Yesterday I was walking on the beach when I noticed a father taking pictures of his baby sitting on the grass. This father did not have any other family with him. I don't know what came over me in that moment, but I stopped my walk and my podcast and came over to him.
"Do you want a picture of you both?" I asked him. In that moment I knew I was trying to do a good thing but my brain was filled with a million negative scenarios racing. "leave me alone" was the least of the horrors my brain produced in that moment.
And yet, reality was way different. "wow, yes" the man said. I took three pictures. And when I was done I showed them to him, he was genuinely happy when he thanked me and we both left on our separate ways.
It was such a small moment but it stayed with me. I kept thinking about it and smiling long after that walk ended.
The thing is, that small blip in time wasn't a fluke. A once in a lifetime bravery. It's one instance of a pattern I started noticing in myself lately.
Small changes have been compounding in me. Like offering a picture or adding an extra workout. This issue is about that.
I've Been Talking to Strangers Lately
Every time I go to this Tel Aviv mall on a Friday, I always eat a slice of Pizza with mushrooms. Today I took a lightly different pizza because they didn't have my regular and I didn't want to wait. Today's pizza had thin slices of purple onion, extra mozzarella and sprinkles of parsley on top of the usual cheese and tomato sauce they put on every pizza as a base.
This pizza was delicious.
Anyway, as I'm munching on it while doom scrolling on my phone, I was approached by a french dad and his son asking me if the kid can sit. I said yes. There's no reason for me to hold up three extra seats when I'm alone.
The father was grateful, the son ate his pizza, and I kept scrolling on my phone while munching on this heavenly doughy triangle I held in my hand.
It's only after they left that I realized how silly I must be to immediately allow someone to sit at my table while also never asking to sit at tables that had open seats in previous times I've been here.
I should try to do that the next time I'm waiting for a table to clear.
I think the reason I've been more open to strangers lately is directly tied to my self esteem which has been rising slowly but surely with my gym progress.
I'm At My Lowest Weight in the Last Decade
I weight 105.0 this morning. This is the lowest I weighed in the last ten years.
I also started noticing that I'm slimming a bit more. It's been rough to keep to my diet but I'm not hungry, I'm just giving up on some treats and going on walks. I do still need to reach my macros for the gym which means I have a specific intake of protein and such.
But lately it's been easier to see progress. One change I made lately was that I raised my workouts to three times a week instead of just two. This morning I finished the second week on this new schedule and I guess it compounds.
Keeping it to just two workouts a week has been draining since my body would be in this twilight zone where one workout would benefit from a rest of a few days, and the next one would be after only one rest day. I would arrive to that workout completely drained and sore, and usually fail my PRs.
For now at least, it seems I'm on the right track. And progress in the gym has spilled into something I thought I had given up on.
I'm Back Streaming The Mass Effect Trilogy
Over the last few days, I've been feeling more energetic. I used to feel so worn out by the end of the day, and something has changed over the last week or so. I was ready to give up on streaming yet another time and something in me said, we'll do one mission. That was on 22.30. And I did one. I played until midnight and recruited another companion. The next stream, I recruited Two more.
I don't have a lot of people joining these but I also record them separately without my voice over and camera just so I can have b-roll for when I do essay videos on Mass Effect. I plan to play The Witcher 3 next after the trilogy.
The shorts I've been sharing from these streams also got a decent amount of views. Like a thousand each. They don't go viral or something, but I enjoy making them.
At this pace, I have a dozen or so streams before I finish Mass Effect 2.
That's All For Today
Thanks for reading. What's one small thing you did recently that surprised you? Hit reply and let me know, or comment if you're reading this online.
Talk soon,
Oren
