In the early hours of the morning, I was thinking about life and realizing how grateful I am for the little things. Sometimes, we get so caught up in thinking that the next big thing is what will bring us joy and contentment. The tiny little bitty things in life bring it. It has always been.

Hello, amazing people. I just landed in this community hosted by @minimalistliving - The MINIMALIST. I don't know, but at some point, something unknown brought me here today.

LOOKING BACK 5 YEARS AGO

I can say that one of the most difficult times in my life has been the past five years. By that time, I already had a beautiful 5-year-old daughter. Until the final quarter of 2018, when my sole sibling passed away for no apparent reason, everything appeared to be in order. A tad of history: she has been in a mental institution for nearly 10 years, 8 hours from where we live. She has been found to be schizophrenic and bipolar since her last year of high school. We used to visit her on a monthly basis, especially my mother, who is already a senior citizen. At the point when my mother visited her (last visit), the hospital told her that my sister's body was laid to rest at one of the medical universities around Manila. When she received the bad news, my mom didn't know what to say or how to respond. Surprised, she was. Whose body? Medical University, what? We received no notification—not a single text or phone call—that she had passed away. When my mother visited her the last time, she was in excellent health. My mother traveled for close to a half day with just enough cash in her pocket, and she needed to go around marking papers and whatnot. Everything was messy. Depressing. Heartbreaking. Burned. I could go on. We suspected that the university used my sister's body for their practice doctor interns. What can we do? She's gone. They can't take my sister's life back.

PANDEMIC CAME IN 2020

My husband got laid off from his job. He was in the US, and here I was, helpless from 7000 miles away. There was no income coming in. It kept going on and on and on. He tried to do any extra jobs he could find. We were surviving. I am a full-time mom and my online jobs were not doing very well either, including my loss in cryptocurrency. A few months later, my husband's grandmother, who he grew up with, passed away. He was broken as hell. A few months passed, and his mom also passed while his dad was ill at the same time. I could not even get to talk to him. It was hard. On the other hand, here in the Philippines, I had a couple of close relatives who also died from Covid. Life was throwing some tantrums, and I got hit so many times.

As a suicide survivor myself, who was diagnosed with depression when I was a little younger and went to therapy for a year, everything triggered. Everything that had happened to me flashed back. Reality hit me with a drastic change this pandemic. While some were predicting it was only going to be for a few weeks, I somehow knew better. I did not anticipate a year. Gosh, not at all. I thought maybe a few months, but I was so wrong, and that buried me even more.

FAST FORWARD TO PRESENT DAY: LESSON LEARNED

Over the years, I've learned so much. I am aware that I am not the same person I was for the past five years. I think I've become more aligned with who I want to be after shedding many layers of who I thought I had to be. The quietness of my reality helped break that cycle. I have always valued the smallest things in life (family and everything we can't buy in a store). However, this appreciation has more impact now than before. After the past challenging years, I am thankful for each moment because each day is a blessing and could also be our last. If these past 5 years have taught me anything, it is that life is too short and that even though it is admirable to have a strong hustle and grind game, if you don't take time to appreciate everything, what's the point?

A FRIENDLY ADVISE BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE

They say, and I fully agree, that out of great chaos comes great change. If you're going through the same situation, feeling stressed, depleted, and beat up, please know you are not alone. Each of us is capable of enduring hardship and moving on to better days. Give yourself a break. Allow life to unfold. You'll have the best days ever, so don't worry! Give yourself time to adjust. Forgive yourself if you commit any mistakes. We are only humans. Give up on any opportunities you missed and find qualities that you didn't realize you had. Keep hold of that. Love the people around you, especially those you truly care about. Say I love you, say thank you, be grateful, and never take anything for granted because everything in life is temporary.

Take a mental health day if you can. Even though I am aware that many of you may have no interest whatsoever in what I do, I am also aware that many of you needed to hear that it is acceptable to take a few moments of rest from time to time. You know, you will still continue to make progress even if you take mental health days for a few stolen hours.

Thank you for reading, my friends. Have a wicked good day to all of you. Life is far too short to be serious all the time. Let's try to live a little, or a lot. Now it's time for me to pick up my daughter from school. Xoxoxoxoxo
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@bloghound

Published:
May 4, 2023, 3:18 p.m. PST
In between the farm and the beach
Philippines

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