Haven't we noticed that life is like an airplane ride?
Next Step #12 Happy 2023! ~ In this issue, I'd like to share my reflection of how life is like an airplane ride, a new ergonomic chair, my tips to goal planning and favourite things in January!
This year, ‘A and I decided to celebrate our new year at KLIA airport landing view at 12.00 am on 1st January 2023. What’s the reason you asked? We have a shared goal and watching the aircraft make its smooth landing reminds us of our end goal.
As we sat there enjoying the steamed buns in silence impatiently waiting for the aircraft to arrive in the dim nights of street lights, in 5 minutes I lost my patience and asked ‘A, “What if they didn’t land safely?”, “If they do, how do they know it will be a good choice of being here when they arrive?”, and went out of context “Were you afraid during the touchdown moment?”. ‘A just smiled and replied, “Maybe they just don’t know what they are up to…and yes whenever the flight took off and touch down felt thrilled when that happened”. He was calmed and took another sip from the bottle of Barbican we bought earlier. I had a follow-up question in my head, “How do they decide to take the chance anyways?” but I went with “Well, I just hope one day we could pack our bags and leave to never come back!”. He pulled me into his arm and said “Insha Allah, that’s what we are heading for!” while kissing my head. We continued eating and watched the next aircraft make its touch-down on the runway.
The thoughts continued in my mind making the usual conversation with myself. Life is similar to an airplane ride. “They do”, I thought to myself. We made the plan and bought the ticket, board the plane and we never know what was going to happen. We don’t REALLY know if we are going to make it to our destination if it will take off on time, unexpectedly delay, or even make its safe landing at all. Most importantly, we don’t even know if the journey will be smooth. As we were strapped into our seats, everything that happens next is totally out of our control. We let the half mil pound aircraft be controlled by a complete stranger and let the pilots take care of our lives from the moment the airplane takes off till it safely landed.
Some of us sit back and enjoy the flight, zoned out to read books or with eyes closed to listen to music on headphones. Some of us, keep looking out of the window enjoying the hanging clouds, or maybe some are strapped with anxiety throughout the whole journey. But we are all wanting the same thing on the flight. We want it to be safe, and easy, with no turbulence, no bumps, and no challenges. When turbulence shook the aircraft, we panicked and act hysterically as if will last forever. It felt like there was no way to escape, we try to distract ourselves and hold on to anything waiting for it to end. Like in the movie, passengers have different ways to deal with the situation. And when it passes and smaller turbulence came, we carried on with the trip with less of a hysterical act as if we’d get used to it. Some may continue acting the same or even worst!
That is what I noticed how the airplane ride is much like the life that we are living now. Have you noticed the same? Everyday, we may or may not have a plan but we are all on our own path. We don’t always have everything within our control but we have control of how we get through the bumps in life. When there’s a bump in our lives, we can choose that it will continue and never end for us. We start blaming our fate for the terrible time, without paying attention to our past experiences and learning from them. We even take every other good thing in life for granted. In each pressing moment, we usually forget that bumps are like turbulence, it will never last. There’s ebb and flow to life and we usually forgot that when we are in distress or simply taking things for granted.
This is my new year rambling. When you encounter ‘turbulence’ in your life, remember to blast through it, and have faith in the belief, “God never gives you more than you can handle”.
💡 This month's highlights :
I bought a new ergonomic chair from Niture. I bought Pillo Lite model that helps support both my back and my neck. To my surprise, it solves 80% of my backache issues which I have experienced for as long as I can remember! It’s insane what a change of chair can do to you. I was reluctant to get a new one as I am too attached to my old one for 5 years. I had it since day one at my current company and I was lucky when my company decided to move office, they were getting us a brand new chair in the new office so I get to bring the old one back home with me. But it gets old now and making creaking sounds too whilst it wasn’t even designed for long hours sitting, to begin with. It was really the time for me to change it. If it wasn’t for ‘A who persuaded me gently to change my chair, I would have still felt constant pain in my neck and back. This also save me from a trip from visiting Chiropractic, which I was hoping not to go for!
We celebrated our friend Jeannie graduating with her Masters after two years of hustling with assignments and homework!
It’s been raining and cloudy most days in Kuala Lumpur. I am not much of a wet and rainy season kind of person but am learning to appreciate the little things and enjoy the drop of degrees weather while it lasts.
I have finally completed my phase 1 revision of the Project Management Professional (PMI) course. I attended a 35 hours online live class conducted by a local trainer and supported my learning with a course on Udemy by Andrew Ramdayal (It is fully updated for the 2023 PMP Exam, ‘PMP Certification Exam Prep Course 35 PDU Contact Hours/PDU’. I find that Andrew is very engaging and relevant not just for exams but also applying the theory at work. I am now in Phase 2 of my study weeks and is all about deep diving into the concept summary and memorizing important terms and formulas for the exam. I intend to sit for the exam this quarter, I’ll let you know how it goes in my next update. He also has a Youtube channel, if you like to check it out.
😍 My favorites:
The Blue Pale Eyes movie on Netflix. If you like a setting in 1900s and dark misty vibe of a mystery crime, this 2 hours show can be for you. It has a slow start but was carefully plotted and I like it when I can’t even guess who is the killer till the very last minute whilst the hint is just under my nose! Also, I love to see my favourite actress Gillian Anderson (famously known as Agent Scully from the X-files) and ‘A only up for it because Christian Bale from Batman was in it!
You People movie on Netflix. It’s essentially a love story between two love birds and the challenge of their culture clash for being white and Jewish versus black and Muslim family. It’s a contemporary and romance type of movie, full of humors, culture awareness and inclusion, and heartwarming scenes.
My first book of the year is 10 thousands door of January by Alex E. Harrow. It was set in 1800s (I think if it wasn’t 1900s) and it’s about a girl who found a strange book, secret doors that bring you to a different world. This book is about trauma, father-daughter relationship, love, and time-travel adventures. This book has an intense scene but it surely made me feel happy as I close it at the end.
Bought Pop Keys, my first mechanical keyboard by Logitech. I don’t usually like a noisy keyboard and thicker type of keyboard but I realized now that I owned it, I enjoy it so much. It makes long-hour of writing feel much more smooth and more ergonomic than my Logitech K390 . Also, the black and yellow color are aesthetically pleasing too!
🕯 Look what I’ve made:
A chatty video about 3 basic steps of how I set and plan my goals for the new year.
Sending you an enormous hug and best of 2023! xx