Lately things have been going very well for me, and I thought it's about time I write that down for posterity's sake. I've started a new job and I'm enjoying it. Being an introverted kind of guy, certain social situations tend to tire me out a lot. In the worst case I end up having headaches, but I've been having none of that. I have completely clarity of mind and I can't fully explain it. Perhaps it's because I'm confident about the path in life that I've chosen for myself. I certainly haven't felt this good in a very long time. Sometimes shit happens to me, but I don't feel bad about it when it does. A travel book I've read recently suggest to 'take everything in stride'. That's such an important message. Whatever happens to you, take it in stride and move on. If you're sure of yourself then good things will start happening again.
I have to admit that I've been lucky, and I felt like listing down all the reasons. First of all, I've been lucky to be born as a Dutchman. Genetically, I am a rather big white male, which means I won't seen get robbed on the streets and people in Asian countries are nice to me (yes, this is racist, but it's true). Education in the Netherlands is free, which helped me get a degree. Getting a job is easy for me because I'm from Western Europe and not from Poland (yes, this is discrimination, but it's true). Finally and perhaps most importantly, the prevalence of English in Dutch society and the way I was raised by my parents allowed me to pick up English rather early on, opening up the world to me. Finally, getting the wonderful at Asahi Kasei Japan was more a stroke of luck than the result of my skills, and having that job on my CV opened up tons of opportunities for me.
Another consequence of having worked at a company with an international internship program is that I ended up having friends in lots of different countries. After leaving Japan I visited some of them, and on occasion I have been adopted into their 'family' of friends. I'm really happy about that, but then I never feel connected enough to one particular group to feel the need to settle down. This is a luxury problem, I guess, as most people won't be in a position similar to mine. Again, this is just luck. It has nothing to do with my ability to make friends, it's just a result of the position I was in. I'm sure anyone else would have done the same, were they in my position.
I take a lot of these things more or less for granted, and I realize that there's tons of people less fortunate than me. But these are the cards I've been dealt. They are rather good cards, if I do say so myself. I must make the most of it.
