Breakfast in Sydney and Dinner in Bali

Having the same boring cereals in the office would not be this special without the fact that I will be in Bali tonight. I even didn't mind that full cream milk was run out and only fat free milk which I would never choose was left in the fridge for my breakfast. Nothing could bother my uplifted mood. I am very excited.

This is the first abroad trip since we came back from the last long, 5 month trip. Wow... We have let the 9 months passed unconsciously. Being mindless on time is always painful as our life is finite. We have diligently made short trips with family and friends but it has been a while we fly out to overseas so this trip excites me more than usual.

"Again? How many times you are going away?"
This is most of my colleagues' reaction about our continuous trips. I do admit that my husband and I may have bit of wonderer's blood but I don't think that our trips are extraordinary or extreme. '4 weeks a year', the only time officially given (as an employee) cannot be enough to us. Both of us take our time very seriously. 'Who is not?' However, many people don't seem to care about wasting their only life in the tiny cubicles. I hope my observation is wrong. So, we try to spend time as much possible for traveling which brings a new breeze into our life. Money? is always a big deal, isn't it? We still travel like a student in order to travel as many times as possible.

Travel has become one of the most important parts of our life.The reasons are simple.

Travel offers 'Changes' which make our life fuller. I trust that we all need changes any stages in our life, either bad time or good time, boring time or exciting time, hard time or easy time, etc...Changes can refresh and energise us. Different places, different people, different cultures and lifestyles excite me. New experience opens up my mind. It dilutes prejudice and perceptions on others, and opens up my understanding in differences.Learning and experiencing new things allow me to accept the nature of difference and also grows me up.

One of the best parts of travel is relaxing and recharging my mind and body. Getting away from ordinary daily life offers special relaxation feeling that I needed.

What can beat the excitement of travelling. From the moment, start looking for a destination to go, my life gets brighter. Having something to look for is like unwrapping a Christmas present.

Anywhere I go, actual value of money is different. I feel richer in some countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.. but certainly not in many European countries. in Switzerland, all we could afford was stuff on sales in local supermarkets. Value of money that we earn and have can be easily ignored unless we travel. knowing the real value of money opens opportunities and life options that can be extremely useful for our future decisions.

zźAs we travel more often, size of our luggage gets smaller and lighter. I still remember that our first trip to Europe, our luggage was ridiculously big and heavy. Trip for 2 weeks in bali doesn't require too many stuff any more.Travel teaches me how to live simple life and how good to have less.

Travel with loved ones is simply the best way to get closer to each other. Spending time and experiencing memorable moments together is priceless. Trust me.Travelling is one of the main reasons how we can be still like honeymooners after 13 years of being together.

What I actually wanted to say was my undeniable excitement but as usual I talked more than necessary. All I want to say to you is go travel and enjoy your life. Because it is worthy. It doesn't seem to be real that I will have dinner in Bali when I am sitting in th office in Sydney at the moment but it is just amazing to imagine myself in Bali tonight. How good is that!!!

Stress Can Kill You

Last weekend, my husband and I had a nice catch-up time with a couple who had a long weekend trip together a couple of weeks ago. As we live very close to each other and share similar views on many things, we have been together quite often recently. Having time together with them has been always great pleasure to us. Our friendship has been grown up very naturally as what they
have been through in Australia is very similar to ours (both of them are immigrants from overseas as well). So, when they said that they wanted to come over for a chat, we welcomed them delightfully.

We started with sharing information about properties that we have been looking for and continued our conversation throughout the dinner, and we had noticed that there was something wrong between the couple. Ms was constantly on warrior mood and Mr was trying hard to save his last vane. Ms looked like completely stressed out and Mr looked like totally exhausted by depending himself. The last position we wanted to be on our precious weekend night would be in between family battle zone but it was already unavoidable and all we could do was smoothing the situation. 

The reason of the clash was very simple. Ms was very much stressed, Ms was very anxious and Ms was very irritated. Her un-understandable behaviour became totally understandable at the end of our conversation. Recently, she has
been having a very stressful time at work. New job, new position, deadlines, unachievable target, annoying managers, intolerable pressure, etc…. (Welcome to the normal work life Ms!). Returning to workforce from the long break stresses her too much and she seemed to look for a punch bag (=Mr) in order to release the dreadful stress.     

 

The main point I want to tell you is, ‘Stress can kill you.’ Stress can kill not only you but also your family who loves and supports you the most. Stress can kill your precious life and can poison your happiness. So, don’t let it overrule you and your life.

Below tips are how I could beat my stress that invaded my life for two and half years and made me mentally and also physically sick. I would like to share them with someone who is having a stressful time at the moment (especially, my friend Ms).

 

 

Keep being positive: I know it is hard but you have got to try to be positive. Whenever negative thoughts and worries come to your mind, you need to push them away. Our mind is vulnerable but it is also unbelievably strong and powerful. Allow yourself to switch on your strong mind and let it lead you to get through this hard time. All will be just fine. Reading out positive affirmations (e.g. Life is good. All is well. I am at peace etc…) and being with positive people will definitely help you out. Be positive! 

 

 

 

 

 

Do exercise: Here you go again… I know I cannot stop talking about exercise but it worked to me and I know it will work to you. I still remember the first day I went back to the gym. I was jumping and crying at the same time. I didn’t know that I had energy to overcome the stressful time as I was totally knocked down by the miserable circumstances. However, I found out that I was wrong while I was out of breath and sweating all over the body.  I realized that I certainly had a will and energy to make the situation better. Exercise can help you to stop returning back to negative thoughts again and again. Healthy mind can be only built on healthy body. I believe that doing exercise is a sign of loving yourself and loving yourself will empower you to win the battle.

 

Take a break: Having a break to get a distance from the current situation is very helpful. It wouldn’t make the problems smaller or disappeared but your approaches can be more reasonable and favourable. When you push yourself too hard, you can easily miss the key point and make outcome worsen. You need a break to see the situation properly. Very often, you will be pleasantly surprised that the problems were not that serious as you thought.Plan a holiday with your loved ones. If time doesn’t allow you for a long trip, take a short trip to relax your mind and recharge yourself.

 

 

Do what you like to do: Think about what you like doing the most, what you make yourself happy and, just do it. I like painting pictures, writing blogs, walking along the beaches and having a long run.  These things relax me as they allow me to be close to my inner self. I am a person who cannot sit still, who makes people feel dizzy (according to my husband’s brave description) but I become a totally different person when I paint. I truly enjoy the time of my own. Doing what you like to do will allow you to experience tremendous pleasure and the feeling will ease your stress. 

 

Let it go: I know you do your best to solve the problems and manage the difficult situations. However, there are always things beyond our control. All we have to do it let them go. Do not blame yourself or try to think what you should have done. It wouldn’t help any better but only stresses and depresses you more. What is the point then? As I experienced, it is not easy to erase problems from our mind but it is VERY important to TRY ‘let go’. If you don’t empty your mind, you cannot cheer up yourself. When you let it go, you will realise that your life is still full of goodies.

I hope my tips can help anyone needs to release stress (especially my friend Ms). When I was having a stressful time, I felt extremely lonely even though my lovely husband supported me as much as he could. I thought that I was the only one who suffered the most. Please remember that no one is completely happy always and many people are having a difficult time as you are. You are not alone. Take hands from people around you who are always ready to help and support. However, please remember that who can take the first step to help you is only ‘YOU’.