I Am Learning To Juggle

A shift in perspective certainly broadens the way I react to situations. Like any normal being, I am predisposed to negativity and am partial to negative outcomes. I challenged myself to a 21-day grateful diet where I took the time to pay tribute and to express gratitude to events that surrounded my life both the good and the bad. It is a worthwhile exercise.

A week prior to my Washington D.C. vacation with my boyfriend, I was busy meeting contractors during lunch time to get quotes for home remodeling. One contractor came highly recommended by a colleague as she has a good experience with the contractor. To her, he listens and his quote is reasonable. I had a grand plan for my remodeling project, it was almost a makeover for the entire house. Like any first time homeowner, I quickly came to the realization I have to cut back due to cost and practicality. Sadly, I am destined to put my dream of a white french kitchen on hold perhaps until I move in with my boyfriend.

The first contractor has grounded me about my remodeling dreams at the same time, I also realized we don't see things eye to eye. While I appreciated his perspective, he did not grasp  what is important to me in the remodeling project. To him, my project is a pie in the sky. Too frivolous and totally unnecessary. I trimmed my list before meeting the second contractor. I liked his demeanor and overall a good feeling about him for the job. He was referred by my realtor where he has remodeled her client's home. I did not have time to do a referral check and he would most definitely be my plan B. The third contractor,Steve was a referral from my friend, Chris. I picked Steve because of Chris would help me negotiate the quote, Chris has employed Steve to remodeling his rental houses and Steve wants to make things nice and practical at the same time.

While I was on my multiple museum visits, I was also finalizing the renovation quote with Chris. We went back and forth texting about the details.I am glad that we agreed on the price and timing. I am grateful for my boyfriend for being so understanding. I can be difficult and a very difficult person to live with. At the beginning of the vacation, I was lamenting over and over again about the things I have to do and how everything seems to happen at the same time- the renovation, vacation and new opportunities at work. While these are all goodness, I viewed them as chores, mundane to-dos. I could not see things on the bright side. I was so full of myself. I acted foolishly and was such a whiner. It took me a while to realize how fortunate I am to have choices and the ability to do the things I do. These privileges did not fell out of the sky, I had to put a lot of effort to get to this point. It is a nice place to be when there is options.

Also while I was vacationing in D.C., my roommate emailed me to find out about my schedule to move out. Based on his email, it was apparent to me that he has found a place and wants to move quickly. This definitely threw a monkey wrench to my plan. I am beyond furious with him. My first thought is he votes with his penis now that he has a new girlfriend. These days I feel like an intruder in my own home as I have unfortunately overheard his girlfriend loud gasping and moaning during coitus at different hours of the day and night. It is a few times too many. A close friend remarked that if I were a male, I would high five him instead of feeling disgruntled. While sex is a normal part of life, I am not into fraternity lifestyle. Sorry, I digress. Based on our last conversation, he decided not to move with me but to take over the lease for two months more before he decides what to do since he is really busy. With his timing in mind, I plan to move out mid January because I have allocated time delay in renovation and I will be away for Christmas. Now, I have to bring forward the move. I am grateful that I have friends to take me in for a month should the renovation be delayed. I am relieved I have a plan before speaking to my roommate.

I am thankful for my understanding boyfriend, friends and renewed views on events in life. It is just another day and note to self,  plan changes all the time.

Grateful Diet - Final Day 21

I decided to challenge myself to the Grateful Diet for 21 days suggested in this link 

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/10/how-to-use-gratitude-to-get-rich/.

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. To hone one's skill, one must practice regularly. 

Whether it is yoga or rock climbing or gratitude, these activities have to be done regularly to stay in tuned and to benefit from it. As I reflect on the 21-day journey, the practice of gratitude helped me to broaden my perspectives and be more appreciative of whatever that is revolving around me.  

I am grateful that I stuck out with the challenge. I am grateful to www.blogger.com , without writing my grateful diet on a public website, there is a high chance I would have dropped the practice within the first week. 

Grateful Diet - Day 20

My plate is full.  I received key to the house from the realtor on Sunday.  I have been busy meeting contractors daily to view and provide me the quote for remodeling before I leave for vacation tomorrow. At first, I had grand ideas like remodeling the kitchen to have white cabinets with black soapstone countertop and white subway tiles for the backsplash, remodel the bathrooms entirely and the list go on and on.  After I got a sense of the renovation cost, I am more grounded now.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to dream and think big, grand and luxurious. 

As day goes by, after speaking to different contractors, my renovation list has dwindled significantly and focused on the high priorities only. I am meeting another contractor this afternoon who is a referral from a close friend. I am looking forward to shortlist the contractor for the job and move on to the next phrase. I am grateful to get referrals from people I trust and now it boils down to picking one from the list. 

Grateful Diet - Day 19

All in all is was a good at work. A few weeks back, I was presented with the opportunity to apply for a new role within my company. The job requisition is finally approved and I was encouraged to apply. The hiring manager provided me some guidance on things that I should add to drive the discussions with the interviewers. Today, I was presented with another job opportunity and was encouraged to apply for the role. I am grateful and humble by the opportunities ahead of me. 

We are all free agents in corporate america. It is imperative to fend and fight for ourselves. If thing does not go well, the onerous is on us to fix it and face it head on. I had an epiphany moment when I read about employees are free agents in "What got you here won't get you there" by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. I am grateful to myself for not sitting around and let others dictate my work life. I am grateful that I went out of my comfort zone to seek out new job opportunities. While I have ways to go before I find a new job, I grateful that I took the step to reach out to others.  

Grateful Diet - Day 18

I sprained my ankle and even after 2 months, it still impedes my ability to assume the lotus pose or to complete the sequence for shoulder stand. A coworker swears on acupuncture as the best solution for sports related injury.  I went his recommended Chinese physician for acupuncture. I left my belongings on the table and proceed to lie down on a massage table. After he massaged my left ankle, he applied a few needles and electrotherapy around my ankle. I lay on the massage table without my phone for a good 30-minute. I am grateful from the short respite away from my cell. I was thinking about home remodeling without the constant interruption of checking my phone. It is good to break away at least for awhile. 

Grateful Diet - Day 17

Work life balance is a bunk. The current fab is work life integration. A more realistic approach about integrating work with other facets of life - home or family, community and self. When I was younger, work was really important. It was important compare to other aspect of my life because I want to be financial independent, I want to crave out a career and I want to be successful. When work wasn't going my way, I have been devastated thinking that I do not have options, I am stuck period.

I have changed. I have learned that there is more to life than work. And most importantly, there is always other options. It is imperative to surround myself with people of the same beliefs and passion. I have spread out my focus between work, home, community and self. I am grateful that I went down this path.

Work is not rosy at the moment, I feel that I am not being challenged, I roll my eyes when I am on conference calls with certain people at work. I am not eager to suggest improvements. I feel stifled after the new organization is in placed. In the past, I would hate myself and drown in misery and self-pity. I am grateful that I take a different perspectives. While I continue to do what I was told at work, I am actively looking for opportunities and talking to people about interesting opportunities. My other aspect of life is keeping me sane until I can change my working condition. I am grateful for the new perspective.

Grateful Diet - Day 16

What a busy Saturday! I went to Levi's Stadium to watch high school football. There were 2 games scheduled on Satuday. I was a game between  Oakdale and Manteca.  My game buddy and I were under the preconceived notion that it would have been remotely possible for us to get seats to 49ers game thus we bought the tickets for the game weeks ago. The funny thing is we went to a 49ers game before this game.  I am grateful that we went to the game to experience the game sitting in one of those expensive seats when 49ers are playing. We sat at 143 area and it was very close to the field. I appreciate the experience.

While in the stadium, I remotely setup the recording for the NLCS game between Giants and Cardinals. I am grateful for the convenience that technology brings to modern life. In case I don't get home in time, I can watch the recording. We decided to leave 10 minutes into the second game. Instead of staying home, I made a hair appointment while leaving the stadium.

As I was sitting in the saloon waiting for the color to set, it donned to me that nothing changes in this Saloon.  I see the same hairdressers at the beauty parlor for the last 8 years.  As one of them was leaving from work, I felt that their life seem so monotonous. Sometimes I crave the slow pace in life but not their way. At work , things change frequently and churn is pretty high.  There are a lot of highs and lows at work. I think I prefer my life over theirs. Ironically for me to say this, I am grateful to the fast pace environment that I live in.

Grateful Diet - Day 15

I am grateful to have friends who I can pour my heart and soul to. Friends enrich my life, bring me joy and at times disappointment too. Friends inspire me and friends may also let me down. Friends support each other or friends may drag me down.  Everything happens for a reason. I am grateful to have a pool of friends who plays a role in different facet of my life journey.

Grateful Diet - Day 14

I made Ruth Reichl's Last Minute Chocolate cake last weekend and I have the last 2 pieces in my cubicle. I am grateful for the wonderful quick, easy and delicious cake recipe. I am even more grateful that I have the last few pieces to devour on this morning. It is a great way to start the day!

I am grateful to my friend Chris who is helping me out as I embark in my very first home remodeling project. I am blessed to have many friends that provide me pointers and references and also share their horror stories in their respective remodeling projects. My friends stressed that it is imperative to get multiple quotes, have them itemized and etc. At first , I looked at it as a drag as renovation is work for me. I am beginning to get excited to spruce up my very first home. I am also grateful that I have the ability to own a house. It is a privilege and I am honored and I am proud about it. I will encounter challenges and I will have to make trade offs. At the end of the day, I must remind myself it is my own home and I want to do it right by me and also within budget.

Grateful Diet - Day 13

I am grateful to live in the bay area. Yesterday, I witness live San Francisco Giants victory  against Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series. I have never expected that I would get to see a post season game live as the tickets are hard to come by and I have to contend to pay exorbitant prices for the tickets. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Lo and behold, a co-worker offered to sell his postseason tickets a day before the game and at face value. I am grateful to my co-worker for his generosity.  I took the rare offer and I had a blast last night.

Grateful Diet - Day 12

My roommate has shared with me last night that he will not be moving with me to my new place. I wasn't disappointed to hear it. It is a bummer that my financial situation maybe altered a little. It is too early to tell.  While he is a good roommate, I suppose it is time for us to part ways again. We have shared a dwelling for a few years before we went on separate ways. Then we became roommate again when my previous roommate moved to France. Déjà vu! We will part ways in a few months. I am grateful to have him as a roommate all these years and I welcome a new change.

Grateful Diet - Day 11

I was offered to takeover two tickets for game 4 between Giants and Nationals. I am grateful for the opportunity to watch the game live at AT&T park. My game buddy is excited too and she cancelled tutoring for tomorrow night. We will be off to the ballpark tomorrow.

I am grateful to my friend, Chris for offering his expertise in home renovation. I am just starting the journey and I appreciate all help I can get to. A coworker's husband also offered to help me out when negotiating with contractors. People care and want to help. I am really grateful and fortunate for my good fortune.

Grateful Diet - Day 10

When I turned 40,  it suddenly donned to me that I need to have a better handle of my personal finance so that I can retire comfortably. As I embarked in the journey, I read and reread the Bogleheads books about retirement and investment. When I was reading any articles or books on personal finance a few years back, I wasn't interested and it did not inspire me to dig deeper nor take any action. Now, with my renew perspective about personal finance, these books seem to be more meaningful, online articles are interesting reading material and inspire me to dig deeper. I am grateful for the self awakening and I appreciate my ex-roommate who left the Boglehead book behind when she moved to Paris, France. Check out 'Financial Samurai' , it is a blog about personal finance. It is my weekend go-to personal finance site. I am grateful for Sam Dogen for creating the blog.

I also received guidance from a co-worker to actually helped me get things started. Without his mentorship, I would not have made so much progress in such a short time. I have diversified my investment portfolio and became a first time homeowner.  He introduced me to ETFs, Index Mutual Funds, IRA Roth, call and put options ( been there done that,  I am not ready for call and put options yet. For now, I am a small investor and not a trader. No call and put options for me). I am off to a good start so I am grateful to him. Investment is a marathon not a sprint and my investment is focused on  long term growth.  I have to review my investment portfolio and rebalance it from time to time - the very least yearly. There are a lot of useful information on the web and people to talk to. I learn from Boglehead that it is important to keep the cost low too.  I am grateful to dabble into  personal finance literature and am more in tuned to learn more too.

Grateful Diet - Day 9

It is nice to sleep on my own bed after being out for a week. It is even nicer that Giants won game 1 while Dodgers lost game 1. I am grateful that I watched both games in the comfort of my own home.

I always experience a renewal sense of energy when I go on a trip whether it is for work or vacation. I am grateful to the flow of new ideas that came to me through reading while on the plane, self reflection and from talking to people of different walks of life. I am grateful for the injection of new perspectives and experiences after each trip. 

I would typically ponder about each trip during the return flight. I am grateful to step out of my routine. I have decided that it is time to build a professional personal brand through social media. I am learning to code using Python and will start a new blog site about my journey learning Python. This trip also reminded me to seek out and strengthen my commitment to my beliefs and values. I am grateful for the reminder.

Grateful Diet - Day 8

I caught a flight from RDU to LAX at 7:16am EST this morning. It was awfully early and I did not get a good night sleep for fear that I might overslept. I am grateful that I reached the airport ahead of time. On top of that, I had a pleasant surprise for I got upgraded to first class.  With first class seat, it came with a gourmet breakfast and several rounds of snack.  Not forgetting the free flow of refreshment. I am grateful to become a novelty air traveler for my 5-plus-hour leg.

For my second and final leg to SJC, I was automatically put on wait list for upgrade and was the third in line to get upgraded. Though I did not get upgraded the second time round. I am grateful to have a very pleasant companion for the short flight. He was born, raised and currently works in Hawaii. He went to college in San Diego and later returned to Hawaii. Hopefully, I recalled correctly, he works in a research lab to breed algae. He is visiting his friend(s) in Monterey for 5 days then head out to Detroit. He traveled solo to South America for 7 months and sent hand written post cards to family. I told him I love old school practices. He almost went completely off the grid during that trip except when he dropped into internet cafe to email his family sporadically.  I am grateful to meet someone who has a completely different life trajectory than me and someone who has no affiliation with high tech. I am envious of his free spirit and I appreciate his pleasant demeanor. I hope he has an awesome time in the bay area and have a lot of fun at his friend's wedding.

Grateful Diet - Day 7

I am grateful that San Francisco Giants won the Wild Card Game against Pittsburg Pirates.  It was an outstanding performance by every player especially Bumgarner and Crawford. The winner takes it all game! I am excited that Giants continues into the postseason with their 8-0 win against Pirates.

I had a wonderful evening with a few ex-coworkers last night. It was a great catch up session and to finally ate at Justin's favorite Japanese restaurant in Raleigh. I am grateful that we kept in touch all these times. I am grateful to Facebook for stringing us together as friends. Kind of low maintenance friends and it works out well.

Grateful Diet - Day 6

I had dinner with Richard, an ex-coworker. I am happy to see him and that he is doing very well. We talked about football, baseball and ice hockey.  If I were to follow an ice hockey game, I follow the puck. Unfortunately,  I lose the puck more often than I follow one and always during the most exciting times. He reminded me about how fortunate I am to have popular home teams in all three franchaise sports. I am grateful that I have easy access to live matches close to home. Perhaps one day, I will learn to appreciate ice hockey.

I shared with Richard about my long distance relationship and my affinity with all things french. I am partial towards fluent french speaking guys. He was genuinely happy for me  that I finally have a boyfriend and most importantly, he does not probe further. He is truly a good friend. I and grateful for him for respecting my privacy.

I talked to both John, a coworker and Richard about the best way to educate the millennials.As millennials, this generation plays a lot of games especially online games. An effective way to expose or incentivize them to learn is through games, thus when considering product training for them, leaveraging the gaming platform may very well be a viable training strategy for this demographic of new users. I am grateful to discuss employee product education with people who share the same perspective. It was a breathe of freash air and invigorating. Also, we covered a lot of bases. I am grateful for the idea sharing conversations.