Welcome to 40！

Guess what? I’m 40 today! Welcome to 40!!

To many people, this is a number that means getting older.

To me? This is a new series of the decade that will be full of touching stories, fulfilment and fantastic work to share with the community.

Recall my journey for the last decade, my 30’s. Wow, there were so many ups and downs things that happened in my life. Life is not always sunshine and rainbow. Many of you may not know that I am a latecomer when it comes to working.

I just embarked on my first full-time job at 30 years old. I was travelling around meeting my clients—an exciting and fun career as a pharmaceutical salesperson. I learned along the journey, from NLP, Body Language, Vocal, Palliative care, Nutrition and wellness and endless online courses (you name it), and I made my way to the US to attend a seminar learning from my awesome coach.

My experience and journey of healing myself from a lump in my right thyroid happened in 2016. This is why you see me doing what I am doing now.

I had a lot of chances to meet incredible people that I never had an opportunity to know in my 20s. I spent my entire late 20s in the laboratory doing research.

The one thing I knew about in my 30’s that I spent a lot of time learning, experiencing and practising. That’s a lot of transformation. I can see myself from a girl that never experiences an actual working life to a girl that knows exactly what she wants in her life and choose to pursue her dream.  

This year, I step up to lead Lean in Network Penang, an organization that empowers women to achieve their ambitions and work towards gender equality.

Now, I’m here turning 40. I’m excited to see what the future holds for me.

I know what I stand for. I relentlessly pursue my dream and do not allow other people to dictate how I want to experience my own life.

I do not need other permission to feel good about myself, and I know I can choose my actions and how I want to feel.

As much as I am excited about my next decade, I also feel nervous about the uncertainty in the future.

Especially during these three years of the Covid pandemic, I learned about how life and things can be so fragile and unpredictable. In life, we experience grief, loss, rejection, failure, and disappointment, all of these are real. We can plan everything well, and if one emergency comes over and everything needs to be re-prioritized especially comes to the health of ourselves and those we love.

While I was typing this sentence, one of my uncles passed away.

The insecurity and negative thoughts all swamped in my head when I think about this. The feeling of nervousness and uncertainty is real.

Life is unpredictable. One moment you can be standing in front of me talking with me, and the next moment, we both can be gone on this planet earth.

It feels so damn good that you can be alive and feel great every day, don’t you think? That’s why I’m so obsessed with taking good care of myself and sharing with others about nutrition and wellness.  

Choosing my journey as an entrepreneur makes the feeling of insecurity higher than ever. Every day the small steps I take to turn my little idea into reality and see the progress is the momentum to move me forward.

Keep going! As simple as this word to type or say, it’s never easy to tell yourself to keep going while you’re struggling with situations you’re in.

I still choose to keep going because I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Can you imagine what you would be capable of if you didn’t feel bad about ageing?

It’s about how you see and feel about yourself.

I’m comfortable being who I am and being authentic in front of others. The one you see me in front of the stage and the back of the stage is the same, Joyce.

The '40s, I believe, are going to be freaking awesome.

I am not scared to try things that may seem far from me.

I’m giving up on the sh** that never felt great in the first place for me.

And understand that no one knows better than me what I should be doing with my life, body and mind.

I can actively ignore those comments that tell me I’m too small to do what I’m doing and leave conversations that don’t deserve me.

Above all, this is the time I embrace and honour the challenges that come along and definitely live my life in the present moment.

Happy Birthday to me!