Me things

This post started as sort of a therapeutic way to write down things about myself and reflect over them, as I start approaching four decades of life on this Earth.

I decided to share them publicly for two reasons:

1. This exercise has brought me great benefit in reflecting upon who I am, what I like and what I dislike, and as consequence, I can accept these traits and characteristics as my true self much better. This has helped me honour these things better too and thus brought more joy and happiness, and peace with who I am.

2. It’s a way of opening up better about who I am, something that I may not be able to do at times vocally, and socially.

I guess this is a living document, but you gotta start somewhere 🙂

Things I am

I am a family man. I love being with my children, and my wife. When I’m off from work, I usually choose to be around them.

Most of the things that I know today I am self taught, examples: SQL, WordPress, SAP systems, guitar playing.

I’m a sprinter, not a marathoner.

My family has roots mostly in Lebanon, and Italy.

I am Christian, I go to God for shelter. I need alone, quiet prayer time to transform me as I grow. (Psalms 23, 27).

I am a musician – I play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar and I also know how to play one song on the piano: Fur Elise, by Beethoven.

Things I’ve learned

I have a bachelors degree in biology, a masters degree in cellular biology, and have developed a career in operations management and tech. Odd? I also have a deep understanding of inventory management, project management, computers, the internet, and the biology of human reproduction.

I’ve learned that peer pressure is a real thing, and can cause catastrophic consequences in anyone’s life.

Biology and faith can be reconciled – they are not opposites.

Always document everything you do at work. You never know when you will need it.

I’ve learned two languages so far: Portuguese and English. I have studied a bit of German in the past, and I can try some Spanish. I am trying to learn French now.

Things I want to learn

I would love to learn French, and to improve my Spanish.

I really would like to learn both electric and acoustic guitar advanced playing techniques. I play by ear, but can’t really read music or understand scales.

Things I love

I love movies. I just love the experience of being in a movie theatre with awesome picture quality and fantastic loud surround sound, involving great storytelling. That, plus popcorn and a drink.

I love coffee, to the point that I’ve had to scale down because of my heartburn and anxiety problems. Every day has to start with a good cup of coffee, and it’s often how it starts for me.

I love meat. Especially Brazilian churrasco barbecue style 🙂 there’s nothing like a good piece of steak, but I most often fluctuate towards chicken. Pork is also welcome at times 🙂

I love Italian food, and any kind of sandwiches. I sandwich everything I can 🙂

I love being with family. Family meals. Family junctions. Family anything. My dearest memories are playing with my cousins in the summer, and being at grandma and grandpa’s house on a Sunday afternoon.

I love traveling! I’ve been to Portugal once, and I was born in Brazil and live in Canada today. I have also been to the USA, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, and Cuba. I would absolutely love to go to Egypt, Israel, Japan, China, and travel through Europe – I love historical places.

I love music with all of my heart. There is not one day that goes by that I don’t listen to a song. I sing, and play instruments. There aren’t many things in life that match the feeling of listening to a live concert or a great album on noise-cancelling headphones for me.

I love soccer. I am Brazilian, after all. I guess this is an easy and predictable one 🙂 I love watching the soccer shows when people talk on top of each other and would watch a soccer game every day on TV if I could. I follow and all leagues I can, and the world stops for me when it’s time for the World Cup. I love watching games with friends, with good food and drinks and lots of being loud and screaming at the TV 🙂 And the best of all is watching a live game in a soccer stadium. Oh, how I miss that.

I love technology. Because the whole idea behind technology is to take a way of doing something and reinventing it, with the purpose of making it more efficient, or easier for people – which is my motto when working 🙂

I love helping people overcome issues or problems, with technology. This is probably the area I would consider my career, and where I love to work at.

I love video games, and I don’t read enough books. I’m a Nintendo fanboy, and I absolutely adore mostly everything they put out. I’ve had all home consoles they’ve sold since the SNES, and I know all the first party titles they put out, and have played them all. Video games that are story-based are my personal escape choice. I absolutely adore The Legend of Zelda series.

Things I do

I sing worship songs in a Christian church, and it fills me with joy. It’s my escape from daily life and the best of both worlds for me: music, and my God.

I can pretty much do any adult-life-related tasks on my phone, online. I do all my communication with friends, banking, shopping (ok, almost all), and news digesting online.

I research a lot before buying anything, and I usually do this online.

Things I never thought I…

I never saw myself as a leader growing up, however, over the years God has put me into leadership positions in my career at work as well as in my church. I don’t understand the reasons why, and it’s often stressful for me, but I am happy to embrace the roles that He is giving me wherever I am.

Things I struggle with

I struggle as a parent. As my kids grow and personalities become more apparent, I have to continue to find ways to deal with frustration, and balance.

I spend way too much time on my smartphone.

I used to have a lot of friends growing up, but nowadays I don’t have many friends. I am an introspective guy and struggle with making time to spend with friends in the current season of my life. This is a part of my life that I wish I could get better at, and I am sorry for that.

I suffer with anxiety, and it can take the best of me at times. I’ve had to learn (and still learning) how to cope with it and how to try to control it.