Goodbye 2012

 So another year comes to an end.

 

Today is my last working day of the year and tomorrow is supposedly the day the entire World comes to an end. Well if it does, this blog will not matter ...

 

Anyway the day after tomorrow we leave for Bombay for a short trip to spend Christmas and New Year with family. After a lot of debate about going, while we were planning this holiday a few months ago - we are now really looking forward to the trip and the break. We all need the mental distance and perspective that any holiday provides.

 

This year has been a tough one - fraught with uncertainty, instability and a certain sense of dismay. Having over the years learned to bear what life throws at us with positivity and bravura, with a smile on our face even if the mind is in turmoil - also creates a tension of sorts. I am glad that our children are also learning the same qualities from their mother, an ability to shrug off the arrows that life inevitably aims at us. Both of them have endured upheaval and a certain amount of emotional haranguement with poise - lessons that will serve them well as their life's chapters play out.

 

It is strange when I think about it - as to how much uncertainty one can learn to live with. Twenty years ago this place made one used to thinking in two and three year horizons - today a month seems enough. I guess right now, in Syria a sense of peace for a day would seem like eternity ... it is just different perspectives.

 

But this was also a good year. Good health for our loved ones, a fantastic holiday in summer, children continuing to do well in school.

 

Some things that I learned this year:

·         My children are more resilient than I think

·         My wife is stronger than I know

·         Enjoy the todays, rather than fret about the tomorrows

·         Despite our best efforts, we can still take some people for granted

·         Keeping quiet and letting sleeping dogs lie, is not a long term option

·         I am not too old to learn new tricks or to change my approach

 

We will come back in the New Year fortified with the love and support of our family to start anew. A fresh chapter and new beginnings!

 

A Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2013 to all who read this.