Eight months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 254. Yesterday, I talked about the impossible being a mentality. Today is a new day.
At first, Koume was really shy because she didn't know we spoke Japanese. After telling her that it was okay and that she doesn't need to be shy she started coming by our table more often. She eventually mustered up the courage to give us her "business card", which had her name, a picture of her, some of her animal drawings, and her occupation (kindergarten student). She said that she worked really hard to make it and I thought, "this kid is gonna be a great business owner some day".
Another experience I had was watching a street performer in Tenshiba park. He was performing tricks doing contact juggling with a glass ball and it was entertaining. During the show he mentioned how it was his first street performance and that he was both very nervous and honored to be able to perform in such a big area. He showcased a lot of authenticity and determination and it was inspiring. He didn't make any major mistakes and you could tell that he had practiced his act countless times due to the timing of his moves, jokes, and lines. It was very well done and at the end I was moved by his courage.
These experiences reminded me of the importance of overcoming your fears and just putting yourself out there and doing what you love.
We all have fears and doubts that keep us from taking action in life, but if we never make that effort then how can we expect to manifest our dreams into reality? One of my goals is to develop my understand of the nature of the world. Right now I consider myself naive in a lot of ways, so in order to learn I have to break out of my shell and explore what's out there.
In the last few months my hobbies (writing, piano, drawing, studying, going to the gym) have kept me inside during most of my free time, which sometimes feels like the world's moving without me. As I've gotten used to this routine I've also found myself with less desire to really explore despite my curiosity. It made me realize how much of Osaka I still haven't seen.
I want to see more of the world, and these recent experiences felt like life trying to show me a sign, so like the restaurant girl or the street performer, I too, plan to put myself out there more. As a start, I volunteered to be the MC for an English Speech Contest next Sunday. I look forward to putting myself in a public speaking position and how I can grow from the experience. What have I got to lose?
Peace
"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try." - Dolly PartonI was having dinner with my coworkers the other night and we had monjayaki, which is a dish served in Tokyo that's similar to Osaka's okonomiyaki (but more watery). The restaurant we went to was a casual, family-run restaurant that specialized in serving monjayaki and it was pretty delicious (though not too filling). The owner's daughter, a cute 4 year-old by the name of Koume, saw us and (being foreigners) thought we were interesting.
At first, Koume was really shy because she didn't know we spoke Japanese. After telling her that it was okay and that she doesn't need to be shy she started coming by our table more often. She eventually mustered up the courage to give us her "business card", which had her name, a picture of her, some of her animal drawings, and her occupation (kindergarten student). She said that she worked really hard to make it and I thought, "this kid is gonna be a great business owner some day".
Another experience I had was watching a street performer in Tenshiba park. He was performing tricks doing contact juggling with a glass ball and it was entertaining. During the show he mentioned how it was his first street performance and that he was both very nervous and honored to be able to perform in such a big area. He showcased a lot of authenticity and determination and it was inspiring. He didn't make any major mistakes and you could tell that he had practiced his act countless times due to the timing of his moves, jokes, and lines. It was very well done and at the end I was moved by his courage.
These experiences reminded me of the importance of overcoming your fears and just putting yourself out there and doing what you love.
We all have fears and doubts that keep us from taking action in life, but if we never make that effort then how can we expect to manifest our dreams into reality? One of my goals is to develop my understand of the nature of the world. Right now I consider myself naive in a lot of ways, so in order to learn I have to break out of my shell and explore what's out there.
In the last few months my hobbies (writing, piano, drawing, studying, going to the gym) have kept me inside during most of my free time, which sometimes feels like the world's moving without me. As I've gotten used to this routine I've also found myself with less desire to really explore despite my curiosity. It made me realize how much of Osaka I still haven't seen.
I want to see more of the world, and these recent experiences felt like life trying to show me a sign, so like the restaurant girl or the street performer, I too, plan to put myself out there more. As a start, I volunteered to be the MC for an English Speech Contest next Sunday. I look forward to putting myself in a public speaking position and how I can grow from the experience. What have I got to lose?
Peace
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| Be unwavering. Get out there and set forth toward reaching your goals. |
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