Sunday, January 01, 2012

Reflecting on year 2011 - Part One

There have been so much thoughts and reflections for the past year - Reflections about my life, our lives and the children's lives, our pursuits, our challenges and I must say, the Europe trip has brought much reflections too. Interaction with people brought much thoughts too - as words are exchanged, so are individual's philosophies. And they are indeed food for thought . And amidst of it all, we have again been made so aware of God's hand in our lives. 

A timely check on 29 Dec - CA125    8.2 
We praise and thank God for granting life and health. 

The start of year 2011 was embraced with 'bravery'. In the months of Jan and Feb 2011, Dan and I knew that we would be taking bold steps - steps less trodden by our family and friends. [Sometimes I do secretly wish we had revolutionary, brave and trusted friends who went ahead of us so we could follow, but....] Few knew but it felt overwhelming at times as we carried the full risks of our decisions and the full weight of responsibility of it. But it was something we wanted to do and we knew we had to do.

The first was moving to our new place. Few were encouraging but largely most were skeptical. The latter group has since trained me focus my energies on building my life rather than appeasing obligations. That has been one of the greatest mental trainings for me in 2011 and it is truly liberating!

I was kept real busy in the beginning of year 2011 sorting out our furniture, old and new and trying to clear our impossibly filled house. Arranging for movers and trying to sort out renovation at the same time. I can't believe that it has almost been a year since we moved across the straits. Phew...amazing! It has been nothing short of challenging but it has been nothing short of fulfilling. I think it was one of the best moves we had done. For myself, I could no longer hide behind the artificially inflated safety net that Singapore provides but to realistically confront life and its challenges. Nothing to boast here as much of the challenges I faced were things that I should  have sorted out when I was much younger but didn't have the opportunity to, nor had the zest to do. For one, I have gone from being a non-cook to being one who is able to whip up a meal in double quick time [and not just any meal but healthy meals:)]. Moving across the straits has also sharpened my mind to know that we are responsible for our own safety and we provide the necessary safety net for our family - not the government.

Our home has since happily hosts many families and we are thankful for many opportunities for love and kindship. [Friends during Dec Hols]

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