Mental Health

Youth – Turning 30: Imaginations vs Reality

Posted on by Daniel Bang Nguyen

Yo What’s Up? It’s been so long (years) since I shared my thoughts and reflections here.


I still write a lot for myself on weekly basis. I guess it’s just about time I resume my writing and sharing habit, even though I don’t expect a lot of people to read or care haha. If you do…Thank You..let me know and I’ll buy you a drink/lunch/dinner for wasting your precious time reading my BS.LoL

I’m always interested in stories about youth, especially how young men and women spend their “most beautiful time of their lives”

Well, today’s topic is all about me. Last December I turned 30 and I’m about to hit 31 this year. Wow! It’s such a milestone. If you think about it..that’s almost half of your life there.

I vividly remember of how I thought my life would be at 30 when I was still in my 20’s . Well, it was all about super positive and superficial things that I would have.

Getting married, and having an amazing family, kids, great career, earning $XX load a month, having that dream house….blah..blah..blah…you name it.

Yeah, I did reach a lot of life goals in my 20’s. Just to be specific…I had different goals every year.
In short, my imaginary 30 year old was freaking …decent.

Yeah, but the reality is..I’ve only reached half of my goals and ..man..I’m far from having that amazing family haha.

I will not go into details about my goals in this post but..yeah, you get it right?The reality has hit hard and maybe I’ve screwed up in some areas of my life.

But seriously, who doesn’t fail in some areas of life when they’re just 30?. Who doesn’t set goals in their 20’s and never achieves them or completely ignores them? Who doesn’t break up with their exes who they thought they will settle down with?

I’m just like you, an ordinary human being who strives daily to have a better life. But it doesn’t always work out that way. What we want is not exactly what’s gonna happen. After all, it’s just what life is all about.

Lately I’ve gone through some setbacks and I started to question myself. Who am I? What values do I have? Why do I feel this way? What does it mean to have all these emotions?

I guess it doesn’t mean that I got nothing in return. Humbly, I think I achieved a lot of things throughout the years. Yeah..but I do start to question myself. Hmmm, I guess I’ve never turned to myself… I never searched within. I often looked elsewhere to find those validations. But I do feel now is the time to find the meaning within.

Life is full of unexpected events, ups and downs, twists and turns, things we never expected or thought could happen to us. And I’ve experienced all these in their true and raw forms. So I guess I should know that life will be better tomorrow, next month, next year..ext. As long as I keep on working on myself… being and living in the present..things will eventually look brighter. But I know I can’t control what I can’t control.

We all suffer and struggle sometimes. But we can choose what we suffer and struggle about. I truly hope we all can be in a better place one day. And yes, I turned 30 and I’m still f***ing up in some areas of my life. But that’s totally ok. I guess. LOL

Daniel,

Thanks for reading folks.

Your Health Matters !

Posted on by Daniel Bang Nguyen

Imagine you’re considered as one of the most influential chefs in the world. You write books that are best-selling, you have your own TV shows that millions of people watching, you travel the world to try on different food and cuisine, you’re dating with a beautiful model. And even the former US president has to invite you for dinner.

You have everything from frame, money to power. A life that everyone on this earth would dream to get a taste, yet you ended your life by comitting suicide.

Why?…I dont have the answer, no one has it but him, Mr. Anthony Bourdain who has passed away on this day 3 months ago. It was the big shock to the world, but there’s something that is not new here.

Depression !

According to the world health organization, more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression at any given time.

And every 40 seconds, there’s someone kill his/her own life, 50% of that is due to depression.

What are the common causes and impacts from stress and depression?

One major confusion between having depression and just feeling depressed. Almost everyone feels down from time to time, getting a bad grade, losing a job, breaking up with gf/bf, even a raniny day can bring on feeling of sadness, sometimes there’s no trigger at all.

Having depression is different, it’s a medical disorder and it wont go away just because we want it to. It lingers for at least two consecutive weeks and interferes significantly with one’s ability to work, play or love.

So whare are the symtoms of a depressed person: alone mood, losing interest in activities/things you normally enjoy, feeling worthless or guilty, sleeping too much or too little, lost of energy, poor concentration, or recurrent thoughts of suicide. If you have at least 5 of those symtoms, you qualify for having depression.

The dangerous thing is depression symtoms are intangible, it’s hard to know who might look fine but is actually struggling. Just imagine if your family members, best friends, or your partners having those symtoms but you have no clue about their internal battles.

For those who are suffering depression, I urge you to take the 1st step, opening up and share with someone you trust, be it your family, best friend, partners or a therapists.  Depression or any mental illness is not a weakness, it’s an illness just like others that need to be cured and is curable.

And for those who are not having depression, congratualation. But I challenge you if you know or doubt anyone suffering from depression, please reach out to talk and help them.

That our health is not only about physical. And when I say your Health matters I mean both, your physical and mental health.

Daniel.