🌸Happy May!🌸

I’ve been doing some reflecting recently for a couple of reasons. One, it’s almost my 18th birthday 🎂and two, because I’m only 4️⃣ weeks away from graduating High School and third, there’s only 5️⃣ weeks left before I move to America for the first time.

Now those are some pretty huge milestones coming my way and to be honest, it’s a lot to handle.

Before I go into the main message of this newsletter, I thought I would offer a few reflections about birthdays seeing as mine is in just a few short days.

When I think about birthdays, I am reminded that we are all unique. God has created each of us in His image, yet distinctly different in beautiful ways. God has a plan and a purpose for all of us and what better time to thank Him for that than the anniversary of when we were given life!

😅Now onto our regularly scheduled programming:

This week I thought I would look back at the newsletter I sent a year ago as I approached my 17th birthday.

For those of you that don’t know, last year my parents and I were stuck in a city-wide lockdown here in Shanghai. It was a really rough time for us and even rougher for millions across the city. In the newsletter I wrote about how having a positive mindset and reminding yourself of things to be grateful for is a key to a happy life.

Here’s a little flashback to some of my thoughts a year ago:

Although it’s not the best circumstance to celebrate a birthday in, I think there are still things to forward to...

🔑I get to spend the day in comfortable clothes – no need to wear my school uniform during online classes.

🔑I get to spend more time with my parents and my dog than I normally would on my birthday.

🔑I get to enjoy the nice weather within my apartment compound.

There’s a lot of things that I “get to” do. There’s also a lot of things I “can’t do” right now and I’m sure that I could list a lot of them. But when I think about the things that I can’t do for my birthday and the things that I can do, I realize that the things I can do are more important to me.

A lot has changed since I wrote that newsletter. Lockdown ended, some of my closest friends moved away, my childhood dog passed away, I applied to university, I was almost sent to a quarantine facility, I got to return to America and surprise my brother and grandparents for Christmas, I got COVID for the first time, I submitted my deposit to my dream university, and the list goes on.

You see, a lot of things happened in the last year – a lot of bad things happened, but so did a lot of good. If I were to detail the past year in a certain light, I could easily write about all of the bad things that happened and cause you to believe that my life sucks. Or, I could present to you all of the highlights of my senior year and give you the impression that my life is perfect.

We can pick and choose what we present to the outside world, but we can also choose what to focus on. I’m not encouraging anyone to pretend like their life is perfect or diminish the challenges you’re facing.

What I am saying is, look for the good more than you look for the bad. I believe that we, as humans, have a tendency to focus on the bad in our lives so much so that we become blind to the good all around us.

👉A positive mindset is a choice – although not always an easy one to make – and it’s a decision that must be made every day.

When you reflect on the past year, week or even day, what comes to mind? Bring it all to the surface – all the bad and good together. And then I implore you to take some time sifting through the bad to find the hidden “good”.😊

There’re so many great things going on in our lives, much more than just the obvious positives. This week, try to utilize a positive mindset and reflect on the good happening in your life.

🎉Until next time (when I will be 18!!!),

MeiMei💕

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