As I begin the new year, it’s a good time to look back to the older year and see what it did for me. There were a lot of memories and moments I collected along the way, and it is always nice to review them in a different light, than while living the moments. Many things look emotional while living them, but as you progress through, you start getting the hang of things, and then start putting these things into context. And once there, you suddenly feel or see them a lot differently than what you began with. I won’t say that this is not going to make me emotional, but it certainly going to give me a new hope and vigor, things which I seemed I had lost forever.

So let us embark on a journey through time.

There are so many moments you feel you want to go back and change, cause they just hit you so bad. But this year was pretty eventful in that I wouldn’t go back to change anything. Things started coming on, and I started accepting things on face value. I normally think a lot about things, about how it affects my own life and the life of others around me, but this year made me strong and a little reticent in that scenario. It made me oblivious to the facts around me. It made me see things only with the sense of self satisfaction. I think as you start growing up, you start realizing that the world around is made up of people who are willing to stop at nothing to achieve that glory of whatever they want. Be it money, fame or otherwise. But once they have that in sight, they will pull legs, hurt others, break bonds to get there. As you look around in your professional life, you start realizing that this is how the world behaves, no matter what you think of it. You see it in the famous and the celebrities, that though full of controversy, they will still go through with the weirdest of things. And I learned that this is how it must be. Hence, this year, I went about getting things to make me happy. And I must say, it is one of the most rewarding ways to live. It just keeps on making you happier, at the cost of others, and though I wouldn’t enjoy it, I think it is starting to seep in that you have to live like a robot. That you don’t have to think much about others, just go gung ho in achieving personal success.

But then there are things which make you forget all this crap, cause as you know, this doesn’t help you at all. It gives you momentary happiness, but today, sitting here at the start of a new year, it feels all lame. So I learned that though people struggle to make it to the top by hook or by crook, it isn’t fun at all. It is more fun to sit back, relax, enjoy the moments completely. Life is too short to keep fighting and making excuses. The fact is, if you are unhappy, you are going to keep trying to blame things around you. But you have to be happy on your own, and till you achieve that, you are never going to enjoy anything. You are going to have to struggle throughout your life, and I pity these people, cause they haven’t realized the real meaning of life. All the best to such people.

To me, the month of January started with a blast. This was the second time in a few months’ time that I got to interact with kids. This time, as part of a play/ fun/ creative workshop. Kids make you feel young, and you love to be surrounded by living beings who are living life for its own value, and not just to update Facebook/ write blogs/ make updates, comments/ or for others. Kids are very innocent and honest, and they give you the straight answer. Being surrounded by a bunch of these is I think the most rewarding thing I have come across. And it caught on so much, that I went on to make this a regular thing. I signed up to be a voluntary Soccer coach from there on, taking a lesson from this 2 hour workshop. And it has been the best thing I have chosen to do till now without doubt. It is doubly rewarding, since it combines my love for football too. Hence, I now make 8-10 young new friends every 6 months. :)

I also signed up for regular soccer matches myself, to keep myself fit and in touch with the game. I joined an indoor league, and found out that I now made 10-20 more friends. My network was suddenly increasing, and I realized the advantages of going outside your own small world to a bigger world, where people are more skilled, with a different set of ideas and inspirations. It plays such a big part in forming you, and I am amazed at the kind of people I would have missed out if I hadn’t tried this out. The best thing coming out of this is that I now get to play regular soccer 3 times a week, with some of the best players in the bay area. My own game has improved a lot, thanks to all these guys. In order to fare better, I began practicing on my own, working out on my own to improve my strength. And it has all been rewarding in itself.

My nephew has been a big part of my life this year. I think this is the first kid I am watching grow up at an age where I can appreciate the process of growing up. My world just started revolving around him. The moment he calls out, or shows in some way that he knows me, it is the best feeling in the world. To be appreciated by someone that young takes a lot, and the feeling is amazing. Every day, there is something new which goes on in his life, and each and every thing is just as enthralling.

Life at work is wonderful too. Work itself accounts for almost 1/3 of every day, which in itself accounts for almost 100 days. I am lucky to be blessed with a great work environment, and I think that itself makes up for most of the pleasures! So many things have been possible because of this, and I am very thankful for everything I have here. I got to speak to bigger and better people, I got to talk to customers, and field engineers. I got to venture out of my way to understand them. I left work at 2am, I left work at 2pm. I ate and slept at work at times. So many things happened and it was all due to work.

I got to visit places, see some wonderful football matches, root for teams live in the stadium, all thanks to this year. Some of the best trips were formulated this year. Although the places were just as important, I still very much hold on to the fact that it’s the people who make the trip rather than the place. In that, I was lucky enough to find like-minded people who are always ready to share a laugh. I always used to hate the fact that there are so many people in the world. Today, I am somehow thankful that there are so many. It just gives you an ample choice to choose from, and then you pick and keep the ones you want, without worrying about the rest. It helps keep yourself sane.

I tried out many new things, and it has helped me appreciate so many more things. I started playing tennis, I started playing golf, got bored, left it, restarted it. I started skating, I broke bones, healed and then broke them again. It just helps you appreciate life for what it is and much more. I built a custom machine, I got to see how components combine together, and how they affect a certain characteristic of a system. I started appreciating technology for what it is. I could now bring about changes in a system and could appreciate the change based on the performance. An experience surely worth mentioning!

I got so much better at video games. I got better at general knowledge. I got better at cooking and cleaning. I got better at managing my own space and my own money. I think this is more of a continuous thing each person goes through, but nonetheless, I got through with it too :)

I got to meet some future stars, and spend a long time with them, see them in a lighter moment.

I always had inhibitions and a sense of lethargy to meet new people. But if I hadn’t broken my shackles, I would never have done this. So this is something else I feel I have grown in. Interacting with these people has helped me in new things. Simple things like appreciating new music, new movies and new places. It doesn’t mean you have to change, but it gives you an opportunity. Eventually the golden rule remains, be good and good things always happen to you.

Somehow everything becomes serene as the year draws to an end. You listen to stories and things which happen to other people, and consider yourself fortunate for not having to face all that. The cold makes it even more dark and torturing. But then come 25^th and 31^st December, and you see the hope and the light again. The days start becoming bigger, warmer and hopeful. The fireworks create a display, and you feel that whatever has happened has taught you things which can be carried into the next year. With this feeling, I will surely embark into 2014 without any remorse, and a sense of pride for the accomplishments throughout.