Summer Trip to China

I had serious anxiety taking 3 full weeks off this summer to tour around China with my parents and my girls. It was an exhausting trip, but also the most memorable.

Thoughts that swirled around in my head before the trip:

😰 Even though I’m my own boss now, I was afraid I would lose momentum in what I’ve built so far.

😰 Despite my clients’ support, I worried about letting them down and leaving them hanging.

😰 Even though my girls are well traveled, they have never experienced mainland China. I didn’t know how they would react to the crowds, squatting toilets, and different cultural norms.

😰 I stressed about my parents’ high expectations of how much we could squeeze into 3 weeks.

It turns out, most of those worries were just worries. Some highlights that I am grateful for from the trip:

💖 Connecting with Family and Discovering Roots:

My girls met second cousins they didn’t even know existed. They were overjoyed to connect with such a huge extended family. By visiting places where I was born, where my parents used to work, and paying respect to my late grandparents, they gained a much better understanding of where we came from. They learned about what makes them Chinese Americans.

💖 Being Resilient and Adventurous:

I’m super proud of how my girls handled things like the oftentimes aggressive crowds. We were able to laugh about some of the crazy encounters. And we reminded each other how awesome it was to take in amazing sights like the Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors.

💖 Allowing Time to Recharge:

I am deeply thankful to have clients who were more than supportive. Their understanding allowed me to return more energized and committed. They showed me taking time to recharge and simply BE with my family can make me even more effective and present.

It was an awesome trip not because everything worked out perfectly, but because we CHOSE to focus on what truly matters.

💪 I CHOSE to let go of control, and trusted my parents and my girls to help out, to reduce the pressure I put on myself.

💪 We CHOSE to set the expectation that nothing would be ‘perfect’. As long as we enjoyed the moments with each other, it was ok if we didn’t see or do everything we thought we should.

💪 We CHOSE to have fun, no matter what.

These photos are examples of the fun we created. Most places we visited were super crowded. Instead of getting annoyed trying to take perfect pictures, we turned it into a game of ‘Where’s Waldo’. My girls would stand in random spots in the crowd, and I would take a picture of the crowd for us to find ourselves later. Can’t say we fully embraced crowds, but this simple game made blending in much more bearable.

So much to be grateful for. Most importantly, I was reminded of what I tell my clients all the time: sometimes choosing to make a simple shift in our perspective can change everything.

#ChineseAmerican #perspective #LifeCoach #CareerCoach #DreamPlanDoLive