Newsletter 2022-12-31

Writing Output/Newsletter#

Observations & Insights#

Health
Today is the last day of 2022. It has been 5 weeks since I last sent a Newsletter. This is the first and also the last Newsletter of December. 😂 There are many reasons for this. Firstly, the pandemic. About two weeks ago, Beijing experienced a peak in cases, and my family and I were not able to escape it. When the restrictions were lifted, we were constantly searching for fever-reducing medicine, especially for the children. Adults can handle it to some extent, but I was particularly worried about the children's condition. As a result, in our family, the children had the mildest symptoms. They only had a fever for a while when they slept at night, and they were not affected during the day. They ate and played as usual.

After two weeks, my family has mostly recovered. I have also heard news about many elderly people passing away through the news. To be honest, I knew this would be the result even before the restrictions were lifted, but it seems that there is no better solution. Thinking about how Universal Studios had long queues again and funeral homes were also crowded, it truly reflects the saying that "the joys and sorrows of mankind are not connected." Let's cherish and be grateful. I am grateful to be one of the lucky ones.

Work
In mid-December, luckily, I did not catch the infection during that period. I successfully passed the probation defense. I remember spending a long time revising the PowerPoint slides that weekend, and I continued to revise until 1 am on Monday. Finally, I passed the leader's review on Tuesday. I would like to thank him for his serious and responsible attitude. He was very clear about the direction of the content, so the suggestions he gave were very specific. It made me once again despise my ability to summarize and write.

2022 has been a challenging year. Various news of layoffs kept coming, and finally, in June, it reached me. I have to admit that I felt down for two days. I am not an optimistic person to begin with, and experiencing adversity tends to amplify emotions and feelings. But I also have an advantage, which is the ability to adjust. Or I think I am someone who performs well under pressure. No matter how negative or nervous I was before, once things happen, I can focus and perform steadily. It also relies on this advantage of mine. The results of the subsequent interviews were good. I had three companies, one reached the final round, and the other two passed the interviews. I joined the current company and successfully completed the probation. I hope that 2023 will bring improvement. Recently, I truly understand the slogan, "It's only good when everyone is good." If the overall environment is not good, no one can thrive individually. It may not have an immediate impact, but it will be hard to avoid in the long run.

Persistence
This year, I have been persistent in a few things:

Memorizing vocabulary. Now when I read English articles, I clearly feel that my vocabulary has increased.
Writing. This includes daily journals and the Newsletter. Although there may be delays, I have not stopped.
Exercise. I have been able to consistently go for a run almost every week. This month doesn't count due to the infection.

There is one thing I haven't done well, which is going to bed early. I still sleep between 12:30 am and 1:30 am. I have been trying to change this for a long time, but the results are not good.

2023
To be honest, I don't think I have ever had any special expectations for a new year before. It used to be year after year, and I became somewhat numb. But after three years of the pandemic and experiencing layoffs, I have indeed started to have some expectations for the future.

Firstly, I hope for good health. During the two days of having a fever, all work pressure and trivial matters were completely forgotten. Besides good health, everything else is trivial. I also hope that everyone is in good health. I hope the virus becomes weaker and can be treated like a common cold. Only then can we truly return to normal life. Currently, there is still a risk of reinfection. As the saying goes, "After three years, the pandemic finally arrived." I hope it will pass sooner, truly pass.

Secondly, I hope for stability in work. Of course, I will also work hard. I don't expect a passive stability. At least, I don't want to experience various layoffs like this year again.

Lastly, I hope to be braver and live in the present. There is no need to scare myself. I recently came across a quote that I want to share with everyone, "Fear knocks on the door, but courage opens it. There is nothing outside the door."

Finally, I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.

That's all for this issue of the Newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thank you for reading.