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This month was not the best month for me but as I reflect back, I realize there's so much I should be grateful for. I still have so many good memories that I made this month that I'm excited to share. But, also want to give you insights into some of the lows that I faced. Throughout it all, I tried to learn that I only have myself to rely on so I'm learning to be more gentle and love myself throughout my imperfections.
Lifestyle: Adulting
Settling in LA
This month was another month of settling into my new environment. I was able to do a little housewarming and gather a few of my close friends. It was a fun bonding moment and it was also a good time to hang out with my housemates. I can finally confidently say that I feel settled in. I no longer feel weird or feel a sense of unfamiliarity in my environment. It's crazy how fast I feel like people can adjust to the environment because now I feel like I've been living here forever.
Finding Routines
This month was a lot about finding and perfecting my morning and night routines. So far it has been the following:
Morning Routing
6:35 - Wake up
6:50 - Get out of bed
7:00 - Ice roll my face/ Get ready
7:15 - Go on a walk
7:55 - Wash up
8:10 - Journal/ Light Breakfast
8:20 - Personal Time
8:55 - Start Work
Night Routine
5:00 - Prep dinner
6:15 - Yoga class
7:15 - Dinner & Netflix
8:15 - Shower/ Get unready
9:00 - Personal Time
10:00 - Journal
10:30 - Reading
11:00 - Sleep
Not every day is the same and obviously, my routines are not perfect. However, this is a good general idea of how my morning and night go and it has been really good so far. My favorite part of my morning routine has been walking. It has been great to use this time to not only explore my neighborhood a bit more but also get my steps in. I usually am sitting down for most of the day working from home, so incorporating walking in the morning has helped me with that. Normally, I like to take my yoga classes in the morning but the new local yoga studio that I go to only has a class starting at 9 am, which is when I start work. I used to be opposed to night workouts but it hasn't been too bad nowadays. I also think it gives me a reason to actually shut down my laptop for the day because I have somewhere to be.
Show & Dinner
I have been hanging out with a few of my friends throughout this month but my favorite has been catching up with friends with a show and dinner. It has been so fun cooking dinner for my friends and it's been nice getting treated to a dinner by my friends. We have been pairing the dinner with shows on Netflix such as Perfect Match, You, and Physical 100. I love these simple hangouts like these throughout the weekday as much as I love a planned elaborate hangout during the weekend.
Work
This month, work has started to pick up for me. There have been stressful moments this month such as having to stay up late to finish a project for me but it has also been really rewarding. It feels especially nice when the hard work comes with words of affirmation. I still feel like I'm so behind and confused a lot of the days but I'm still just trying to tackle it one day at a time.
Lows: Bad Things Come All At Once
This month I think I got struck with bad luck because nothing seemed to go my way. However, one particularly bad day that sticks out to me is the day I was already having a long day at work and I was assigned a last-minute project with a fast turnaround. I was exhausted and was feeling wired up from chugging my energy drink. I was on my way back to my apartment and I accidentally hit my car on the curb because there was something on the side that stuck out. I thought it wasn't going to be too bad and maybe a slight scratch on the car. However, it turned out that it was worse than I thought and the passenger side door wasn't fully opening up. Honestly, I'm super thankful that it wasn't anything bigger and I was really surprised at how calm I was in the situation. I feel like normally I would panic or feel super stressed about the situation. However, I was honestly just thinking logically about what the next steps were to get my car fixed. The situation though more so felt like the last straw of my already bad day and what felt worse was that I couldn't let it get me down because I had so much to do still. All in all, there were just some things that didn't go in my favor this month. I'm hoping that all of my bad luck was spent this month and will no longer be staying in the new month.
Lessons: Everyday Is A Lesson
This month I have been using my five-minute journal a lot and it has taught me a lot. One section in the journal is a "What did I learn today?" section. This section made me realize that every day, I have something new that I learned. I also think this section is so special because sometimes life and especially weekdays can feel so mundane and similar. However, this section makes me realize no matter how blurry each day gets, each day has something special that you have learned. Here are some of my favorite entries in this section from this month:
02/01/2023 - "Today I learned that everyone has such a fast-paced life and it's interesting to hear how someone has been doing and catching up with them."
02/07/2023 - "I learned that sometimes negativity or bad feedback gets me frustrated and flustered. I need to learn to be okay without wanting to quit or get emotional each time."
02/14/2023 - "I learned that I've grown up a lot and so have my friends. I forget that I'm 24 years old but quickly realize how adult we are when we're talking bout work and our adult lives."
02/18/2023 - "I learned today that bad things truly happen all at once and that my head goes numb and overwhelmed when I'm stressed. But, I also can stay relatively calm in hard situations and think of the next steps as well as think of the bright side.
02/21/2023 - "I learned that I love hosting people and it really gives me the joy to provide and bring happiness to others."
These are only some of my entries but I loved reading through all of the sections as I reflect back for this blog.
Songs on Repeat:
Top Songs -
Someone Like You - AdeleSpecial (ft. SZA) - Lizzo, SzaMen On The Moon - Chelsea Cutler My Pick of the Month: Journal
As mentioned earlier, I have been loving my five-minute journal this month that I got from work. As I was starting to find a routine in my new environment this month, this was something I started to incorporate. I have always loved journaling but I found it hard to incorporate it into my daily routine. However, this journal makes it so easy with the fact that it emphasizes only taking a maximum of 5 minutes to journal. This also came in helpful during my month of bad luck because no matter how bad of a day I had, it made me reflect on the highlights and good moments that were hidden throughout the day. It made me shift my mindset into a positive one, which definitely helped me be in a better mood. I found that it worked best to do the journal during the weekday and I love that this doesn't have the date written so that you can pick it up where you left it last and you don't feel like you missed a day.
This month was a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes it's so much easier to dwell on the bad moments, but moments like this where I reflect make me realize that there are always things you should be grateful for. Therefore, shifting my mindset to a positive one makes me more hopeful for the next day to come instead of dreading it. Throughout the bumpy road this month, I realized that I'm the only person that will always be there for me. I'll always be the only one who will be in all of the high and low moments in life. Therefore, I learned that I need to put in conscious effort to love myself
Talk to you next month,
-- Jin