Every turn of the year we humans seem to go through the same cycle of regret and self-loathing at our failures throughout the year, anger and resentment at all the bad things that the year brought us, and naive hope that the next year will be better.
I have never made a New Year resolution in my life precisely because I know it will ultimately prove an empty and futile ritual. Why go through the motions?
I would much rather focus on the positives: my personal highlights of the year, and lessons learned that will improve who I am as a person.
In this post, I write down some of these reflections and share them with you.
My highlight reel for 2017
It has been a milestone year. I graduated with a Diploma in Psychology Studies from Temasek Polytechnic and started on my Bachelor of Arts degree programme at the National University of Singapore.
Along the way, I got to know some really great folks, a couple of whom have become my friends.
We also welcomed a new member to our family: Toki, a rabbit we adopted from local rescue shelter Bunny Wonderland.
This year, I also joined Twitter and Reddit! Better late than never. They are such fun and I have no regrets whatsoever.
Things I learned this year
Take a leap of faith
I have a collection of Water Wally plush toys that I love very much. Some of them were suffering from floppy leg syndrome, making their legs look really grotesque and misshapen. This distressed me greatly and I wanted them repaired. Fortunately, my good friend knows a skilled craftswoman who agreed to take on the project, with some apprehension because she had never done such a thing before (her expertise lies in clay firing, not fabrics). I, too, was a little nervous but decided to push through as the potential rewards were too attractive to ignore. My toys will finally have a chance to look good again. That was something I desired so badly and I was willing to take the risk. It all worked out well in the end. My toys were opened up down the central seam, their stuffing and the broken pieces of cardboard in their legs removed and replaced with better quality stuffing, and then stitched back together again. The artisan later wrote about the process on her Instagram account, saying that she was glad to have taken a leap of faith in accepting my request and that it had made her more determined to be brave in other areas of her life too. I am also happy that I took a similar leap of faith. Her handiwork is incredible and my plush toys are as good as new!
Be myself
Sometimes we worry about how others perceive us, and put on a bogus front in an attempt to appear more socially desirable. But I discovered that if I just let myself be who I really am, I make interacting with people more fun for myself and attract the right kind of people to be my friends. I have a no-holds-barred conversational style that may come across as offensive, so I used to be very cautious when talking to others and would often prefer to say nothing at all, but now I realise that those who get upset by the way I speak are not the type of people I want to be friends with in the first place. Far better to behave naturally and let things fall into place without stressing myself.
My hope for 2018
I wish for simple things: happiness, good health, and safety for all my family, friends, and you, the readers of my blog. Thank you for reading and supporting my work. I hope you like what you see, and will continue to visit regularly in the year ahead.
A good start to the year...
I sent out the customary New Year greetings to my close friends and relatives, exchanged a few messages with those who replied, did one last round of social media, then locked my phone and went to bed.
Or that was the plan anyway.
As I lay there in the darkness, a ball of fire grew in my belly. It moved with frightening speed in a clockwise direction, burning up my gut every step of the way. Within minutes it reached its destination and threw itself against the door.
I tensed and broke out in a cold sweat. "Please," I begged. "Wait until tomorrow."
But it had other ideas. It crashed against the door again and I knew I could not hold it for much longer. Resignedly, I went to the toilet and let it burst forth.
And with great satisfaction and swathed in newfound comfort, I promptly fell into a deep slumber.
Out with the old and in with the new!
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