Day 86: Food, Family and Smiles

Sometimes, it isn’t about what we achieve in a day but how we spend our time. Today reminded me of that truth in the most delightful way.

The morning began in the kitchen, where my nephews brought with them a whirlwind of chaos, fun, and pure madness. There’s something magical about children—their innocence has a way of making the world’s troubles fade into the background.

Breakfast was french toast and sausages. I stacked the toast high, convinced there would be leftovers. But for kids who spend their days running, playing, and laughing, that pile was nothing more than fuel for their endless energy.

By lunchtime, the excitement moved outdoors. We fired up the grill for a barbecue, and the kids threw themselves into the experience—darting between the kitchen and the grill, proudly carrying marinated chicken one way and sizzling food the other. Their joy was infectious, especially when they hovered around their grandfather, soaking up his presence.

I’ll admit, there were moments when pain crept in while I cooked. Yet, as the day unfolded, the discomfort faded into the background. What remained was laughter, chatter, and the warmth of family.

Later, I sat outside with my mom. We talked about nothing in particular—random things, everyday musings. And yet, it was everything. No looming problems, no heavy thoughts. Just the comfort of conversation and the peace of being together.

As the day closes, I find myself smiling. Not because of any grand achievement, but because of the simple joy of shared meals, laughter, and love.

Yes, today was a good day.

Day 84:Disconecting from Autopilot

How do people find something to write about their everyday? I find my life totally uninteresting. I am what people call boring.

Is this what adulthood looks like? A day that start with work and ends with sleep? I am embarrassed about it. I never thought much of it. I have spent months together doing nothing more than just logging on to work and closing my laptop and going to sleep. I never gave it a second thought.

I was missing out on life. I do not get to spend time with my family or my friends. I do not spend time doing things i love – like creating art. Ironically, art became a stress reliever for me rather than something that I spent time with “just because”.

Do others also feel like this? Like their life is losing its purpose. Just going through the motions day after day without any thought to the “why”.

The truth is, everyone needs something to look forward to. A reason to wake up with anticipation instead of resignation. With all the ups and downs in my life I stopped hoping. I was mechanical. . I had no bigger goals or dreams behind it.

Time to reset that part of me. I am going to try making small goals. It is what is suggested you see. Given that I have a history of not staying on course it makes sense. The small wins will encourage me to make larger ones. Hopefully.

Day 64: Getting back on Track

I am back! Finally after days of wanting to get back to writing my blog. I have finally done it! Even today as I sat to write my blog today I kept thinking “one day won’t matter right?” But, given my procrastination behavior I finally have forced myself to get started.

I have missed this! I think things are finally turning around. My health is getting better. My pain is at a manageable threshold. I have finally finished organizing all my stationary. No more stationary strewn on the floor. I table top is not piled up. I actually even started de-cluttering other areas in my house. I have started letting go of things that at point was unimaginable for me. I took a proper emotional hit for me to set my priorities straight.

I am not doing everything that I am supposed to. I feel like I have finally started to at least see the things that I have been missing. I don’t every want to feel that out of control again. I never wants to loose perspective of what matters again. I want to be happy. And life may not always give me reasons to be happy about. I am going to keep trying. I am going to snatch any happiness life can give me. Even if I don’t deserve it I still appreciate it!

Day 49: Cold – 1, Productivity – 0

Have you ever had those days when you feel busy the entire day, yet at the end you realize nothing has really been accomplished? Today was one of those days for me. I woke up with a blocked nose and constant sneezing. The cold has really taken hold and seems to be in the “getting worse” phase. I absolutely hate catching a cold.

Putting the cold aside, I didn’t get much done today—not even the bare minimum. I had planned to start studying this weekend, but even on good days I get distracted easily. Add to that the headache from the cold, and I just didn’t feel like doing it. I wanted at least one small achievement for the day, so I renewed my car insurance, and that was all I managed.

The rest of the day I spent talking with my family and watching Netflix. I really hope the worst of the cold is behind me and that tomorrow I’ll feel better.

Day 23: Being Busy

I literally had nothing to do today. I woke up at 6 am but then stayed curled on by bed till 8 am. When I finally rose from my bed I realized I have nothing to do. No Monday morning weekly planning. No calls. No meetings. No pings from work. It was weird.

I thought to myself since I have sometime I would best try organizing my stationery. My biggest challenge is my washi tape collection. Its stored in boxes that are not clear. The fact that I cannot see them and have to rummage through the box to find one that I want always deterred me. At the end, I have a boxes that gather up dust.

So today, I started reorganizing my collections. By color, by width, by pattern. I have got through about half of it today. Tomorrow the real work starts. Hopefully I can get it done by tomorrow and then have a relaxing Christmas Eve.

Excited for tomorrow. I hope that I finally start using my washi for the art spreads and not have them forgotten in the back of my storage.

Day 22: Joy of Small Wins

For the first time in a year I am finally sleeping in my room. I had to shift to my sister’s room. Her room has an attached bathroom. I could not walk across the hall every time I needed to use the washroom. I used to often cry because of it.

Today I slept in my own bed. Although there was a little pain, I still could make it across the hall without falling. It felt redeeming.

Other highlights of the day, I made lunch today. I once again took my time. It felt good. I also wanted to bake some bread but I was exhausted by the cooking. As such, I choose to stop for the day. Small successes are still a success, I remind myself and then everything feels like a blessing.

Other than that I did not do much else. The weather is so cold all I want to do is curl up under my blanket and sleep.

Hard Pass

Daily writing prompt
How much would you pay to go to the moon?

Survival is one of humanity’s most basic instincts. Perhaps that’s why the idea of traveling to the Moon first came into our minds. It was an escape from a planet that we have damaged.

Yet, I don’t see myself going to the Moon. Earth, with all its environmental challenges, is still my home.

To me, going to the Moon feels less like survival and more like luxury. And luxury has always made me uneasy. Coming from a middle-class background, excess feels strange—almost wasteful.

If I had the means, I wouldn’t spend it chasing the stars. I’d rather use it to lighten someone else’s burden. Money can buy happiness for some people and I would want to do that. That, to me, feels just right. Add to that the benefit of skipping the stress of space travel and risking becoming a ball of fire in the sky.

In the end, the Moon may be fascinating, but Earth is irreplaceable. And perhaps the greatest adventure isn’t in leaving our planet—it’s in learning how to care for it, and for each other.

Day 16: Reboot

It was a long time since I actually enjoyed my work. I used to put music on and then buckle down. I swiftly completed my assigned tasks for the day. However, somewhere along the past 2 years, I lost that part of me.

I got my Spotify wrapped today, and I had not listened to any music for the past 8 months. To me, it was all noise. I never realized what all was stolen from me. How did I let it get this bad? I was losing myself and I did not even realize it. Today, as I opened my favorite playlist and set it to play, it bought back good memories.

It was a good change. People say that one should not go back to old habits but this was a good old habit. I finished my work. For the first time in a long time, I felt satisfied as I closed my laptop.

I made it another day! 🙂

Day 11: Old Memories and New Perspectives

I did not realize how much of me I had lost! Everyday its like my fogged memories are clearing. I am starting to smile more. I never knew that I had started giving up on pieces of me. I started making my world smaller. I think I hoped the smaller my world the lesser I would hurt. It is like I am claiming myself back. Little my little.

On a lighter note, I did listen to a couple of shorts audio stories. It was like a blast from the past. It had been years since I read a book or even heard an audio book. Also, lets be real, I had a spout of impulse purchase today. I need to stop it. I need to start using the stuff I buy. I am going to start by restricting myself to an amount for the month. Hopefully, over time i can reduce the budget until finally I buy stuff only when I actually need it.

All in all cheers to a good day!

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.