April 2021 – Sandra Chen

Independence Day has always been very special to me. As a daughter of immigrants, I grew up knowing that living in Israel should never be taken for granted. Generations over generations, dreaming to get a chance to visit Jerusalem, let alone celebrating the existence of a prospering Jewish state.

So now, as I proudly wear my IDF uniform and spend my time protecting the borders of Israel with Gaza, I can tell that I live the dream of many. I am so thankful for that. If I am being honest, I really wanted to celebrate the holiday with family and friends. However, there is nothing I enjoy more than celebrating holidays in the army, it just feels different. Getting no sleep for days and spending the very few spare hours I have preparing and planning a big party or a meal for my friends. This makes me so happy.

For Independence Day my friends and I went to the nearby shopping center and got lot’s of food and decorations for the party, and even got to eat breakfast in a small a restaurant. We really did use the time off base to enjoy and forget all the problems we had over the last week.

During the day we didn’t do anything special but yesterday evening, right before I was going to get some sleep before finally going home, a rocket was fired from the strip toward an Israeli settlement in Southern Israel. As we do our best to ensure the safety of the troops and Israeli citizens I realised that what I do is way better than eating steaks at the park- I make sure that Israel will be able to celebrate its 74th birthday!

Happy Independence Day! Here are some pictures from the party:

If there is one thing I take from this year is adaptation: finding the power to admit I am stuck in place and find a new way to fulfil my dreams and sometimes survive. Though there is a catch. It might sound easy to do, but in reality there is so much going on in your life and mind that the effort that has to be made is huge and takes all the emotional power your body carries.

I am going through these thoughts at the moment. I think of the stress and fear I feel, which makes me uncomfortable, almost like I am not loyal to who I am. I know this is not true and that I have so many dreams and aspirations, and that eventually I am on the right way for me.

I learn daily that these thoughts aren’t necessarily bad. Growing and changing is a big part of who we are as humans and it is Okay to change and have new dreams. More than that, the new dreams can help us achieve the old ones and make our lives even more fulfilled.

I am still at the beginning of my 20s and have so much more to achieve in life. It is okay to have doubt. It makes us leave our comfort zone and evolve.

For a very long time, I have been stressing over my own future. To be honest, I have been stressing about it ever since I was young. I have tried to worry less, but I have always wanted to be one step ahead. There were situations where I started underestimating myself or worse- telling myself that I am just not good or worthy enough.

Now I know that I am good enough.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that at this point, stressing over the future has no point: I have done my best and the rest is out of my control. More importantly, my new approach to the future helps me to be more present at the moment and this makes me happier. Enjoying the small moments with my family and friends is just so much more valuable than giving up to the thought of the upcoming future.

I will eventually figure out what will happen, yet all I can do now is to wait patiently, so why should I worry?

There are so many psychological researchers discussing these kind of behaviour, but that is not my point. All these negative thoughts about the future had a negative effect on my behaviour in the present. I did not have to conduct a research to understand that. The minute I switched my approach and became more present, I started appreciating my environment and myself!

Maybe I have a good reason to worry about the future, but there is always another road to take. It is okay to fail and make mistakes. This is how we grow and evolve as human beings.

Our brain is so powerful and we should always navigate ourselves into positive thinking!

Month: April 2021

Independence Day and Everything in Between

Showing Strength Through Adaptation

Power of Thought