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Showing posts with label Happy New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happy New Year. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013... Was Different!!

I've been terrible at posting... a year has gone by and I probably wrote less than a hand full of posts... and in all honesty I don't know where the time has gone... I'm usually a better writer when it comes to drama... so as much as it sucks that I haven't been writing... I feel it could be a good sign... means maybe I have had a good year!

So let me take this chance... to just jot down a few thoughts... won't even go back and look at what I wrote or edit it... let's see what comes out..

2013 was a different year for me the least to say. There was the good, the bad and the expected... all in all I have to say... looking back this year has been a one of a kind experience.

Starting off... the whole experience of being away from home for more than the year was unexpected. With this... lots of changes were made. It really gave me the chance to clear my head from so many things and distractions that were blurring my vision.... I let go of anything and anyone who could be holding me back... I had a year of self/quality time.. Which in all honesty, I needed and really enjoyed.

I learned the true meaning of independence... I learned a lot of values. I learned that its really hard to keep in touch with friends and that it is a two way effort... nothing comes easily. I must admit along the way I might have lost some friends! I also learned that others rose up... and became closer to me compared to before. Hence, learning that distance really isn't an element... it really comes down to how much effort you're willing to put in.

I also made new friends... learned to come out of my comfort zone... don't be shy about meeting new people and new experiences. I met people who... right now I cannot imagine how I'd leave them behind. To those friends.. I want to say... in 2014, I'm willing to put in the effort to stay in touch.

I think most important lesson was... not to accept less than one deserves from others.

Work has also been one hell of a change this year. Its been exiting, hectic and crazy... I've enjoyed working for a BIG entity... one that really makes the world a better place... Not just something you'd say in an ad; gives you a whole different sense of self actualization. I travelled around, which is always interesting. I had the chance to live in Dubai for more than a year and a chance to visit Oman, Turkey, NY and Connecticut. All in all, it has been some interesting cultural experience...one I enjoyed and plan to continue to enjoy...

Family... well it was very hard being away from my family for so long. The sense that they need me and I'm not there is a killer. Also the effort to keep the bond regardless of the distance wasn't easy... you learn to value them more... when something happens and you really wish they're here with you... but they're not.

Fun... this year wasn't so bad... I had fun, went around, laughed hard, met new people, went to new places, tried new experiences... may be not all of them were great at the time, but looking back, I enjoyed 2013.

Of course there are always stuff to look forward when you look ahead... I won't make a list of resolutions which are only good on paper... But let me say... Yes! There are  few things I'd like to work on... personally, socially and career wise in 2014. I feel I've spent enough time learning who I am and what I want in life... I learned what makes me happy.

I will not say I wish 2014 to be better than 2013... I'm thankful for my past year with all its good and bad. I'm walking into the new year with a lot of optimism for myself, my family, my career, my friends and my country.

Be thankful for your past year... and I wish everyone a more than AWESOME year to come.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year... Evolution or Illusion?

We often think that with the tick of the clock, once it turns 12 and it's a new year our life would change... a whole new beginning to life and our selves would come out... we wait for an evolution, for the world to change... for the unexpected, for resolutions we have been making for the year or years to finally come to live!

BUT... with years, I've earned some experience and wisdom, and  I've come to realize that this hope for an evolution as the New Year approaches... is most likely just an illusion.

I don't meant to be dramatic or to kill the optimism we have for the whole new year, new beginning fairy tale we all, including me, live in. But, sometimes we come in terms with reality and its good to stop and share it. May be make someone else avoid the stupidity you've been placed in before! If someone out there is expecting a magical moment of change... I'm not saying it doesn't happen; I'm just saying don't count on New Year to be that magical moment. 

In the so called life... Jan 1st, 12 am each year is just the next second, the next minute, the next day, the next month, the next year.... its just another clock tick of no particular significance or change.

If there was this one split second where everything changes suddenly, where we click a button and the past is deleted and a new horizon opens up... then New Year's would be a universal moment across Egypt, Lebanon, Dubai, Jordan, Saudi, US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, India, Singapore... but facts are this magical moment isn't universal, there is no single moment where the ENTIRE world stops and we all get a chance to start over new! This moment is different across countries, across states, across cities, across homes and across the people in the same home. Each person's clock hits 12 am at a different split second! 

Truth remains... New Year's is just a thing we've created! An illusion we've immersed ourselves with giving ourselves hope that there is a chance to get up and fix things to re-evaluate where we stand!

I'm not being pessimistic; I'm being realistic... 
Change does happen, but it doesn't need a clock or a date or to dim out the lights and turn them on to a new you... change is timeless; can happen anywhere, anytime, anyhow...

Change happens when you intend for it to happen...

Change that is time bound is an illusion...

Change that you create is a true evolution...

You decide your own New Year... your New Year, your real evolution, begins when you take a good look at yourself and you realize: now is the time to change!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011... Is It REALLY a BAD Year?!

SO... whenever we refer to a bad year... we often refer to it in terms of stuff that happen to us on a personal level. However, 2011 is a bad year on a global level... I don't think anyone can argue with that!

Truly on a global level I think this by far is the year of natural disasters, famines, wars, deaths, disease, revolutions... So globally, I got to admit it IS a bad year and I'm really hoping the last day passes by smoothly, free of more catastrophes or more dramatic surprises!

HOWEVER...
Moving to a more personal level; which given our selfish human nature is usually the main way we judge things.... I STILL cannot make up my mind regarding whether it was a good or bad year...

Emotionally speaking... I've lost some very precious people that I hoped I'd be able to have for keeps! I was disappointed and hurt for a very long time and that made most of 2011 win the award for being the worst emotional year ever. I've also realized some friends, well are not really people you can count on...

On the ambitious and practical side of life... well, I GOT my masters degree and that was the highlight of the year. True, it came towards the last two weeks of the year... but it sort of changed 2011 around from being the worst year to being the best year ever... and ever since this achievement, all of a sudden I can't claim that 2011 is a bad year anymore! It kind of made me realize a lot of good things that I let the "emotional" stuff cover up and hide!

Even more... 2011 was the  best in my career history; I made new friends whom all have become so important and precious to me and towards the very end of it I've realized that some old friends are still gold and that there are people who can still see me from a unique and special perspective even if others did not! I've seen some of my friends in their happiest moments as well! And all that together made 2011, an OKAY year after all!

So UNLIKE any other year... where the personal stuff were worst than the global stuff... 2011 has been terrible on the global level (see my next post)... But on a personal level, although it started like the worst year ever; by the last quarter it smiled at me... and it smiled at me BIG! 

So my last words would be: Good Bye 2011, with your good, your bad and definitively your unexpected! Some days were terrible but all in all, it did pass and I learned a lot from every single experience and every single person! 2012... I'm hoping for the best, this year I'm trying optimism... Even more, globally I, like Miss Congeniality, do hope for World Peace!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Kissing 2010 Good Bye….

So, I woke this morning realizing it’ll never be 2010 again, I mentioned before how fast this year has been… and I’m not gonna change my mind about that (it was super fast actually)… but all in all, with it’s good and bad, it’s over... and we’re celebrating!

We’re celebrating our good moments with our families and friends, our accomplishments, our growth, our maturity, our fun memories... we’re celebrating with the ones we’ve got closer to this year and the new friends and people we gained in our life… we’re celebrating the things we’ll be carrying with us to 2011 because we believe they make us happy!

In the same time, we’re trying to get rid and forget the things that upset and hurt us, the wrong decisions we’ve taken, the bad memories of 2010. We make resolutions (that we may not necessarily follow) in hopes of avoiding these things in 2011.

As I mentioned before, I usually end up having the same resolutions every year, so this time I asked people to send me their resolutions… let me share so of the interesting and common ones:

To learn to forgive and forget…

To never hold grudge…

To stop talking to the fools who makes us feel like crap…

To loose weight…

To quit smoking…

To get over ex-es...

To get back to ex-es…

To find the right partner…

To tell the person you love that you love them…

To get married…

To getting the best wedding dress…

To have the wedding of your dreams…

To get kids…

To learn to let go…

To learn to hold on to people who matter to you…

To meet new people...

To know when it's time to let go of people...

To learn how to draw the line...

To learn to say NO...

To be more flexible...

To learn how to make compromises...

To learn how to deal with anger…

To do better in school…

To grow at work…

To change jobs...

To save more...

To work less...

To work more...

To balance your work and personal life...

To peruse higher levels of education…

To never study again…

To start your own business…

To party less…

To party more...

To read more…

To kill fools on the streets…

To cuss the fools on the street less…

To try and make Egypt better…

To get the hell outta here…

To show your family you care about them more…

To always be there for your parents…

To get over the past and move forward...

To get rid of bad habits…

To never change for anyone…

To pray more…

To believe that God does what’s best for you…

To the believe that the best is yet to come…

To cry less…

To laugh more…

To be less depressed…

To never give up or quit…

To take life more seriously...

To take life less seriously...

To have inner peace…

To make better use of time...

To learn to enjoy life…

SO… these are the resolutions I got, surprisingly a lot of people share the same ones and we donno! I think it's easy to guess which ones belong to males and which ones belong to females (as usual, lol)... some are fun, some are serious, some contradict each other and some complete each other...

And whether we manage achieve these resolutions or not... if you think about it, these are things we believe would make us happy, the things that would make us feel better about our life... the things we'd like to change.

Anyhow… 

I wish you all (and myself) a very happy 2011… full of all the stuff that makes us happy, smile and worry free, hopefully less of the stuff that upset us.

Hoping dreams come true, hoping things get better and believing that the best is yet to come. Believing deep down that if you really ask God to make 2011 better for you and to let it go according to His plans rather than yours… it’ll be an amazing year!

Have yourself an amazing evening, have fun and create memories that will last a lifetime… and we’ll be talking again in 2011.

Happy New Year!