Down the road...

...that leads to 2011, when this picture was taken. 

2019 has been a very introspective year so far. 

I won't shock anyone by saying that so much has changed since 2011 (it's been 8 years! Eight!! You're welcome!). Obviously, a few things have remained the same, but strangely, a few other have come back to me in weird ways. 

Early this year I had planned to take a week off work around Easter to just come home and spend some time with my family, as well as to have some alone time and do some thinking. I had ended 2018 feeling a bit blue and had to rethink a few things about my life - where I was and most importantly, where I was headed. 

Meanwhile I learnt to not stand still. To look for opportunities, to make decisions and to take risks, and not to depend on others or on faith. 

George Bernard Shaw once said that "the people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find it, they make them.".

And it reasoned to me for so many reasons. Because of course some of us are given opportunities others aren't, because we don't choose the social context we're born in, or because there are always strikes of luck we can't control. Perhaps my starting point is different from yours, but for better or for worse, it's up to me to define my ending point. 

All of this because this week, the week I took off work, someone close to one of my best friends has passed away. On the most foolish of circumstances. Nevertheless, that person is gone.  

When I said I was feeling blue it was mainly because I didn't like what I was doing professionally. I was working long hours, weekends included sometimes, doing something I didn't enjoy. I've missed on big milestones of friends, such as birthdays or projects. Love comes into play too, friends do as well. And family. I guess we've all missed on opportunities in life but I am committed to grab every single one of them that crosses my path from now on.