The yearly end-of-the-year blog post is here. Initially, I needed to figure out where to start. This article gave me the chance to go through the past 12 months in as much detail as possible. It wasn’t easy but I tried! Throughout this navigation, I plan to share my reflections on the positives and negatives. Honestly speaking, I’d like to call the negatives the reminders of what I need to work on further. But I hope this article gives you the chance to reflect on your year and be grateful for all that passed. I started this tradition by end of 2021 and you can check the article from that year here.

If you read one of my articles from this year, you would know I finally reunited with my family. Also, my brother, whom I hadn’t seen throughout these years of living in France, decided to surprise me in Paris. We finally spent time together. This year, I got to live in clarity and calmness I prayed to have for years. It made me realise that this state of calmness didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took years for me to achieve. My personality definetely changed and people around me could sense it (I’m hoping for the better). A friend of mine whom I haven’t seen since 2019 told me recently that the challenges I faced in the past few years shaped my personality and enabled me not only to grow but to mature. He expressed the change he could see from our encounter.

Patience is Power

Last year, I mentioned in the end-of-the-year blog post that I long for family, home, and a sense of normality. Alhamdulillah, Allah answered my prayers and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I think the last few years tested me in ways I never thought possible. This year alowed me to observe the results of patience. I could now see why I waited for so long for what I have or realized today. The patience I was tested for resulted in many positive outcomes and gratitude, alhamdulillah.

To find calmness in chaos and to truthfully believe that regardless of all the mess, remaining patient was the answer. That was a dealbreaker for me. With time, I learned to see and find the good in every situation. When we don’t get what we were hoping to have, god will replace it with something better. I learned that good things take time even if it takes a long time.

Do Not Make Work Your Life

One of the downfalls of this year is that I slowly became a workaholic. More work brings more responsibilities, but I was overly focused on professional development and ignored everything else, including myself. That negatively affected my social life, and to a greater extent, my health. I pushed myself to the limits, and I ended up taking a medical leave. That period has forced me to re-evaluate my life and try to live again. The end-of-year lesson is that work and making progress is good but it shouldn’t be your whole life.

— Rejection is Redirection —

My priorities and beliefs have changed significantly over time. The things that were important to me a year ago no longer hold the same value today. However, what’s important to me now is living authentically and being true to myself, which took some time to achieve. I’m glad that I have experienced these changes and better understood myself. I’ve learned to live in the present and stop rushing through life. I hope these thoughts inspire you to reflect on your own life and find similar areas of growth. Wishing you a blessed and joyful year ahead with extraordinary experiences, and I look forward to sharing more articles in 2024.