#1 Life is good once you stop running and witness it long enough
When I landed in Italy in February 2020, I never imagined I would spend almost a year there. While the pandemic spread across Asia in early 2020, it only reached Europe during March.
I rented a place in Ubud, Bali that was quite remote and far away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. The house was surrounded by trees and a large green rice field. I was closer to nature than ever before.
Eight months living there was eight months of hearing the sounds that many people pay a few bucks a month to listen to via a mobile app: birds chirping, roosters crowing, and frogs croaking. Every morning, those sounds were like invites telling me to wake up and join them on such a beautiful day. And I couldn’t say no.
In the evening, there were lots of mosquitoes hunting for food. If I had been who I was before, I would have been irritated. But then, when I had all the time in the world to spend in one place, I began to notice the pattern of this species. I even figured out how to distinguish male and female mosquitoes, which might be a weird thing to take pride in, but I don’t think many people can say that in this day and age.
The whole time I was living and working in that house, I was given the space and time to slow down and truly be present, to see nature in its rawest form, and to not let my mind wander to the what-ifs and should-bes.
For the first time in a while, I saw how I was already living my best life.
#2 All relationships work out if they are nurtured
I met my partner for the first time in Bali and we immediately hit it off. Needless to say, we have been each other’s shoulders to rely on ever since, emotionally and physically, business-wise and personal life-wise. We are business partners and life partners, and unfortunately sometimes one overthrows the other. There was once a time when we were excelling at our roles as business partners for so long that the two of us forgot how we got each other’s back in life as well.
When we spent almost a year in Bali, the once-thought-faded flame was ignited again and sparks flew stronger than ever. We got to be in each other’s presence more frequently. We sat down, listened to the other’s stories and feelings, and shared our own. We went on dates, explored new places, obtained new perspectives, and took our relationship to a new level. Only when we were forced to decelerate did we recognize what was missing and what could have been done better.
We found peace in our relationship, and we have Bali to thank for.
#3 When you work hard for something you desire, stars align
Bali was the spot where the magic happened for me.
While I had had the idea of establishing our company’s marketing team for quite some time, it did not become reality until March 2021, when I started to find the pieces that completed the puzzle. I found some brilliant young talents who helped me to develop new digital marketing ideas and implement my plans. Having worked together like a well-oiled machine, I, they, and the company have been learning and growing rapidly. We were focused, determined, and committed.
And we are making the wildest dreams happen.
It is true that timing is extremely important. You have to be at the right place at the right time to turn something into reality. However, getting to that right place requires extremely hard work and perseverance. All you need is the determination to keep going even when you fall, and the stars shall align when comes the right time.
My time in Bali marked a truly transformative period in my life. I found peace in my relationship, my work, my physics, my life, and my inner self. For the first time in forever, barriers collapsed and the world opened up in front of me clearer and wider than ever before. I am eternally grateful and hoping that the spirit, the force, and the willpower I still carry with me from the days I was in Bali will continue helping me to work harder and contribute more to society, and eventually return the favor to the magical island.
