Recently came back from my trip to Japan in late Nov 2016, I’ve made one of the scariest decisions in my career and life. I decided to take a mid-career break — a journey I will share with you in another near-future post. This post is dedicated to share with you my experience from the Japan trip, how I’ve felt, what I’ve learnt and how these lessons changed my perspective in several aspects of life, influenced me to take a break from work and made me a happier me.
Living in the Moment. I spent several days walking around Kyoto and stumbling upon many exciting places one after another. Each of these discovers captured my full attention at a time — finding simple, little things in life could give me a leap of joy. Time is the only limit when I have so many things in my mind; I realized it is true that having less is having more. I know it would be scary for us to put aside work, career and other things we deem important; however, I decided to give it a try myself. Practicing of letting go of zillion things on my plate and focusing on one thing at a time, I felt satisfied and fulfilled more than ever.
Finding the Self Again. When entering into a new environment, my mind was more awake and aware while my body was trying to exercise existing “tools.” In the crowded and non-stop world, I learned to be more mindful — I first stopped, stepped back and observed then responded rather than reacted to the situation at hands. Stopping and stepping back to sort out the existing skill sets I could apply in a given situation. Observing how people handle themselves, I could then narrow down my list of relevant skill sets to be applied in such situation. I then responded to the situation with the selective skills in my own twisted flavor :) A silly smile found its way on my face as I kindled my long-lost skills that I’ve gained over the years but haven’t had a chance to apply them in real life. We are more than just the person behind our work desk.
Found a New Me. Have you ever paused and asked whether you are living your own life or you are carrying someone else’s dreams and in every of your decisions in life? There are times we all live for and because of someone else, but I know I will happier when listening to myself and understanding what I want rather than living up to others’ expectations upon me.
For any adventures that I’m on, I find something new about myself and learned something new along the road. Any adventures will be fruitful to you as long as you look closely. Looking back at my trip, I found that I was bringing home some crazy ideas that sparked up during the trip, developing a new skill (such as spotting geisha and maiko haha), adding a new hobby to my list (such as writing on Medium — unbelievable that I’m sitting here and writing this blog :D), changing my way of seeing life and money, thinking about a next step in my career advancement plan and even planning a change in my career path.
Being Spoiled Isn’t as Bad. I’m happy where I am now in life. Go live your life and be brave to do something that scares you the most! For sure I am not advising you to do anything dangerous or outrageous :) Live and challenge uncertainties in life but don’t forget to spoil yourself once in a while.
