A Happy and Grateful Thursday
A Happy and Grateful Thursday (04/17/2025)
How do you feel today? Everything feels happy and full of gratitude.
What do you want to do today? Reading, exercising, and practicing becoming the future version of myself I admire.
Good: Even though I skipped school yesterday, I built beautiful memories that would be hard to come by in an ordinary life. I'm deeply grateful for being able to feel this kind of complete joy and delight.
Bad: None.
� Today's Learning:
"We are not afraid to love; we are afraid of being hurt." — Erich Fromm, *The Art of Loving*
✨ Today's Realization:
Today I learned that love is not just a feeling of attraction, but a process of growing while confronting the fear embedded within it. The deeper the love, the more we lean on and expect from each other—and equally, the greater our fear of being hurt.
"What if I love more?"
"What if this feeling shatters me?"
"What if this love disappears?"
"I'm so happy—why does that make me even more afraid?"
These anxieties become clearer as love deepens. We are not afraid of love itself—we are afraid of being hurt. That’s why, to protect true love, we must go beyond simply confessing our feelings. We must develop the courage to trust and the willingness to believe.
Love isn’t always smooth. Some days feel like warm sunlight between two people, while others fill with distance and misunderstandings. But love, in its essence, is the desire to stay—*despite it all.*
If love only exists in perfect moments, then it’s not true love. Even in times of confusion, silence, or fading connection—if the heart still remains, we can find a way to protect that love. I engraved this lesson in my heart today.
There is no greater strength in the world than purity.
Never tell even the smallest lie. Always act with sincerity, kindness, and genuine intention.
To-do: Noble person / Calendar / Cleaning / Laundry / Assignments / Emails / Whole Foods
Gratitude note:
I’m sincerely thankful that I can begin the day healthy and refreshed, without worries, and spend it doing exactly what I want.
Today’s Joy:
Today’s One Thing: Not abandoning my routines—moving through the day slowly, with balance and calm.
Keyword: Love is the will to continue, *despite everything*. If love only exists in perfect moments, then it is not real love.
Condition & Physical Wellness:
Sleep:
8 hours (7PM–3AM)
Sleep Quality (High) / Skin (Good) / Physical Energy (Good) / Emotions (Stable) / Productivity (High) / Efficiency (High) / Creativity (High)
To maintain the quality of my sleep, condition, and skin, I must regularly do body massages and half baths. Detox day at least once a week is essential.
Exercise & Nutrition:
Ultimate Goal: Within 30 minutes = Dopamine spike = No isolation today
Compound, low-weight muscle & cardio workouts
Lower body (glute contraction) – Lower body (glute & hamstring stretch) – Upper body (back) – Upper body (shoulders, triceps, biceps) – Full body compound exercises
A true master handles any situation calmly. An elite person builds an environment where they can always stay composed.
Don't exercise just for the sake of it. Exercise for your condition.
#GrowthJournal #SelfDevelopment #SelfCare #JunhoLee
* This week's goal: Spend Saturday at Four Seasons
* April goal: Spend at least one day per week at Four Seasons
* 2025 goal: Train to become a pure, kind, polite, humble, composed, graceful, and sincere version of Irene / Increase outdoor activities / Change my time, people, and spaces / Become a billionaire
Training:
Act as if you’ve already achieved it—today is time to practice being the future me.
Move like flowing water / The true art of love is to not use technique.
The true art of conversation is to not use technique.
What I see and think now determines who I am in this moment.
If I can’t enjoy it, something is wrong.
The place I’m in right now is my future.
Don’t scatter your energy on meaningless things—focus only on one.
Routine is a sacred act of refining life through repeated trial and error.
Greet with your whole body.
Your mindset shapes your posture.
Silence, moderation, immersion.
Dear Irene,
Today wasn’t just another Thursday—it was a day wrapped in quiet wonder. The little feelings that sparkled in your heart, the gentle thoughts that colored the air around you, they all made this day warmer, softer, and more full of love. I could feel how much joy and freedom yesterday’s tiny escape gave you. You embraced those moments fully, and you had the heart to say, “thank you.” That alone makes you someone incredibly precious.
You spent a lot of time today thinking about love. Just like Fromm said, it’s not love itself that scares us—it’s the fear of getting hurt. You held that truth in your heart today and came to such a beautiful realization: that real love doesn’t only live in perfect moments. It lives in the spaces where we feel unsure, a little broken, and still choose to hold each other close anyway. What a gentle, brave understanding.
So today, you made a promise to keep your heart clear. To tell no small lies. To see things as they are. And to always act with sincerity. Lately, you've been living with such kindness and softness. You’re holding onto your routines, tending to your body with warm baths and massages, soothing your heart through sleep and movement. Watching you care for yourself this way feels like watching someone fall in love—with their own soul.
And today, there was no “bad.” Just a quiet kind of joy that comes from being still. You realized how much of a gift it is to have a day without chaos. To live at your own rhythm, not falling apart, not rushing—just gently being. That’s such a strong and beautiful way to live.
Irene, the version of you that you dream of becoming—she’s already proud of who you are now. Keep walking at your own pace, in your own way. You don’t need to be perfect. It’s okay to shake a little. Every piece of this journey is shaping you into someone even more breathtaking.
And just like you wrote today: love is the will to continue, even when it’s not easy. Don’t forget that. You are capable of that kind of love—you’re already living it.
Thank you for showing up today. I see you. I’m proud of you. I love you.
With all my heart,
— From You
