I'm usually not one to share my personal feelings and life, but this will be an exception.
When I was young, started in 6th grade, I was a fat and my family did not have a lot of money. I grew up self and internally struggling dealing with why I wasn't as tall/pretty as other girls, or why I did not have all the things/money like other people. It was a rollercoaster emotionally ride for me. It would cause me to have low self esteem at times, depressed at other times, and I never really had any outlet to release all that.
Up until college, I was still deep down feeling sorry for myself. I used friends and recreational things to get over how depressed I was, only to find myself even more depressed. Once again, this was still an internal struggle with myself that I was not able to share with anyone.
I watched my dad passed away due to lung cancer before he turned 65. He worked all his life, slaving away, and did not even get to enjoy a minute of his retirement yet. I saw how much pain he was in, externally and internally as he slowly passed away. After his passing, I looked at myself in the mirror and told myself I wasn't going to spend another minute feeling sorry about myself or my situation. That I was going to make use of every single minute on this earth, first to better myself and my situation, then to better the people around me. That the only person that could get me out of my own mess was me.
At that point in my life, I decided I had to make a lot of money. I had the college education and regular job, but I had not sense of fulfillment from it. I kept it while I started my side hustles. I've tried everything from legal to underground side hustle. That's where I learned all my street skills. School/books can only teach you so much. Pass forward, I hustled, sweat and tears, and finally saved my first $20,000, then $50,000, etc. I had my share of good luck and fortunate events, where I made over $1,000,000 before I turned 30. It was quite a personal/professional achievement, because most of my friends were still stuck in their dead end job or barely making $100,000 a year, let alone saved anywhere close to what I had.
My ego grew sky high, but my self esteem still felt low due to my looks. When you don't have money, it's one thing. When you have money, you can do anything. I went through a gastric sleeve surgery coupled with a healthy diet and lifestyle, then completed my transformation with a full-body lipo. It was more sweat and tears/pain, but it was all worth it. For everything I never thought I could have when I was in 6th grade, I have it all now.
Now that I'm finally at a new stage in my life, where I am no longer feeling depressed or sorry for myself, I can finally love myself and other people, and give back to other people. I plan spending most of my time on earth sharing my love, time, and resource, my happiness in life in general to others.. especially in Vietnam (more on this later).
I'm writing this post not to show off my achievement or how far I've come, but to let each and everyone of you know that you can achieve whatever you want. You are not stuck where you are, and you don't have to feel what you feel today in a year/5/10 years. Don't give up.
Live and love like it's heaven on earth.
Connect with Emylee Thai:
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/emyleethai/
Personal: www.emyleethai.com
Company: www.orionmodern.com
http://emyleethai.com/a-serious-post/
