New Years Resolution: Relax and Enjoy

Smile yo! You made it to 2014!! The first thing I social media’d in 2014. And I truly mean it. Taking time to smell the roses every now and then is important, especially when you’ve survived another year, and so you should smile.

2013 has been a year full of exciting events. We welcomed Prince George Alexander Louis, the Royal Baby of UK. We also grieved for Nelson Mandela, a true hero that the world over can learn from. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted to smoking crack and plans to run for office again, whilst Edward Snowden continues to leak NSA secrets. Chris Hadfield brought a new meaning to travelling and communicating from Space, while Pope Francis introduced new ways of thinking about Christianity and what it means to be a religious person. Women were freed from years of captivity in an Ohio home, while others were trapped in the collapse of a factory in Bangladesh. And, sadly, the numerous terrorist attacks that took place the world over, ranging from the Boston Marathon Bombings, to the less reported daily attacks in numerous other countries such as Pakistan.

For me, personally, 2013 has been insane. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I started the year off travelling to Indianapolis and Connecticut to visit some friends and family, and got back just in time for the winter semester. I took part in the [Hack For Her]../hack-for-her-hackathon-at-google/) Hackathon at Google, the CUTC Hackathon and the Nth Gen Google I/O Hackathon, as well as attempted to make my first game called Goo Goo Ka Ka (please don’t play it. It’s terrible). I went home for summer, and worked at Kingsway Tyres. I also got to travel to Turkey (and Greece for about 12 hours) for 2 amazing weeks with my sister and friends. This was immediately followed up with a family retreat with 30 Shah’s (my closest relatives) at the Coast in Kenya. I also spent the summer planning [UofTHacks]../uofthacks-2013-an-overview/), the largest student run hackathon in Canada, as well as planning events for our CSSU. My mom surprised me for my birthday, and I moved into an amazing Condo downtown. I have a lot going for me, and 2014 has a lot of ground to cover too.

With all the good times, come some pretty bad times too. I lost some close family members. One of them was a huge part of my life growing up - always supporting me, and one of the first people I would contact when I got good or bad news. It took a lot out of me, and was even harder to process because I was in Toronto away from the family. A couple of months after this, I found out that another person extremely close to me had breast cancer. I was terrified. and was shocked and confused by the Westgate Terrorist Attack - something that happened at a place I’ve spent a lot of time in. This, along with other things made the year somewhat stressful and inspired my new years resolution.

Relax and Enjoy. That’s my resolution. I learnt last year that with all the amazing things you have going on, there will always be situations under which you have little to no control. They will come at you, and keep swinging even if you’re down. You need to appreciate the good times for what they are, and patiently ride through the bad ones. Surround yourself with people who expect nothing and give everything, and treat them the same way - they’re the type of people who’ll help you get through the tough times. I am already busy with job applications and planning other things, but I’m definitely taking things a lot easier so that I can enjoy them more.

Relax and Enjoy everyone!