Self-reflection time...

Occassionally, I will reflect on myself how I’ve changed since Darius arrived in our family, and I finally take up some time to do a self-reflection and write them down:

ATTITUDE TO LIFE
Having a child is an invaluable experience in life, and it makes us appreciate our parents better as we now understand the committment, sacrifice and hardship each responsible parent has to go through. Through the child, I also get to slow down my pace at times while observing and appreciating the beautiful things around us which I will easily miss out otherwise. The joy of seeing your child smile at you after a hard day’s work will nullify any stress or unhappiness. I also start to recall my own childhood and begin to redefine what makes a truly meaningful and fruitful life.

BEHAVIOUR (SELF)
By slowing down and patiently educating and playing with our child, I am less bad tempered nowadays and gradually grow to be more patient with people and things too. I have also grown to be more tolerant of things that don’t turn out the way I wanted them to be, and just accept things as they are.

FAMILY
Was starting to drift apart from my parents and siblings after moving out upon married, but having a child pulled our bonds closer again. Through this experience, we realised that like marriage, having a child is not something that concerns only the husband and wife, but everyone else in the family. It’s amazing how a child can bring families closer together. As for my wife, things do get tricky at stressful moments concerning the child but with proper communication and understanding, we made sure that our negative feelings are washed away before they started to grow bigger.

CAREER
I haven’t been very career-minded since I met my wife several years back, so having a child somewhat reinforces my thinking. Career should not be too important to me, as long as the job is stable and pays enough to live relatively comfortably. Yes, there are jobs out there which will pay better, but I believe that there’s no free lunch and with a better pay, it will probably mean more stress and/or time spent on the job. For me, I would rather earn less than to constantly getting stressed up (and inevitably affecting my family) or finding it hard to spend time with my family.

MONEY
Money is still important but not THAT important. As above, as long as I can ensure that my family can live comfortably (subjective of course). I can do without luxury items such as cars, latest gadgets etc and use that money on more practical needs.

GAMING
Gaming has been a long-time hobby for me so it’s unlikely that I will drop it for good anytime soon. With the arrival of our child, better time management and compromise need to be made to ensure while I continue to have gaming as my hobby, the quantity and timing have to be such that it does not conflict with the time spent with my child and wife. With interrupted sleep a norm nowadays, I am in need of more sleeping time to ensure I can remain awake for the next working day, which also brings about the reduction of gaming time available. Also, headphones have to be used while playing instead of blasting the sound from the speakers to make sure the child won’t be affected. Constant alertness also needs to be present to listen for the baby’s cries.

Darius has brought joy to our family, along with changes

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