August 16, 2018 officially marked my 10th year in Makati. It was a decade ago when I moved to this place to start another journey with my career as HR practitioner. I had a lot of expectations, a lot of dreams, and I honestly thought that living in this place, where I could earn more, would make my life easier, but I guess I was wrong. I had to go through a lot of challenges and some things that I expected didn’t really happen exactly the way I wanted it to. On the other hand, i thought of listing down some of the beautiful things that happened to me, which I believe I should be grateful for:

1. Independence – Being away from family has taught me about doing things for myself alone. I moved to an apartment and had to work so hard so I could pay for everything like rent, utilities, foods, etc.. I learned how to wash my own clothes, cook my own food, clean my own unit, and yeah, as time goes by, I learned to enjoy buying household stuffs, especially when they are on sale.

2. Stable Job – Although I am leaving my work in few months, I still feel so grateful that I had it for 10 years. I mean, considering the many opportunities I could have had, i chose to stay because I learned to love my job and it somehow helped me pay for my retirement insurance. Loyalty matters.

3. New Friends – Well, I must admit, I only had few friends from here because I seldom go out, and I really don’t have that friendly aura, but Im glad that I have met new people. Some friendships didn’t last long but it’s ok. At least somehow, at some point in my life, I know I made some people smile and they also made me feel like I really exist.

4. Love – Yes, this is another thing that made my stay in Makati more colorful. I fell in love, and I still am, with the same man, for almost a decade now, and although it’s not perfect, I am still happy because I’ve never felt this way before. I mean, it’s just different that I couldn’t even find the right word to describe it. All I know is that my heart belongs to someone special now.

5. Travel – Because of my job, and friends who also have stable jobs, I had the opportunity to travel to different places, both local and international. This is definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had in my entire life because going to different places, as my reward to myself for working so hard, is really like a dream come true to me.

Aside from the good things that happened, there are also these things that i wrote in my bucket list. These are the things that I have yet to achieve:

1. Have my own house, with my own garden, work station and library.

2. Buy my family a new car and drive a bigger car of my own (because I love traveling and I often bring a lot of stuffs).

3. Pet a dog in my apartment. I couldn’t let a dog stay in my current apartment because no one will take care of her when Im at work.

4. Gain more weight (lol!), but yeah, Im serious. That’s why Im trying to find a less stressful environment. Im going back to the gym for my program.

5. Have my own business. Who doesn’t want to be the boss of his own Company? I guess no one.

6. Have another part time job. I just feel like time is so essential that I couldn’t afford wasting it.

7. More international travel. Well, I hope that I would have a more balance time in the future. Travel and Earn. That’s my goal!

8. Enroll in script writing class and cooking class.

9. Be part of a charitable institution that supports less fortunate kids.

I couldn’t say Im extremely happy with my life now because I honestly feel like Im not, and the reason why I have decided to write this is because I am about to begin a new chapter in my life. There are still a lot that I wanted to achieve, and Im hoping that the new path I’ll be taking will bring me to where I really want to be. Anyway, Im not expecting to have everything I wanted, but at least, Im hoping that the coming years will be better. Besides, all I wish, in general, is to be completely happy (fingers crossed).