The Art of Nonchalence

I think I am starting to grasp and put into action what I call the 'art of nonchalance'. In short, it's remaining calm when personal insults are in the air. 

Difficult people are a fact of life and sometimes you can't avoid them, or even if you can, you need to deal with them for a short period of time. I realized that it's not fair to let their emotions control mine. It was intensely liberating when I started understanding that the stuff they say may actually not be true, and that I ultimately decide how their words affect me. This applies to anyone, really...colleagues, supervisors, and family members. 

I use mantras to help me hang onto this fact, such as:

- (insert name of person) is known to torpedo people's ideas without taking the time to understand them. do a favour to myself and do not give a flying crap about (person)'s reaction to your idea

- what is the worst case scenario? can i handle that? why yes I can! therefore, i have nothing to fear.

- (   ) is very emotional right now and does not know what (  ) is saying

- there are things you can control and things that you cannot. you can control your own reaction even though you cannot control the other person. 

- is what (   ) saying true? is there a sliver of truth? no? then they are just mistaken and deluded. yes? then maybe I should put away my pride and listen after all.

New toy - a German Pool halogen oven, which came free as a 'welcome gift' upon signing up for a credit card (HK is good like that. lots of freebies when you sign up for credit cards). This very cool device that makes uses of moving heated air to cook foods in a shorter period of time, achieving grilling, steaming, baking and roasting functions. I've made souffle (was such a fail), roast chicken (turned out ok, although you can't really fail with chicken), and grilled vegetables with it so far. Its small size would fit into my future small kitchen. 

Gorgeous scenery at the top of the hike! The way down was kind of treacherous though, jagged rocks and all... 

Tapas after the hike to replenish lost calories.

Rope climbing. Instructor is that big stocky bulge of a man. Do not underestimate said big stocky bulge of a man. He is a beast on the ropes. His immaculate balance enables him to literally walk on a piece of rope.

WOOHOOO~~~ new stuff to play on the piano.

More new stuff to play with. Eyeliner with soft powder tip to create a gorgeous smokey eye look gradient.

In case anyone is interested in 'how wedding prep is going', I've been shopping around for bridesmaids dresses. We're going to go with a 'greek goddess' kind of look. Hopefully I can negotiate diff coloured sashes and get multicoloured mismatched bridesmaids. I've also been working on the playlist and rundown of the day and finding instrumentalists and vocalists to help out. Anyway, I'm glad to say that it's been low stress as of late and more on the fun side.