Grateful 11 & 12 May: Living life

So life has been happening and here’re some things that I thought worth capturing and thankful for:

• Dentist. I chipped a molar and went to the dentist. It turned out to be quite a pleasant experience (not just because I thought the dentist was cute). He gave my teeth a thorough cleaning and explained that part of the crown had broken off. He said he could remove and repair the crown, but there was a risk of chipping the tooth beneath it. Instead, he suggested simply smoothing the chipped area first and seeing how things go. I was glad and grateful for his honesty, as some dentists might have immediately recommended removing the crown for business reasons.

• Friends. I have been visiting T at the hospice whenever I can over the past few days, and during my visit yesterday, I managed to catch up with D, S, and V. While I meet D quite frequently, it is much harder to do so with S and V because of their work schedules. So it was really lovely spending time with them. They are D’s lifelong friends, and I only got to know them late last year. I’m grateful that our paths crossed becos they are genuinely nice people.

• Buddy. I had a long WhatsApp exchange with my buddy, and we were able to share more openly about our feelings. I’m grateful for his presence over the last two years following my breakup. Let’s see how things develop. Whether we remain friends or eventually become partners is perhaps less important than having someone we can talk to, confide in, support, and eventually grow old with.

• Invite. I had arranged to meet J for lunch this Friday but decided to take a rain check because T invited me to join him on a visit to the River Safari. The trip is organised by Ambulance Wish Singapore, a charity that fulfils the final wishes of terminally ill patients. T asked for this visit because he has never seen a real-life panda before. I feel both grateful and honoured by the invitation. I’m now thinking of preparing some durian purée for him. He has often lamented his inability to eat, and I thought he might enjoy it.

• Extended Family. I joined my aunt, uncle and cousins for dinner last evening. It was the first gathering for us since the passing of my eldest aunt two weeks ago. The dinner was warm, relaxed, and surprisingly positive in mood. I’m grateful to my cousin PL for extending the invitation and to ML for buying grapes for me. These may seem like small gestures, but they spoke volumes to me. Being included in their family dinner meant a lot.

• Training Prep. I have two more modules to deliver next week, and with over 30 learners to teach, the amount of training admin and reports to draft is huge! But I’m proud to say that I have completed all the preparation work and drafted the reports. Barring any last-minute changes, such as the addition of new learners, I can now focus fully on reviewing the content. 

• Validation. I received the training evaluation report last night for the programme I conducted over the weekend. The learners rated the training highly, and the findings strongly validated the positive learning experiences they had throughout the programme. 

So yes, there has been much to capture over the past two days. Perhaps it reflects the richness of my life in this season: relatives, friends, companionship, and work. All these matter deeply to me because they align closely with what I want to focus on this year — remaining grounded in gratitude, living with purpose and compassion, nurturing relationships that matter, and caring for my health and well-being.