I haven’t blogged for weeks and let me tell you, I was one of the grumpiest versions of me. I just cannot… I need to blog, I need to write, I need to pour my creative juice into this Word document. Seeing a blank white space get filled up with this black font, it just excites me and I can already feel my battery being charged. There’s just this sense of belonging when I come to Proudduck, a sense of security and comfort when I write in my blog, and I sometimes wonder at what hour of the day can I steal time to just even write “Hi. Bye.” on my blog.

It’s been a stressful month at work, I’m not going to lie. Problems after problems, disappointments after disappointments, I wish I can spill everything but obviously a lot of these are p&c. We’re on to better days now, thank God, but mannn the start of 2017 was rough to me. And I still had to smile everywhere I go and take photos with people who kindly approach me, which was tbh exhausting. “You look tired” was the standard greeting I got from strangers and this is me with makeup. -____-“ But don’t worry guys, you know I’m a ball of positivity so I will always find humor.

I was reading some of my old posts when I was in uni and those put a smile on my face. As stressed as I was, Little Uni Vivy would probably be proud of me now. She would say, You go girl! and would probably give me a pat on the back. Even with all the challenges I face now, I look around me and I can safely say I am so happy with life, the good, the bad, the in between. I really cannot ask for anything more. I run two sizeable companies FV and The dUCk Group, I was recently named Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, I am now involved with a movement with industry leaders to improve our country as a whole, I still update my social media 8 times a day with ootds and funny captions (or at least I think they’re funny hehe). More importantly, I still try to cook everyday for my family, I am in a very loving marriage with my uni sweetheart and best of all, I popped out two cuties I named Daniel and Mariam, both of whom I read bedtime stories to every night.

I feel a lump in my throat as I write this, feeling so nostalgic. I realize as companies scale up, the decisions we make carry a lot of weight and the responsibility just grows. And this can stress us a lot. I realize that challenges don’t ease as we get bigger, in fact it gets more complicated and more serious. I realize that growing up is tough sometimes and you might feel like the world is against you at times.

Know what worked for me to lift me back up? Well, of course awesome family and friends. But on a more personal level, thinking what Younger Vivy would say to the current Vivy now. She reminded me of the funny moments in my life that made me laugh. She reminded me that I thought I was going through hard parts of my life, and hey, I survived! She reminded me that I was resilient and tough inside. And she’s reminding me to not let that fire be put out because she would be very disappointed with what she’s tried to build.

Sometimes looking back isn’t really taking a step backwards. It just nudges you to step forward even stronger.

So try it guys. Next time you feel down; try looking at your graduation photo and I can bet you your fire will be burning again.

Well… either you get your fire burning again, or you get annoyed at your sister because this is the best photo she took of you getting your hard-earned degree on stage. -____-“