I think it was around Spring 2014 I started feeling the pressure of the daunting transition from college to the real world. I realised that I had so much to do and so much to prove before I could even think about whether I wanted to wear the traditional cap and gown or a hakama (judging by past seniors' Facebook grad photos I could wear either one, but that's a dilemma for another day). I was so emotional from personal things that had just happened to me and also in a state of constant panic because for the first time in my life, my future was so uncertain. But one day, I had an epiphany: I can't do anything but learn from the past and need to stop being consumed with fear of the future. So instead of stressing myself out about things that have already happened and thinking too far ahead, I need to slow my roll and celebrate the good things that are happening or have happened recently-- you know, stop and smell the roses, etc etc. Which is what I'm doing today, and hopefully other Fridays to come; these are some highlights of my week!
1. Progress at the gym
I'm currently working on building up the courage to be able to kick up and do a handstand against the wall, and I've gotten significantly better since I started Crossfit almost a year ago. Also, I got a new PR (personal record) on cleans!! I haven't PR'd in a while and the other week I hadn't been doing so swell on cleans, so I wasn't expecting it at all. But it was my last set on the workup to a 1 rep max and I did the best clean I had ever done. It was one swift movement, no wobbling, my form felt good, and the bar landed at the right spot on my chest. 40kg is my new personal record!! I can't wait to do cleans again and see how far I can push it next. Above is a gif of a fit girl doing a clean. #BodyGoals much...
On another note: whenever I talk about fitness I get so self-conscious because I don't want to sound pretentious, but I've never been an athletic person and this is the strongest I've ever felt in my life. I've come to love training and making #GAINZ and talking about it (sometimes). For the first time ever, I've got real fitness goals that I have and feel like I will achieve!
As graduation approaches, I'm thinking about things I need to do for job hunting that I could prepare for now, and one of those things is sharpening my Spanish skills. With the help of this interesting blog about a French teacher who is taught herself Spanish and Tagalog and is now fluent in the former, I joined a couple of the language exchange sites to find online pen pals to practice Spanish on. It was only until I tried to write messages I realised how much of it I lost. I had forgotten many vocab words, how to conjugate, and where to put the tildes. Midterms are coming up, so I can't focus too much on this now, but right after I plan on finding a teacher that can Skype me a couple of times a week. I'm very excited to see where this goes! This was the only highlight with no corresponding photo, so here's a photo of my hispanic boyfriend.
3. Family visit to Nikko
Schools in Manila and my uni had a few days off for sem break, so my family and I headed to Nikko for a couple days! While the place was fun, interesting, and something I might blog about soon, I was more excited to see my brothers than anything else. All my photos are 1:1 because I needed to be Instagram-ready. I got some nice photos out of Nikko!
My favourite holiday in this city! I noticed it's the only time of year where everyone you see on the street is happier and friendlier than usual. Everyone's dressed up in costume and are not too shy to come up to random strangers to compliment their outfit-- it's a merry time in Tokyo! I have a theory it's because since everything is typically so uniform here, Halloween is the only time where people can dress up and unleash their inner-weirdness (or slutiness.. NOT a bad thing at all, in Halloween, almost any costume goes!) without the worry of being given weird looks.
I wanted to wear coloured contacts so I chose to be Black Swan. It does look a little DIY, but I had to modify it a bit so I didn't look like a Q-tip with my wide forehead and combed-back hair. Also, sclera contacts were too expensive. How did I do???
5. Last but not least, I pet a dog this week!
A pretty straightforward highlight.
I feel like going through the highlights of my week would be a good way to make each week special. Writing them out in detail like I did just now would be tedious and time-consuming, but it's nice to take a few minutes and reflect on what's been going on in the past few days. I think my next goal would be to list 5 quick highlights at the end of each week on my planner, just to keep things positive. With all these deadlines and other mportant things to do approaching, it'd be good for me to take a break from stress and think about the good things that have happened so far.
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