Reflection of 2013 - Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!

It's time for me to contemplate on what's going on in year 2013. Tonight I take my time, alone, to think through what has been going on this past one year.

Overall it's been a blissful and smooth year for me. My families (parents, spouse, son, siblings, in-laws, etc.) have been blessed with a good health all year round, with nothing serious to worry about. I've been blessed with a stable job and stable income, working in a great place with a great working environment, together with great colleagues from every department. Most of them are friendly in nature, respectful to each other, and always try their best to work together as a team.

With my team :)

Although my position has been the same for quite few years, I am happy and content with where I am. There was a change with staff that I worked with. However, it's been a smooth transition and I am grateful to find someone that suits and able to adapt with our working environment.My team and I have developed a deeper love, care, and understanding towards each other that makes office a better place to work at.

~~ Best Friends Forever ~~

I am grateful too for having many great friends in my life. Our friendships have grown older each and every day. It's not how long that matters, but how we keep this friendship along the time by meeting more often, supporting each other, spending time together in different occasions, developing similar hobbies or interests, even traveling together, and so on. I'm keeping in touch as well with many of my best friends who stay overseas. Sometimes we exchange our good news, challenges that we face in life, experience, and so on. Although we are separated by distance, we still connect in our hearts. That what truly matters and what I feel blessed with. For me, friendship is priceless and I treasure every friend that I have :)

Family reunion :)

This year, I am very lucky being able to meet all of my siblings. My second sister and her children, who stays in Hong Kong, finally came visiting us in August. My third sister and her children, who stays in Australia, also came to Singapore in October. My eldest sis and mom also came here from Jakarta. It's our luck and fate for being able to meet and spend time together. In May, I was able to go back to Jakarta and spend a quality and valuable time together with both of my parents. They brought me to short staycation 3 days 2 nights in Garut, a beautiful place rich with natural resources, plantation, and so on. The reflexology massage was inside the package too hehehe... to have a better blood circulation resulting in better health.

I spent the Chinese New Year or Bhutanese Losar with someone I never met before in Kolkata, India. It was a last minute plan that went a bit out of a plan. I supposed to meet with another friend as well, but something happened that made him unable to go there on time. However, I had a great and memorable time, also met up with more new Bhutanese friends who study there. Read my post here.

Bhutanese friends - Glad meeting you all!!! :)

I'd saved my annual leave this year in order to have a three-week long vacation in Bhutan. My friend, Karma, had kindly invited me as a guest so I decided to take a longer time to stay and explore. It's been a while since I took such a long vacation in my life and it's been a wonderful and memorable trip. I've met lots of new friends (mostly related to Riku, like his besties, family members, etc.), and finally met up with those friends that I knew from blogging. Blog has given a new dimension and altered my phase of life. Here, I managed to know lots more Bhutanese bloggers, especially. By reading their posts, their experience, their expression towards their feelings or some other things, it has developed kind of friendship in different ways that I'd never experienced before. It's more connection, rather than just like that. Thank you everyone for reading my blog and encouraging me to write more. My wish is also the same for you - keep reading and keep writing. P.S: Due to space constraints, I was unable to put in all the friends I met on the photo above. But I am thankful and grateful meeting all of you.

Congratulations!!!

There were cousins wedding too this year. Some of them had been waiting for a long time for that moment to come and I am glad that they finally found their other half and very happy with their lives now. Hope all of you are blessed with a good marriage, full of understanding, love and care towards each other.

I'd developed many new habits this year, such as: reading books, writing journal, cycling, yoga, eating more healthy food (less junk food) - more fresh vegetables less rice, drink or eat more fresh fruit / juices, stay more time at home during weekend, spending very little time watching TV and drama, and so on. But there were some bad habit being developed too, such as: spending lots of time online (especially Facebook-ing), concentrating on hand phone while walking, watching too much Running Man to entertain myself, and so on. I tried to de-activate my Facebook for some time but it didn't last long. Hahaha... Nowadays, I am still using it, but try to spend less time on bothering things that 'Not my business' :)

I've developed great interest in learning more in spirituality, also I am eager to find ways in order to have more peace and happiness in my life that I found it crucial for us to have. I've learned many more things that is not academically and certified, or useful for my career life or better opportunity to get a promotion in office. It's more on how to live a life that is short, unpredictable, full of challenges, and so on. It's more on how I could make a change within myself rather than blaming onto the situation, or the environment outside us, for the sadness, anger, disappointment, etc.

I am blessed to have few friends who taught me about wisdom, about life, about many other things to encounter that. I am also blessed to be able to know about Rinpoche, Karmapa Lama, Je Khenpo, and so on. I met with the 70th Je Khenpo of Bhutan end of June this year in Singapore. Hopefully I am able to meet with Karmapa Lama and Dalai Lama in person next round. That has been my dream to meet them. But most importantly, I feel very lucky being able to read their books. They teach Dhamma there that is useful as a guide to lead our life. Because in the end, I am just a normal human being, full of imperfections. I made mistakes in life. I faced challenge and I needed Dhamma to overcome. Like one time, I was suffering for a deep attachment toward something. I found myself in dangerous position if I kept it with me. So, their teaching and my friend's wisdom, have helped me, awaken me, and change my own self to be a better me. I am very glad that I was able to finally overcome it and hopefully I won't fall into the same mistake again. I will try my best to put the barrier over something that I shouldn't do, so that my karma won't re-appear again, even in next life. Let me pay back whatever I owned in my past life and that's it! When it's over, let it over fully.

Thank you SB for everything! I am grateful with my life: with what I have, with where I am living, with whom I am living with, with love and care that I receive, with access of wisdom and learning for compassion that it taught me, and so on. Hopefully I am able to give it back to those who needs it: to help those who are feeling sad, who are lost and no direction in life, who feel attached over something, who can't find peace and happiness, and so on. I will try my best to give it whatever I know to them.

Well, I wish you all the best for the year 2014. Hope you have a wonderful life throughout the year!!! Be happy!! Enjoy your life and live life to the fullest :)

Happy New Year 2014 - Wish all of you life full of peace and happiness, and blessed with good health too!!!