Weekend Engagement - Recipe For A Good Life

Name three things that you care about and explain why.

This is an pretty open-ended prompt and I am going to interpret it as the three things about myself that I care about, which is something more personal and closer to heart, versus global issues like world peace or climate change.

Like most people, I also have the habit of scrolling social media (I know it's a bad habit!) but in rare instances, I do get some interesting videos that made me reflect a little more about life. I can't remember when and which platform I saw a video related to this topic a couple of weeks ago, but the sharing contained the three things which every individual should care about. And if you can manage them well, that is a recipe for a good life already.

Sounds exciting? Not really. Because we probably already know.. But it's always nice to have a reminder. Hehe. So here we go!

Health

Everyone should care about their health. I know, right? We all know. But it's not always easy. Caring about our health means we should be getting enough rest and sleep (no late nights!!! oops), cutting down our salt and sugar intake (giving up on desserts!!!), and getting more fruits and vegetables, and on top of that, exercise and more exercise! You get what I mean. We all know, but putting in practice and staying the course can be so challenging sometimes. Of course, there's no need to stress over this, but small changes in our life can definitely go a long way. There's this saying that says, when we are well, we have a lot of things that we want to do and achieve, but when we are unwell, the only thing in our mind is that we hope to get well. So true.

Wealth

After health, the next is wealth. It's not about becoming a millionaire or billionaire, but making sure we have enough for our own lifestyle. Everyone has their own lifestyle and different commitments, and it's our responsibility as an adult to make sure we keep our finances in order, regardless whether it comes from hard work or from investing in real estate or financial markets. To achieve this, it might require one to be disciplined to budget carefully, and picking up financial knowledge. And I have another saying to share too, the one I read somewhere says while money doesn't necessarily bring one happiness, it can solve around 90% of the problems we have, and if that means less stresses in our lives, that's good enough. As an adult trying to survive in this society, this is so relatable.

Emotions

Finally, it's caring about our emotions, or these days, some might say mental well being. Emotions are intangible and can't really be measured in a proper way, but I believe there are definitely benefits to staying happy (as often as we can), be optimistic about life (as much as possible), and try to look at the good side of things. The "hard" reality is, we are only around on Earth for that many years, and life is too short to be angry about trivial stuff and to be negative about this and that. Of course, we all have bad days once in a while, but just like a thunderstorm, it will eventually end and we ought to return to our cheerful self! And to end off with another saying, I also read somewhere that what we feel or what we say can subconsciously have an impact our lives. If we constantly tell ourselves "we are great", the body will listen and we will feel great. But if we constantly tell ourselves negative stuff such as "Oh I am always unlucky", we will just get more depressed over time. Do you think that's the case?

Today's the weekend, and I had a great catch up over lunch with 2 good friends of mine. While the food was great (that's pan seared seabass!), the company and the conversations were even better, and when we ended, I didn't realise we talked for more than 4 hours. And looking at this dish, reminds me how important health, wealth, and emotions are in my life, and if I could manage them well, it would be a recipe for a good life.

Alright that's all I have! Thanks for reading!