It’s the 19th of November, days away from my thirty-third birthday, and I feel it’s a good time to take stock of where I am now.
It’s fair to say that the past forty months or so have been a wild ride. Sure, I’m actually living out my university dream of living in Japan, I have a stable job that comes with a surprising amount of hard-gained job satisfaction (caveat - this applies mainly to the elementary schools I’m working at), and I’ve managed to visit every single prefecture in Kyushu, plus Okinawa.
I’ve also managed to find myself in a band through unusual conditions, but at least that’s another thing I can tick off from my bucketlist.
On the other hand, COVID-19 happened. Travel plans have gone up in smoke, I’ve had to throw away the equivalent of around AU$700 in wasted air fares, and I ended up hitting several mental slumps. One of my uncles also passed away towards the end of March earlier this year, which didn’t do much for my mental health.
Throw in the “Revenge Procrastination” I’ve been fighting ever since completing my online post-graduate certification after moving here to Nagasaki, and it is safe to say that my life in Japan is like a wild roller coaster ride.
I do not regret the experience.
Yes, I do regret the actions that I have taken, but if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to engage in any form of reflection, which is essential if I want to become a better person. Part of why I’ve decided to start up my own personal blog is to inform my future employers as much as possible about me, giving them what they need to know before they decide to take a punt on someone who can be capable, but with several potentially-annoying monkeys hanging off the shoulders.
So, what can I do to become a better person?
It starts with the self. I need to better discipline myself in order to ward off the feelings of “Revenge Procrastination” so that I can actually get sufficient rest on weeknights. If I can do this, it’ll be easier for me to resume exercising before breakfast on a regular basis, which in turn will help with my emotions and physical fitness.
Will there be sacrifices that I need to make? What will I need to sacrifice to meet my goals? These are additional questions I have to consider, but in the end, regardless of what happens, my mental and physical health will need to take priority.
No snapshots today, but there’ll be one in my next post, which should be up on my birthday.
Take care,
Zach
Posted November 19th 2021 (JST)