A GLIMPSE OF A NEW ADVENTURE

Hi Hivers! Sending you love and hugs from the Philippines.

Hearing about Hive gives me butterflies in my stomach; much more writing an intro for it! How sick is that! Huh? I don't know what to expect but one thing is for sure, I know that this will turn out to be one of the most extraordinary experiences in my life. Thankful to these equally brilliant individuals @indayclara and @callmesmile who enthusiastically introduced me to this amazing community. With that, I am forever grateful.

To start, I am Fatima, a 33-year-old woman who juggles various roles every single day. I am a mother, a wife, and a secondary public school teacher.

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A WIFE

When I was 16 years old, I used to write a journal about the things I wanted to achieve. In that journal, I always write my preferred age to get married. I vividly can recall that I wrote 25 years old as my ideal age. I was just being silly at the moment but years later it became a reality. I got married on December 27, 2014, at the age of 25. Exactly my dream age! Amazing huh?

Since then, life has been amazingly awesome with the combination of highs and lows, struggles and successes, triumphs and failures. If there’s one thing that being a wife has taught me is to practice constant communication, even in the littlest of things. I learned that this is salient in marriage. After all, it takes two to tango right? The same goes for marriage, I suppose. Raise your hands if you agree fellas.

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A MOTHER

The new chapter of my life started when I was married, but, it intensified when I became a mother. I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 26 and it was the most fulfilling day of my life. Though it was excruciatingly painful to deliver a baby, it was magical. Holding my daughter for the first time is still the happiest moment of my life up until now. So far, it's unbeatable. 😂

Never could imagine myself crying and smiling at the same time. Silly but it’s possible. Trust me, been there, and done that. The challenge of motherhood doesn’t stop when the baby is out; in fact, it is the easiest part compared to the sleepless nights that I need to endure while taking care of my newborn baby. True enough, I had restless nights but those were enjoyable days of my life. If I got to be asked about one thing I’ve learned from motherhood, I would certainly say it is PATIENCE.

Honestly, when the time is right and when my daughter will be old enough to understand all of this stuff, I plan to tell her my deepest gratitude for giving me the chance to become a MOTHER. Yeah right, because not everyone is given the same opportunity. I fail at times, that’s given, but every single day, is a day of learning and I’m more than ready for it!

Being a wife and a mother is tough; yet, here I am giving my best and still standing by God’s amazing grace. To all moms and wives out there, carry on! We are doing great!

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A TEACHER

My journey of becoming a teacher was not a walk in the park. I had to support and crawl myself to finish my studies. It was a rough climb, but I thank the Lord for the perseverance that was within me. It served as my fuel to pursue. Thankfully, I finished with flying colors. Truly, I am a living testament that poverty is not a hindrance to success.

After graduating from college on the year 2009, I was hired as a private school teacher in one of the schools here in our place where I taught for three years. At first, it was kind of difficult to put all the theories I learned from school into practice but it was challenging. I accepted the challenge and tried to learn. Soon enough, I got the hang of it!

After teaching for three years in a private school, I started my journey in public school on the year 2012. Since then, I can say with great pride that I have been in public service for 10 years now! Oh! its ten years already? Where did the time go? Surely, time flies fast when you are enjoying and loving what you do. So far, teaching has taught me to be real because that’s when you become true to yourself so that you can make your students proud of themselves as well-embracing the complexities they are made of and be proud of who they are.

People say, teaching is the noblest profession and it is indeed right! It takes heart, time, and effort to truly touch lives, and with that, I am blessed to be called one!

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I know that portraying these roles effectively can be challenging, but doing what I love to do is my way of diverting and de-stressing. Here are some:

Spending time with my daughter

As a working mom, I need to manage my time wisely. With all my might, I make sure to do school works in the workplace, just so I would have the time to play with my daughter and help her with her assignments at home. She is in Grade 1 this year by the way. I love that we plan and do activities together and it is so much fun and relaxing!

One activity that we enjoy doing is going for a morning dip in the sea every Saturday. My daughter loves swimming so much and it brings me joy to see her having so much fun in the sea. On Sundays, we go to church together. These are reasons why we look forward to weekends. I see to it that my daughter’s need for my time is attended to because quality time with her is something money can’t buy. It’s priceless! Yeah, motherhood is demanding but I have learned that time management is the key and so far, I am doing good. A tap on my shoulder to that! Cheers!

Taking a walk

Human as I am, I often feel exhausted from work, from being a mother or a wife but I understand that this is temporary and I have the choice on how to handle moments like these. At first, I was struggling but soon enough I realized that I only have two options; either drown myself in exhaustion or divert myself from it. I chose the latter because I understand that taking care of my mental health helps me be more effective in everything that I do. So, what’s the best way to de-stress but to take a walk and feed my eyes with great sight? It does magic to me all the time.

Usually, I do it with my husband but when he’s working, I do it alone. When walking by myself, I don’t feel alone because I feel my connection with nature. This is when I notice the smallest detail of everything around me. And honestly, I admire God for the wonderful creation I get to set my eyes on. It is relaxing; plus, the feeling of sweat drooling over my whole body gives me a sense of satisfaction. It’s funny but for some reason, it empties my mind of all stressors and makes it focus on just one thing-moving. Cool yeah?

Eating

I know it’s hilarious that eating comes after talking about exercising but with all honesty, this is my way of de-stressing. The vibrant colors of the various food when served at home or in a restaurant stimulate excitement within me. It somehow ignites something in me that could help change my exhaustion into happiness. And that’s just by merely looking at the food, much more devouring them, right? True, the happy thoughts come along by just eating.

Getting the food from the table and putting it in my mouth is probably the most effortless way to push the stress away. By now, you could tell that I associate food with happiness and you’re right! Couldn’t agree more. Then happiness leads to forgetting exhaustion which paves the way to de-stressing. There you go! Let’s eat more. Mind you, this is in moderation. 😉

Quality time with family

I am married to an overseas Filipino worker. Most of the time, my husband is miles away from us for months. Fortunately, we are in an era where communication is at the tip of our fingers but still, nothing compares to the feeling of physically seeing a loved one in person. For eight or nine months, we usually see each other through video calls- sharing everything through a device.

We celebrate occasions on different sides of the globe. We even have to endure the struggles of time difference yet, by God’s grace we are getting the hang of it. The only consolation we bear in mind is that when the contract is done, he will come home and we will have more than enough time to share moments. When that happens, we visit new places and make the most of them because we know that we cannot freeze time.

Just recently, we went to Cebu Safari Adventure Park located at Carmen, Cebu. There, we saw different species of animals. It was a crazy experience seeing animals like lions, tigers, cheetahs, orangutans, and many more in flesh and blood. We had a great time together. My daughter was the happiest seeing all she had seen in books and movies come to life. She could not contain the happiness brought by this experience because, on our way home, she was still talking about it. She even pinned out that it was so memorable for her.

As a mother, it melted my heart when I heard those words from her mouth. Indeed, quality time with the family is the best! May it be planned or a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing; still, it is therapeutic to me. It enables me to recharge and revitalize some lost energy. Yeah, and afterward, I will be more than ready to carry on the roles expected of me with life and vigor. Bring it on!

Doing something new

Though I have committed myself to teaching from the day I enrolled to get the degree, as an adventurer by nature, I always look for something new to do. Something that is challenging and something that would take me out of my comfort zone. I have tried quite a few; to mention, I entered online business years back. I sold various things like clothes for men and women. I even sold make-up and accessories too. Other than gaining, another source of income, it feeds the entrepreneur side of me. It was a memorable experience.

Alongside selling, I used to teach children in my neighborhood Bible stories, Bible verses, and songs too. Afterward, we would enjoy a meal together. The meal is usually simple but the fulfillment that comes with it is priceless. When the pandemic hit, it ceased. My prayer and hope are to do it again in due time. I even tried vlogging but unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me. Thankfully, I was introduced to Hive and I can’t wait to dive into this new adventure. I have to say, I love writing. Though not the best writer but I am more than eager to learn and improve. Fingers and toes crossed. The thrill is de-stressing to me. 😊

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Why am I here?

Juggling the roles, I do in life, I seldom have time to gain new friends other than the people I used to know way back in elementary, high school, and college days. New-found friends are from the circle of work usually. Friends are significant because they add color and shine to my life too. They bring happiness and could lighten up the mood in a dark room. They are like diamonds; hard to find.

I follow a certain routine in my life; making me meet the same people every single day. House to school and vice-versa. I know it may sound boring but that’s the reality. I sometimes get stressed because of that. That’s why when I was introduced to HIVE, I had no second thoughts about joining this community because I feel like I will have the chance to break my life’s routine. Plus, I think that I will have the chance to gain a tremendous number of friends from this community. The best way to de-stress is to find equally amazing people with whom you can share everything to.

Furthermore, I am here because I am ready to take on a new adventure of meeting brilliant and beautiful individuals in this community. Thinking that I can interact and learn from people across the globe gives me chills and extraordinary excitement. Can’t wait for it to happen. How cool is that! So excited to even be in the community and reading everyone’s work too. Added to that, I think that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where I can share my Filipino culture and roots with people all over the world; breaking diversity and embracing unity.

Surely an adventure awaits… See you around beautiful people!