Tag: stories

What It’s Like to Do SOLO Adventures

As an introvert, this here would sound like it’s right up my alley. But when it comes to doing so many things alone, there is still this sense of anxiety that I get from going outside my comfort zone. And by that I’m referring to going outside my home. Now, unless I’m meeting up with people I don’t mind going out in public by myself, but when it’s intentional, well, that’s when I feel vulnerable. Although, I still feel some type of way about being out alone, I have started doing things to slowly break out of my comfort zone.

Fish On!

One of the first things in I’ve done without hesitation really since my 30s was going out and fishing. Besides planned trips with friends or meeting up with them, I have from time to time just gone out on my own. Even if it’s not much considering you’re more than likely out and almost no one is around, you’re still out there. I believe it had something to do with the excitement of hooking a fish on your line. Almost as if you get a quick burst of adrenaline and/or dopamine in your system.

Wine & Canvas

At one of my last apartments I lived at on my own, every so often there would be almost like a community board but it’s plastered in random spots throughout. But one thing that caught my eye was how an instructor was visiting and they had sign-ups for this wine and canvas class. What’s not to like about drinking and trying to paint and not caring if you’re any good?! For me though, I always had a soft spot for art. And whether that be painting, sketching, etc. I signed up anyway, once again without hesitation.

Being how (at the time) I had this tendency to run late almost everywhere I go, this time was no different. But I still made it before they started. When I arrived at the community room… all women (not that it mattered to me but why leave it out of the story). At one point I wasn’t sure if I was in the right spot. Once I had the courage to ask, they welcomed me in. Somewhere in the middle of our class, I heard one of the girls whispering to her friend, “His is really good.” Inside I was blushing but what they didn’t know was that I took a lot of art classes in high school.

The Big Screen

I think depending on the type of person you are, there’s still no feeling like experiencing a movie at the theater. I mean you could have your entertainment system at home but neighbors might come knocking on your door (that’s if they’re nice enough. Because too often will they just bang on the walls instead), of course that’s assuming you’re in anything other than a house with no connecting walls.

My first movie experience alone from what I could remember was Ready Player One. And it was a great watch. The only reason this came to fruition was eventually one day none of my friends or any family members were either able to or just wasn’t interested. Plus, a colleague of mine at the time really recommended it. And this might have been the first film I watched without even asking anyone if they wanted to go. Almost like a spurt of the moment thing.

Bar & Restaurant

The only time frame I’m getting from this is sometime after covid. When everything was in full bloom once again and golf courses nowadays are more expensive than they once were pre-covid. When I would doordash, there were so many restaurants I picked up from the food I would deliver just smelled so good. This was the time I did a lot of take-out myself but one day I just decided to dine in.

As I’m writing this, I now realized why I did less take-out and more sit-down. One of the restaurants I ordered from used a lot of packaging that goes to waste. As in you can’t even recycle it even if you wanted to. I didn’t like that. I know I’m just one person, but it was one of the reasons I decided to dine in so I could use actual plates and silverware. Trying to save the planet might be the most difficult task there is. But someone has to do it!

Final Thoughts

Exploring and taking on new adventures, specifically when it’s a solo one can be nerve wrecking. But from my experience, overall I really do enjoy it. Like when I did the wine and canvas, I was a bit closed off yet still managed to make small talk with my fellow painting neighbor. With the restaurant, on average I would go maybe once a week to every other but one of my servers took to my company so much she invited me out to a bar where they had a few DJs playing house music. And same goes for the movies. Had the leap not been taken, who knows what else I would have missed out on, big screen or with just life altogether.

There are still many things I plan on doing alone just for the purpose of it being a new experience, whether I have done it before or not. And depending on what it is there’s a chance you can get in touch with who you are as a person. Maybe you’ll find out things about yourself you never knew existed, and that could be a good thing.

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Making Someone’s Day

I live in a world where I have a job that allows me to see many people throughout the day. Lots of strangers and lots of familiar faces. Whether they are regulars or fellow colleagues. When it comes to codes, I never really thought about it… until now. My code: making moments. Working in retail, almost everyday I will see hundreds of customers and have a little chat with most of them. No matter how brief or extended the time we have together, I’m always trying to have a connection (if they give off the right vibes). Not every person feels like they’re in the talking mood, so I don’t force it. But for those who do, I am here for it!

My biggest problem is because I see so many people on a daily basis, I will forget that I had a lot of the same conversation with one too many of our regulars. Just recently though, I was told by a customer how I made their day just by being… well, there. My smile makes them feel so much better and just sometimes just by asking if I could do anything to make their day better was enough if they seem to be struggling. It doesn’t take much, but sometimes that’s all you need. Nobody really knows what people go through on an everyday basis and what their life is like… except for if you’re someone’s therapist.

Maybe that’s where I come in. Honestly, I’m all for giving people a free consultation. Our time will be short but I’m hear to listen to you just so you could get things off your chest if you would like. Making someone’s day is more than just my job, it’s an experience. Take care!

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My High School Experience

As another school year comes to a close, whether you’re just graduating or still have a little ways to go yet, the experience itself is definitely something to cherish. Even if your time wasn’t the greatest, school is a place that’s there to help guide you in whatever it is that you’re searching for in life. Even if it’s not right away. If you ask me, I’m now just realizing what I was looking for, at least during my time in school.

Growing up, I was not too fond of learning. Especially my high school days. Education was a chore. You know it’s just something that has to be done. I was more interested in making friends and playing. All about having fun. And anytime I had the same class as a girl I had a crush on, it was one of the main reasons that got me out of bed in the morning. That sense of being able to see them was all the motivation I needed back then.

As an introvert, it was incredibly difficult to make friends. I had a small circle of friends, but we made plenty of memories with each other. Honestly, I don’t even know how it happened to begin with. Maybe that’s why teachers split their students up into small groups or in pairs. Could be a way for them to get to know one another better. Which makes a lot of sense.

So, because I had a small circle of friends, there were still times when I felt lonely. Like with lunch. We had a lot of students, so lunch was split into 2. And with that, I was almost always by myself. So I ate lunch alone. Never really fit into any groups or felt like I belong anywhere, even to this day. Just another reason why I didn’t care too much about my education, sadly.

It’s not all bad, though. Spending some time to just yourself can be joyful. You are in your own thoughts, or like me, I like to talk out loud amongst myself. It helps me with my speech, and if that day ever comes, public speaking (someday!) Overall, it is a really good opportunity for you to get to know yourself and who you are. If you can be true to yourself and use that around others, they will see the glow that you bring with you to your surroundings.

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This Unspoken Thing Called Love

You’re standing there. Eyes gazing into one another. There’s so much you want to say to her, especially how you feel about her as well… but you don’t. Instead, you play the role of the good guy who listens to what she is telling you so you could respond with an answer that isn’t anything but the point. Either way, that tension that you have with each other isn’t just coming from you. It goes both ways. At least that’s what you tell yourself. Because you have to believe that she feels the same way. The entire time you’ve known each other nothing ever happens. Only because you don’t want to ruin a good thing. And that’s the problem that us guys have telling the women we fancy how we feel. Expressing our feelings is one of the hardest tasks to do. No matter how many times you may play out the scenario in your head, or out loud to yourself in your one-bedroom apartment with no one around to hear you (except maybe your neighbors if you’re loud enough), when you’re put on the spot, it’s a much different story. So, what do you do? If the wrong move is made, you may have just destroyed everything you’ve built in that relationship. But at least you gave it a shot. In my opinion, the chase is something we all love to feel. Not knowing if the person you like, actually likes you back. Whether it’s love or not, how are you ever going to know if you don’t give it a chance? You’re just going to have to figure it out for yourself.

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How I Manage My Time & Money

2 years ago (2020) the world experienced for the first time in this modern age, a pandemic. Right before everything pretty much shut down, I was working 7 days a week at a dead-end job that was burning me out. Sure, the money was good. But where’s my free time? When am I going to be able to spend this money? I couldn’t. For the longest, I was miserable because it was work, eat, & sleep, and not a whole lot else. My boss at the time jokingly said to me that I wasn’t getting any action. As in no sexy time. No making the bed rock. You get my point. I didn’t say it out loud, only thought about it to myself. I said to myself, “No sh*t. How am I going to meet women when I’m stuck working here every day?” Most of my energy was drained from the job. Yes, the job was easy. But when your boss asks you to do all these extra tasks and work, it’s difficult for me to say no. Not just that but the job can be stressful. Especially when things don’t go right (which was more than half the time). Machines would break down or not work properly, and half the time the lead engineers would not be around. That’s where I came in to start learning some of the stuff they did when they’re not around. My boss would rely on me quite a bit to do so much more than everyone else. He knows that I have the capabilities to do that because, and I say this lightly, I’m his best worker. No extra benefits. No incentives. No pay raise, nothing. Just a job well done (well, we did manage to get a dollar pay bump when I threatened to quit). I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose, that is to take advantage of me. I was Dwight Schrute to his Michael Scott. Except he was no Michael Scott. The Assistant to the Manager. Overall, I will say he was a good boss though. Outside of the facts I mentioned. He lacked the charisma and hilariousness of what Michael Scott represented. Still a good boss, nonetheless.

Anyway, the lockdown happened, and I was off work for just over a month. I was collecting a nice treat from unemployment. To me, this was more money than I have ever made. From 7 days a week paycheck to the unemployment paychecks, I was transferring a good chunk of that to my savings account. With some proper budgeting, I know what was needed for my expenses and what could be used for leisure. I was still saving quite a bit. For the first time ever, my savings account was at its’ highest, and it continued to grow every week. So, what did I do with the free time that I had? I spent a good amount of it golfing with my nephews & their dad. We went out about once a week, and I forgot how good that felt. Forgetting how incredible of a golfer I was when I had time and practice to work on my golf game. Despite the terrible lasagna incident (loss of muscle mass and weight), I was still driving my tee shots pretty far. Money was definitely not an issue, and this was coming from someone who probably made about 50K a year. That’s it. That’s all it was, and need I remind you this was including overtime work, otherwise it would be much lower.

The point I’m making is with time and money, I could do so much greatness that will make an impact on not just my life, but those that are close to me. Not having the luxury of a wealthy life, I could only imagine what difference I could make with more time, more money. And without even realizing it, I’ve always been giving back to the community. The donations may be small, but it’s still something. Like rounding up my bill when I’m ordering food from a restaurant for a good cause or donating my clothes to Salvation Army and Goodwill instead of selling them. Growing up, I used to sleep on the floor. To make a living, my parents had to put in a lot of work to feed us kids. We didn’t have much, but we did make the most of what we had. So, if that tells you anything about my childhood, just know that I’m okay with the rough start to this incredible journey of my life. A journey with a story I hope to someday tell my future kids, and grandchildren. Something I never received myself considering I never met my grandparents. And being that I was transitioning from one language to another at a young age, I never got to hear the stories of my parents and what their life was like. How they met, the struggles in their everyday lives, coming to America and having me… the journey.

Outside from what this pandemic has brought us, it has gotten me to slow down my life a little bit to embrace it more. With a little soul searching, I am so grateful for this life I have and most of the people that are in it. Although, there are some things about me that is considered bad, I finally picked up on some of it and am working on bettering myself. Every day I try to be a better person. Every day I try to inspire hope for others. Helping others out towards their goals and dreams is a part of mine as well. I have a passion for life. All it took was a little perspective. Let’s change the world for the better!

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My Story: Personality

“Who am I? You sure you want to know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart…” (Tobey Macguire/Peter Parker) In this part of my life, we go into the development of my character, what it was like growing up, the movies and shows I would watch constantly, and how my personality came to be. In my family, there was no special treatment. Nobody got spoiled more than the other. I’m considered the baby of my family and oh boy, did I not get spoiled at all. At least from what I can remember. Besides that, I still had many memorable highlights of my childhood. The weekends almost always seemed to be quite unpredictable and pretty wild. Fridays we had TGIF on ABC with great lineups like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and others that I can’t quite remember at this time. A few other moments we had was watching old Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) videos my dad would rent from the Asian Market, and an old classic, The Gods Must Be Crazy. Who knew a simple glass Coca-Cola bottle could make such a big impact on an entire villages’ lives? I love how a movie with a simple premise could bring a family together for 90 minutes or so. That on top of other similar things was my childhood growing up. Like how we would host parties almost every other weekend. My parents were the best at it, at least in my eyes. They knew how to entertain our guests who were considered family-friends to us. Their kids were about my age and a little bit younger, and very fortunately, I had my older brothers and sisters with their creativity to keep the younger crowd entertained. From playing video games to using our imagination and constructing a maze in our basement was one of them. We crushed it! And for that, I’m very thankful for the inspiration my siblings and parents brought me.

Personality

The characters that we all play make us who we are as individuals. It’s not about our gender, or the color of our skin, but what we do that defines us (that last bit was a Batman Begins reference). Throughout my life I have built this personality from watching movies and TV shows that I loved. Most of them being in the genre of comedy. Great comedians like Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, and Adam Sandler were some of my inspirations. I wasn’t sure what it was for why I turned out the way I did, but something triggered within me to want to make people laugh and enjoy themselves when we’re together. With comedy aside, I also have a more… sensual side. Suave. Maybe it’s from watching movies that weren’t quite PG rated during my younger years. Like how I love the movie Titanic in hopes that someday I could draw someone like one of my French girls! Although, I’ll admit Dumb and Dumber had some references I did not understand when I was a kid. As I got older though, the so-called chick flicks were something I was into. I’m all about love and passion. Hitch, What Women Want, and all those Nicholas Sparks books turned movies. And then there’s Austin Powers, baby! Basically, it’s not just the people we hang out with that opens up our personality, but that we get it from the movies and television shows we watch too. They can be very inspiring and gives us the motivation we need to get out of bed in the morning and depending on who you are, hoping that today is finally the day you ask that girl or boy out from school, or a coworker that you see on a daily or weekly basis.

Nowadays we can get that from just about anywhere. Whether it’s from reading certain articles on the internet or stumbling upon random YouTube videos. The human brain is constantly learning and taking in new information. We just have to listen to it and decide for ourselves what’s right, wrong, and everything in-between. Don’t let your ego or stubbornness be the reason you won’t learn. There’s no harm in being a little open-minded. Allegedly, we only live one life. Why not make the most of it? Bring positivity to those around you, even if they don’t do the same. You never know if your actions could make an impact on someone else’s life. We are our best hope for a better world. So make it count! And with that, I’ve mentioned too many inspiring words. Peace, bitches!

P.S. I forgot to mention when I was with some of my family members hanging out at my nephews 21st birthday, we were just in the garage talking and drinking. This was close to a year ago, and I was saying something very inspiring and motivational, but I can’t remember what it was due to the fact… I was with my niece and her boyfriend in their car, and I took a hit from their bowl. Pretty much my mind was clouded a bit. Anyway, whatever I said had my brother-in-law telling me that I should be what was something like a pastor for the Buddhist temple. This struck a chord within me because I knew my father was something like that (I can’t remember the title of it). He spent a lot of his time at the temple talking to the monks and played a higher role in that community. I’d like to say most of the time where I get my words of wisdom from comes from my father. There was so much about him that I would have loved to know about his past but unfortunately, I’m not able to. However, I was able to find out more about him from my oldest sister. We were hanging out during fourth of July and I asked her about him. She told me the stories she would hear from them was how respected he was. This coming from army Generals, villagers, and plenty of other people too, I’m sure. Anyway, I just thought I would share that little extra bit about my father and the role he played that made my life what it is now. Thank you!

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