Autumn Morning in Tsukahara

Autumn Morning in Tsukahara
Autumn morning in Tsukahara

Monday, October 6, 2014

Our Third Year in Japan

October 6th marks our third year in Japan. My first impression is that time goes by fast. I find that I have fewer complaints and fewer compliments. I guess that’s a good thing.  Everyday life is just that…everyday life. The biggest change since moving to Japan (drum-roll please), I have my weekends back. What does that mean? Well, sit back and have a listen.

When I was living in Washington, my weekends would start by complaining about how much I disliked my job and that I was glad it was the weekend. In other words, I was working for the weekend. Sound familiar? I would often begin thinking that I was only two days away from the beginning of another workweek. I actually dreaded Sunday because it meant I had to go back to work the next day. These negative thoughts clouded every weekend. In essence, I gave up my weekends and chose to be negative. Erika had to endure my sour attitude and eventually we both had enough. If you have ever spent any time with a negative person then you know that nobody want to be around that kind of person. Even I didn’t like being around myself!

It did take some effort to change things around. It was a matter of attitude. I found that a change in my environment was the solution to changing my attitude. Three years later, I’m positive almost EVERYDAY. I no longer dread going to work on Monday. Friday's are nice, but so are most of the other days. It’s great to have my weekends back. I can go places and do things on Saturday AND Sunday and not worry about being mentally exhausted on Monday. Being negative is mentally exhausting for everyone.

I made a choice, with the help of Erika, to change my life. It’s been three years and I can honestly say, “It’s nice to be home". Now, if I could only speak Japanese…       George

No comments:

Post a Comment