Happy 2017!

It’s the second day of the year and what would be a better way to start it than to and evaluate yourself during the past year?

2016 was a year of growth for me because throughout the year, every single day, I have been growing as an individual. Looking back, I can say that I am a different ‘person’ now compared to the start of the year.

A YEAR OF SORROW AND ADJUSTMENTS             

                 My year started as a really rocky one because I lost one of the most influential person in my life, my Lolo. He was one of the people who raised me and taught me all the good values that I know of today. Living a life without him was really hard for me and for the rest of my family. One notable change for me is that I don’t have an instant ‘sundo’ for school anymore. For the past years, with just a simple message, I can already go home within 10 minutes. But now, I also have to take note of the schedule of my mom, dad, and uncle. I also figured out that I was really dependent upon my Lolo. I couldn’t even clean my shoes or tie my shoelaces properly without him. That is why it was a painful year for me because I could remember Lolo by simply doing simple things. It would make me feel nostalgic and sometimes, I’d cry.

A YEAR OF SOCIALIZATION

                During the first half of the year, I was this really awkward girl who did not even know how to interact with her fellow teens (well, I wasn’t really a teen back then, but you get the point). I would not go out of the house on weekends and would only stay at the guardhouse while most of my classmates are all eating outside of the campus. But now, I just seemed to be doing a lot of the things that most teenagers do. I am not saying that I became ‘wild’ in 2016. I just became normal.  

                 I am really thankful that God has given me a great year, one that I could always look back on and only think of the blessings that He has showered upon me. Yes, it may be a really rocky year, but it just proved to me that there is no permanent thing in this world other than change. Even though He has taken Lolo from us, I am still thankful that I got to spend nearly 13 years of my life with such a wonderful person.  Lolo is in a good place right now and I am thankful that God will guide him throughout his journey in heaven. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the chance to grow as an individual. Happy 2017 and may this year be a successful one too!