Unbalanced Act

Daily writing prompt
How do you balance work and home life?

Work life balance is something I am just starting to learn.

When I got my first job I was so unsure. Being an average student all my life, I was worried of being average again. Till it was school it was okay I could write the exam again, but failing in job would be failing in life.

Every time I stepped into my workplace I was 100% committed to giving it my best. However, somewhere along the way I gave up on living my life. My life could be summarized as work and sleep. I thought that being good at my job would give me the respect in need in the society. Slowly I realized I had disconnected from my friends and my family.

It was when my family was in a crisis that I realized that my family was more important to me. The society never will matter. I want my life to be filled with wonderful memories with the ones I love. I am learning to disconnect from work and spending time with my family. Even if its just sitting and talking with them.

I am getting better at it. Balancing my time between my family and work. Being a 100% present for my family. I think in this post COVID world everyone is learning what are their priorities. People want people and work can always get done.

None till Date

Daily writing prompt
What sacrifices have you made in life?

This prompt is something you really need to think about. My instant thought when I think of sacrifice is all the things that I had to give up in life. When I had to walk past a toy that I really wanted because it was too costly. When I had to give away my gifts because my cousins had lesser. When I had to give up my dream degree because my parents didn’t want to be alone.

But now that I have taken a minute, they were never sacrifices. They were choices that I had to make with age. After you grow up these childhood “sacrifices” you realize were just things that you had to let go. It was about choosing between two things. I was not giving up anything for anybody.

Sacrifice is when my parents gave up on pursuing their education to save up for my future education. They gave up their health because check ups “costly” or “not required”. The real reason was they wanted to provide for the family even if it meant that they become sicker. Even when they were tired and exhausted just one whine from me and they would carry me in their arms.

Sacrifice is what my sister did. When we were children, she always gave the bigger piece of the chocolate she loved. She is immensely talented. However, when there was a school program she never gave her name because my parents could not afford paying for us both. She didn’t pursue her career dream because that meant that I could not afford to have a dream.

But the biggest sacrifice of all is what Jesus did for me. We do not like when we get punishment when we do something wrong. He was punished when he did nothing wrong. He took that punishment without a word of protest so I could be guilt free. He gave His life for me so I could have life. When sins closed my way to God He broke down the walls to pull me closer.

Sacrifices are those that can never be paid back. All I can hope is be worthy of the sacrifices made for me. Maybe one day when I does come to me I also am willing to sacrifice for the people I love.

My Cross Pendant

Daily writing prompt
What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?

I have a lot older things but they are safely kept in my box of memories.

The only item I do wear everyday is my cross pendant that my mother gifted me. Over the years I have changed the chains multiple times. However, I always add my pendant to the new chain.

I love wearing the cross its the first thing my mother bought for me after a long time. Not as a birthday gift or a gift for an occasion. She just randomly came up to me one day and gave me the box with the pendant. It isn’t anything fancy or over the top. But the worth it holds for me is far beyond words.

My cross is the constant reminder that I am never alone. If ever I am stressed I automatically touch the cross and I remember that God is always with me. I hope that I can keep the cross with me as long as I am alive and maybe pass it along as a heirloom.

Demands of the Situation

Daily writing prompt
Are you a leader or a follower?

I think everyone starts off as a follower. I think in most cases I prefer to be the team member that supports the leader. Its very difficult being a leader. It requires thinking beyond and striving for the best for each team member.

As a follower, I definitely would not be the blind follower. I would want to help the leader and try to help reduce the burden on the leader as much as possible from my side. I like being the one with the flair. Being the follower, gives me the opportunity to do my best in the part allotted to me without worrying about the other’s part.

However, being a leader though stressful has it’s own advantages. I love bringing out the best in people. I especially love it when they are recognized for their efforts and appreciated for it. All the stress and pain managing the team seems worth it when I can stand back and watch them smile on their achievement. I take up the leader role when I feel its my responsibility to do so. It mostly happens when I am the eldest in the group. Other cases, I take up the role when I feel I can best lead the team. Rarely, the opposite team goads me into taking it. Push me and I come swinging!

Whichever role I take I want to give my best. Doesn’t matter as long as I can do the best for my team the role really does not matter to me.

My Favorite Fruits

Daily writing prompt
List your top 5 favorite fruits.

I am not much of fruits or vegetable person. I think my mind rejects any sort of healthy food. Despite this I do like some fruits:

a. Bananas
My mom made sure banana was part of my regular diet through out my childhood. She used to tell me that it gave me strong bones. So I used to eat it without much complain. I am glad she did. Though not as often as I would like, it is probably the only fruit that I eat without someone forcing me.

b. Apples
Another scam by my mother “Apple a day keeps the doctor away”. I may not have gone to the doctor for a lot of colds and flu. But keeping the doctor now that is another matter. I had multiple “accidents” through out my childhood. The number or times I have broken my bones exceed the number of bones my whole family have broken put all together. Needless to say, I was a kept my parents in a constant state of worry every time I step out of the house.

c. Grapes
Grapes are hands down my favorite! I love them! Green, Red, Black doesn’t matter. Its fun to eat just like popcorn. Just wash it well and eat. Also, the added fancy of it being part of many royal scene depictions. I used to love eating it directly from the bunch like I was a king.

d. Mango
I love eating them both raw and ripe. Raw mango with a little bit of chilli powder and salt make for a perfect snack. The blisters from it are totally worth it. On the other and ripe mango is like ice cream. Its just tasty! No more words needed.

e. Jackfruit
They are seasonal and I do not eat much of it. But it tastes so good. the hassle for cleaning it up is something that deters me. My father loves the fruit so he does all the cleaning all I have to do is sit beside him and patiently wait as he cleans. This fruit brings back happy memories. I remember me and my sister used to keep count to ensure that no one got more than their fair share.

Who all do I Name?

Daily writing prompt
Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.

You meet over a million people in your lifetime. Most of the instances, they are just people who come into your life and leave without any impact. Some of them come into your life and tear you down. And if your lucky some of them come into your life to change it for the better.

There was a time in my life I did not know I was depressed. I just thought I was lazy and sad. It was God who helped me then. My faith brought me out of that mess. I still don’t know how I recovered.

In other instances, God sent me amazing friends in my life. They stood by me and started showing me that there was a part of that was beautiful. They showed me my worth. I can’t take compliments. It makes me feel weird. I feel like I don’t deserve it. However, these friends never gave up on me. They keep giving me reasons to smile, pulling me out of the darkness when I felt like I was drowning. Whenever I was down, they never asked questions, they just pulled me into a hug and stayed like that till I could breathe again.

If they ever read this, you know who you are. Thank you for being the amazing person you are! I hope all of you make more friends because I am sure you will definitely bring smiles to their life. In this world where most days are filled with tribulation, people need a break. They need someone who will stop time and be there and bring a little spark of joy into life.

Choice without Fear

Daily writing prompt
What does freedom mean to you?

To put “Freedom” simply it would be the opportunity to make your own choices without the fear of consequence.

Being free is to being in control. I mean on every second of your life. There shouldn’t be any other human that forces you into making a choice you do not want. I do not want to ever lower my eyes into submission. Every consequences of my life I face I want to to be completely because I decided it. I do not want to ever have that thought – “I should not have agreed to what they said.”

The choices can be anything. It can be how I dress, what I eat, when I choose to do something, how I choose to do it. This list goes on. I have seen a lot of documentaries where humans have experienced the treatment of being mere puppets. They were broken and shattered just for others fun. While I have never been subject to that kind of experience I think everyone experiences some degree of subjugation.

For example, I think most women even today have thoughts that limit them. When I want to wear a particular dress I should have the choice to wear it without having the thought of – “Will someone judge me?”. I should not be worried about how people perceive me. Neither should I be worried about – “Am I allowed to wear this?”.

Most people grow out of it and learn to stand up for themselves. The time that different people take to reach that level is different. I always encouraged and supported my friends to speak up for themselves. I am ashamed to admit it that when it came chance for me to speak up for myself… I failed. I had to take a lot of hits to my self esteem. It took every ounce of will power I had to break free. To this day, I struggle sometimes but I will never stop claiming my freedom.

Hope to all those with me, ahead of me and just starting in their journey to fight for their freedom. Its difficult but you will get there.

Its not the Who, Its the What

Daily writing prompt
What public figure do you disagree with the most?

I think that if you take out the who from the equation its the what that most people disagree with.

Whether a person be public or a person I know personally I think we would disagree about their opinions on a lot of things. Being in the public, their opinion is more known which in turn results in people voicing their opinions against it.

I am against the rich and poor disparity. Its horrible that on one side of the scale you have people wasting resources because they can afford to. On the other side of the scale, there are people who can’t even afford the required resources

I am against violence. People every where carry their own burden. I do not know what their burdens are, however, using violence just because you can is just not right. Hurting someone it just for “fun” is something that is beyond my comprehension.

I am against children being forced to “grow up”. Childhood is the most amazing period in your life. With the Grace of God, I was afforded to be a child for as long as I was a child. On the other hand, their are kids who are forced to grow up because their life circumstances forces them too. On the other hand, the children who are privileged are required to grow up because it is the “trend”.

I wish the world was a better place that every got their share of joy with sadness. I hope that everyone gets their victory along with their failures.

The Big Picture

Daily writing prompt
What is your career plan?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? The standard question that was asked in all my interviews. I absolutely hate it!

I mean I could give a shocking answer like: “Who knows! Maybe in the afterlife!” but I never did give that. I gave the standard I hope to reach a management position. If only reality was that easy.

To be truthful, I have a good career now. I do not know if I will be able to continue in this career given that the world keeps changing around me. But one thing I do want to do is maybe be good enough to teach the next person the job. I want to make things easier for the next person in my shoes and hopefully end up with a career when doing that.

Who has seen tomorrow, I have today and the only thing I have for tomorrow is hope.

I Choose You!

Daily writing prompt
What was the last live performance you saw?

I think the first and only time we went for a live performance was when I was 8 or 9 years old.

The memory I quite vague but it was a live performance of Pokémon. I don’t remember much of the actual performance but I have blurry memories of the characters. I remember seeing Ash and Pikachu, and oddly, I remember Team Rocket in the “sky”.

I remember sitting in the park, which had an amphitheater area, I remember buying popcorn, and a ring that had flashing lights. But the most distinct memory I have is of the Pikachu balloon that my mom bought for me. It was those helium inflated Pikachu shaped ones, and I was thoroughly fascinated by it. I carried it around the home with me for the rest of the week. Wherever I went, my Pikachu came with me.

But, watching another live performance once in my life is on my bucket list of things to do before I die. Hopefully, sooner than later!