Transformations

Last year, I began the process of changing my life through the big step of marriage. The marriage has certainly shown me places where I can improve myself. And I have decided to take up the challenge. After all, with the SO leading me the last eight years, I have definitely improved my life for the better.

The latest transormation I have seen is through the way of thinking. I now am beginning to realize and accept the power of the mind. It's those sayings like "You are what you think," or " Visualize what you want in life, and it will come true." Well folks, I have jumped into the bandwagon "mind over matter." I believe that I can be whoever I want to be. I just have to visualize it. Each day, I choose to be happy or sad. Each time I eat, I choose to be healthy or not. As I begin dressing, I am choosing the way I present myself to the world.

The first step I did to transform my life was to begin eating healthier. At the office, I am usually so busy that I end up snacking. I used to eat cookies, protein bars or powerbars, which are made up of a lot of sugars. While in the photofinishing place, I would also go to the Pin@y restaurants around the work place. What made me choose was that one day, a nurse took my blood and said "You better start hitting the salad bar. This blood should be clear and it is not." Well, that was because I had been eating dinuguan, adobo, kare-kare and all kinds of good Pin@y cooking. I suppose those days are the source of my current bout of gout too.

In the law firm, I am lucky enough that there are not too many Pin@y restaurants. As I said, however, I had to contend with cookies and chocolates calling from my drawers. "Tatang! Tatang! Don't you want to eat us? We are so tasty. So scrumptious. So sweet!"

The real clincher for my decision to eat healthier is that my gout is so bad that I have it in my hands. Most adults have gout in their big toe. I am lucky enough to get hit with gout in my wrist and elbows. Can you say "Ouch?". I have trouble brushing my teeth because of the pain in the elbow! I could not even floss!

Well, to help out in the treatment of my gout, I choose to eat healthier. And, I remind myself everyday that I have gout and that I have to choose to be healthier. I buy carrots instead of cookies. I only eat one portion of meat. The pain from the gout can be so intense that now, I have a Pavlovian response to seeing too much meat. The caveat is that I can not throw the meat away. I am still in the survival mode of an immigrant from the Philippines. Basically, my mind tells me that there are starving children around the world. I should finish and not waste food.

Guess what! I am in America. If I want to live up to seventy years old, boy, I better forget about the starving children around the world guilt and throw away the extra food.

The latest step in my decision to eat healthier is that I bought celery. The SO cut it up. And, I have been munching celery at the office and at home. The celery stalk is not so bad. There is a spicy taste to it. I remember the first time I tasted it when I was fifteen years old. Celery was nasty! The taste was so strong that I could not eat celery in pansit and other foods. I thought that the people who ate celery had something wrong in their head. It turns out that after losing thousands of taste buds, I can now tolerate and appreciate celery.

Besides changing my eating habits, I have also decided to improve my appearance at work. The decision to do so was because of my decision to obtain a managerial position at the law firm. If my other colleagues can do it, so can I.

That meant, however, that my work clothes had to be slacks, leather shoes and shirts. No more jeans. No more rubber shoes. Nope, I have to look more professional.

Tell you one thing, I feel better now that I dress up better. I don't feel as poor as before. I remember the good old days of graduate school. I wore t-shirts and shorts. And I felt that I did not have a care in the world. In fact, I probably did not care because I did not have any money. I could not buy clothes or anything that I wanted. Well, I suppose, I was a very different person in graduate school than I am today.

Today, I placed four slacks into the donation bin. These were slacks that I bought when I was in the other jobs of photofinishing retail. It's good to let go of them and the memories they hold.

So, with the new year, I guess one can say that I resolved to improve myself. I visualize what I want and I obtain it. Sorry to sound so happy and cheerful this early in the morning. But that is the path I have chosen.