Adventurous 2012
Everyone around is saying that 2011 was a horrible year, in fact, to me, 2011 was one of the greatest. In 2011, I’ve lived in an amazing city (Dubai), got the chance to meet wonderful people, traveled to fabulous countries, worked on amazing projects & clients, partied like a rock star, experienced mind-blowing adventures and most importantly learned a lot.
But of course, “there is no free lunch in America”, in 2011, I’ve also had little struggles:
- Although I lived in fabulous Dubai, I wasn’t lucky with the neighbors
, especially the ones right underneath (25th floor), who complain on every little tiny noise and called the police in our great house parties. - Although my trip to Europe was amazing last summer, I still had to cancel/change some plans in the last minute.
- Despite meeting amazing people, I’ve also had painful break-ups. And now that I have moved back to Lebanon, its even worse to be separated from the dearest people back in Dubai.
- Although I worked on great digital marketing projects for fascinating clients like DEPE, Qualpro, Tamimi, Majid Al Futtaim Malls, Viva Kuwait, Rostamani Group, RAKFTZ and others, I’ve witnessed arrogant yet ignorant bosses and learned what bad leadership means and how the “carrot and stick” concept in management is a damn failure in today’s information age business environment.
- Although I’ve became a regular guest to Dubai’s most glamorous venues at night, and although I’ve attended the “interesting” Aimy Winhouse and the awesome Snoop Dog concerts, I’ve also gained a bit of a beer belly, few centimeters of fat on my thighs and suffered crazy hangovers due to over indulgence .
- Although I’ve done the most insane adventure ever (Sky Diving), which by the way, its “high” is still in my system, I didn’t keep on practicing the activities I started early on in the year (Professional Swimming, Skiing (yes in Ski Dubai, MOE), Kite Surfing, Salsa Dancing and Tennis). I even haven’t persevere enough on basketball, which correlates to the beer belly and the unhealthy lifestyle I’ve been living lately.
Today however is a day to decide on what should we STOP doing, START doing and CONTINUE doing.
Stop doing: problem with new year’s resolutions is that it usually hard to maintain, but despite that fact, this year I’m determined to stop smoking both Cigarettes and Shisha.
Start doing: 2012 is definitely a challenging year for me. I’ve taken on an extreme changes in my professional career and my live in general. I’ve moved back to Lebanon to handle our family business and this by itself require an entire set of “start doings”. The most important is discipline. In 2012, I need to have an extreme discipline to wake up everyday knowing that I am my own boss yet still focus on the targets and mission at hand. Its also a year of perseverance and patience. Our school is small and needs a lot of work. It has been running for 25 years in the same traditional mindset and I need patience to know that change doesn’t come instantly and perseverance to coop with the problem I’ll be facing.
2012 will also be the year where I will go back to school to embark on a masters degree, which I’m still undecided between Business Administration or Education Management.
Continue doing: There are certain things that I found extremely important throughout the years and I should keep on doing. Most important is the genuine interest and care about other people and being warm, friendly and helpful to friends, family and general fellow citizens. Its important that I continue smiling, continue being the happy person I am and spread positive energy in people I meet. Little alcohol is always good and I’m not planning to stop drinking and having good time, keeping the balance of work and play: work hard, play hard.
Its now 9:00pm on January 1st 2012, this is the beginning of a new year that we hope it brings delight to all of us. At least I have to say that I welcomed 2012 last night a bit better than its predecessor. Last year, we’ve celebrated the new year in the jammed metro station in Dubai. It wasn’t great, but we made the best out of it. This year however, I was between my beloved family, with whom I haven’t celebrated in ages. So, although it was a humble family and relatives gathering, it was a pleasant warm party, with lots of quiz games, poetry and fun activities.
2012 is definitely an adventurous year for me and I wish it’ll be a lucky one for all of us. Warm greetings to all of you.
