I wouldn't say today was the best day of my life, but if I could summarize my current life through the span of a single day, Wednesday April 26th would be that day. I'm going to try my best effort to not have this become a "Day in the life" blog where I cringe out the reader into thinking everyday of my life is filled with an array of crazy events (which today was) - it's certainly not. Most of my days are like everyone else's, where I head to work, don't feel amazing about it, look forward to the weekend and wishing deep inside my heart that I was retired and sipping on a coke at an Orange County beach. But today was too exciting and motivating not to share.
The day actually started out quite mediocre - I went to the dermatologist to address a recent pimple outbreak, something that I've rarely encountered in my 25 year life time. It did represent my 2023 lack of sleep and unintentional commitment to unhealthy eating as well as a desperation to fit everything medical possible before my true childhood ends on August 18th of this year. For those of you not following, that's the day I turn 26 and I need to leave my parents' insurance plan. I'm extremely against going to the doctor in general and overall skeptical of skincare but also weirdly in awe of doctors as individuals and as a profession. I would go as far to say outside of teachers, they're really the only people on each providing real value at the individual level and achieving feats not many can. While it was pimple popping at best, it served as a solid reminder that being healthy amidst unhealthy habits was something to be continuously grateful for.
In the 30 minutes between the dermatologist and my lunch appointment (this is going to be main juice of the day), I headed to my church to spend time with a friend who's headed out to be a full time missionary for the foreseeable future. Making sure every minute is spent towards something I like (I coin it living life to the fullest - I want to emphasize this doesn't mean spending it productively, rather with the sole focus of enjoyment and fulfillment as a byproduct) is a core aspect of my life I seemed to have shelved recently so spending this half an hour with him meant a lot. Coming out of church I had an inkling to stop by the coffee shop to see if there were any familiar faces, when I ran into one of the most familiar faces in my world of heroes - Malcolm Gladwell. Being the natural micro influencer lifestyle I've lived recently, I relentlessly (I was shaking a bit in all honesty) asked for a picture and ran out to the subway in awe. I texted the picture to my parents in excitement who said I should've gotten an autograph, which reminded me I actually had a copy of David and Goliath written by Gladwell in my backpack. I ran back, asked for an autograph, then went my way to the train station. Of course, running into public figures in NYC isn't an impossible feat, but I truly believe I have the God given blessing of encounters. I've ran into not only celebrities, but personal friends and people I need exactly at that time in the strangest and most unexpected of places. In fact, two days ago, I mentioned to a friend that a man across the street looked like Malcolm, shortly before being disappointed by a very close look alike. I'm still in shock and thinking about which stars had to align for me to meet the actual Gladwell two days later, with his book in my backpack. For the record, it was the only thing I brought back to NYC from my trip out to California.
Then I headed to lunch - for his privacy, I won't mention details, but an extremely (think hundreds of millions) successful entrepreneur who is starting a new Web3 venture reached out to me over Twitter to hear my opinion on what he was building. I'll be both arrogant and humble here in that while I'm still 25 and a long way from being a true success of my own, I do think the level of fluency I have in Web3 (in NFTs specifically) could parallel others with more years of experience in tech and specifically in our niche industry (which I envision to be the main domain of technology quite soon outside of AI). While I was awestruck by his luxurious apartment in Tribeca (and of course I researched him before so just being in front of him having a bowl of mac and cheese felt a bit surreal), he seemed equally interested in the story I had to tell and the insights I've gathered in the past two years. It was both confirmation that the work I've put in and the path that God has set me on was not for naught and that there was ample room for me to grow into as I talked to someone I could envision myself to become. We quickly hit it off, confirmed our interest in becoming socially close as well (would I like to be invited to a party at his house? of course), and he locked me down to present to his company next week.
Ecstatic with a renewed sense of excitement for Web3 and confidence in who I've become and the value I have to offer for someone objectively successful, I ran into my office (it's work from home on Wednesdays, which is specifically why I love going in). As extroverted as I am, I actually become the most productive when I'm alone. I caught up the morning hours that I missed due to my appointments, executed on campaigns I'm spearheading, and got to some busy work that I've pushed off for awhile. In the after hours previous to a late dinner, I was able to film a Youtube video, post some shorts I'm having a contractor make and create a new TikTok. I was able to fit in a quick 15 minute catch up with an old co worker of mine who is a veteran in the startup space who motivated me to speak my mind on frustrations I had at work, which led to a very productive conversation and re-emphasized my passion for what we were building.
As I was leaving the office, I had a close friend note that he was nearby and was able to spend another half an hour to fill that awkward time between one location and the next. He's on the younger side (college sophomore) which allowed me to balance out the day I spent with an assortment of boomers (no shade at them, there's so much to learn) and feel the high spirit energy I need to refill on.
Dinner was at my pastor's house and was intended to be an initial planning meeting for the mission trip I'm leading as a director with my youth group kids this summer. This trip means the world to me as it's the accumulation of my biggest passion in the past decade which is a combination of next generation ministries and South American mission work. Being able to not only go "exclusively" with this amazing group of kids, but serve them (and with them) in an area I've felt dedicated to since I was 12 (younger than most of them now) is sincerely a God-given alignment of what I've built towards. Nothing means more to me.
As an added bonus, my youth group pastor handed me a ramen that is only sold in Korea from his trip there, which I intend to fervently devour.
I ended my day out in Manhattan by calling my girlfriend and letting her know (I did actively update her throughout the day, but voice is always greater than text). It's been awhile since I spent an entire day without seeing her, but it served as another confirmation that she's my bedrock and my greatest supporter and a fundamental reminder that no matter how big scale my days may get, it's the people around you that matter most.
In the remaining time since returning home, I was able to knock out planning for transitioning from an Illinois license to a New York one (technically I'm very behind as I should've done this a month in), finally get trip details sorted out for my close friends' wedding in June, and plan on calling my parents after this blog is written.
I think I can reflect on my day in two fold. Either all of these things happening are just a coincidence and I'm putting meaning to things that aren't that magnificent in the grand scheme of things, or there is a clear plan that I'm a part of that is revealed to me in steps that is meticulously laid out with intent and purpose. The fact that such a day followed a frustrating one that had me considering dropping everything could also just be a mere coincidence. But I choose not to live a meaningless life and am growingly confident of both my faith and my place in His story. Surprisingly, it's not a random encounter with a global best seller or the confirmation I received from an (most likely and hopefully) extremely successful mentor that justifies this belief, but rather the quiet but constant reminding voice throughout the day that even without such events, I am fulfilled in Jesus alone.
Corny Christian aside, the fact that the most exciting thing I have to look forward to as this day comes to a close is an instant ramen pack worth $2 at most (but currently priceless to me) is the quintessential proof that living life to the fullest doesn't come from scale but from personalize utility. I tend to keep myself grounded and live life to the fullest from shoebox to penthouse, ramen to Michelin.
Build on.
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