Hello from Costa Brava

Sa Tuna, Catalunya

Four months in on my new job but still I am feeling very stressed and overwhelmed. I know that my job is a lot bigger plus the fact that I now work on a totally different field, the feeling of overwhelm comes with it. But more than that, I struggle with how I can stop feeling so panicked and anxious whenever there is a new topic or a process that I have no idea yet how to execute. And the worse part of this is that it's affecting my life outside work as well because that "fight or flight" feeling just comes in at random moments even outside work when something "scary" about work pops out of my mind. 

I know (I hope actually) that this is just a phase but whenever I think that I'm already four months in, it's not helping me. My new leaders and stakeholders do not fail to motivate me and tell me I am doing not just okay but actually good, but maybe I am indeed kind of a perfectionist or has this somehow a control issue that I need to know everything as much as I can and do everything as much as I could which is denying myself to take some pauses and appreciate my progress instead of just constantly looking at that other end of the journey.

But more than all these things, everything is well and in between working since I started this new job, I did a couple of nice vacations in the Balkans and another week in Romania during the course of the Summer just to try and relax and do my best to forget about work and it did help me so much. I hope I can share more of that in this blog but I did some Travel Episodes on my YouTube Channel: Steven's Queue that you can join me with!

Aside from those two trips, my French friends from the office tagged me with them on a weekend drive through Spain's Northeastern Coast or known as the Costa Brava! They took me to a cute city called Begur which was so beautiful, quiant, and full of character! Here are some of my photos from that lovely August Day!

 

Begur Center

We started at the beautiful city center of Begur where my friends Clara and Anaïs drove for quite some distance from Barcelona. But the whole drive was worth it (of course I'm just a passenger as I do not know how to drive) and even if there were some tourists, it was not overpowering and crowded that we were able to enjoy the cute sights and even had some lunch of pinchos on the center.

Then Clara drove for another 15-20 minutes to visit Sa Tuna which was another beautiful coastal village, still part of Begur. I thought we were swimming there already but they took me to a beautiful more hidden cove which was Cala Malaret and I enjoyed it so much because I'm scared of waves so it was so ideal for me that I stayed in the water for almost an hour!

 

Cala Malaret

We all have our challenges in life and despite this mentally exhausting journey on this new job that also affects me emotionally, it is always the people around us that makes the adventure more bearable, enriching, and worth the efforts. Grateful for my new manager for the support she provides me, my main stakeholder who's been lenient with me and my mistakes, and my dear friends who act as my family here in my new life in Spain! I may be alone here but I'm a lot less lonely because of these beautiful souls! And of course, thanks to you y dear blog friends that even if I come and go, you never forget about me. And are always there to welcome me whenever I can pass by and express myself through writing.

Never Stop Fighting!

Stevenson