On Gratitude and Growing Up

The year is almost over and although I am in still searching for a new break in my career since the second half of June, I am still doing fine (well, minus the occasional episodes). 

In times when I am so focused with what I want, I sometimes neglect to see the good things coming. I would often need a conscious reminder that although I haven't had what I wanted yet, there are still blessings coming for me. It is a normal thing to experience, Gretchen Rubin describes it in her book as the "arrival fallacy" or the belief that when you arrive at a certain destination, you’ll be happy (in my case getting that break I wanted).

I have noticed that things have changed (gradually) when I first made a conscious effort of being at the moment and maintain a happy outlook on life. I have learned a lot and in the process felt the growth I needed for a long time. 

Looking back, my old self would have never thought I'd leave my stable job and start anew. I still miss seeing my friends everyday but I know this is for the best.  A few days back during a job interview, they asked me why I left my job when I know I was still needed and there is no assurance of a new one immediately. I said that I wanted to concentrate on my job search (which was true by the way) and it was a blessing in disguise because it gave me time to relax and pursue some of my passions (including this blog). I never had this before because I started training for work even before I graduated. I never had the chance to think about what I wanted in life and I had the chance now to evaluate my goals.

The growth and maturity developed from my experiences in the past months is unprecedented. The rejection (subtle) in every job application I've submitted was very painful at first. But I realized that I can't let myself wallow on self pity, it happens and letting it get into you is a futile exercise.

I have so much to be thankful for and by merely looking at the photos taken during the year is enough proof for such claims.

As a positive activity I decided to list some of them down to remind myself how grateful I should be with the blessings pouring in.

Passing the Real Estate Brokers Examination.

Ticking off Hong Kong and Macau on my travel list.

I also learned a bit in online marketing and SEO, read a lot of books, watched movies and jump started some sites including our online store and real estate listing site.

It was not so bad after all, I had a lot of things accomplished and my heart is in the right place.