After a low energy day on Saturday and 9 hrs of sleep, I woke up feeling much better. I meditated for 20 min and went out for a jog. I didn’t plan to jog for long as I still planned to run with Sofia biking, but I felt good and jogged for 5 miles, and then another 4 miles with Sofia. For those 4 miles I went on silence (no podcast) but chatting occasionally with Sofia and just let my mind rest. I need to do this more often.
Once home Lizzy welcomed her with her new toy (a guitar!), how creative is this girl.
Had a yummy breakfast: sourdough toast with avocado tofu salad.
Then we went out for a walk. It was super sunny and 10 min in, I was feeling itchy eyes, stuffed nose and mild headache. I asked husband to pick us on the way back. once home, I was having a full allergy reaction. Tears, light sensitivity, stuffed nose, like those that I had in the US and Europe. I was quite confused as I don’t think there’s pollen in manila and we have no seasons. But the reaction was so strong that I took a sudafed and 30 min later I was back to normal. Allergy? really? to what? no idea. need to get tested.
Anyway… once I was back to normal, I made yummy lunch for the family. Baked vegan mac n cheese.
a pumpkin potato soup with kale.
and few more veggies and leftover soup from the day before. The family loved the new pasta dish. Lizzy was so funny. She asked me to teach her to cook when she’s older as she wants to prepare good food for the family too.
after lunch we played cards. It was super fun. Definitely a family favorite activity for a leisure sunday.
After lunch we all had quiet time, I took a nap and finished this book. Another great read from Katrina, the author o f the gift of an ordinary day.
what I love the most is the reminder of appreciating slow living, mindfulness, and really not giving to FOMO. The modern living (socially connected) gives a false sense that we need to keep up with our peers. The pressure to having more and doing more is constant if we are not careful. When others kids are doing a lot of extra curriculum activities or playdates, we wonder if we need to give more “opportunities” to ours. When others people’s weekend is packed with social events or outings, we wonder if our life seems too boring. If we don’t pause and ask deep in ourselves what the kind of family life we want, we would fall into the trap of over scheduling and over doing. It requires a lot of inner conviction to say no, both for ourselves and for the kids, for we live in a society in which people are defined largely by their activities and their accomplishments. But if we don’t set these limits, who will? If we don’t say no, we become the weary victims of our own schedules. In our rush to do everything, we miss the genuine pleasure of experiencing one thing fully. When we rush through life, we miss it.
Nowadays I am super protective of our Sundays, our family day with zero plans, zero social event but to spend time together and do whatever we feel like that day. Even chores are out of the day’s plan. The only thing that is required for the day is for all of us connect and enjoy the little things we cherish the most as a family. My vision in 10 and 20 years is looking back, I’d be able to say, we did our best to cherish these precious ordinary days.
Our New Journey 