NOVEMBER – THE MONTH WHERE I FOUND PEACE IN CHAOS

Hello everyone!!!! One more month has gone and we all have come to the last month of the year 2019. I am always excited for the last month as I love planning my next year and reflecting back on how the past year has been. But let’s talk about November for now.

Honestly, I have tried so many times to pen down my feelings on November but I am not really able to write about it. I feel like, I didn’t do a lot but it still does feel a lot on what all I have been doing all along. It has been a chaotic month because every week I was involved in some new big task and along with that, there were more minor tasks that I had to do. With all of the work and tasks, I was still able to find “me time” for myself. I had a lot of peaceful and quiet moments which I am super happy about because that’s a balance that I have been trying to achieve and I did it this month.

I didn’t want to write the same way I have been doing for September and October because it gets a bit boring so I have tried to come up with different idea this time  where I can reflect on my month and my viewers can learn something too from the same.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH

1. I went to aerial yoga class twice this month as compared to October which was zero. So, that’s an improvement. I always feel so good to push my body and be physically fit. It really boosts my mental health as well, so no matter what happens, I always try to make my health No.1 priority every month.

2. I gave a presentation on POWER OF VISUALIZATION to Chinese students which went very successful. People actually understood the concept and sent me so many messages that how much they got inspired from my presentation and I had too many follow up questions as well. (the whole story why I gave a PPT to Chinese students is mentioned on my October post. https://livingthechinalife.travel.blog/2019/11/10/october-the-month-of-exploring-and-learning/ )

3. Giving myself time to relax and do absolute nothing. I often hustle a lot because I am a workaholic and I like to consume myself with my never ending to-do lists, so this time I gave myself a lot of space to do just nothing.

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4. I uploaded one blog post and half way written the other one and finally edited one more video after a month break and also, was able to post 2 YouTube videos altogether. If you haven’t watched it yet, here is the link:  https://youtu.be/1xIRUxkbQ4w

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5. I gave my mid-sem this month and was satisfied with my result as I didn’t study much. I am more focusing on HSK 5 and external study material. I am almost 80% done with HSK 5 vocabulary and I am pretty sure I am going to give HSK 5 in January, no matter what happens. P.S I was supposed to give it in march, 2019. 😛

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6. I did a lot of different activities to not let my month go monotonous but rather a bit happening like going for halloween party, attending a movie night at a friend’s house, going for KTV and singing my heart out and went to a language exchange event which was pretty different than all the language exchange I have attended till now.

 7. Trying different kinds of food also comes under this month’s highlight. Food is so important for me and people say, being a vegetarian is hard in China, but just look at my food!!! It’s not hard at all and it’s so yummy ❤️ It was a good month. I tried a lot of different food at different places.

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REALIZATIONS I HAD THIS MONTH

First realization was during my presentation on Power of Visualization. I realized how much power I hold to inspire people and how explaining a concept like Law of attraction can make so many people motivated to bring change in their life and be more positive and optimistic towards life. It was overwhelming for me the kind of messages I got after the event. I also felt I am not ready to answer people yet as I am learning myself as well, but I am trying my best to show people a different perspective on the same problem. P.S I keep telling everyone, five years down the lane, I am going to be a motivational speaker. 😛 

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Second realisation I had was during a job fair I attended in mid of the month. I realized how my interests are changing with time. When I started learning mandarin, it was with a purpose to earn money, no matter what work, focus was on money and now after 6 years, the focus has completely shifted to serving and giving back to society. I have a degree in commerce, experience in teaching mandarin and the jobs I was interested in was related to journalism. I really couldn’t get this scenario out of my head for a week. I am slowly trying to figure out now how can I pursue my passion and sustain myself financially.

Third realization I had was how important it is for me to let myself out in the nature. The kind of things I have involved myself in, doesn’t really allow me to go out and explore. I haven’t traveled anywhere in past 4 months and I have completely engrossed myself in work and study. But this month I tried to say “YES” to a lot of things and allowed myself to rest, rejoice and reconnect with people and my surroundings. It made me realize what kind of life I want for myself in future. Even doing a small thing like making tea for myself and sitting under the sun was so soothing for me. I look forward to more of those days.

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Fourth realization I had is that by living alone, I have really shut people from my life, like I am connected but I am not really connected. I have detach myself from everything and I try my best to not get attached to any human being but lately, one of my friend made me realize how wrong I am in this regard and I should not isolate myself in this way, I need to feel emotions. So this month, I tried to be in more touch with my friends and family and it felt so good. It felt so good to talk about my life to someone who is responding and not just in a blog post. Though, I am still learning how to be attach and love my people without having any expectations. . .

WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED?

1. I came to China to study Mandarin but for now, I am doing everything except studying. I did not give more than 4 hours a week to my studies this month. I don’t even remember doing any sort of homework this month. I need to work on that. Also, I need to figure out how to not sleep in classes, something I have been suffering since 8th grade, everybody knows about it and I am still suffering. I have no idea how I have come so far in my studies. I am not an ideal student at all.

2. I need to cut down on my social media. I love doing it but it’s just waste of time as well. Though, I am trying to use social media in a productive way for coming month and year but yes need to work on that for sure.

3. I need to wake up early , drink more water and eat more fruits and be more healthy physically.

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NEW THINGS I AM CURRENTLY WORKING ON

1. For the month of December, I have planned to do DECEMBER REFLECTIONS created BY SUSANNAH CONWAY. She has basically given a list of words for each day with which you can post related picture or even write about it and at the same time reflect on your year.  I am so pumped up and so much into this and for the first time, I am literally giving a little amount of time on this. If you want to read my everyday December reflections, follow me on Instagram, my handle is @livingthemagicallife .
2. I have taken one more challenge on my other Instagram account where I am speaking in Mandarin for one minute. I am mixing two different challenges here, one is speaking/writing in your target language everyday and other is where you have been given 30 questions for each day and you have to record yourself and speak about it. So, I am working on this as well. Instagram handle for that: @mylanguage_studygram
3. I want to start IGTV videos on Instagram from January where I can answer all the queries on China and Chinese language. I feel Youtube is going to take time but Instagram is something where I can immediately answer without having to edit or add anything. So, I am researching and preparing a lot of content to just help all those people who want to study this language or want to come to China.
4. I am writing a pretty long blog post (may be will divide it into 2 parts) on my experience of studying in Zhengzhou University for 5 months. I am pretty excited to reveal the reality of my first 5 months in China and see the response on this one.
5. I am also planning my 2020 which involves making a vision board, working on my new bullet journal for 2020 and using a life planner to set a good start for my 2020.
6. I also have to plan my one month solo trip to Guangxi and Sichuan. I am super excited for this.

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If you enjoy reading my blog, do leave a comment or you can leave a personal message on any of my social media profiles. I really enjoy reading your feedback. It really motivates me to write more and push myself more. I am grateful for the support I have been receiving till now. Thank you so much for that. See you in my next blog post. 🙂