Reflections at the Start of 2020

As part of my personal New Year's resolution for 2020, I have decided to restart my blog writing after 6 years, and jot down the various daily life lessons and thoughts as part of my journey.  I had gone silent online shortly after starting work at my (then) new company Amazing Borneo Tours in 2013, as the crazy pace of work and life swept me along.  And now, at a very different place in my life, it is time to pick up where I left off.  

It has been an eventful journey, filled with experiences both bitter and sweet. 
But overall, Life has been kind and God has been good.  

For quick status updates:  
-  I am now the Sales Director overseeing the sales team of Amazing Borneo.  
-  I had my dream wedding in December 2019 and am now married to an incredible guy whom you will likely hear more about in future. 
-  Shuttling between countries has become a part of this chapter of my life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 
-  I am the proud aunty of eight nieces and nephews from my immediate family, with one more sweet niece from my hubby's side.  

With that aside, I wish to share two little insights which came to me today.  

1. 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒊𝒕.
You may work hard to achieve personal goals, but it doesn't stop after you get there. Yes, you may have lost that unwanted fat or shaved off a couple of kilos within the time frame you set for yourself, but unless you are disciplined to keep working out to maintain or further improve your fitness, you will eventually lose what you had worked so hard for.  

Likewise, today you may seem successful already in comparison to your peers or in reaching the targets you have set out to hit; but unless you continue working hard towards further self improvement and new achievements, your success will be short-lived. We need to continue fighting and working hard towards our goals - to do as much as we can with the time given to create better lives for the people around us, and to eventually leave behind a legacy when we are gone.

Oh, one more thing - both WORKING OUT and WORKING HARD are painful processes;  no success comes overnight.  

2. 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎.
While looking at my marshmallows that I slid into the toaster for dessert, I realised that heat is a powerful thing.  It can either destroy you, or it can transform you into something more valuable and more beautiful. 

Today's "heat" could come in many forms - work stress, pressure from external factors, expectations on ourselves, yet it always forces the same result: C H A N G E. 

When the heat you experience today pushes you out of your comfort zone, would you give up and crumble into ashes, or would it melt and mould you into an even better version of yourself?

In both scenarios, we decide the outcome for ourselves based on our actions. 

May we each choose well.