2016 was a rough year. Everywhere you look you see turmoil. Brexit, Trump, Syria, Nice, Berlin, Migrants, … And here comes a question - has this world been in a tougher spot? Of course. And we have always persevered. How? By being human!

I will come back to this thought but first let me take you through my 2016. It was also full of highs and lows. Fortunately for me, it peaked in mainly positive outcomes. Nevertheless, to get to those great moments of happiness I had to get through a great deal of obstacles. Instead of the achievements themselves, I’d like to talk about the tools that guided me towards my accomplishments.

The first thing I’d like to talk about is meditation. After reading an article in the first quarter of the year I decided to try out mindfulness meditation. Now before I tell you about the benefits it gave me, I should let you know that before attempting to meditate, I had little to no clue about what that is. Yes, of course, I had seen the movies about Shaolin monks levitating above the ground, but I considered that to be bullshit. My thoughts were similar about the subject at hand. I incorporated meditation in my daily routine and this recurrent exposure is what gave me results. Namely, it has grounded me when I needed something to keep me focused on my journey and the goals - I call them checkpoints - along the way. It also allowed me to dig deep inside when I needed a helping hand and there was nobody else to turn to. It helped me throw away my ego and realize the truth about learning - we do it all our lives. Meditation has cured my restlessness. It gave me faith in the process and patience to accept the bitter pill we swallow daily. It also taught me to respect my friends and their decisions, and be grateful to have them. Finally - through meditation I realized I am happy with who I am - a positive, curious and extrovert geek.

It would be awesome if the above makes you try out meditation in any form. If not - that’s ok too. I believe that everyone is entitled to explore life at their own pace. Maybe you will need it, maybe not, maybe you are already doing it in one form or the other.

The next thing I’d like to talk about is outdoor/street/body-weight workout aka calisthenics. I’ve been a fan of it and practised for years. The funny thing is that I never managed to reach a level where I felt proud of my progress. Then this summer happened. I decided to share the idea of preparing for an OCR (Obstacle Circuit Race) with some of my mates. Fortunately for me, they decided to give that a go and the rest is history. From the summer up until now (excluding the occasional holiday), there have been now off days, no excuses. We have been training outdoors and feel awesome. Each of us is visibly more skilled, more passionate and better equipped to handle what life has in store for us. Forget about the “gainz” and the pose. It’s just a group of guys that enjoy the social contact, the friendly rivalry, overcoming ourselves self and becoming the best we can be.

Finally - reading and writing. Quite some time passed before I could turn to non-technical literature, and I am happy that this moment came. It felt like visiting an old friend, a sort of homecoming. As for writing - this site is a testament to my commitment to write. I am by far not the most skilled guy but my determination to learn and willingness to share my thoughts about programming and life in general is something that has and will continue to help me meet the most awesome of people.

Taking into account the aforementioned three things I have come to an inner peace with myself and am ready to face a variety of challenges. And that is what being human is all about, right? Knowing that you are vulnerable and that you know how much you don’t know. Aiming to keep on fighting so that you ultimately get better. Taking responsibility and living to the fullest.

So, yes - it has been a terrible year. But that doesn’t mean that another revolution around the Sun by our planet has to turn us into ignorant, disconnected and aggressive beings. On the contrary! Now is the time to celebrate life with your loved ones, to take on new challenges and to open up to existing ones. Now is the time to be ready for changes.