Taking A (Moh)ment - Consistency

Ok so after thinking of starting this blogging and getting the first post out, I fell off already :) BUT I did write up a couple of drafts, but I never ended up getting back around to publishing them. So I figured with such a gap, this blog's theme is important to establish the cadence for myself personally.

It was an extremely busy May, followed by an extremely busy June. Imagine, 4 conferences, in 4 cities in 4 days, followed by 2 back to back red-eyes to start a 3 week stint in Europe.

But between May and June, I also did have another seizure. This time it was interesting, I felt the onset. I actually had symptoms that I recognized. Namely, repeatedly blanking mind and repeating myself to try and remember where I was in the convo. I told an individual I was speaking with that this felt extremely similar to the feeling prior to my last seizure and so let me get my medication from my hotel room. But at that point, a bit late.

Following that, I've learned my lesson :) If there's anything that takes precedence it's rest and medication.

So that leads me to July and August. I focused on being home as much as I could. And I was home about 6 consecutive weeks in the summer. I decided to skip Black Hat (FOMO did set in given how many members of the Armis family were in attendance :) ). In the mean time I was purging the house and decluttering since I had bought a house (mA)! So move in was end of August, lots to do - and I hate...HATE moving :) I'm not the most organized person (more on that in a future blog)

Consistency in schedules no matter how tough it may be. Show up even when you don't feel like it. Push through.

Consistency in establishing personal downtime. Disconnect. From work, and from other stressors that exist. The world is, and will continue to spin. Not everything is in your control. Focus on letting things go to further shed stress. I absolutely maintain that I'm an introverted extrovert. I'm social for bursts at a time, but need isolation at times through the day to be able to recharge my battery. Often times, if you see me walking around with headphones, most of the times that means I need a bit of space to gather myself and decompress. Another hint is if I plan to have a pizza in my hotel room. My comfort food <3 And sometimes, this means missing out on some things. For all the places I've traveled, I take - but haven't shared - many photos. I also haven't taken the time out to explore or take in my surroundings. That's another element for me to be better at. So I'll try to post a photo I've taken to go with each blog. In this one - a double rainbow I ran into just after landing in LGA.

Consistency in personal growth. There's a time for play, a time for work, and a time for growth. Personally, continuous growth is something that keeps pushing me to be better. I've been a lifelong academic. A lifelong learner. And it hasn't stopped. The fascination of learning is interesting. Reading, growing. It might be attributed to the fact that I grew up most of my childhood without a TV. So what outlet did I have? The library. Combined between my siblings and I - 3 library cards @ 25 books each, means 3 weeks to read between 75 books. And continue that pattern for 4-5 years? There came a time where entire sections of the library had no new books for us to read. I recall we used to get so engrossed in reading that we would often ignore the world around us. Ironically, instead of yelling at us to turn of the TV or video games, our parents would need to get our attenton aware from books! What a time :)

Consistency in revisiting your goals. Saving for a house was a vision I had since we were renting an apartment in Scarborough. My dad had been laid off after working minimum wage job as a security guard, working late nights in remote locations in the freezing cold. He then worked as a pizza delivery guy, and I remember I felt incredibly sad when there was a bunch of change on the front table and I asked for $20 and we dug out coins from the table. That's when you notice the wrinkles in your aging parents, that's when you see despite all the struggle they never let you know of it. My highest goal at that point was to get our own house so my parents can just chill. Oh, and no interest (personal and religious reasons). Housing prices are insanity in Canada and so it felt like an insurmountable goal, or rather one that would take decades upon decades (which it actually did). So when we ended up buying a house a couple of months ago, it was a surprise for my parents, that no matter what happens, no matter the madness that may be happening in the world around us, we have a place that is ours and we'll always have a spot for ourselves. My dad was actually very excited and planning on how he wanted to decorate parts of the house. You do you Pappu, buy whatever decor you'd like, retro, modern, chic, whatever it is :) My mom is actually disabled and unable to move much, zero mobility to get around the house and when I was searching houses, there were hard requirements of having a bedroom on the first floor, no stairs, a full bathroom, etc. You'll get a lot of comments from people who don't understand where you're coming from. Don't listen to them. It's your journey - not theirs. Be steadfast in the goals you want to achieve, whether personal or professional, no matter how difficult or distant they may be. I review my goals every quarter, makes it easier to break down things into bite sized chunks. I've had people laugh and discredit the goal for years - the rare time I mentioned it to the handful of people aside from direct family. It got to the point I stopped opening up to people about it for years. It was just something I carried with me.

"Everyone just wait now, so much on my plate now - people I believed in they don't even show they face now. What they gotta say now - NOTHING they can say now..." Furthest Thing - Drake

Consistency in celebrating the wins - no matter how small or how large. For me this is a big one. Accomplishments deserve recognition. It's a positive reinforcement, but also plays a big role in mental health. Lots of times people get caught up in a rat race. Take a break to splurge on yourself. That deal you closed, that milestone you achieved, that course you completed, that daunting paper you pushed through - these all add up. For me that may or may not be a splurge on food and movies (pizza, wings, chicken shawarma pouting - yup, and not the slightest amount of guilt :) ). But also - it's not only about your own accomplishments, keep an eye on the important folks in your life as well. It spreads that positivity, encourages them to keep going, and that extra care going into it matters. With my nieces and nephews that might be going out to an arcade, buying some boardgames, going out to a movie - never mind those are board games I wanted to play anyway, or a movie I was going to watch regardless :) Who says it can't be 2 birds with 1 stone...just saying...

And so, to bring it back to this blogging journey, it all starts with consistency...