Navigating Life's Waves: Facing Ups and Downs - Part 1

We are composed of a select few areas of interest in our lives, and we have considerable control over some of these areas. We certainly have little control over what enters our lives, but we have significant control over how we use the limited time we have and how much of it we allocate to our core interests.

When I decided on the main topics of this publication, I was determined to stay the course, but I allowed myself some flexibility with the topics as they are the most important to me. Those topics were: crafting beauty in woodworking, life, entrepreneurship, faith, and family. What I failed to realize is that all of them are very dynamic in my day-to-day life. Life tends to be marked by ups and downs, and at any given moment, someone's core areas of interest will never appear to produce consistent outputs across all their chosen areas. On a graph, it would likely resemble a sound wave.

The case is that when I set the course, I was looking for a new professional career that fits my personality and life-collected knowledge. I was also trying to keep my entrepreneurial and woodworking skills alive as a side gig. Little did I know that life, family, and faith were about to make me stop in my tracks. My dad just passed away less than a month ago; the memories of those last days, hours, and minutes are still very raw and fresh in my mind. Quite frankly, I am not ready yet to unpack that experience on this blog, although I will say this—as obvious as it may sound: Enjoy your parents and spend time with them; you won't always have them available.

As for my professional life (and this blog), it has been a rollercoaster finding a good fit with so much change in my life over the last six months. When I finally gained some momentum, I found myself boarding an airplane to help my dad. To my surprise, my telephone carrier's roaming decided not to work properly while I was in Panama during this last month, just after I had contacted many job opportunities. If they contacted me, I will never know. Very frustrating, but it begs the question or wonder of life's fate.

I realize that over the last year or so, my dad's health has greatly impacted many of my decisions as I have been expecting the inevitable end. To some extent, I am grateful that I was not bothered with calls about potential jobs or needed to decide on prior job commitments. Still, life does not simply stop because we need more time to mourn. Bills never stop coming, and you still need a roof and food on the table, if not for you then for your loved ones.

Here is where faith, strategy, and hard work intersect. Whatever one does next is unlikely to simply appear; one needs to work for it, be smart about it, and maintain faith in God's desire for their well-being (which does not mean a life without troubles). One must find where they can best apply their experiences and skills to good use.

In this blog, I do not foresee any change. I still plan to consistently ponder crafting beauty in woodworking, life, entrepreneurship, faith, and family. There are two options in life: either you move forward or backward, and unless I stop, which would inevitably move me backward, I plan to continue discussing and sharing on these topics. As long as I am a balanced person, this personal blog will also reflect the waves that life throws at me. Sometimes, one area of my life may completely take over the others. I left a couple of unfinished woodworking projects, family experiences, and life lessons that I would like to return to!

I am extremely grateful to all who have joined the journey, and I am working hard to not be so selfish as to write only about my personal experiences, though I prefer to write something about my mundane life than not to write at all.

Thank you for bearing with me, and until the next one,

J