The year has ended. Yet again.
Of all the festivals and celebrations in the world, New Year's Eve is one of the most important holidays for me. It's not because of all the regular BS - the New Year's Resolutions that have failed by the second of Feb, the new year new me bullshit that we tell ourselves.
For me, it acts as a breaking and reference point. It's an important time for deeper introspection and relaxation for me. There are 3 key things I try and do every year:
For me, it acts as a breaking and reference point. It's an important time for deeper introspection and relaxation for me. There are 3 key things I try and do every year:
- Analyze the past year
- Give me a pat on the back and relax.
- Get ready for another lap around the Sun
So here are my year-end thoughts of 2019
I started learning how to swim only a month ago. I have plans to know how to swim by the time I turn 28, which is 2 months from now. Looking at the progress that I've made, my swimming coach believes that I should be able to achieve it. So that's a positive. I just need to stay at it.
Moreover, I started a new chapter in my career. I started working for WorldQuant, a hedge fund. It has been a steep learning curve. I've learned a lot over the past 8 months. My new role has challenged me in several different ways, and I hope it continues to do the same in the future.
In the travel department, it has been a relatively average year. I've traveled mainly to warmer parts of Europe this year. The only exception would be my birthday trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina in Spring. However, the weather turned out to be quite warm and pleasant over the course of that trip as well. I like to give each trip an interesting title representing certain memorable events that unfolded over the course of that trip. Here are the titles of my trips this year:
It has been a good year for me in Tennis as well. My team, Simon Tennis Club, won the championship at the Budapest county level. We now have a chance to even progress to the National level. However, the requirements for competing in the national division might be too much for our team. A higher level of financial and time commitment is needed for competing at that level, as we will have to travel to other cities and towns over the weekend. I'm not sure if our team will actually enter the national championship. Only time will tell.
A bunch of other new things that I did over the year:
Everyone goes through things that they find difficult to share with others, even the closest of friends and family at times. If they pile on over time, they can leave a person with a certain feeling of loneliness. There's no colder emotion than the feeling that nobody will understand you, nobody will be able to just listen to your problems, take you in their arms, slowly rub your shoulders and back, and gently whisper in your ears that it's all going to be okay.
For now, I sit in a cafe in Barcelona, sipping a cappuccino, with a triple chocolate pastry, recovering from last night's celebrations. I'm at the last destination of my 2-week trip. A break from work was exactly what I needed and I'm so glad to have got it. Time to relax.
Analyze the past year
2019 has been a year of doing new things. When I turned 27 this year, I made a tiny list of things I wish to achieve before I turn 30 and I actually started doing 2 of them:- Learning Hungarian.
- Learning how to swim.
I started learning how to swim only a month ago. I have plans to know how to swim by the time I turn 28, which is 2 months from now. Looking at the progress that I've made, my swimming coach believes that I should be able to achieve it. So that's a positive. I just need to stay at it.
Moreover, I started a new chapter in my career. I started working for WorldQuant, a hedge fund. It has been a steep learning curve. I've learned a lot over the past 8 months. My new role has challenged me in several different ways, and I hope it continues to do the same in the future.
In the travel department, it has been a relatively average year. I've traveled mainly to warmer parts of Europe this year. The only exception would be my birthday trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina in Spring. However, the weather turned out to be quite warm and pleasant over the course of that trip as well. I like to give each trip an interesting title representing certain memorable events that unfolded over the course of that trip. Here are the titles of my trips this year:
- Bosnia & Herzegovina - The Mental Age Theory
- Malta - Adventures of a Cheerleader
- Montenegro - The trip full of road trips
- Spain (Madrid) - The tales of the two sisters
- Spain (Valencia) - Empanadas.
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| I'll never find words that'll do justice to Montenegro. You just have to go there and see it. |
It has been a good year for me in Tennis as well. My team, Simon Tennis Club, won the championship at the Budapest county level. We now have a chance to even progress to the National level. However, the requirements for competing in the national division might be too much for our team. A higher level of financial and time commitment is needed for competing at that level, as we will have to travel to other cities and towns over the weekend. I'm not sure if our team will actually enter the national championship. Only time will tell.
A bunch of other new things that I did over the year:
- Bungee jumping at the Sziget festival.
- Snorkeling in Malta.
- Driving on the right side of the road. I've always driven on the left side, like the British. So driving in Montenegro was a whole new experience for me.
- Going on a multi-destination trip: Madrid-Valencia-Barcelona (Spain).
- Maintaining a journal
- Bicycling to work
Everyone goes through things that they find difficult to share with others, even the closest of friends and family at times. If they pile on over time, they can leave a person with a certain feeling of loneliness. There's no colder emotion than the feeling that nobody will understand you, nobody will be able to just listen to your problems, take you in their arms, slowly rub your shoulders and back, and gently whisper in your ears that it's all going to be okay.
Give me a pat on the back and relax
Overall, I'd give 2019 a 7.5/10 rating. It's been a decent year. A year of new beginnings. A year of trying to do things consciously rather than doing them for the sake of it. I would personally term it as an insignificant year for now, but an important one, when I'll look back at my life a few years from now on.For now, I sit in a cafe in Barcelona, sipping a cappuccino, with a triple chocolate pastry, recovering from last night's celebrations. I'm at the last destination of my 2-week trip. A break from work was exactly what I needed and I'm so glad to have got it. Time to relax.
Get ready for another lap around the Sun
I think this has always been my favorite part of this exercise. Planning the next year. Starting with what you want to do, then rationalizing every thought and then filtering it down to a set of concrete SMART aims - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Based. There's a tiny part of me that does hate this exercise of reducing dreams down to logic but I've been able to achieve good results with this practice and I really enjoy it.However, a certain turn of events over the last few weeks have brought me to a point where I'm unable to make plans for the year at this moment. This has been extremely challenging for me to deal with. As I write this, sipping orange juice in sunny Valencia, I don't know what 2020 holds for me. I don't even know what I'll be doing a month from now, to be honest.
So, I'm entering the new decade with nothing but hope and faith. Faith, in myself, to be able to deal with the curve-balls that life shall throw at me. Hope, that through highs and lows, everything will be alright.
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