The Year It Has Been

Supposedly, every December, I should be looking back to the year that it has been. Especially in the last few remaining days of the year, 2008. It has been one heck of a year. It has been a rollercoaster year for all of us – from the cacauses, the historic presidential campaign, the big “financial” bomb that the Lehman Brothers and AIG dropped, Tina Fey’s very impressive impersonation of Sarah Palin, the Sarah Palin media blunders and ultimately, Barack Obama’s stunning win in the concluded US presidential elections. There are a lot of things that have happened to us and for the rest of the world.

Year 2008 has been marked with success and failures – just like any other year that it has been. But it is indeed, I can say, that every year turns out to be colorful than the last. Honestly, with all the bad news that have happened in the last quarter of this year, I seemed to be hopeful for the next year, although with  a mix of dim realism too. I am hopeful and somehow quite scared of what will lie ahead for all of us.

It is not right to be fatalistic though. I am emphasizing that we should be getting to the “get real” moment of our lives. This is the lesson that we should learn from this year – that we should be realistic and practical as much as possible.

This year, have been marked by major movements in the financial climate that affected almost every country in the world – and that’s somehow equivalent to climate change. When Lehman Brothers and AIG collapsed this year, along with the simmering problem of the house crisis and credit crunch, everybody seemed to have painted a picture of global doom on their heads – and that included me too. But I learned quickly, not to be submerged in my own brand of apocalypse – I still clinged on the hope that there will be always a light at the end of a dark tunnel.

In my country, I can say that most of the people here have lived in their simplest means because of the poor conditions. Most citizens here in my country are poor and belonging to the working class. My country have been under foreign occupation and suffered much during the World War II and the local wars with the insurgents from the southern regions. But what I noticed, the people, despite of the dire conditions, still believed in the light at the end of the tunnel – that is, afterall – HOPE.

This year also taught me that what matters most is not money. Its not all about money and luxury. It is all about living simply and work your way towards your own personal development. I mean, not all things are can be bought by money. Sometimes, the best things in life are either simple and free.

I have my sympathies for the people who have lost their homes to foreclosure, are in deep debts because of their credit cards, having problems with their health care insurance, and have lost their jobs recently. I know the pain of the hard times. But the pain should not stop you from moving on and forward with your life. Its not the end of the world and your life – it is just you are now looking for  a new chance for yourself. And dont quit. Quitting is the ugliest option that you will have.

2008 is a year that has been. We all have our own ups and downs – and yeah, the world also shares it own hiccups to us. Doesnt matter what will happen next, what matters most is how you will face the next year – either with a heart full of hope or drowning yourself in despair.