Hey foodie friends, how’s your April so far?
I feel like this month has actually been one of the greatest months of my life if we’re talking about progress, success, and great change for the future. I feel like before the pandemic, all the things we celebrated seemed blurred in a way because we were used to things happening frequently and almost every weekend when we were still living our ordinary lives. Now, over a year into the pandemic, there’s only a sprinkling of things going on in our lives that matter enough for us to celebrate, and even then, we’re celebrating in a limited way with enforced restrictions .
I’ve learned to celebrate those smaller things at a different degree than I normally would have. None of my original goals for 2020 really mattered until a pandemic hit, which maybe means I wasn’t really that motivated in the first place, but I was under the impression that “I have all year to do that!”.
Pandemic hits, and my drive to not waste a youthful year of my life kicks in because I was really not impressed that everything in the world was on hold– just after I had waited out my year-long probation period from starting a new job, just in time for me to actually be able to afford a well-deserved vacation after university and securing a job, and lastly it was finally the time to start enjoying my life now that I had made all the “right” decisions to ensure it was stable enough.
But that didn’t stop me.
I kept saving money and started investing. I kept working hard at my job even though I felt like I was becoming a robot every day. But truth of the matter was, I was disappointed in all the effort I was putting in as a contracted employee because I really needed to become an indeterminate one if I wanted stability. I got back into my blog after a 2 month hiatus because I just really needed something that would comfort me. There’s a bunch of things that I kept striving to achieve because I really didn’t want to be that person who came out of the pandemic saying “I haven’t done anything that makes me feel happy or successful!”
(& don’t get me wrong– if the only thing you were able to do during this pandemic was to just “live with through it” that in itself is its own achievement and I’m sending two high fives and a hug your way.) But for me, this April just seemed to be that month when the image on the puzzle was clear and things started to fit perfectly together.
All that money I saved? It was enough to put a downpayment on a future house with my boyfriend and we are STOKED for this December.
All that extra effort and mental strain I was putting on myself at work to keep working, keep showing results, keep being reliable and awesome? It eventually led to my managers advocating for me to become a full on employee – basically un-fireable if you’re talking about a government employee life – and I am sooooo proud of myself because I have been striving to do that since 2019. I’m set for life lol.
All that time I spent writing and working on this blog? It’s led to hundreds of views from around the world weekly and that is still the coolest thing ever to me! Not to mention all of the times my family members and friends sent me encouraging and supportive messages to say they had tried a recipe or were inspired them to cook something similar. It warmed my heart throughout last year.
Needless to say, I’m still over here practicing my gratitude every day and this is just a reminder that if you look past all the fog and murkiness of the upsetting things you may be going through, there is always a silver lining in the cloud above you.
Peace and good eats,
-A❁
Little Girl, Big Eats 