying “It’s time to go.” didn’t let up, and when I told the people I reported to, it felt right. Even if it felt devastating. This was where I found family, I found love, I realized here, the idea of job satisfaction and going above and beyond because you cared about the outcome not just for you, but for the company as a whole. It was an amazing company to be with, and I will never let go of the people I’ve come to love from there.

Change, though, beckoned. I needed to breathe. Realize what I wanted long term. What will make me inspired more than the short term, and what I wanted for myself now.

I feel like February ran away from me and now, it being March, life and reality are knocking at my door. It’s time to tick off things I wrote down and make sure I get things in my life squared away. There are so many things on my list that my head feels dizzy on what to start first.

I do know that I want to get my room repaired and repainted by my birthday, as a gift to myself. Does anyone have a carpenter and painter they can recommend? I feel like the change in my “environment” will finally let it sink in that I’m not a Christmas elf anymore. And while that idea is a lot scary, it’s real. (Also my room is falling apart LOL)

So here we go. One step at a time. Change might not always be pleasant, but it works.

What did you change about your world recently?

One thing that I realized after I was looking at old Throwback Thursday posts the other day, is that I’ve been working for 7 years. Seven years! I mean I know I’ve been working for a while, but I didn’t know that seven would pass by so fast. All those hours of clocking in, staring at the screen, running around training, making sure all my to dos are done, really have made me accustomed to the working life, and with my current job, actually find fulfillment in it. I love what I do, and like a bourgeois, 28 year old nerd, I am not afraid to say it.

That said, we do need time away sometimes. A work life balance is something we need to keep sane. To make us realize what we’re really working for, and to get us refreshed, excited, and inspired to do better in our careers.

For me, that’s what Puerto Prinsesa is for. This is no secret. I have been going (almost) yearly since 2007, and it almost feels like home. It’s relaxed, quiet, and fairly affordable. That is to say, you can totally cheap out and spend as little as you want, or do a luxe vacation if you need it.

This is not my point. AS USUAL, I digress. The point is to breathe. Find your place, even if it’s not a beach, or even a whole weekend, just take the time to calm down, catch up with yourself and/or loved ones. Breathe.

And if you find yourself in a place like this:

Count yourself lucky, because I did, and still do.

What do you do to breathe?