What a year it has been!

The year 2010 has been a roller coaster year for me. Despite the bumpy ride, I gained some invaluable experiences.

The year opened on a mixed note. I wasn't so sure where I was heading and in a haste, I landed up with a job that lasted me only for 2 months.

Then I decided to play nanny to my niece and nephew who came and stayed with us for a week during the school holidays. It is true after all when they said "Children are great teachers." They both taught a thing or two and it was an enriching experience.

Later, I got a contract to work as a Personal Assistant to the Managing Director in a local company. The position is completely foreign to me and I was thankful to be given the opportunity to even try!

In between the months, I volunteered in running events more than I raced. I've volunteered in Pacesetters 30k, NB15k, Mizuno Wave, SCKLIM, Orange Run, Kordel Walk and Chinwoo Biathlon but only participated in 3 races : Chinwoo Charity Walk, Hatyai Nature Run and Newton Run. Surprisingly, I won! Maybe fewer is better?

During the recent public holidays running buddies Eric and Gary explored a new running route for us to try at Desa Park City and all of us love it!

October : A few weekends spent being care-giver to my sister-in-law Tan In Mee, who is a Down Syndrome in hospital had taught me a few wonderful lessons about love. She has opened up my soul to realize that people with learning disability are special in their own ways. Their talents, innocence and beauty is really up to us to discover them. Goodness, it took me a decade to see and learn these things from her!

November : I attended a Breathworks session with Dehyana and the message of love and forgiveness were once again emphasized to me so vividly. Dehyana also highlighted to me the importance of receiving as in giving. There must always be a balance in giving and receiving.
I was also invited to witness the baptism of Ms. Moey's 91 year old aunt, her cousin & cousin-in-law (who are parents of my friends, Sook Fun, Sook May & Joanne).

December : It's always a month of celebration, reunion and reflection.
Celebrated Susan's 71st birthday and had a good time reuniting with old collegues eg. Jenny Tan, Ven Sze, Chris, Shirlay, Monica, Peony, Veron, Valerie etc.
Former classmates held our Annual Get-Together at Karen's place and the turn-out was fantastic. We repeated our life's stories, recalled some silly old school jokes and it was a whole barrel of fun!
As usual, we had Christmas at Ms. Moey's home with her family and some of her close friends, and it was like a yearly affair for us. The next day, we had late Christmas lunch with my mom, sister and Tan In Mee (my SIL).

On a more serious note, I attended a preliminary round of Hospis home visit with Shafeqsh, a Hospis Nurse (I hope to elaborate on this in another blog later).
I also participated in a workshop for Hospis volunteers conducted by Dr. Edlin, Dr. Felicia, Raymond and Ranjit where topics such as Pain In Palliative Care, Being Non Judgmental in our role as volunteers, the history of Hospis were the order of the day. Raymond taught us on how to deal with the wheelchair (safety transfer, body mechanic and types of transfer) which I often had problems with.

I guess at the end of the training, the questions that I need to ask myself are :
As a helper in palliative care, how am I living my life?
How can I contribute to help improve the patients quality of life?
What kind of awareness can be done to change the public mindset that Hospis is really NOT a place for the dying but a window between a patient and caregiver where compassion flows?

Indeed, it has been a year of trying new things and failing in many aspects.
It has also been a year of making the most mistakes and taking each one as a lesson learned.
It has been a year of personal growth...pushing me to a totally new level where I finally learn to look at life with different eyes, and allow everything to be my teacher and my healer.

Before I close another chapter in 2010, I wish to thank the Year for the giving me all the opportunities to make mistakes and learn, for new friends that I made, for old friends that remain true and for people that appeared in my space, providing me with an opportunity to love myself!

"The people we are in relationship with are always a mirror, reflecting our own beliefs and simultaneously we are mirrors reflecting their beliefs. So a relationship is one of the most powerful tools for growth...If we look honestly at our relationships we can see so much about how we have created them". - Shakti Gawain.