2016 - The Year That Was.

My life's dreamy. I don't do much, yet I do enough to be happy and content. From the outside it may look like a drag, but look into my heart, and you'd find contentment with just a dash of confusion, because, well, there is nothing worse than a sorted life.

2016 was the same - only a little better than the last year and a tad worse than the year to come. How can I be sure of the next year? - well, that's how cool God is to me!

I count happiness with all the new things I do. Routine fills the gaps between the new things and that's important to feel settled. But new, new gives me excitement, a feeling that I am alive, a hope that I am still young at heart and mind. 2016 was awesome because:

1. I learnt how to Mosaic. Tiles, clippers, grout - it made me tired yet fulfilled. I created a beautiful owl which hangs  on my wall now. Absolutely in love with my creation!!

2. I opened a new Instagram account - coupleintransit. The purpose of this account is to cover the new places we visit - in and outside Bahrain. But you know what, I forget to take pictures before eating, I forget to post pictures after visiting, I forget to like others for them to like me, and I never follow anyone till I really want to follow - all are the makings of a terrible Instagrammer! Lets just say coupleintransit would just remain an extention of this blog and nothing else. I was never into ass-licking and would never be.

3. I read more books in 2016 than I read in any previous years. I'm a lousy reader. If I lose interest early on in a book, I put it away and don't go back to reading anything for months. So this year was special - I might start reading more.

4. I wrote a letter to my 10-year old niece! In the age of technology we have forgotten the love for paper, pen and hand-written mail. I want her to know what it means to write letters, the fragrance that brings you close to the person who wrote it, and something that you can keep in a box and cherish forever, not just mail that goes on the cloud in form of bits and binary!

5. We stayed in luxury hotels for the first time this year. We spoilt ourselves and felt awesome. I hope we can still stay in 3-stars and feel great because, otherwise, with our limited budget, we won't be able to travel as much!

6. We took two spontaneous trips this year - Prague and Dubai. This was so unlikely us. The first was in lieu of the leftover leaves that needed to be used, plus, God bless Fly Dubai, a super-awesome deal on flights. The other was the Boy's conference that ended being my vacation with my favourite cousin in the land of Sheikhs. I loved both holidays a whole lot and they definitely deserve to go in my diary.

7. Planned a very romantic evening for the Boy on our anniversary. Period.

8. Started eating a lot of chicken and eggs - if that counts!

9. Oh, how can I forget, we were the leading pair of a promotional video by a topppp Bahrain Magazine. I don't want to get into details because I was immensely embarrassed!!! We were even featured in the magazine and the Boy was told by many people in his office and otherwise also that they saw us!! We also had a disagreement with the magazine staff and they had to compensate us. This experience would be hard to top for sure.

10. We saw an International artist Live for the first time. Avicii in Ibiza was an experience I would never, ever forget. My feet were aching like crazy after the show, but it was totally worth it.

11. Made a video for my bestie's daughter's first birthday which made a lot of people shed happy tears! I was also reminded that I've been awesome right from teenage - two of my friends still have gifts I gave them when I was 13 and one has passed it to the next generation. I don't know why we don't exchange gifts like these as we grow older. Hmm! Birthdays are special and need to be celebrated. I wish to hug and be hugged on birthdays, gift and be gifted... Oh, i digress!

This year I became a tad selfish because I want to have fun in life. There were times I wanted to do so much but just could not. I became stronger because I exercised a whole lot. I became braver because I traveled alone when I did not want to. I became smarter because I read so much. And, like every year, I became more grateful for all the goodies and for all the sense. Here's hoping to top all these experiences next year and adding more to my gratefulness account.

Much love.

Up Close and Personal

Last year was eye opening for me at many levels. I felt things I have never felt before. My health was at its all-time low but I was facing the adversities with a brave face. I was miserable from inside but as they say, ignorance is bliss. I ignored the hard part and focused on the good.

Fortunately for me I soon realised that being positive can be both good and bad. We need to understand how to use our optimism. A brave face is really not enough. You may smile through your troubles, but you also need to do something about them.

An incident happened in July that left me devastated. I would skip the details here because it is too sad to explain. I bawled like a baby in public and that has never happened before. The reason was awful. A sudden realisation occurred – I was slowly losing all my confidence.

That incident coupled with a handful more has left me worried. The future doesn’t look very bright but I need to keep, well, a brave front. It does need a lot more than that – it needs wisdom to move in the right direction. It needs patience to wait for results. It needs determination to stay away from temptation. It needs perseverance to stay on the path I have now chosen.

Frankly, it is not easy. You can be strong for a month or two, but eventually you feel for how long can you go on like this. For that, I take support from the outside world. Every single day I read stories of determination, of fighting against the odds, of strong people working towards their goal. And then somewhere I realise, if they can be resilient, I can be tough as well.

I don’t have goals. For technical reasons, I can’t have goals. But I can have small milestones. They are all I look forward to. It’s challenging but not impossible. I can, and I will.

This is a very personal post; the type I may feel at a later date that I need to delete. Today I just felt the need to pour my heart out. Maybe It’s too much, maybe it’s not. Ah, well, let’s call this a new me! I’ve been doing a lot of things lately that I’ve never done before – hopefully I’m being smart.

In my quest to find motivation, I came across this image somewhere. I so want it to go on my tombstone! I am sure each one of us would want the same.

Eat hard, Exercise harder

So I think my weighing scale is lying. Not because it is telling me I am over-weight, but it is telling me I am less than what I thought I would be! You would say I should be doing a happy dance, but I am a paranoid girl who goes crazy when it comes to her weight.

Weight. You are going to hear a lot about that word this year. I have vowed, like umpteen times before, to reduce. Most of you know that my body cannot take the pressure of excess kilos. At 52, I was advised to reduce by 2-3 kgs. Now the doctor was the best in the country, so I didn’t take him seriously. Fast forward 11 years, I think he was right and all my basic instincts were false.

I hit my all-time high in December, thanks to yummy Diwali food at home. It showed. Things that were easier before were becoming harder. One evening it hit me hard. I decided to do something about it. It has been 1 month, yes, 30 days, and I have been the best student in my class!

The fact that I don’t have a teacher works best for me. None of my friends or the Boy gives me a hard time when I fail to achieve certain goals. They are all so supportive and loving. I read myself, I plan myself, I do myself, basically I am my own motivation.

Well, almost. One day I was watching this show on TV where the dietician said that even if you can’t do much, do atleast 10,000 steps a day when you want to lose weight. I have this friend living in my building whom I know since two years but hardly ever met. One day I just casually mentioned that we should walk in the mornings. She agreed. That day and today, we’ve become walking pals! She is the sweetest thing and keeps me motivated.

Then there is Instagram and Twitter. I have started following motivational people for a thought or two each day. I have downloaded one book so far and reading another paperback to keep me on track. I am trying to eat right, rest right and basically do everything that I have learnt in all the past few years of trying to stay healthy.

Two other companions in my journey are Netflix and my maid. I laze around at all other times I am not exercising. It is crucial for my health. So these books and constant support from a TV series is keeping me happy. My maid does basic work in the kitchen and so it hardly takes me any time to cook sumptuous, healthy meals each day. 

The only thing I am missing is writing. Even this is a distraction in a few ways and so I don’t want to open my laptop on most days. And since I am hoping that I would stick to my schedule for a few months now, I don’t know how much I will be able to come here. This would be a first in so many years. I feel bad.

But I feel good too! I am bang on my January targets and I cannot be happier. Things are not all that great but I am sure I will get there. The weather is perfect for all that I want to do. And I won a spa and brunch day at a 5-star today!

So you see, even God is smiling at me. Hope to keep in touch!

P.S. The abrupt brunch bit was just to make you jealous like I always do. Hugs!