wHAT AN EXPERIENCE this year has been!

​The past year has been wild and unpredictable, with various difficulties and challenges arising almost everywhere. On the other side, it has been one of the most successful years for me, mainly because of all the internal work I have done over the past two years. As a result of my internal work, I have experienced more positive synchronicities and serendipities. First of all, my university marks improved again from last years’ above average overall. As a result, my personal tutor has continuously suggested that I would be a great PhD candidate after I finish my bachelor and master’s degree. Surprisingly, I have thought about a PhD before but felt it was a far reach for myself because of all the negative views and beliefs I had internalised. The beliefs come from previous teachers from my adolescent years telling me that I was not suited for academics and would most likely be a blue-collar worker at best. Secondly, my finances improved excessively, and I have gained several other opportunities to improve my finances further. The surprising part is that I honestly was terrified of leaving my last job as an electrician to again go for an unpredictable path, which I had no clue how it would go. Last of all, the most important lesson I learned this year was to become more aware of the meaning I give perceived unfavourable circumstances. Consequently, my general mood and perception of life have changed for the better. The statement I have constantly been using for about six months is “what an experience”, which seems trivial, but honestly, it has changed my life. Also, it reminds me to take things less seriously and have made a perceived negative situation into something more enjoyable. For example, some months ago the showerhead in my flatmates and I’s shared accommodation broke. Due to the broken shower head, the receptionists told us to use the shower in their accessible toilet because they could not fix it immediately. The shower in the accessible toilet was terrible. Still, honestly, I had a blast because I kept reminding myself that it was an odd and most likely unique experience most people never get to experience. Currently, I feel that this new perspective has led to other unusual opportunities and experiences, making life more fun. In other words, instead of constantly labelling perceived adverse circumstances as unfavourable, try to flip into something positive because it gets us out of the same old routine.