(Day 62/122 of the experiment)
I decided to dedicate today to my old hobbies – the gym and stretching. So, in the morning, I leisurely prepared breakfast, strolled through the now-familiar streets with the goal of hitting ten thousand steps, caught up with Sofia, played with Richard, and started getting ready to head to the city center.
I must admit, I look wonderful! My curls have loosened a bit and now my hairstyle resembles the trendy “beach waves.” I put on a light linen dress and new sandals that were made to my measurements. I hope I won’t get cold.
The sun is really warming up now. The air feels like summer has arrived – not just on the calendar (since it’s already June), but a warm and long-awaited summer!!! Instead of having coffee, I decided to take a little more walk. People are so smiley, many schoolchildren have finally started their summer break and no longer have to go to school every day – the air smells like happiness.
Maxim worked me hard today. For the first time in a long while, we added weights for my workout. The trainer said that to become more toned and muscular, I need to increase the load. So I silently plowed on.
Stretching gave me the relaxation I had been dreaming of. The sun's rays even peeked through the window, which was wonderfully uplifting. After the class, our trainer invited everyone who wanted to stay for tea – kind of a mini tea ceremony. I happily agreed.
I returned home inspired and filled with positivity! It turns out, such interesting people live nearby – more precisely, they were lying next to me on the mat during stretching. I met a girl who has been a vegetarian for five years – she shared that she had long suffered from skin rashes and couldn't figure out how to get rid of them, but when she stopped eating meat, her skin condition improved. And there was also a woman – 50 years old – who has run every morning her entire life and drinks water with lemon. Looking at her, you wouldn’t think she was already in her fifties.
Diving into the topic of vegetarianism, I started browsing the internet. At half past eleven, I hugged Richard and fell into a sweet sleep.
(Day 63/122 of the experiment)
As they say, “a fool sleeps – a fool dreams.” About a week ago, I had a dream that I was singing a song by KAZKA on a big stage, and everyone was applauding me! I even heard the chanting “Po-pe-lush-ka! Po-pe-lush-ka!” Today, I dreamt that dream again. So, without wasting any time, I quickly found a vocal teacher and arranged an audition.
By the way, yesterday I didn't think about my complex – the size of my foot – not once. I didn't even check if my foot was bigger than Kyrylo's. That’s what it means to “work through your pain.” Yesterday, I simply enjoyed myself and savored life.
To charge up my energy for the whole day, I did a short workout and meditated. After that, a brilliant idea came to me to meet with Susan today for a cup of coffee. My friend set the time and place for our meeting. I’ll have just half an hour to take a walk after singing.
The vocal teacher's name is Mariana. Once, I communicated on Facebook with a girl who had the same name. She lived in Kamianets-Podilskyi and wrote me a question about Iren Shchastlyva's course on my personal page. And word for word, we started to correspond. She told me her life story – that she had a boyfriend whom she loved very much, but they had absolutely no money. And she hoped that Shchastlyva's course would help her. Then, a month later, she wrote me words of gratitude and sent me real marzipans from Austria. Mariana decided to spend her last money not on Iren Shchastlyva's pointless course but on a work visa. And together with her boyfriend, they moved to Austria. Now they live there, raising a daughter and not knowing any troubles.
Fifty minutes flew by surprisingly quickly. I expected standard exercises like “mi-me-ma-mo-mu,” but today we even sang popular songs. As a conclusion, the teacher said that I have a voice and a good ear; I just need to spend a little time polishing the beauty of my timbre, and everything will be great. Perhaps I won't become the lead singer of KAZKA, but at least I’ll start going to karaoke.
After our walk, Sveta and I chose a cozy place with a huge summer terrace where we settled down.
Once again, I thanked my friend for the tremendous work we did together on ourselves. Without her support and help, I would still be sitting in a puddle of my own grievances and claims to the world. And Susan shared some news from her life. She was offered to become a lecturer at a private business school in New York. At first, she would have to come twice a month on weekends, and then move to the capital to continue her psychological practice there. She initially agreed to two lecture days a month and two more online lectures. She argued that she couldn't leave her hometown and wanted to develop psychology in the big city.
I sincerely rejoiced at my friend's achievements! After all, she became the driving force of my profound changes. Because one can start exercising and eat only steamed broccoli – that's a matter of willpower and self-discipline. But to find, and even more importantly – to live and let go – of grievances that prevent you from living – that's the true challenge for every person.
I was riding home in a taxi, thinking about how truly extraordinary our life is! Just six months ago, I couldn't even imagine that I would move (even temporarily) to a village, start exercising, fall in love sincerely, and turn my life upside down.