It’s the season of love! Valentine’s day is here, and it gives us a reason to celebrate love, with our loved ones, family members or even with ourselves.
As much as romantic it sounds, Valentine’s day has indeed become an overly commercialized festival, and it also creates more peer pressure. Be it to find someone to be in a relationship with, or to outdo each other’s boyfriend/girlfriend in giving the best present or plan the perfect date, it can get pretty frustrating instead of enjoyable.
However, I want to urge all of you, to take a few moments to focus on yourself and your life and celebrate the things you love in your life.
I take this opportunity to share with you, my very own list of 10 things I love (in no particular order) at the moment.
1. My first cup of tea in the morning.
Nothing signifies the start of my day like a cup of hot milk tea. I recently incorporated this routine of making a cup of hot milk tea first thing in the morning. I found it to be a very soothing and comforting activity. I look forward to waking up and boiling the water, making my tea and sipping it while getting ready for work. It always put me in a great mood and kick starts my day in the right tone.
2. Free writing.
Ever since working on many writing projects for work, I appreciate free writing more than ever. I enjoy penning down my thoughts in the form of blog posts, scribbling down my intense thoughts in the form of poems, or even writing in my gratitude journal. It gives me a sense of comfort to translate my feelings and thoughts into works of art through writing.
3. Planning and scheduling.
I know this sounds crazy, but I always look forward to the start of the month, the start of the week and the start of the day. This is because that means spending some time to sit down and plan what I am supposed to do. From monthly content creation scheduling to daily to-do lists planning, I find the process to be very inspiring and motivating.
4. Completing all my scheduled tasks.
In continuation of my love for planning, I love the sense of accomplishment that comes together with completing my tasks. I enjoy ticking off each task, regardless of work or my personal errands. It makes me look back on my day and patting myself on the back for accomplishing the things I set out to do.
5. Finding a good playlist.
I am a great fan of Spotify. I listen to ready playlists as well as create my own. I enjoy listening to music while I drive or when I am working on something that requires less critical thinking, like working on a website or doing graphics for my projects. I find joy in finding the playlist that suits my mood at the time just right, especially if it is by coincidence.
Currently listening as I am penning down this post: https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/
6. Outings with the right company.
I consider myself as an ambivert, as I can get socially awkward and it can get stressful for me to hang out with big groups (read my post on being socially awkward here ). Hence, when I am considerably tired, especially after a long day, I enjoy spending good quality time with people that make me feel comfortable. We can be out for coffee dates and talk about life, and it just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.
7. Completing a workout session.
Since the end of last year, I made it a point to workout at least three times per week. Recently, I added swimming sessions into the mix and make sure I do a total of 4-5 exercise sessions per week. As much as I always wanted to be a fitness junkie, I have not reached the level where I am crazy about working out. But I do love the feeling of sticking to my schedule and completing a workout even when I am busy or tired. After a satisfying workout, I always feel ready to take on the world. Besides, seeing actual progress is one of the best feelings in the world.
8. Dressing Up.
I do not often come off as a girly girl, but I do enjoy getting dressed up. Be it wearing something nice or putting on makeup to work or on dates and events; I enjoy the entire process. I know society criticize girls dressing up just to impress boys, but honestly, I believe many of us girls dress up because we enjoy the process (it takes effort and an eye for art!), and it makes us feel confident and good about ourselves. So yes, I love to dress up and it makes me feel good.
9. Being kind to random strangers.
As I mentioned, I am not usually very friendly towards people I do not know, but I have been recently making an effort to be nice to random strangers, especially those who are in the service industry. I love smiling and greeting uncles and aunties at the counters, waiters, and janitors at restaurants and malls. I even take extra effort to be nice to customer service agents on helplines because I know how it feels like to be on the other end (I interned in a customer experience department). All it takes is a smile or a nice tone of voice, and it goes a long way.
10. Going to bed early.
This makes me sound like an old granny, but I do enjoy going to bed earlier than I need to sleep. I find a thrill in getting to bed around 9 or 10-ish, scroll through social media, read a chapter or two of a book that I am currently reading, and sleep before midnight. Reading before bed also makes me enter a state of relaxation which I enjoy. Besides, it feels like a treat to be able to get some extra rest and wake up feeling refreshed early the next day.
There it is, the ten things that I love and enjoy my life right now. I may have missed out some, as these are just a few top of my head. I hope you take some time to reflect on the simple things you love about yourself and the life you have at this moment.
Let this Valentine’s day be a celebration of life to yourself and everything around you. Happy Valentines Day, everyone!
I am interested to know what are the things you love too. Do share with me some things you love in the comment section and celebrate love together.