The theme of my day today has been all about "balance".
Balance is easy to achieve, yet we tend to forget how to do it, thus, it becomes difficult. I admit that I struggled with this. It's funny how this topic got incorporated in all the activities I did today. And that's when I started to realise that I'm starting to achieve my balance.
Having balance means that you are able to manage different factors in your life, and that you're not missing out on some parts of your life by focusing too much on certain things. Let's say, one time in my life, I got too focused on my goal of losing weight, that I forgot to slow down and just enjoy the process. I got into a routine that all I thought about was how to lose my weight with everything I'm doing on that particular day. So, all I did everyday was just workout and worry about my calorie intake. Then I stumbled, and I just completely went the opposite end of just not caring at all about what I ate, and I no longer worked out, instead of at least maintaining it by having a bit of an exercise here and there.
Either I went all out or I didn't.
Either I went all out or I didn't.
That's one example. And then there's the common imbalance of just working and working, instead of doing some hobbies or going out with your family and friends in between, to break that monotonous vibe from just working everyday.
Anyway, today, I got enlightened. Today was a day I scheduled for myself. Tomorrow's my day out with my friends to watch X-Men: Apocalypse! I'M SO EXCITED. See what I did there? Haha. Balance.
Firstly, I went to my voice lesson at Sydney Voice Studio, which I would love to blog about next time, as it deserves its own post. My vocal coach/teacher, Jess, is such a beautiful person to work with. She found what my weakness was when it comes to singing. Yep, you guessed it. I don't have balance.
Either I become too breathy or I become too heavy when I sing. She gave me exercises this month to work on properly getting that right balance. She said it isn't going to be a quick process, as it's something that you develop overtime. Just like how we train our muscles when we workout, the same process happens to all the muscles involved in producing our voice.
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| Inspiring voice studio! My temporary sanctuary. |
I already started hearing the difference, and both of us are happy to hear that. I still need to work on it, but Jess is a great blessing to my love for singing. She made me realise that singing also needed balance.
Also, I am really happy that I'm becoming more active with my singing, despite my busy work schedule. It's good to have something like this to look forward to at the end of my workweek. I still get that balance of working and doing my other passion.
Secondly, I didn't really have a specific goal in terms of weightloss. I just wanted to workout and enjoy the endorphins, and the feeling of being healthy. I did not care how much I was losing, nor how much I was eating. So after 2-3 months of just enjoying exercising and trying to eat clean (with cheat days for balance ;) ), I weighed myself with no fear/pressure, and I was surprised to see that I've lost 13 lbs.
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| Best face ever. Sorry. This was my only photo to monitor my progress--which was today. |
It wasn't like how I used to before that I would worry how much weight I've lost everyday. I even blogged about my journey back then. I took photos every week to see the difference. That's how intense I was at monitoring my weight and activities. Now, I had to take a photo just for this blog post to at least give this section a visual to describe it. No before/afters.
Basically, this time, I just went with the flow, and rejoiced at whatever the results were--whether I lost anything or not. So, after my voice lesson, I went straight to the gym, and devoted 1 hour to releasing those endorphins.
Basically, this time, I just went with the flow, and rejoiced at whatever the results were--whether I lost anything or not. So, after my voice lesson, I went straight to the gym, and devoted 1 hour to releasing those endorphins.
Thirdly, I started getting more in touch with my inner/spiritual self. I found it helpful to have a good balance between my external and internal self. I have started to learn meditating, and I got more motivated, thanks to the influence of my cousin, Ate Bing. She taught me to just let go of my thoughts, and try not to control them.
So after my workout, I went to have a bit of a hike to get in touch with nature. Truly, it's nice to break away from the busy normal life, and slow down and just get in touch with nature. I mean, when I was young, I enjoyed trips that involved hiking, climbing rocks, crossing rivers, swimming by the falls, etc. I lost that when I started working. I got a bit serious with life. I'm now in the process of getting the original Steph back, who just enjoys life, and making that version better.
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| Perfect view. |
I then looked for a spot where I can just meditate. I love the feeling. I used to avoid the idea of meditating except if it's through a prayer. My mind was too busy, so I felt that meditating would be a bit difficult for me to do. But we all have to start somewhere, right? And that's what I needed--to quiet down my mind. I think about so many things too much.
And that's when I noticed the changes after learning meditation. I am calmer now. No matter how stressful my environment would get, I didn't feel too much pressure (there's pressure, but not the type that freezes your mind), and I was able to think clearer and calmer. I would feel that everything is always going to be okay, and it always did.
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| Listen to this link while looking at these nature photos. Trust me. I listened to that while taking in the view. |
Also, I am more patient and understanding now. That means, even when some things don't go as expected, or there would be negative people around, I may be annoyed at first (we're humans and that's normal), but then I just try to understand the reason behind it, and then let that pass. I don't let them affect me anymore. I continue living my life. It's a good feeling.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to share. I realised so many things today, and I'm so happy to see the changes happening in my life, only because I started to balance my life by doing the things I love (including going back to blogging regularly again!), and getting connected to my inner self with no pressure.
It's good to pause sometimes, and think about what we're focusing on our life. Once we realise what we need to realise, we can then slowly act on improving ourselves to grow as a person.
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