ExclusiveChapter 10 | A Path Ahead #selfloveandhealing #authenticself #bekindbecool

Dear diary, it is the last week of August 2025. It is also the last week before I leave New York and looking further ahead, Sydney and then Taiwan. And honestly, my life felt so stagnant for the past several months. But now, it feels like the boat I'm on is starting to set sail. I've had a thought recently, which is, sometimes it seems upon looking back, the past dreams and plans I had for the future have come to fruition. And it feels like I've been there, done that, and that's all it was. But life goes on. Unlike all of the fairy tales or stories I've read in my childhood, when something big is accomplished or an adventure finished, the story ends. And yet, I'm still alive and breathing, figuring out what else there is out there for me to do. What's my next quest? My next mission? Believing that life's purpose is somewhat lived to the end when you don't see the end coming is a mindset programmed into me over the years of watching and consuming movies, fantasies, and fictional tales. This is another probable reason as to why people in society these days go on endlessly scrolling, never ending overconsumption, external instant gratification, purposefully letting themselves get distracted because they don't know what journey to walk, or because the life they have envisioned is divorced from reality, or because they are simply lost. A state of complacency is deadly to the spirit within because it wears you down subconsciously. How do I identify it? Some of the things I've experienced previously was that all sorts of problems resurface, whether that's at work or personal, and then one would tend to complain about one's donor environment or circumstance, instead of visionally looking within for one's very own problems. This complaint is not only verbal, it may also be mentally, gathering resentment, displeasure, and an unpleasantness about others. But an enlightenment I had a long time ago suggests that any mental or physical abuse creates karma, because even though at the present moment you may not sense the negative energy you are attracting, there is an aftermath of every action. Perhaps that is why so often I hear, be kind, be positive, and optimistic messages will be rewarding, whether it is from the internet or in person. After all, this is something that take effort to do, through pain through gain. Another realization I had the other day was that one should smile more often. It may sound silly, but we only have so long on planet earth, and if each passing day isn't better or more uplifting to live in, while smiling? Of course not in a creepy way, in a way that is soft and gentle from deep down within, a contentment that obtaining this chance or opportunity to live life is a blessing in itself. It's humbling to think that the present moment is truly, most authentically, the most precious gift one could ask for. And lastly, when it's hard to pull through a try to think fast forward into the future and look back at yourself in this situation. What are some things you would do differently so that you won't regret the result of? If it's a workplace you despise, what kind of elements can you in fact cherish and learn from because of it? And if it weren't for the environment and the hardship you wouldn't have gained in several ways that you wouldn't have known of in the future. Any negativity can be changed into a positive force, and when that is always in the heart and mind, most if not all problems can be taken lightly. So what is there to fear? There's only acceptance and appreciation.