Of a year that has gone past

In less than 6 hours, 2009 would become a past, and 2010 would be the present.
A year full of ups and downs, gains and losses, achievements and failures.
To some, a year of new beginnings, crossroads. A year of farewells.

To most, 2009 has been a year full of challenges, with the global economic downturn hitting almost everyone. Businesses faltered, crumbled. Some were retrenched, others accepted pay cut to keep their jobs.
Yet, it wasn’t a year without a silver lining. The economy picked up again much faster than anticipated by most. Perhaps the million dollar question now is how long can this sustain.
While some believe that the worst is over, others believe this is only the beginning, which means we would be seeing worse in 2010.

2009 isn’t the worst of years for me personally. Perhaps I should be glad that I was neither retrenched, nor was forced to accept a pay cut, in terms of career. But it’s far from the best.
A year which there isn’t much accomplished, yet none truly failed.

Perhaps the biggest regret I have for the year is I did not manage to see grandfather for one final time before his passing.
But nonetheless glad that he had it reasonably easy, and as ironic as it sounded, it was an event that brought the extended family together, closer.

One of the more memorable moments for the year would probably be the whale watching experience in Western Australia, which was simply fantabulous, breathtaking even.
A time away from hustle and bustle of work, a time for sanity break.
Of course, the annual family trip was also a good time to catch up with my sister again, as we were both very busy living our own lives most other times.

And I finally got my Open Water diving license, after procrastinating over it for 4 years now.
After much planning, and much ffk-ing, I finally managed to grab hold of a friend to go for it with me.
And that was prolly one of my better decisions made. It opened up another world to me. A world where there’s no rush, no speeches. Just there, just is.
Next up: Advanced license, and Sipadan Island.

This wasn’t the most eventful of years, for I really can’t recall much else.
But it was certainly a year where I grow up (and hopefully, mellowed and matured), a year of lessons learnt.

At the final hours of the year, perhaps it is finally time to sit back, relax, reminiscence, reflect over the year that is about to be the past.
Or maybe out with the crowd, to usher the New Year, with a bang~!

We would all surely hope that 2010 would be a better year, and I wish it would be, for myself, as well as everyone around me.
My new year resolution? Reach new heights in all aspects. Greedy perhaps, but I would rather call it ambitious. \(^o^)/

Goodbye 2009, and may we all begin 2010 with a smile.

3 ante meridiem

Did you know, that a human’s spirit is at its lowest at 3- 4am in the morning?
That’s the darkest hour of the day.

I have abandoned this blog for a while now. Work commitments have gotten a lil crazy of late. Especially the past 2 weeks where it’s all about finalisation of work, reviews, meetings, and deliverables.
Only managed to sleep for a total of 8 hours in 3 days previous week.
Talking about taking things global, seriously.
I was working from 8.30am – 7.00pm, Malaysian time, and London time.
(At 7pm London time, it’s exactly 3am in Malaysia)
I literally crashed out during the weekends.
And then the crazy hours continued this week, with yet another round of 3ams.

3am, is somehow, a significant time. It is a time when I feel most tired, most frustrating, most depressing even.
Especially when it’s not one-off.
It’s the time when you mind begins to play tricks on you, when fear creeps in.
You really thought you finally had enough, especially when not only are you sleep deprived, with a non-existent social life because the only people you see and talk to are your team members, you would also begin to think if the deadlines and deliverables are achievable.
For after working almost round the clock for a couple of days, things still do not seem to have finalised.
Yet, no matter how stressful, it would eventually come to an end, a closure.
In this context, we reported, in time, smoothly, or at least it almost did. (With just minor hiccups)

But perhaps, more importantly, is that we understand the intangibles are always more powerful that the tangibles.
Fear, frustration, hope, faith, none of which is tangible, yet none of which is unreal.
In most circumstances, it is almost always a case of mind over matter.
The will to go on.
The determination to finish what you started.

After the rush, after things finally slowed down, only did I realise how tired I was.
But I was contented. That although not without imperfections, the big picture remained intact, and in time. Perhaps the satisfaction was that I finally saw things falling into place after fumbling for a while.
I spent both my Christmas eve and Christmas day resting at home, falling asleep every 2 hours. (Yes, I’m a pig whom needs loads of sleep! Bite me!)
To most, that’s prolly the most pathetic way to spend the Christmas, but I really could barely stay awake. And to me, sleep, and the ability to sleep, is a bliss.

3 – 4am is indeed the darkest hour of the day, where one feels most defeated.
Yet, it is also true that the darkest hour is always before dawn.
Once you get through that hour, the sun rises, hope and faith begin to shine, and things surely do not seem so bad.

p/s: A special thank you for a dear friend that helped out. (You know who you are) (^o^)