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Friday, 30 October 2009

Undoing perfectionism

I wouldn't want to describe myself as a perfectionist, but I was definitely a perfectionist earlier in my life (and probably have those tendencies still.) My parents always encouraged me to do my best, and to achieve as high as I could, which is a good thing. However, somewhere along the way, after doing well in many things, I expected I should be good at everything and didn't want to fail at anything. I probably suffered from something like the imposter syndrome as well. (Supposedly many women suffer from this.)

That's not good, because then I limited myself and what I could experience. I became too critical of myself, too focused on results, and probably kept growing a low self-esteem. I would internally give up if I couldn't be "perfect" in something. It was like all-or-nothing.

I feel like I've been trying to undo perfectionism in myself the past few years - do my best still (we are given many gifts and should not waste them,) but don't worry if I fail, or get a "B" even. (MIT taught me a lesson in that... the hard way.) It's okay to mess up (one reason playing softball is good for me.) Don't let the results affect me too much, but focus on all the other more important things. I still catch perfectionist tendencies in myself, and have to undo those thoughts and behaviors, but I think I'm learning.
My simple foods of the week

I had this meal 3 times this week (not in consecutive days):

- Silken tofu cut up into cubes (raw) with a soy sauce/sesame oil sauce, chopped scallions (ones I grew myself), and cut up (pei dan) preserved egg (no cooking necessary!) I added bonito flakes once as well, but I think I prefer it without them.
- Rice or noodles (I remembered I had some fragrant mushrooms and boiled them with the noodles one time.)
- Steamed broccoli or boiled edamame

Pretty tasty (at least for me) and easy to prepare. I know I should diversify my foods more (just as we should diversify our investments) but it's more cost-effective and takes less thinking this way. (I don't eat the same food for more than 3 meals a week tho!)

I also tried making this raw chocolate pudding. I wouldn't call it chocolate pudding, but it is chocolate pudding-like and quite yummy. I used unsweetened almond milk, an avocado, coconut flakes, banana, lime juice, raw cacao nibs, and honey. Avocado is becoming one of my favorite foods - eat it plain with sugar, in a milkshake, or as guacamole.

As a snack, I've had these small purple Okinawan sweet potatoes in the afternoon. Just microwave it for like two minutes or so. My mom first introduced them to me a few years ago. I've only seen them available in the Asian/International grocery stores. I get them from C-Mart in Chinatown. Don't confuse them with the other purple yam which isn't sweet.

Friday, 16 October 2009

Purpose

We're doing this book called Crazy Love in SS class. I didn't buy the book (and so haven't read it.) However, I've liked the class so far (at least the ones I've been to.) The class is quite reflective, and we even have journaling time during class.

Early on, one question that we were encouraged to think about is "What is my purpose today?" Oftentimes, we think about the purpose of our life... That, of course, is a good thing to do. However, sometimes we forget about the here and now and the significance of each day.

I thought it was helpful to be reminded of the purpose of each day and taking advantage of the (short) time we are given. We have no time to waste. There is purpose and significance in everything God has given us (whether it's every week/day/minute we have, every dollar in our pockets, every opportunity we have to speak, and so on..)

Thursday, 15 October 2009

More goals

- Learn some Cantonese... I borrowed Cantonese Language CDs from the library, which I can listen to on my drive to work. I've listened to a couple CDs and it's actually pretty good. I gave up on improving my Chinese reading skills...at least for now. Just too hard. These CDs are more doable. I'm kind of tired of not understanding what people are talking about at church, what my aunts and other family are so energetically discussing, as well as my friends when they speak Cantonese.

- Run an 8-minute mile... Mikey's running club is encouraging me not only to run more frequently, but also to run harder!

- Add strength building exercises into my routine somewhere... Yeah, I think I mentioned this last time too. I'm just lazy sometimes.

- Blog more - Check out a new, experimental blog: http://knowingandtrusting.blogspot.com

On another note, as the season has changed from summer to Fall, my activities are also changing. Softball is over. BCEC's dodgeball league has started. Hopefully will be rock climbing soon too. College interviewing season is back. Looking forward to hiking, before it gets too cold. It's a new school year, and I'll have a new student to mentor. New people in the area.. new year and slightly different small groups at Crossroad. All this new stuff, kind of makes it feel like Spring (except that it's getting colder!)

Interesting article with some helpful suggestions: 9 ways to get more out of your day

Friday, 02 October 2009

Dinner for yesterday

Had my wsg over again yesterday. I didn't have much time to prepare dinner, but decided I'd cook something simple.

I ended up making a turkey meatloaf (I never really had meatloaf before until I had it in California this summer. Always thought it was a strange American dish. But I liked it!) I made it the night before - pretty fast and just a handful of ingredients. Pretty healthy too. I poured out some of the fat because I didn't have a special meatloaf pan.
Also steamed some asparagus, which is super easy and fast (can't forget the greens.)
And baked some sweet potato fries.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Healthy-Turkey-Loaf (I would at least double or even triple this recipe to feed 5.)
http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/oven-baked-sweet-potato-fries-3483