Happy birthday, Ajeng!

I realized this year, I had no chance to pause and reflect on my birthday – what I’ve achieved the past year, and how I want my year ahead to look like. Our itinerary in Japan was too packed that I didn’t quite get a chance to pause at all. That was good though, I guess, cos that means I was actually living in the moment and feeling alive.

I am still, for the most part, grateful about where I am in life right now. Mostly due to the fact that I can afford quite a comfortable life now, and my desire to big bright shiny stuff has kind of faded over the years. I envy others less, and feel much much more comfortable with myself. Though it is a never-ending journey, and at times, I’d still need a reminder of how I should love and forgive myself more, but I have come so far to the journey of loving myself.

I will not write in details more than I should about how the journey have been so far, all I can say is, life is now pretty good at this point. I guess it’s actually true that you need a certain threshold of income in order to afford life that you can be happy with, combined that with wanting so much less of fancy things, and some gratitude.

Though I never had to experience a poor life, and I was lucky enough to born into a somewhat comfortable living standards, my family was never one to spoil me. If anything, they taught me to earn things myself.

I’m not sure if I make 3x my income now, I will be 3x happier. I don’t think that’s how it works. I will not exchange much more time to make more money, if that means I will not have time to enjoy the money I make. It doesn’t mean that I do not want to progress as a person, only I think the progress can come in so many other forms – it doesn’t have to be money.

Keeping it balance is the key, and it is hard to believe how different my mindset was 5 years ago vs. now.
I feel like I need to pay it forward.
I want to contribute more, give more.

Be more of use to more people.

Help others.

Enable others.

I guess that’s what I want for the year ahead.

Happy birthday again, Ajeng.

You are doing great!