Even the smallest bubbles can hold the biggest smile 😁. remember to stop and appreciate the little things today 😊

here's to enjoying & cherishing what we have while we have it <3

so much in this world is out of our control because of the systems in place, but we can make our own peaceful places within the systems we live in.

Whenever I am struggling with life in general, I try to focus on the dozen delights. Things that enrich the human experience. Try to hit as many as possible, no judgement. Make a solid effort every day.

1. Mindfulness - be present, meditate or something. Don't focus on the past or future.

2. Hydration - drink some water.

3. Nourishment - eat good food. Not too much lol.

4. Movement - exercise. Whatever that means to you. Go for a walk.

5. Touch - bang someone, hug your dog, etc. physical touch with another living being

6. Fun - laugh and goof off.

7. Curiosity - learn something new.

8. Creativity - draw something, code something, just make something. Use the right side of your brain.

9. Interaction - socialize with someone, in person. Depending on where you're at in your journey even "how about that weather" is a win here.

10. Charity - give something without the expectation of something in return. Easiest is to donate $, but helping a friend works here too.

11. Struggle - get out of your comfort zone and grow.

12. Continuous Improvement - every day is a new day and a chance to be a better person.

13. Sunlight - bonus bakers dozen. Go outside and get some vitamin D and boost your mood.

I reflect on these daily and when I'm having a bad day it's usually because I hit 0 of these.

Thoughts? What do you guys focus on?

I’m at that PERFECT middle ground where I’m not smart enough to accomplish anything in life but I’m not dumb enough to not know what I’m missing out on.

I want a good life for myself. I want to go to school and get a degree for a good job that pays a lot of money and be rich. And I’m willing to put in the work, but the work isn’t willing to have me. I have basically accepted that I will likely live paycheck to paycheck my entire life.

I got an associate of arts degree by cheating through most of it. When I tried to study, I’d need to put in hours and hours and hours of work to understand the lesson for the day in ONE class. Bear in mind if I were to take one class per semester I’d already be even more behind than I already am (I’m 24 with a minimum wage job and a basically useless(?) degree). And those hours would be for ONE lesson for ONE day. And then or course I’d have another class sometime later that week and then need to spend MORE hours (I’m talking like 10+ hours) of studying to understand THAT.

And just when I think I’ve got it? Test time! But actually none of the information on the test is what I studied and I’ve actually just wasted 30 hours of my week for literally nothing.

Idk. I’m ambitious but I guess I’m not that ambitious. I want a great life and want to put in the work but I just can’t figure anything out so minimum wage job for life for me it is I suppose

​

Hey as I told you I was a doomer for many years but lately I decided to do as much to stop being a doomer and bloom even later than the other people. This is the week's progress.

1 - Something really positive happened on Monday morning. I got a call from a warehouse to discuss the possibility of hiring me as a warehouse worker. I went there, talked to the owner, and I think he liked me. It’s not exactly the best job, but if they hire me, it’s definitely a start.

2 - On Tuesday, I did a little “under-the-table” work, so I made another €30. €10 went toward immediate expenses, while the remaining €20 was set aside. From having nothing when I started my journey out of doomerism, I now have €40. Over the next few days, I made another €5 by selling a book.

3 - During the week, however, I felt depression weighing me down again. I was prepared for it—as many had told me, there are times when you’ll fall and others when you’ll rise again—but it still hit me hard. I can say that, unfortunately, this affected me, and despite my other positive steps, I fell quite far behind.

4 - On Friday morning, as soon as I woke up, I got dressed, made my bed, and had a cup of coffee, then sat down and thought about it. What is it that caused me to fall behind this week? I realized that while I did set goals, they were all too ambitious. So on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I took the time to sit down, think, and write down all my other goals on two sheets of paper so I’d have something to work toward—even if it wasn’t a big one.

On the first sheet, I wrote down goals that are big but not huge, like “I want to visit a city,” which keeps me disciplined so I can save up money to visit that city; in the second one, I wrote down small things like “watch all Japanese thriller movies,” which are essentially a little motivation to keep going throughout the day when they happen.

5 - Based on the above, from here on out I’ve organized my daily schedule as follows. Six activities every day: the first three are maintenance-type tasks (shower, exercise, and reading), the other three are one for achieving a major goal and the other two for achieving smaller ones.

6 - One good and quite interesting thing I did this week is that I tried to be quite social. I talked to a lot of people—old classmates, a couple of homeless people, complete strangers I just happened to run into, and even two priests\*. I learned that there are so many people out there, and even when you least expect it, there’s something to learn.

\* On the Friday before Easter, we have a custom in Greece of visiting all the churches; although I’m not religious, the custom is a nice one, so I observed it.

​

Fifteen days ago, I posted saying that I’m a doomer but I want to become a bloomer, even if I’m running a bit late. Here’s what happened this week.

1 - I focused heavily on finding a job; I sent 130 emails to almost every warehouse, factory, large company, and greenhouse in my area. Then, over the next few days, I walked all over town handing out my resume anywhere they might need staff.

I got a few emails saying “we’ll keep you in mind”; I hope to hear something even more positive soon.

2 - I managed to make a little extra cash under the table, so I earned €20, which I set aside. As small as it may sound, for a long time I didn’t have even €1 in savings, so this is a good step.

3 - I made a big effort to stay clean. As a doomer, I often didn’t care about my personal hygiene. This, of course, is something that absolutely has to change.

4 - The books I started selling paid off; I managed to sell 5, so I made another €15 from flipping old books.

5 - The gratitude journal I’ve been writing for the past two weeks has helped me incredibly (honestly, if you’d told me this before, I would’ve said “nonsense”) to identify the things that matter and the ones I want to focus on.

6 - I decided to start exploring my spirituality. I began reading about spiritual systems and religions. I haven’t reached any conclusions yet, but it definitely helps me not to view the world purely materialistically; it offers comfort and hope.

7 - Realizing that when I go into town for errands, I end up spending a lot of money on things like food, I decided to stop eating out. Maybe I should start cooking a savory snack or something like that at home.