Where did 3 years go by?

This is not a post to brag about myself. Some of you might think that way and many of you would think what I have written here are not achievements, its just lame. The reason I wrote this is a reminder, to ME if not to others. This is a blog to all those people who occasionally need a nudge to remind how awesome they truly are. This is my story.....

In 2016, when I started my maternity leave, I was working full time as HR in Talent Engagement Team with one of the leading IT giant in India . I had already decided to take one year break to take care of my daughter. That is when my husband got the opportunity to work in the USA and we relocated to San Francisco in 2017. The initial plan was to go back to India once my extended maternity leave was over. As days passed by I realized it would be a crime to take my daughter away from her dad. She is a daddy's girl and she needs her father to be around. I also didn't want my husband to miss out on each milestones of our baby. We decided that no matter how difficult it is gonna be we will stay together, no way our family can be separated unless for a very pressing reason. I decided to quit my job for the sake of my growing family. It was not an easy decision. I remember staring at my resignation mail a thousand times before sending it. I used to get these panic attacks at nights suddenly realizing I no longer have a job. You see, I have never been financially dependent since I turned 18. I used to work part time during college and paid my own tuition. Summer jobs, internships, part time gigs and come to think of I haven't sat idle ever since I can remember. I was hired through campus placement before I graduated. I was already working full time before I got the result of my finals. And now I am a stay at home mom to two kids. 

It was kind of ok initially. I was still very busy because I had a baby to take care of. I was fortunate to have amazing set of friends. I made it a point to get out of house everyday. Play dates, visiting libraries, grocery shopping and running errands etc kept me busy. BUT, some days it would be bother me that I am not doing anything more, that I am wasting my years, that my hard earned college degree is worthless. I could feel my brain rotting away. I do not have work permit so I cant start working. I was stuck. 

Today Facebook showed me a random post I had made years ago about something that happened at office. It made me think how time has passed by. It has been three years since I quit my job....that is more than 1095 days. And what have I done in those 1000+ days? It just struck me out of nowhere. I felt uneasy and nauseous thinking about the number of days I sat idle. I immediately took out my phone and started jotting down my achievements in last three years. At first my mind went blank, I went through my photos and this is what I found. Three years of my life :-

  

Gave birth to my son

I am beyond happy to say that I am mother to two beautiful kids. I gave birth to my son five months ago. It was an uneventful pregnancy with a dramatic delivery (more on that later). Carrying a baby inside and running after a preschooler was an adventure. In those 9 months, I had morning sickness, heart burn and all the fun part of pregnancy. My daughter started attending preschool when I was 6 months pregnant. It was a huge transition for me. She did not have separation anxiety but I did. Getting her to be on a schedule was a humongous task especially because I was exhausted most of the time.

SHRM Blogger

After my son's birth, this is probably my main achievement in the last three years. I didn't want to be completely out of touch with HR world. So I started participating in Twitter Chats hosted by SHRM and soon I got the invite to be part of the official bloggers team. I attended the SHRM 2019 Annual Conference & Exposition and it was a mind blowing experience. In my opinion every HR professional should attend it at least once. I will never forget the first day of conference. When I reached the conferencevenue I couldn't stop crying because it was so overwhelming. I was 16 weeks pregnant then. It was the first time I had stayed away from my daughter, it was also first time I had travelled and stayed by myself in 3 years. It was also the first time I reconnected with my HR fraternity since I quit my job. So all these emotions and the pregnancy hormones turned me into a weeping mess. I couldn't believe I was there. I was attending the biggest HR conference on earth, people had travelled all the way from Australia, India, UK, South Africa, UAE and countless other places to attend this mega learning event. It was like an ocean of HR professionals. And I was part of the official bloggers team. I felt proud to sit at the reserved bloggers area for the key note session and to chill at the exclusive bloggers lounge with my fellow HR pals. Staying away from my daughter was not easy, but thanks to my husband who gave me full support and pushed to go to Vegas for this event. 

Swimming

I am immensely proud to say that I can swim. I taught myself. Swimming is not very common in my home town even though we are surrounded by water bodies. Opportunity to practice swimming used to be non existent for girls. It is changing now but when I was a kid there weren't many swimming pools. I have never even had a bathing suit. Our current apartment have a pool and I decided to take advantage of it and I am glad I did. I can now swim, not in a professional way just the basic freestyle swimming, lets just say I wont drown at least for few minutes. 

Cooking

Three years ago I could only cook handful of meals. And now I can easily cook Indian, American, Italian, Chinese and little bit of Mexican food. My husband is a foodie and he is my main inspiration. I have hosted dinner parties and have prepared massive meals for 30+ people. 

I started baking and this again was because my husband loves cakes and desserts. What started as simple cupcakes turned into an obsession. I have baked cakes, macarons, breads and buns, pizza, tiered and decorated cakes, cookies, swiss rolls, scones and what not. 

Travelling 

I have always loved to travel. It is in my blood I think because my entire family is fond of travelling. It is one childhood experience I truly cherish. You see, I grew up in a small town in India where people don't travel much. Vacation trips means a visit to grandparents house and that's it. But my dad loved travelling and we used to travel to other cities in India. It was a big deal for us. So with that as my background, even a visit to nearby national park in California gave me such a high. In three years we have managed to visit several cities, 8 National parks, several State parks and also did a trip to India which was an adventure itself because travelling with a toddler is not easy. 

Adventures

I love the great outdoors and being in California has provided ample opportunities to explore the nature. My husband and I are adrenaline junkies and we love all sorts of adventure. We did Sky diving, white water rafting, camping and hiking. We have a bucket list of other adventures which we hope to accomplish soon...

Like I said in the introduction, this post is a reminder. We are all doing plenty of things, even though it might not look that way to others. For every one of you who feel stuck, helpless and feel like you are wasting time, I would request you to take a pause and list down everything you have done in the last couple of years. I am sure you will have plenty of things to recollect and realize how awesome you really are. And the best part is you will also derive inspiration from your own past. Writing this blog has given me the nudge and a sense of direction I needed. I am not going to give up on me!