My 2016

Well, like always everyone around the globe celebrated the countdown New Year’s Eve, then some probably have thought about to start new resolutions for 2017 to live a better, happier and more productive life than the year before. But actually, to be better, we don’t need to wait for new year to change, in fact we can change anytime we want. Yet, I believe most people prefer to make major changes in the beginning of the year. Perhaps, most of us just love the idea of starting new in a new year, giving us the feeling of starting all over again (because you can’t rewind your own life.)

I just beat 2016!

Eventhough we’ve already went through few days after 2017, I hope it’s not too late to write something about my 2016. I’ve learnt a lot in 2016 about how to be independent and be myself. Most of the time, we restrain ourselves from doing something we might want/love to do because we are too afraid of what other people might think of us. So, I kept reminding myself to “Just do it!” just like the Nike always said and I stop living in other people’s opinion too much.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt in 2016 was making choices. No matter what happens, bad or good, we do always can choose of what person we want to be. You can choose to be sad, be happy, mad, productive, etc. This is something that I should’ve known before, the power of decide.

Keeping those in mind, I decided to go for travelling. With low budgets, in 2016, I managed to travel 4 countries nearby in separated trips. I went to Siem Reap (Cambodia), Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Yogyakarta (Indonesia).

The most adventurous trip was in Bangkok which my 4D3N trip was a solo travel. My only guide were my phone and my travel book. Most of the time I walked instead of taking tuktuk. I woke up early in the morning, went out early to see how a sleeping city woke up. People starting their daily routines. Seeing people went to work, open their shops, cleaning the streets, delivering flowers to the temples, taxi/tuktuk drivers waiting for passengers, the monks started to pray in the temples etc. Each person was playing different roles is what created Bangkok. But like other cities or countries, people do what they do because of one similar reason, to survive. Made me wondered why we should hate somebody or group of people just because they are different from us. Plus, they never chose to be different.

Well, I don't wish to elaborate too much about my trip, but that is just one of few things what made me thought deeper than before while in Bangkok. The issue is not new, but if something really happens in front of your eyes and experience it, it affects deeply.

As folks say don't judge a book by its cover,
don't judge me by the books I've read.

Other than travelling, I decided to start reading. I’m not a fan of books but I encouraged myself to read something. When I did, it was strangely a satisfied experience. A friend told me that reading could make your mind occupied and make you forget the problems you have for a moment. I thought that was ridiculous but after experienced it, I have to admit she was right. Still, I had difficulty to finish few books as I lost my reading motivation in the middle of reading which eventually I didn’t finish reading the book. Here, I’ve learnt a trick in reading. Just stop read the book, then buy and start reading a new book you interested in. The more you force yourself to read a book you are not interested in, the more you’ll waste your time making reasons not to read.

Those are few things happened in my 2016. Just to shared some of mind. How’s your 2016?