Another year coming to an end.. 2012 relegated to the history books and we would be looking to the future, to what we have in store in 2013. I too among the millions around the world am no exception and as all of us do, await eagerly for a brand new beginning.
As time passes by, I cannot but help think and recollect what I did achieve in the year, that I would like to have a better year going forward.. After all, there are hundreds if not thousands of "Happy New Year", "All the best", "Have a wonderful one...." that all of us get from our friends, relatives, and at times absolute strangers. We all look to it, expect that the coming new year will be a better one, a much improved one than the last, however at times I do wonder, is it the same as the last one?
Personally, 2012 has been interesting. A couple of job changes, more interesting work, learnt new things, met new people, travelled quite a bit, completed two major projects, wrote a lot more than 2011, learnt tweeting; the latter part of the year seeing myself a bit more relaxed; time to myself and the family, and most important, meeting old friends and relatives that had not seen in a long time. The icing for me was to travel back to the place where I grew up (Bahrain) after leaving for good more than three years ago bringing back sweet memories.
The downsides: not achieving goals and targets that I set personally, losing friends who moved on, relatives who decided to follow a journey to the other side; read and write more than what I planned for, and not be able to devote more time at home. A mixed bag as one would say.
But what about the world? Indian Cricket went through its worst year; Ponting, Tendulkar, Dravid, legends of the game of the willow, all calling it a day; the World Economy still in the doldrums; Giant corporations losing battles against increasing competition and change; industries struggling but surviving, the Mayan prediction of the end of the world scaring every one and coming a dud.
2012 also saw the awakening of the common man all across. The "Springs" of freedom that encompassed many countries across the world and going the democratic way, some losing the plot midway; BO coming back for another four years. Social Media (FB, Twitter), proving their power to influence and bring change, with the regular media the news channels slowly losing theirs. Technology going viral, with mobile phones losing their charm and the world moving onto Smart Phones, the Androids, and the IOS..
The year also saw crime, corruption, violence, increasing multi fold, and probably more rampant today than what it was 20 years ago, the shootouts in schools, rapes against women on the rise and the political nexus striving every bit to keep the tempo down. Competition still at its fiercest, making the adage Survival of the fittest absolutely apt and valid. Once again, a mixed bag.
No doubt every year has the worst of it and the best. Every country will have their own and their version of the world's top and bottom events and often, the worst overshadowing the good. Yet we all look forward to the next year. A year filled with hope, with opportunity, a belief that things will be better. We enjoy the going away of the previous year as we aim to bury all that was not right, some confined to text books, some forgotten.
The one thought that often comes to mind is: do we ever spare a thought as to what we would like to do different in the coming year? What is in our power to change and do we change that? We all have our resolutions, the things that we would like to stop, to implement, to improve, to better, and yet we all get embroiled in our daily lives so much that it remains confined to another year of not done. Not to say that nothing changes.. But if all of us manage to even achieve half of what we aim to better, the impact no doubt would be phenomenal.
My goal / dream.. To become a better person, and to be able to contribute to society a change where all are equally accepted and to have a world that we can leave behind for generations to come. No doubt there are always shades of black and white and having an ideal world is but a Utopian dream, but the change has to come from us. Generation Next for all is round the corner, for some it is yet to start, for some in progress, and for some, round the corner. We probably managed to survive our round, but at the rate at which we are heading to, the next round may simply not exist.
It is no doubt a new beginning, but every dark cloud has to have a silver lining. It is this lining that I believe that we need to work towards and have our contribution to. Drops from a tap fill a bucket, good deeds done today will come back around tomorrow.. It is for us to take the call to ensure that the change is not just another night that has gone and another regular day that has started..
Adeiu 2012.....Swagatam 2013..
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