I remember about a year and a half ago while Andrew and I were on a walk in Vancouver and I told him how I was feeling bored in life: all the excitement from our engagement, wedding, and honeymoon was over, we had no trips planned for the near future, work was boring, it was constantly raining... everything just seemed blah and my mind felt stagnant. Andrew reminded me that there are seasons for everything in life, and suggested that we plan a big party to liven things up. We did that, it was great, but then that too was over.
What a contrast to what's going on now! Life is NOT boring, things are changing all the time, and most of all my mind is spinning like CRAZY all the time. It's like it never stops learning and absorbing and processing new things, be that from the internet, books I've been reading, meeting new people, travelling, or teaching.
One of the coolest things about meeting other expats here in China has been to hear about their jobs. At home I'm used to meeting people with "normal" jobs... things I can fit into my schema, like nurses, teachers, pilots, etc. I have a basic understanding of what all those jobs entail. Here I have met all kinds of people with jobs like flying spy planes for the army, consulting engineering for major industrial accidents, world expo planners, stainless steel pipe-builders, toy designers, and the list goes on and on. The conversations with these people are never boring... I learn so much as I try to envision what they do on a typical day, and I think it's keeping my mind "fit" as well.
Below I've pasted part of a blog entry from a cool blog I've just started reading. Although the list of 5 things is not rocket-science, I wanted to share it with you b/c it's a good reminder for daily life. Check out the whole blog at http://www.freshmd.com/
A few months ago the UK government's science and technology think tank Foresight concluded its Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing.
The report includes an evidence-based list of five simple daily habits for mental wellbeing. These activities, which are likened to five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, are recommended to every person in the UK:
1. Connect with other people, be they family, friends, colleagues or neighbours.
2. Be active. Go for a run, walk around the block after dinner, putter in the garden or take the kids sledding.
3. Take notice. Be aware of the details of daily life - the beautiful, the humorous, the surprising. Be conscious of the world around you and your reactions to it.
4. Keep learning. Take a photography course. Learn to knit. Tackle a work problem in a different way.
5. Give. Show kindness to others. Volunteer. Support a charity. Donate blood.
1 comment:
Hey Corinna! I loved this entry - very well-written. Did I tell you about freshmd.com? You know she is one of my best friends right?
Post a Comment