Appreciation

All right. This post will be more positive because its main idea is appreciation. There are always things to appreciate even living in the middle of the war (or especially during the war), and I hope you have many more of them!

I almost recovered from the fright I wrote about a few days ago. And although I am now afraid to leave the apartment empty (hopefully it will pass soon), I am incredibly happy that nothing was stolen. It was a relaxing week with a harsh start though.

Happy Friday!

The Second Summer

Yesterday, real summer came to Kyiv. With hot wind and warm nights filled with the thick aroma of flowers.🌺 I remember myself and my feelings last summer. At that time, I was confused and did not understand how to live on. How to reconcile a terrible war with daily threat and destruction and death, with walks in the park and eating ice cream and visits to the supermarket or the hairdresser. I literally did not know what was right and acceptable for me personally. I wonder what I will think of my current self next summer. Just realized I said "next summer" without the usual thought "if I'm alive" - this is a good sign!

War, Life and Health

My number 1 to be thankful for, and to care about. 16 months and I am alive! My loved ones are all safe and sound too. And I do believe that our military is one of the best or the best. Look. Last month (May), our military destroyed 7 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles (those with which we were so scared), 13 Iskander ballistic missiles and 65 cruise missiles exclusively over Kyiv. And 169 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as a drone.

Today, while I was at a doctor's appointment, our air defense shot down 6 Dagger missiles, 6 Kalibr cruise missiles and two reconnaissance drones. I was lying in the study with electric wires on my back, I could hear the work of the air defense system and I thought that it would be bad if in any case ... you know... I would end up under rubble up to my waist. But actually, every time, I'm incredibly grateful that my home is intact.

A year ago I had a kind of euphoria about my body. It endured many challenges, so I am healthy and strong.💪 But time has shown how vulnerable our bodies can be. Problems began to appear one after another. Eventually, more and more I remember the silly saying we have that all diseases are caused by stress and only syphilis is caused by pleasure. It makes much more sense now. So my lesson is that taking good care of yourself is important.

By the way, the good news is that after 2 months of searching, I finally found a doctor who can help me. Hopefully. Finger crossed. I believe that everything that happens has a reason and I was looking for this reason. It might be a long way but this is a start and I feel a little better each day.

Money and Property

My attitude towards money has changed. Money used to mean financial freedom, a better quality of life. Exciting trips, parties, sports, and cars. Now something from this list has become impossible, and something is simply not wanted. Life taught me to appreciate things that are simple and quite affordable.

I used to have a chronic lack of free time, but now I have plenty of time! I don't travel, don't buy cloth, and don't go to restaurants, I have a long list of things that I don't do so I can save money.

At this moment you are trying to imagine how rich I will be after the war is over.😁 Don't worry about it. Because I have a mortgage. It's not exactly a mortgage, I don't know if that's possible in your country. It is called an investment agreement. You can sign a contract directly with a construction company that builds housing. Before the completion of construction. And pay its cost while it is being built. Home loans here are terribly expensive and therefore rare, and this option is riskier, but cheaper. I signed such an agreement before the war in 2021 (who would think), and now I pray every day that the debris of the rocket does not destroy my future home, for which I owe a lot of money. So, I paid up the smaller part just recently, and this is another good news.

Victory

Every day of mine begins and ends with hope for our victory. But... it's not like before. I do not believe those our media, which hypes up promises of a quick victory. And I believe that after the first few months, it is a crime to give people vain hope that our leaders distribute the right and left. People must plan the future for themselves and their children. As it turned out, Ukrainians are not weak in spirit, we can understand and accept the truth. As for me, I said to myself - it will definitely happen (the victory). But I don't know how soon. And until then I will have to go through many new trials. Here is my truth, and my way.