Today is 30th December 2016, we are just 2 days away from the end of the year 2016, getting ready to welcome the new year 2017. Writing this post – Reflecting 2016 – Part 1 is influenced by a very talented friend, a musician, an artist, a writer, a photographer, Fernando Gros, whom wrote a post titled “This Week I Quit 2016”, during a few weeks back.
We all have something similar in certain aspects of year 2016 that bonded us together in writing an article to share our year 2016 journeys. Although we all led very different life in different continents, the things that happened to us in our personal life and the world matters drew some similarity. I was inspired by Fernando’s article, his article struck a big hit in my heart, mind and soul. Therefore, I wanted to write my own year 2016 article, in two parts, part 1 on the eve of New Year Eve, with part 2 on New Year Eve night.
Year 2016 had been a very difficult year for me in both my professional and personal life. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I left my workplace, basically hitting rock bottom, hurt, disappointed and lost. My mind and brains were definitely not in the best of shape and thinking. The damage took a bit of time to recover, climbing up from the rock bottom, to getting myself out of the rut, standing up and walking on my own again. If you would like to know more about what happened to me, the archives bar is on the side column!
I did not ask for sympathy, not judgement and putting me down, on my plans, why I do things much slower than before. None of you knew what I went through. All I ask for is just understanding.
During the period of recovery, I started planning to start something, met with delays and hiccups beyond my control that I also had to take responsibility for, in my slow start. Things in life are not that smooth sailing at all, besides that, I am also being more prudent and tactful, not lazy and slow.
In part 1 of reflecting 2016, I read a number of articles recently that gave me a lot to think about, deeper and further, that I also wanted to share here –
- This Week I Quit 2016 by Fernando Gros
How and why I wrote my own year 2016 article was firstly inspired by his words in this article.
- The Four Stages of Life by Mark Manson
This article was shared on my Twitter lists, I read them with great interest. Which stage am I exactly in? The discussions inside that got a lot of my attention was on the areas of “inter-stage conflict” and “what gets us stuck”. The final phrase in the article “And life will go on”.
While the year 2016 had not been kind to me, it had provided me with a lot of life learning experiences that are priceless in teaching me more about life than I can ever imagine and wanted. Being grateful that I still have a home, a roof over my head and can do things to get myself back to life and work again, I am grateful. To be grateful and being able to appreciate and grateful for the things I have in life, to enjoy them. This is also a reminder for me to pass it on and pay it forward, to help, share and give back to society.
The inner critic is something that can be very powerful and dominate you, if you do not know how to manage, tame and control it. You might have heard of this before, the inner critic is life a bad wolf, that can eat you up. Sometimes we faced a lot of our inner critic, the voices inside you. Take a read and it might help you out.
- TED-Ed Blog: 7 ideas about finding the work you were meant to do by Kate Torgovnick
Another article that resonates with me deeply, I might have found my calling, in some certain ways, similar to the points written inside, especially on point 2 ~ “Your calling often comes out of difficult experiences” and point 3 ~ “Calling often takes courage and ruffles feathers”.
Year 2016 had been a painful and difficult year for me. They had slowly moulded, shaped and toughened me up, after I picked myself up on my feet again. It’s true that in the earlier stage after the situation, I was a bit lost and out of sorts. There were still times when I still felt bitter and angry, slowly over time, I let it go (just like the Disney theme song)
Reflecting year 2016 – Part 1, yes, it was a painful, disappointing and difficult year. You taught me many universal life lessons. For that, I thank you for the teachings, to make me wiser and tougher.
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