How was year 2016 for me? When I think of this question, a lot of recent memories crowd my mind…Year 2016 was full of experiences, zest, fun, and lessons. A year of learning the whole set of new lessons or revising the old ones…I went to places, met people, and observed them all. I could overcome my fear of water and swim and picked up photography as per my last year’s resolution. I visited the great Pyramid of Giza, Roman Colosseum, London Bridge, and climbed the Tower of Pisa. It was fun to see a number of jaw-dropping places in Namibia and South Africa with my loved ones. I witnessed a wide variety of flora, fauna, and different colors of the mother earth.

The places I visited throughout the year were wonderful, but it was not the case with people I met or been with. Some strangers beautifully reintroduced me to all the small and big things I could smile for. Some people I came across had less than what they were worth of and some others had more than they deserved. Some funny people praised themselves on good results of their plans and blamed others when results were unwelcomed. I met a girl who was ready to leave anything to find real love and then a woman who left love for money and material…what an irony!

I learnt once a person’s soul departs, at no cost the person can come back…All you have are the memories of the days shared together. In contrast to the volatile life, this is a certainty of death.

I learnt that I should not accept someone’s nonsense at first place. If I do then most probably I would have to submit myself to compromise my self-respect on every such nonsense in future. After all, I am responsible to condition others’ behavior too.

I used to think that if at all Faith can be quantified then all the values between 0 and 99 are same as 0. I used to believe that I can say I have faith only if it was 100%. But according to my experience, faith can also be between 0 and 100.

I learnt that honesty and integrity are not something that weak people can handle. People will always take for the easy route to hide their unethical behavior instead of choosing a to condition themselves to be ethical, or not getting into unethical behavior at all.

I revised an old lesson that a person can change only if he or she wishes and works to change.

I also experienced an incredible power of pure thoughts and unsoiled character that anyone can accomplish by behaving in accordance with good virtues consistently. But sadly, a person with such character often continues the journey of growth alone.

I revised the lesson of Hope. Hope and optimism go hand in hand. Hope had always been by my side even during bad patches of my life. It is something that never ever had broken my faith with it. This year I find myself equipped with little more knowledge I gained from my lessons… I am going to release any bad memories accumulated over the past year. I am going to carry on with the lessons. While bidding farewell to the ending year, I am experiencing the same anxiety a child has, who awaits to open a series of gift boxes… I am anxious to experience what the God has planned for me for the upcoming year. I am ready to enter into year 2017 with full hope to embrace new days, new experiences, and new lessons.