Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The Year That was! The year that will be!

 


As the saying goes, " Time flies when it is good." I assume 2023 has been a good year and thats why it has whizzed past me. I was trying to list down what the year gave me and i have penned down the below. 

My gains from 2023 are-

  1. I completed my 40 countries. This was a huge boost for me, I needed to do this for myself.
  2. I read 10 books. I know it's a very small number. But i had absolutely stopped reading after my kids were born. So i set myself a small target of 10 books to start with. I even read a few self help and business management books.
  3. I started saying NO. I said no to a few things this year. I am still not there, but i am on my way.
  4. I started saying YES. I started accepting myself as I am. I started loving myself as I am. 
  5. I now have a skin routine before bedtime and I am elated I started it.
  6. I read the Bhagwad Gita.
  7. I saw falling snow with my kids and spouse.
  8. I started investing wisely. I managed my own investment portfolio and enjoyed doing it.
My pains from 2023 are-
  1. I continue to let people find faults in my choices. 
  2. I wanted to cut sugar from my life but I am too sweet to do it.
  3. I should've worked more and with extra passion which I didn't.
  4. I was not charitable at all.
  5. I fell sick too often with viral.
  6. I didn't visit Kedarnath like I intended to.
  7. I didn't appreciate my spouse and kids as much as I should've.
What I want to do in 2024-
  1. See atleast 1 wonder of the world.
  2. Visit Kedarnath or Vaishno Devi Temple.
  3. Spend quality time with the kids and spouse.
  4. Reduce screen(mobile) to not more than 30 minutes post work.
  5. Cut down on sugar and alcohol.
  6. Take a holiday without any guilt.
  7. Increase my investment portfolio by 2X
  8. Visit a Dark Sky Reserve and see the Milky Way.
  9. Watch more live plays than movies in theatres. 
  10. Eat before sunset atleast 3 times a week.
  11. Learn to Meditate.
  12. Say I Love You and I am thankful.
I don't know why all my to-do's start with travel and end with being mindful. Maybe that is what is the purpose of my life. I was intended to be a nomad but I realised I couldn't survive alone. I was supposed to be a traveller, but i can't do it as a loner. I hope I am able to keep my 2024 goals alive. I am not pledging to lose weight(though i should). I have simple wants and I am going to fulfil them in my simple way. 

2023- You've been kind!
2024- Pls be kinder and happier!

Rupal

Thursday, June 8, 2023

3 Years Late but We Did it!


On 5th June 2023, I set foot in the Czech Republic which marked the completion of my 40 countries. A goal I had set for myself 5 years back- To have travelled 40 before I turned 40 in September 2020. Covid came, stayed, wrecked havoc and left me mentally weak to not have the courage to complete my goal. I fell short by 3 countries when the world closed down in March 2020. My 40th birthday came and went, my family did everything they could to celebrate! Everything around my 40th birthday celebration centred around my dream of 40. 

But anytime I would hear the number 40, something inside hurt. To everyone else, it was just a number- To me it was a failed dream! When the world opened in 2022 and travel started, I was scared of something I loved. With 2 bouts of bad covid, I now feared the foreign lands and the unchartered territories. I wanted to fulfil my dream but didn't know how to start back. 2023 started off on a different note and I found the same rigour that I felt in 2018 and 2019. Finally, after a lot of planning Oman, Poland and Czech Republic were ticked off the Bucket List and I touched the Coveted 40- 3 years Late but Nonetheless!

Some of us live our entire lives without fulfilling a goal, some of us even without setting one. And that is why I felt extremely proud of myself when I wandered on the rustic bridges of Prague. In fact, I felt proud of all of us. It was a solo dream that turned into a united resolve. I may have dreamt to reach 40 countries but it took a lot from everyone around me to get there.

First and Foremost, the husband who gave me entire financial support; sometimes even in crunch times. In our bootstrapped start up days when we minimised our expenses, he let me spend on my travel as i wished. My kids, my mother in law, my family- everyone rallied around me to look after each other, manage the household as I travelled. My friends- who stepped out of their ways to do day trips/weekend trips with me to visit a new country. It was as if the universe was conspiring to make this happen!

My wanderlust didn't bite the dust because of all of us. Because of how everyone around me rallied and spurred me on. Some with co-travelling, some with talking, some with motivating! Everyone contributed to my goal. So much so that I felt on that fateful day of 5th June, I would cry as we crossed the German border into Czechia. But since it wasn't only my achievement, the skies opened their hearts out. It rained, poured and wouldn't stop. In that moment, my tears wouldn't come out. Someone else out there was crying for me in happiness. Someone else out there was doing fist pumps! Someone else out there was grinning cheek to cheek! 

"When you want something with all your heart, you are closest to the soul of the world. That in itself is a very positive and powerful force."

You know your dream is teaching them things when the kids text you this !


And like the song goes-

🎵'Pehla ta Kudi ne Ludhiana bhi nahi tapiya si' 🎵

See you on the other side of 50 Now!

R