Birthday Week, Reflection Time, Thai Food

Birthday Week, Reflection Time, Thai Food

Birthday Week

It’s been another year spinning around this globe and I am happy to say that I am alive and kicking. My birthday is a very special, very personal day of the year for me that I celebrate in a unique way. For me it is a time of deep introspection coupled with a bit of self pampering. Beyond a trip for a scoop of ice cream with my immediate family there isn’t much physical to acknowledge its passing, other than my annual physical with my doctor. There are also the texts and cards that I receive, which I greatly appreciate, but this day is typically spent by me reflecting on the year to come. In some ways, it is my New Year’s Eve and I am planning the next chapter of my life. It is a time of intense self reflection and planning and since I’ve started making this day less about indulgence and more about myself as a person I’ve experienced tremendous growth.

Reflection Time

Goals for the next year are fairly simple yet I will lay them out here so I can check on them in 12 months and see what I accomplished.

  • Productivity – I am relied upon now more than ever, and I plan on using my mornings better. I am an early riser, but the time is wasted on social media and other low priority waste. I want to use my time to work through the huge backlog of personal work that seems to arise and needs to be taken care of so I can relax a little more when I get the chance.
  • Health – I added strength training the last year and that’s done wonders for me physically, but now I am focusing on my health metrics. Most specifically blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. I want significant improvements in each and these are only accomplished via nutrition.
  • Career – I’ve been in cruise control the last few years working from home. It is time to find a way to challenge myself and build my skills. My focus will be on building out the technical aspects of my career and orienteering myself towards the next step in my progression.
  • Relationships – I plan on working on relationships with some old friends who’ve reached out recently. I appreciate them wanting to be in my life, so I will work to be in their life also.

Thai Food

I always go out to lunch by myself for my birthday, kind of like a personal date. I don’t get much time to be by myself so I make a point to go out and have a delicious meal. I will add here I was pleasantly surprised by a chance encounter with my Goddaughter who stopped in for lunch after her rotation at the hospital! That was a pleasant surprise and we got to catch up which I appreciated for sure. I also had the best Tom Kha Gai soup here, which is an absolute favorite for me. I will eat at this restaurant again in the future, I really enjoyed it. Overall it was a great meal and great conversation and I am glad for this day.