When I take a stock of how the year 2017 went, three
things stand out for me. First is how much I have learnt and grown in
I-don’t-give-a-fuck-about-opinions space. When I say that I don’t give a fuck
about opinions people tend to misunderstand that. What I mean is that I don’t
pay attention to what other people think of me or what they think I should do
or not do or who they think I should become or not become. Views on those things
are preserved to me. Similarly, such views as they relate to you are preserved
to you alone. It is crazy how people want to be the author of your biography
when they can’t even draft a preface of their own life. Life is like a painting
project. People tend to have opinions about how the mosaic of your life should
be constructed. But it is only you that have the ultimate power to design the
canvas on which your life’s image is painted. I am fascinated by how much I
didn’t let other people’s opinions filter any decisions I made in the course of
the year. No doubts, the year 2017 was a hard year in all fronts, yet I am
grateful for all the lessons the process of going through those hard times
thought me. I have fallen in love with the process that leads to any outcome. I
love the tenacity I have demonstrated in that don’t-give-a-fuck space. If it
works for you, don’t get rid of it. I can’t wait to deploy more of it in 2018,
but with a positive mind-set though!
Second is
how much I have explored my intuition. This year was the first year I had ever
relied solely on my intuitive mind. I knew I had so much power stored in that
space, but I have not really allowed my intuitive mind to guide the process of
my being. Indeed, everybody has the power of intuition inherent in them. But
most times we tend to ignore the tiny voice of our intuitive mind telling us to
do this or not to do that. I didn’t have to read any book on how to explore my
intuitive mind or listen to any podcast on the power of intuition. I knew from my
life experiences that each time I failed to listen to my intuition I would end
up with the statement: I wish I had listened. So throughout the year 2017 I
decided to pay attention to that “sacred gift”, as Albert Einstein calls it, my
intuitive mind. It is amazing how my intuition has helped me to make the
biggest, yet subtle decisions of my life in the course of the year. I wish
everybody would pay attention to their intuitive mind and explore the power that
it commands. It doesn’t matter to me whether those decisions ended up
successful or not, because I am always wired to positivity, I always call
myself a winner!
Lastly, it is
how much I have evolved as a person in the empathy space. No doubts, empathy is
a very easy word to use, but clearly, not everyone has it. Empathy is, indeed,
a scarce trait to find, particularly in today’s world where nobody gives a fuck
about your feelings. I am intrigued by how much I am able to hold my own
in-between two controversies in the mind - to empathize or not to empathize. It
is difficult to reconcile the battle posed by these controversies. On the one
hand, there is a voice telling you to show empathy regardless of whether it is
deserved or not, because that’s how human beings should be naturally built. On
the other hand is another voice telling you to show empathy only when it is
deserved; hence you shouldn’t give a fuck about people’s feelings when they
don’t deserve empathy. I am grateful to God for giving me the insight that
empathy is not preserved to those whom we feel deserve it. I wish people would
have that clear perception that empathy is a debt we owe each other, regardless
of who is deserving of it or not. I know this is a bitter pill to swallow!
As the
year 2017 draws its curtains and we wrap up our journey for the year, here is
my wish for you in the new year: “may you always live in a loving community
where justice matters, where fairness and authenticity abounds and where the streets
are filled with the joys of life, of learning, and of laughing (culled from the
Handbook of community psychology, edited by J, Rappaport & E, Seidman
2012).
Happy New
Year and have a stress-free 2018 journey.
