Ok so this is my typical day; wake up, deal with 2 kids who don’t want to wake up and shower, get scolded by Dean because I take too long to get ready myself, go to work, face 50 problems consisting of internal and external work issues, back to back meetings that I still have to concentrate in despite having the 50 problems that day, research the person I’m meeting with before I have a meeting with them, pick up my kids from school and send them home, go back to office either FV’s or dUCk’s or both, have a photoshoot or interview for media to talk about FashionValet or dUCk, receive a phone call from Kak Siti that Daniel/Mariam/both have a slight fever, have a management meeting, actually solve the 50 problems, think of future projects to innovate and improve, check and reply all emails, take my ootd quick before the sun comes down because I want to promote the brands I’m wearing that are on FV, plan the week’s outfit based on the collection launches on FV, meet a designer or two to talk about their collection, prepare for a speech if I have to host any events that day, visit the stores at least once a week, pick up grocery on the way home, come home (or to my parents or inlaws house if I sent the kids there on that day) and beg my kids to come kiss me, cook dinner for Dean and the kids, have dinner and fuss about how the kids shouldn’t spill rice everywhere, run around the house playing catch with the kids even though I’m so tired, put the kids to sleep with much difficulty, shower and put on my most comfortable kaftan, cuddle on the couch with Dean and recap our days together where we vent out any frustrations or celebrate any achievements, Dean watches football/works on excel sheets/has a concall with our tech partners in the US, and I will find myself here, on a blank screen that says ADD NEW POST.

Oh, I forgot to mention. I also instagram and instastory and tweet and post on Facebook and reply every single whatsapp message I get throughout the day; personal ones like family chats and friends chats, and work chats as well including ones with heads of departments, ones with full team departments, one with specific projects, private ones with individual team members (there are now 150 of them), ones with multiple departments, ones involving the physical store teams, and the main big happy family one. Oh, times two please because Dean and I have to run both FV and dUCk. And then there will be new whatsapp messages that start with “Hi Vivy, I’m xxxx. I got your number from xxxxx….” which I try to reply if I can but mostly leave for later until I settle my work, which puts me at the risk of being labelled as sombong or stuck up but I have no choice.

Oh, how can I forget! On days that I’m shooting for my reality show Love, Vivy, add having a camera crew follow my every move and then having to do an interview session at the end of every day to recap the day. On these days, I have to have my make up done which means waking up early to make sure there’s ample time to cover those dark circles under the eyes.

Oh, and all of these above are mostly done in heels.

Quite honestly, I don’t even know how to describe my day when people ask me. And at the end of every day, I ask myself Why am I so tired?! and when I recap, I know why. I honestly feel that I have so much to do everyday and 24 hours is just not enough now. I get burnt out from time to time, and when people complain they’re tired to me, I entertain and ask why etc etc, but in my heart I’m like HEY I’M TIRED TOO. My parents complain I don’t have enough time for them (I swear I do, I make it a point to go to their house every other day #clingydaughter), my thumbs are spasming because I overwork them with my endless messages, my phone battery gets drained by the afternoon, my eyebags give birth to new eyebags, and I still can’t stop because I have people counting on me. I cannot imagine a day I can put my phone aside and say screw everything, I want a day off. Never ever. This is entrepreneurship and though everyone seems to want to do that now, I think people underestimate the amount of work and sacrifice it comes with.

But wait, that isn’t my point. All these above isn’t me complaining, I’m just stating. Through each of these things I listed above, I am always smiling with someone, or laughing at a joke (sometimes my own jokes…), and just being happy in general. In my line of work I deal with a lot of designers and celebrities, so you can imagine the ups and downs I can have and the drama and unprofessionalism and back-biting I might face sometimes which I wish I can talk about, but I won’t. Even so, I get back up and move on to the next agenda. An interview recently asked me that question, “How do you remain so positive?”

Honestly, it’s because I’m just a happy person.

How to be happy? 

To be grateful. It’s as simple as that.

Instead of grumbling how early you have to wake up, be grateful you even get to wake up to a new day. Instead of complaining about your job, be grateful you even have a job to earn income for your family. Instead of moaning about how you lost a deal (my struggles!), be grateful to have faith that something bigger is meant for you. Instead of being envious of someone having things you don’t have, be grateful for all that you actually do have. Instead of saying how tired you are everyday, be grateful that you don’t have to lay bricks in the hot sun. Instead of whining about the problems you have in your life, be grateful that you still have the power to do something about those problems. Instead of picking on one thing that annoyed you today, focus on the other 10 things that made you smile today. Instead of complaining about how sucky your life is (how many times have we heard that stupid phrase FML), be grateful that you actually have a life.

I honestly think unhappy people are just ungrateful people who fail to see the good things they have in their life. They’re the ones who complain about how that person is richer, this person is prettier, that other person is more famous, and this other person didn’t deserve his success. And that’s such a waste. We are given one life, make the best out of it and choose to be happy and positive always. Ups and downs, that’s just part and parcel of living. The test is how you handle it. For me, people think I don’t have problems; wrong, I do. But my principle is always to solve it asap, don’t dwell/hold grudges and move on. So you can choose either to sulk in one corner with self-pity and post up a deep quote directed to someone you hate hoping they’ll read, or choose to enjoy every bit of it and have a bit of sense of humour to get through this crazy world. The latter sounds way more fun, let’s be honest.

At the end of every day, we must make it a habit to put our hands together and say “Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah for another day. Please guide me through tomorrow.”