e 3 a s h i g R E F L E C T I O N S

Goodbye 2007, Hello 08!

Half of my friends don’t believe that I used up my annual leave so early in the job and actually spent it doing a course rather than travelling � what�s with that? I am quite happy with the way things turned out. The course is now finished and I will soon be back to work, in a new department though.

I spent last Eid in the desert with some friends where it was a nice break away from the norm. Truth be told, I am an urban person. I like the desert, but I also like my internet connection and hot showers. We had no tents and no sleeping bags but had some blankets so we laid in the open around camp fire and woke up frozen yet refreshed with the first rays of the morning. This is somewhat different from my experience in Qatar where I’ve been for the last few days where you kind of have all the luxuries of the city in the middle of the desert. The culture of camps is much more active in Qatar where everybody seems to be part of one camping group or another. Guys chip in and establish a base in the desert full with electricity generators, TV and satellite connections, kitchen, toilets, etc. Probably more suitable for urban creatures like myself.

2007 just rolled past us. It feels like yesterday when it started. While I did not tick every item on my last year resolution, I am quite happy with where I got. The biggest change in 2007 was starting my life at home which has been on hold for the past 10 years. I have a sense of needing to run twice as fast as everyone else just to catch up. Like the year before, I came to know some of my friends better than I would have guessed even few years ago while some friendships faded with the passage of time. I am closer to achieving stability both on a spiritual and personal level. This time last year, I was still not too sure where I stand with some of my beliefs. Richard Dawkins both enlightened and confused me but on the whole, I am much closer to God than I ever been in my life. I know myself better and I am doing more of the things I want to do and less of the things that I just have to do because of circumstances. Professionally, while I feel much more confident as a physician, my career progression is on hold because of the coming military training which is interfering with exams, memberships and residency schemes. Part of me is feeling guilty however because I feel I could have given it a little bit more even with the overriding constraints. Business wise, I made some deals and reaped the benefit of some decisions and risks I took few years ago. I still did not achieve my material objectives but I am heading in the right direction.

My resolution for 2008:
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-Be a better person who is more approachable and helpful to those around me.
-Pray more on time.
-Socialise, socialise, socialise.
-Start a new business.

This coming year will probably have much less medicine than the three years before it.

PS: This post is dedicated to Jonathan Harris for his project �We Feel Fine�. Never before have so many feelings looked so beautiful.