Goodbye 2015 and Welcome 2016 :) :) :)

2016 is here and so are all the good things associated with a new year. Time to make a fresh start with new plans, new hopes, new ambitions, renewed energy and a truckload of gratefulness. To start my new year on a fresh note, I want to first say goodbye to 2015 and thank God for all the good things associated with the year gone by.

2015 was special for me as it made me mature more than ever (or at least so I would like to think ;) ). I have been a very career oriented person and cannot think of any other year in my life when I spent an entire year cherishing my personal time and family life. Most of the years were a good balance of both family and career. In fact sometimes in the past years, I have also put my personal life on a back burner to invest in my career and I did so with a lot of support from my family members.
But 2015 was different and I didn't like some parts when I was living them. In retrospect, each month marked a special milestone in my personal life. There are some moments that I want to share with you. I have learnt valuable life lessons from these moments that deserve a special mention here.

In the first quarter of 2015, I struggled as I saw close friends growing distant and leaving my life for good. For some time, I tried to clutch on to the old relationships as it took me quite some time to get over the feelings I was struggling with. I had written about one such incident here. Sometime in the second quarter, I realized that God has better plans for me. He had sent new friends to fill the void and my dear husband moved to KL. Lesson learnt: Times change and people do and there's nothing I can do about it. I am not responsible for people's behavior as some people can love me for who I am and some cannot. I knew this for a long time in theory but this year internalized the learning like never before. 

In the second quarter of 2015, I got to spend more time with my husband than I have ever done before. You can read about our reunion here. We started working in the same company and were living away from our families and close friends. This meant that we had each other and just each other the entire day. In the routine of married life, I had forgotten to appreciate my husband for the blessing he is. God gave me that time to wake up from the slumber of thanklessness. Lesson learnt: Do not forget to thank God for the blessings I live with every day. In the race of life, the blessing of my families' and my husband's love is my one and only constant companion.

In the third quarter, I got a whole new perspective and direction in life. It will take a lot more than one paragraph to talk about it. I want to tell you all about it and I will write a detailed post about the change that this quarter brought about later but the lesson learnt is worth mentioning. Lesson learnt: Miracles are a way of life and not just a one-off incident. God made us for things bigger and better than chasing job titles.

In the fourth quarter, I did one of the scariest things I have ever done. I quit my full-time job to be a full-time homemaker. The triggers came from  inside the organization I worked in but in a usual scenario, I would have just switched jobs. This quarter did not give me the option of switching and brought out a whole new side of me. Since the time I remember going to school, there has never been a day when I had nowhere to go after waking up. To admit the truth I was scared of how I will cope with this change. I am grateful to my ex-boss for telling me to meditate. In two days time, it will be a month since I have been at home and guess what... I could not have been happier. Lesson learnt: Take the leap of faith and everything else will fall into place. I am bigger than my fears and all the life's roadblocks combined together. I am the choices I make. God's plans are always better than mine. Last but not the least my husband will support me through the thick and thin of life.

Those were some mighty lessons... aren't they? With all these beautiful lessons in my heart, I am absolutely sure I am where I was supposed to be in my life. I and my husband bid farewell to 2015 with a set of close friends and had the first new year party of our lives without bonfire (not that we didn't want a bonfire but KL doesn't have the concept of winters). A fresh new way to start a fresh new year.... ahh yes!! I hope your year was also just as meaningful as mine.

Let us all welcome 2016 to show us how life gets better than this. :) :) I wish you all a very happy new year and wish that the new year brings an abundance of love, laughter, happiness and success in all spheres of your lives. Rejoice evermore and thank God for each new day as it is the promise of a new beginning.