I can’t believe its already June. 2011 is flying bye. It’s already been a year since I’ve graduated from college. Crazy. I’m amazed by how much I’ve grown in these last 12 months. The last 5 months were particularly a period of change. I’ve gotten involved in many activities of interest. Some I’ve stuck with, most I’ve not. This process of trying new things reminds me a lot like college life. In retrospect I wish I had been more involved while at college. Exposure to new activities, people and ideas fuels personal growth. After a year out of college, I’ve realized that variety is really the spice of life. Of course it’s important to have that foundation to rely on no matter what, but it’s really through the new encounters that life brings that really makes life worth living. I just hope that in the remaining months of this year – and really for the rest of my life – I don’t lose sight of this notion, and slip back into a humdrum routine.
life
My Foundation
StandardWhile catching up on some readings during this past week before bed, one topic really made me think: identifying our foundation. Consider everything in your life. What really matters the most? Put another way, what can you imagine living life without?
After giving it some thought, I’m still not quite sure what exactly is my foundation. Perhaps this is typical? What with this whole notion of a quarterlife-crisis, it’s certainly not uncommon that others my age might pause from time to time to question what we’re doing with our life. For me, other than God, my immediately family and grandparents, and my closest friends – I’m really not sure what else I TRULY need in life to be happy. More time to do more things would help. As would more money. But at the end of the day, I think my foundation – at least for now – is pretty basic. How About you all? What do you consider to be your foundation in life?
Keeping it in Perspective
StandardHappy Easter everyone! I’ve always celebrated Easter, but I’ve only grown to really appreciate this day of thanks since leaving Hawaii.
Keeping with this theme of thanks, a couple days a go, one of the blogs I follow published an interesting article on the concept of seeing the cup half full or half empty. For a long time, I was a complete victim to this syndrome. I think the reason for this probably stems back to my days in Hawaii, where I felt that if I didn’t do something great, there’d be no chance for me to leave for better opportunities on the mainland. There was a real sense of urgency to outperform. Certainly, that drive and ambition pushed me to over-achieve, but I’ve realized it’s also important to take a step back and truly appreciate what’s happening in the now, and what’s already been achieved.
This focus on the present is something that I’ve never been good at, though I’m trying. Thinking about life in terms of “what is” rather than “what isn’t” really makes living day-to-day that much more enjoyable, for me at least.
Well-being
StandardA little over a year ago, Gallup published an interesting book on Well-being. The authors decompose well-being into five elements: career, social, financial, physical, and community well-being. I learned about this book after taking Gallup’s “Strength’s Finder 2.0” test that identifies an individual’s five top strengths from a list of 25 different strengths. Mine were: deliberative, learner, focus, restorative, and achiever. Anyway, back to well-being.
I like Gallup’s Well-being framework because it captures everything possible that we may derive value and happiness, though certainly some people may naturally derive more value from one of the five elements than others. In addition, I find this framework useful in how I structure this blog going forward. Over the next couple days, I’ll discuss my thoughts on each of the five elements. Over time, I hope to use this blog as a way of chronicling my efforts in achieving well-being as a twenty-something currently based in DC.