Image Source
January passed in the blink of an eye. Please tell me it is not only me who felt this. I still remember cooking the new year's eve dinner and then poof! The month is gone. Since I chose my WOTY to be Survive, everything seemed pretty easy this month. As quickly as it passed, I got a lot of work done. Professionally, it has been a good and busy month. While I got good feedback for my last year's work, I continued to work on multiple projects this month that kept me really busy. When I'm busy with work, I do not think about anything else. No matter what I'm going through in my personal life, it doesn't make it to my professional life. As part of a new year resolution, I have decided to plan my time effectively at work and not stick around for too long once I'm done with my work. Thankfully, my workplace has flexible timings and I rarely have to stay late.
Occasionally, I connect from home if I have work pending but I'm a fairly quick worker and can multitask well. So, the earlier I leave work, the more time I have to read once I get back home. I read for a while and then I enter the kitchen to prepare dinner before the husband comes in. Yeah, I kind of lead a mechanical planned life but I wouldn't have it any other way.
'Wonder' was the first book that I picked this year and I instantly fell in love with it. The book had so much heart and soul that it is one of my favorite books of all time already. The book was emotionally consuming and the biggest mistake I made was to pick up 'When Breath Becomes Air' next. This book tore me apart. Into a million pieces that was scattered all over the place. It affected me so much that I had to turn to a friend for support. I remember her being affected the same way once she read the book too so she helped me get it out of my system. I loved the book, no doubt. But even thinking of it breaks my heart. I thought I would review it sometime, but no, I cannot put myself through it again.
Since work was hectic, I needed to use by breaks effectively. I don't like talking to people much while at work, so, I read as I sip my green tea or buttermilk. I feel odd to open books and read at my desk, so I read e-books instead. I read quite a lot of them this month, honestly. Started with 'Madame Bovary' that I did not like much and right now I'm in the middle of 'Pride And Prejudice'. I read Jane Austen for the first time ever too! While I hated 'Emma', I enjoyed 'Sense And Sensibility'. While the story in the former was good, the main protagonist drove me up the wall. She was annoying as hell. I surprised myself when I liked Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina'. It was quite an interesting story. I loved Capote's 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' too. While I couldn't connect with the female protagonists of both these books, their stories somehow made sense. While I loved Liane Moriarty's 'Big Little Lies', 'The Husband's Secret' let me down big time. This, I will review sometime soon. Another resolution that I made this year was to leave a mini review on Goodreads for every book that I read. So far, I've been able to keep this up. 8 books this month is a pretty impressive number, I guess. With 2 In-Progress. Do follow me on Goodreads if you want to be a part of my reading journey.
Writing was good this month too and I wrote some posts that were very close to me. Thankfully, they were received well. Nine posts including this one was one extra than the planned count, but I'm not complaining. I usually write when I feel like talking about something, so that is how it is going to be. The count, well, who cares! Also, I need to start writing more fiction. No, not small pieces, but something like a standalone piece or a series. I have a story brewing in my head, hopefully it will make it as a blog post soon.
This month, we traveled to Goa for the sixth time together! Like always, travel brings out something new in me and I came back feeling energized and happy. Goa is a place that is very close to us. While most people go there for the booze and the beach, we go there for peace. There is something about that place that cleanses both of us and it is easier for us to leave behind our pain/fears and come back afresh from there. That is why we try to travel to Goa at least once a year. We missed last year as we had had enough of beaches when we visited Thailand. So this year, we went in early. But somehow, it felt very different this year. I'll do a detailed post later about Goa and what it means to us.
This year, I'm also including a gratitude list in my Action Replay posts. I got this idea from many bloggers who write their month end posts in the form of gratitude lists. Since I can't imagine LOL without its Action Replay posts, I decided to include a gratitude list within it itself.
Image Source
So for January, these are the things I'm thankful for:
~ Books - Reading helps me calm down and thanks to the amount of reading I did this month, January was extra happy for me.
~ Travel - Visiting Goa with the man I love for the sixth time together was quite something. Same place, same us. It also reminded us as to how much we love growing old together.
~ Letting Go - I had to let go of a few friends this month. Insecurity, lying and infidelity are deal breakers for me in any kind of relationship. There is only so much one can forgive. While it hurt bad initially, I'm thankful that it didn't hurt for a long time and I knew when to call it quits.
~ Friends - While I let go of some, other friends filled the void pretty quickly. I partied with my girls and we danced like there was no tomorrow. Thanks to the above letting go, I'm a bit cynical about making new friends these days. So, I'm sticking to the ones I know well and love for now. With time, I'll open up more.
~ Choosing Kind - 'Wonder' made me look at things differently and today I am a much kinder person. Hence, much happier.
~ Choosing Health - I've been eating healthy and working out regularly these days. This has helped me get fitter and help with my hormone imbalances.
~ Food - Since we've started eating healthy, I have been looking up healthy salads and other recipes online and through cookbooks. These recipes turned out to be more delicious than the normal food I used to cook. The foodie in me is way too pleased!
~ Love - Having a supporting partner makes everything easy in life and I probably have the best one on the planet. Nothing more to say on this.
Image Source
This is how my first month of the year was. How was yours?
Linking this post to Vidya's Gratitude Cirle for this month.
Original link
January passed in the blink of an eye. Please tell me it is not only me who felt this. I still remember cooking the new year's eve dinner and then poof! The month is gone. Since I chose my WOTY to be Survive, everything seemed pretty easy this month. As quickly as it passed, I got a lot of work done. Professionally, it has been a good and busy month. While I got good feedback for my last year's work, I continued to work on multiple projects this month that kept me really busy. When I'm busy with work, I do not think about anything else. No matter what I'm going through in my personal life, it doesn't make it to my professional life. As part of a new year resolution, I have decided to plan my time effectively at work and not stick around for too long once I'm done with my work. Thankfully, my workplace has flexible timings and I rarely have to stay late.
Occasionally, I connect from home if I have work pending but I'm a fairly quick worker and can multitask well. So, the earlier I leave work, the more time I have to read once I get back home. I read for a while and then I enter the kitchen to prepare dinner before the husband comes in. Yeah, I kind of lead a mechanical planned life but I wouldn't have it any other way.
'Wonder' was the first book that I picked this year and I instantly fell in love with it. The book had so much heart and soul that it is one of my favorite books of all time already. The book was emotionally consuming and the biggest mistake I made was to pick up 'When Breath Becomes Air' next. This book tore me apart. Into a million pieces that was scattered all over the place. It affected me so much that I had to turn to a friend for support. I remember her being affected the same way once she read the book too so she helped me get it out of my system. I loved the book, no doubt. But even thinking of it breaks my heart. I thought I would review it sometime, but no, I cannot put myself through it again.
Since work was hectic, I needed to use by breaks effectively. I don't like talking to people much while at work, so, I read as I sip my green tea or buttermilk. I feel odd to open books and read at my desk, so I read e-books instead. I read quite a lot of them this month, honestly. Started with 'Madame Bovary' that I did not like much and right now I'm in the middle of 'Pride And Prejudice'. I read Jane Austen for the first time ever too! While I hated 'Emma', I enjoyed 'Sense And Sensibility'. While the story in the former was good, the main protagonist drove me up the wall. She was annoying as hell. I surprised myself when I liked Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina'. It was quite an interesting story. I loved Capote's 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' too. While I couldn't connect with the female protagonists of both these books, their stories somehow made sense. While I loved Liane Moriarty's 'Big Little Lies', 'The Husband's Secret' let me down big time. This, I will review sometime soon. Another resolution that I made this year was to leave a mini review on Goodreads for every book that I read. So far, I've been able to keep this up. 8 books this month is a pretty impressive number, I guess. With 2 In-Progress. Do follow me on Goodreads if you want to be a part of my reading journey.
Writing was good this month too and I wrote some posts that were very close to me. Thankfully, they were received well. Nine posts including this one was one extra than the planned count, but I'm not complaining. I usually write when I feel like talking about something, so that is how it is going to be. The count, well, who cares! Also, I need to start writing more fiction. No, not small pieces, but something like a standalone piece or a series. I have a story brewing in my head, hopefully it will make it as a blog post soon.
This month, we traveled to Goa for the sixth time together! Like always, travel brings out something new in me and I came back feeling energized and happy. Goa is a place that is very close to us. While most people go there for the booze and the beach, we go there for peace. There is something about that place that cleanses both of us and it is easier for us to leave behind our pain/fears and come back afresh from there. That is why we try to travel to Goa at least once a year. We missed last year as we had had enough of beaches when we visited Thailand. So this year, we went in early. But somehow, it felt very different this year. I'll do a detailed post later about Goa and what it means to us.
This year, I'm also including a gratitude list in my Action Replay posts. I got this idea from many bloggers who write their month end posts in the form of gratitude lists. Since I can't imagine LOL without its Action Replay posts, I decided to include a gratitude list within it itself.
Image Source
So for January, these are the things I'm thankful for:
~ Books - Reading helps me calm down and thanks to the amount of reading I did this month, January was extra happy for me.
~ Travel - Visiting Goa with the man I love for the sixth time together was quite something. Same place, same us. It also reminded us as to how much we love growing old together.
~ Letting Go - I had to let go of a few friends this month. Insecurity, lying and infidelity are deal breakers for me in any kind of relationship. There is only so much one can forgive. While it hurt bad initially, I'm thankful that it didn't hurt for a long time and I knew when to call it quits.
~ Friends - While I let go of some, other friends filled the void pretty quickly. I partied with my girls and we danced like there was no tomorrow. Thanks to the above letting go, I'm a bit cynical about making new friends these days. So, I'm sticking to the ones I know well and love for now. With time, I'll open up more.
~ Choosing Kind - 'Wonder' made me look at things differently and today I am a much kinder person. Hence, much happier.
~ Choosing Health - I've been eating healthy and working out regularly these days. This has helped me get fitter and help with my hormone imbalances.
~ Food - Since we've started eating healthy, I have been looking up healthy salads and other recipes online and through cookbooks. These recipes turned out to be more delicious than the normal food I used to cook. The foodie in me is way too pleased!
~ Love - Having a supporting partner makes everything easy in life and I probably have the best one on the planet. Nothing more to say on this.
Image Source
This is how my first month of the year was. How was yours?
Linking this post to Vidya's Gratitude Cirle for this month.
Original link
Sign in to leave a comment.