It doesn't have to be Complicated

Why do we think that accomplishments, goals or projects have to be worked up really hard to be successful?  Why do we think we need to be perfect?

Let me give you an example of what I mean. I would start a book, not finish it.  Why..Because I did not have the one slice of hour dedicated to read.  Example 2: I would tell my boss, no I don't want to do this assignment. I suck at it.  Because I know how anal I could be about it being perfect.  Well then I realized all of this as a lesson God is telling me.  It doesn't have to be perfect or complicated. It just has to get done.

We are taught to lead lives of perfection in order to be alright.  We are taught to meet a standard, a measure, a ruler if you will, to be excellent.  We strive for that.  And how do we measure success?
Validation.

This is faulty human thinking. It hinders us. It causes us anxiety.  It causes us to hate.  It causes us jealousy.

Sometimes acceptance is key, and there is nothing wrong with that. From the time I was young, I knew what I liked and what I wanted. Those desires have not changed. The fear that is linked to desire is still there.

Letting go is hard. It means abandoning our innermost desires and false comfort. I have a first step of  accomplishment that doesn't require outside validation.  And that is my own awareness.  So, with that it really doesn't have to be complicated.

Back to DC..Back to Reality

Well I made it back to DC in one piece. Actually my luggage straggled but it did eventually meet up. Sometimes I feel like life is nothing but a bunch of hyperboles. And one day things will be as they should as God intended. When you fail a test or an exam you failed what God wanted you to learn.  I’ve learned all of this in the past week through these hyperboles. Such as my luggage being lost and found; and being part of a group of IT specialists to prepare exam questions for our future recruits. “Choose THE best answer.” Thank you everyone, for choosing ME as your friend.  Thank you, hubby for choosing me to be your wife.

I had a great time off in FL and I felt like I did what I was supposed to do, during the visit. I felt more at peace also, thanks to the meditation even if some critics could say it is a cult. Well, if good things come out of it it can’t be that bad. As long as I hold onto the truth that there is still only one God.

I recently joined a minimalist group on Facebook and it was interesting, to say the least. I found a bunch of like-minded people. People who wanted to simplify their life and achieve happiness basically with much, much less.

It is odd that I consider my “physical life” to be minimalist but in fact I’m one of the most complicated people you’ll ever meet.

I guess I will end this entry by saying one plus one rarely equals two.

Empowerment

I am enjoying my assignment in DC.  One of the things I get to do as a privilege, is getting to be part of the big picture projects.

Yesterday I attended a presentation from Albanian high school students who were competing in a Technovation contest.  It was amazing to see empowerment in girls at such a young age and the talent and confidence they displayed.  They were presenting a pitch on a new smart phone app to help woman and girls in abusive and violent relationships.  Coming to the United States was daunting.  Presenting to a roundtable of government officials is a challenge and they nailed it. 

Believe it or not, no matter the language, no matter the country, the boundaries of violence does not transcend just a population -- it is every where and it exists still today.

I never really considered myself to be political.  But maybe I am..I have political and religious beliefs. I am from a country that values freedom, life and the pursuit of happiness.  Yes, as women, as minorities, as an identification of a religious belief, we are, in larger parts or small, persecuted when we DON'T remain silence.  Persecution is a killer.  It comes in many forms, don't be deceived.  It is a called from the bureaucracy of a higher "human" power is that "I'm in charge and you will be assimilated. Who wants to be in control.  Resistance is futile."

If there is one thing I learned in my 44 years of life, we are all taught to be conform in one way or the other. I just have to close my eyes and trust that I will be where I am meant to be, because fear served a purpose (for our ancestors) but we are all evolving and we need not let it cripple us. 

Out with the old...and in with the new. 

A Blessed and Beautiful Weekend

This weekend was special.  It started out with my will (and determination) to bike to work, now that I bought a new bike from a neighbor in the apartment community.  I was so determined that I went to Target and got my minimum - lock and helmet.  Then I began plotting my map.

The next day as always, things don't go as planned. I got lost and ended up in the trail by the river longer than intended. Luckily it was a Friday so I knew it wasn't going to be an emergency.  I got to work and into my cubicle by 8:30 am.  I left at 7:00 am.  Well, I guess not so bad in the great big scheme of things. I got to see all the monuments in DC, plus the Potomac river for free, via my two special legs LOL.

Saturday and Sunday, I decided to work on more home projects, but before that, I figured it was my turn to visit my brother and dad in Maryland, since they have been trekking down to Virginia. I've been wanting to attend this Asian Christian church since I got here and the timing just never worked out.  It was nice, the pastor was Thai and he spoke in Thai and then it was also translated into English.  So, I got the message twice, essentially and understood more, what God was trying to tell me.  It was amazing.  So glad to be back home and with "my people."  They are building their own church soon and so this first week, I was blessed to join their new mission in Maryland and their partner with the church there.  See below.

Oh, and as a plus, I got a pleasant surprise meeting with my cousin and her family at lunchtime. We were texting each other when we realized we were eating at the same mall!!  A blessing indeed!  And this morning, I got to sing with the Catholic choir, finally learning the music and the routine better.

Well, I had enough fun for the weekend.  Besides spending one hour and a half on the bike figuring things out *and* one hour drilling holes in my apartment wall (I am so not handy), I got my picture frame and art work wall up.  Blessed b the Lord.

Wall art - finally learned to do an anchor with a drill

 Not so straight, but oh well... 

Thai Christian Church DC

Making Dreams Work for You

Dreams are powerful tools at our down disposal.  Dreams are our own world..and at times, seems like reality that very moment. In our dreams, there are no limits.  We can do anything.  In dreams, we are the director.  There are no inhibitions.  Let dreams work for you.

I have had many dreams where I choreographed beautiful dances.  Well, at the time, I did not know I was a choreographer.  In the dream, I would be the student learning the dance.  When I woke up, I was like...For real? That was me? I made all that up? 

The other power of dreams is that they tell you messages.  I've been using the dream moods online app for some time and see the correlation and how symbolism make sense and that the brain uses symbolism when I had dreams.  In order to make sense of something, dreams are oftentimes symbols.  It might not apply to all of us, but whoever came up with the dream interpretation idea, well..had the right idea.  Human minds work alike.  We were molded by society in a way and so symbols represent the same thing for many people.  Naked=humility.  So dreams of being naked in public can mean feeling humility or vulnerable.  Dreams of shopping means, we are in search of something we are missing.  And the list goes on.

I see also that dreams can give us a different angle on a view.  It might highlight issues we're facing or give us creative ways to look at things.  Looking at things from a different angle is indeed more creative than thinking one dimensional.  Think of a straight picture frame and the rectangular shape of it.  Now move to the bottom left and look up at it.  It gives you a different perspective, sometimes more interesting.

I am making dreams work smarter for me.  For example, I used dreams to express creativity of dancing.  Now I know that I'm a choreographer in my dreams, I just used dreams to try and remember the dance I created.  I would somehow repeat it, while dreaming.  I would replay the "dance dream" in my head.  Essentially, I'm using dreams to not only be creative but to recall when I wake up.  Now isn't that something?

Dreams are not always prophetic and many people do not remember them.  You can explore your past and see where most of your memories dwell.  You can see where you are storing those powerful emotions that are waiting to be discovered.  Let dreams work for you.

The Hot Seat

After relocating to DC for nearly three months, I can see what the seat of Washington DC is looking like. And how my mindset was molded to this ideal, growing up in the not so distant city of Germantown, Maryland. 

This is the hot seat. This is where all the laws are passed, where all the decision making is made. This, boy and girls, is the heart of the building of our Nation. 

This week I am attending a week-long training called Washington Tradecraft. Although I am the minority in the audience of Consular, Overseas bureau officers, Political, Economic, Department of Homeland and the like...I am learning about the pressing issues in Washington, see who the key players are, and how to get the attention of those power-making people. Yes, I say people because it is a group consensus. No one person can make it all happen for you.  I guess this is what is meant by “government of the people, for the people and by the people.”

Wow, gives us a different perspective to be in the hot seat in the middle of the workings of our government. Don’t we all wish we were important? 

Bottom line. Things move fast with Congress. If you are not making it a pressing issue, it won’t be. You want change, make it urgent. You wanna keep up? Better be responsive and respond to that email. Oh, yeah and FaceTime is important if you want to survive in a world that associates names and faces, not “handles” and text messages. 

You are in the hot seat. Make your statement now if you want the word to get out, by next year. 

When I was a "Millennial."

It's amazing how time stops for no one.  I'm now 44 years old and have been in the US government since I was 18 years old (1993).  Today, the people who are in the workforce are millenial generation or those born in the 80s and 90s. 

I just reviewed my team's biographies and it got me thinking how I was when I was a tender age of 20-24 years which is the average millenial age now in 2019.  This is my perspective.  You guys have it better in terms of diversity.  When I was working in my first government agency, I was the youngest person there, and everyone treated me like their daughter. The office was diverse ethnically as it involved minority's health but not gender or age.  So that, played an important role in my development.

I moved on to join the US foreign service government agency and that was another animal in itself. It was competitive, it wasn't as diverse, and for years...I was the only young person where-ever I went.  I've gone through discrimination of all sorts.  And I'm still standing with an award for being in the government this long.

Now I'm back home in DC area, working in downtown DC and find that today's millenials have new dilemmas to face.  No one is problem free. We all need creative individuals.  At my time, I did what I can to get the job done. 25 years later, I'm still that person, more prudent and wiser. I'm trying to see reality as it is and I have been seeing it from my "judgementel and feeling" perspective according to the myers-briggs personality test. 

As a Xennial or Gen-X individual, I see now my contribution to today's world has benefits. Moderating chats using my typing skills, adapting to both traditional and new ways of doing business as I was born in the cusp of emerging computer technology.  I can write. I can type.  I know how data and statistics can be flawed.  I know one plus one does not equal two.  And I know we cannot see everything with the naked eye.

And I am looking forward to being a part of a force that brings us closer to the lives we were meant to live.