As I enter my mid life, I want to live my life with more intention and focus on things that brings me joy and meaning. I read a book called “Designing Your Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, and I like how the authors broke it down into four categories - work, play, love and health to determine which of these parts of our lives do we need to pay most attention to.
January 2025 was a very fun eventful month and I can confidently say I rate myself very highly in all four areas. I want to assess my life continuously throughout this year and see what I can improve on.
Work
I feel very fortunate to have a fully remote, very chill job that pays decently well. My coworkers and manager are very friendly and I have a lot of autonomy. Work provides a structure to my life, gives me some mental stimulation, and I like having the income. Most importantly, because I do have a job and income, I can give myself full permission to maximize fun times and learn to spend money. I have been a saver my whole life and have reached my financial goals, now I am learning how to spend money more freely and not focus on saving. Work was uneventful in January, and that’s a good thing. I am blessed.
Play
I played pickleball at least 4 times a week every week this month. Played a lot with Greg and the regulars. A friend asked me to join his pickleball MLP team for an upcoming tournament in February and so the four of us practiced together a lot. Pickleball gives me so much joy, and I have met many wonderful people through drop-in open plays. I met Greg through pickleball too. I am grateful for the welcoming community of this sport, it has changed my life for the better in so many ways. There are so many aspects of the game I want to work on, it’s a never ending but fun challenge to improve my pickleball skills.
I also cooked a lot of new recipes and made desserts I’ve never made before. I tend to make savory dishes but I am enjoying making desserts more now. Greg loves them. One of the most fun thing I made this month was a mochi waffle served with chocolate ice cream, cherry sauce and whipped cream. I loved how Greg and I were both so excited about it and munching happily and gushing over how good the mochi waffles were. Food tastes so much better when we have someone we love to share the experience with.
Towards the end of January, I started this cooking website and it has been a fun venture for me. I got inspired to create it so I can share my cooking pictures and recipes with friends and family. I am aware that not all my hobbies stick but I’m not afraid to at least try. So far I am enjoying creating the website and I often spend hours just tinkering away at my laptop without realizing how much time has gone by.
Love
I thank the Universe for bringing Greg into my life. Our relationship is continuously growing stronger and happier. I feel safe being able to talk about my feelings and thoughts openly with Greg. We enjoy spending quality time together and doing things together with other people. Life is just so more fun when we do it together. We started off the year with a new year feast with Greg and his family on January 1. Lots of delicious food and wine and fun times. I then cooked a chinese new year feast for Greg and his family on January 29th. I am so proud of the five dishes I made all by myself, and everyone was so complimentary.
I’m also thankful for my parents, my brother and sister and their kids. They all live far away but we keep in touch regularly through Whatsapp and video calls. It’s comforting to know I have family who will always be there for me should I need them.
I met up with many friends in January. My friends Eric and Fran separately took me out for a belated birthday lunch. Christina invited me over to her place for a delicious lunch she made. I attended 2 ladies pot luck parties. I met up with 3 other friends separately - Lis, Chris and Shelly and had very nice conversations with each of them. It’s been a very social month! I am grateful for all my friends who are so willing to make time to meet up with me in person and are genuinely interested in what’s going on in my life.
Self care, which is a form of self love, is also very important to me. This month was cold and I took 4 hot baths, with candlelights while listening to either spa music or calming podcasts. I visited a korean spa for the first time and I really enjoyed it, I plan to go again soon. I also had a facial, something I’ve been doing every 6 weeks for the past 5 years. The cold weather made me sleepier than usual, I took many glorious afternoon naps this month, maybe on average twice a week.
Health
I feel pretty healthy overall. I had a comprehensive blood test done last November and everything turned out well. The only thing was my calcium level was a bit lower and I’ve been taking calcium supplements ever since. I play plenty of pickleball so I get enough cardio exercise, but I could do better on strength training. I am happy with my weight, and I know it’s mostly genetics which I am very grateful for. Getting plenty of exercise through pickleball and eating mostly at home helps too. I try to stretch for 10 minutes every day, some days I skip it but I would like to do it consistently daily.
It’s been an amazing and super fun month. I feel excited about life, just happy to be alive and I feel really grateful and blessed by the Universe. Life is good.
Everything I need and want is coming to me effortlessly and easily