103+104, 105
103+104: Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? What did you talk about? (05/27/2023)
It was on a Thursday morning, May 18th, 2023, 10 days ago. I called my little brother, Biggyn, back in the states. It was 5:15 am for me while it was 7:15 pm for him due to the time difference. I rarely get to speak with him on weekdays. When I am awake at daytime in Kuwait, he is either asleep or at school in Los Angeles. Once he returns to home from school, I am asleep. I usually wake up at 9 am because I go to sleep at 1-2 am. I woke up early to attend our mandatory physical training event with our platoon at 6 am.
Right as I woke up at 5:15 am, I called my mom and she gave the phone to Biggyn. My tired mood didn’t let down Biggyn’s excitement as he kept talking about the letter and the photos I mailed him from my deployment. He showed it to his class and he was thankful. Right before I deployed 9 months ago, he told his class that I was deploying. They sent me a brown envelope with all the different posters and cards they made. Some had a soldier with a gun on a tank with explosions in the background while others had flags and maps of America and Kuwait. Since they did all that for me, I had to return the favor at some point. So I wrote a letter for Biggyn and included 3 polaroid films of me and my coworkers for him to show to his class. He was super excited and was talking about it for 5 minutes straight before my mom cut him off to let me get ready for my group exercise. I have a feeling that I will have to go to his class and talk about my deployment. I am divided between an informal talk or a PowerPoint presentation. I will probably give out Army gear that I don’t need anymore as prizes for my trivia questions. I have my head tactical lamp, army patches, and coins as prizes.
105. What’s one little thing that can make your day better? (05/27/2023)
Meditation
It’s been less than a week since I resumed meditating after a 10 month hiatus. I don’t do meditating for health benefits. I don’t think I physically benefit from it in the same way exercise does but it helps me mentally.
Meditation serves as a break and a checkpoint. Throughout most of my days, from the moment I get up, I go into work mode. I could be getting ready, working, socializing with friends, exercising, etc. I am constantly doing something moving from one task to another. Meditation provides a break to all of that. It becomes a period of time where I enter this mental bubble and the only thing I focus is on my breathing, how my body feels, and the space around me. I don’t think about the work ahead nor the tasks I finished prior. For a few moments, I am present. It’s beautiful. No worries or regrets, just peace.
As much as I hate starting meditation the same way I have to force myself to go to the gym, I always feel much better afterwards. After meditation, I take time to reflect on what I have achieved so far, any improvements I can make, and preparations for future events. That way, I am being efficient with my time and energy on what matters the most.
Aside from breaks, I sometimes use meditation to calm myself down. Today I was really angry at myself for failing to ask a cute girl out. That self-hatred lasted for about an hour until I meditated to let it go. If I am feeling very nervous about starting an assignment, I meditate to make it easier for me to start working. If there is an upcoming party, I meditate to lower my anxiety and to remind myself we are all humans at the end of the day.
There is nothing negative I can say about meditation.
