2014 has been a year full of challenges. natural calamities, war & strife, plane crashes.
on a personal note, there were a few challenges i decided to pick up and take on. some, were handed to me although not necessarily on a silver platter.
i have been physically unfit for this year, saw my weight ballooned as well as found myself with a muffin top. work, health issues had bogged me down. however, i did take the 30-day squats and planking challenge. it not only surprised me especially after i did the 5-minute planking which turned out to be not as painful as i imagined.
creative-wise, i did the black & white challenge for 5 days which was something i thoroughly enjoyed. i tweaked it a bit by captioning the b&w photo with a Beatles song. the only downer was that not everyone i tagged did their turn 😐 oh well.
work wise, it was an equally challenging year as well. i am (still) working on project(s) that were both equipped with really good team members on top of being interesting technically. the pressure was immense but with good camaraderie and the ability to just smile through all the difficult tasks and meeting deadlines, it was and still is, something i am proud of having take on this year.
the one thing though that was most particularly draining was my dad’s health issues which resulted in a major operation, some tense ICU days, the painful moments of seeing someone who was so strong before now barely able to walk on his own, a few more quick trips to the ER, the small steps to recovery and learning to live with his current state.
if there are a few lessons i (re)learned after all of these, it would be that:
* there are challenges you just have to face on and be ready to accept the consequences.
* you never know how strong you are until you undergo challenges that would seem to break you.
* it pays to have money especially when dealing with health issues and hospitals!
nonetheless, 2014 was a good year. it may have not brought with it all i wanted but it gave me what matters most – the love of family & friendships and work relationships that just rock 🙂
my take 
True this ” * it pays to have money especially when dealing with health issues and hospitals!”