Another year, another adventure.

I know I have been absent from the blogging world for a while but I haven’t been short of stories, adventures or observations of this crazy world. Looking back at the past 12 months I feel a lot has changed not only with me but the world in general. Most things seem to have done a 180. Hitting all times oil price highs to dropping down to 1/5 of the value within months. Stocks hitting record highs then, tumbling to be worth pennies.

Personally I feel that 2008 was the opposite for me. Though I’m sure one could argue I had steady highs and lows I feel that the first three quarters of the year were full of chaos, arguments, change and stress. Luckily through that mess I did have some memorable moments but the part of 2008, which I enjoyed, the most, was the last quarter. People have steadied into their spots in my life, I have regulated the activities I will be participating in, and thoughts are in a peaceful place.

I never though I could compare personal turmoil to economic turmoil; however, these days it seems that they both have similarities. After all this economic troubles we see how well companies have managed their funds, how well they are diversified, which ones really have solid foundations. With regards to personal troubles, in difficult times you can see if you’ve picked the right friends, maintained and kept your relationships strong and if you can really depend and trust the people in your life. Its interesting that at these times its so clear which companies were all fluff similar to how you find out which friends were for real.

With the start of the New Year, I don’t think individually there is much we can do to change the state of the economy. But there is so much we can do for ourselves to make our lives happier despite whatever the world throws at us. These include, but are not limited to:

- Give someone a genuine smile everyday.
- Eat healthy food as much as possible but pick a day to indulge
- Do something, which will make your heart race everyday.
- Choose an activity or course that you’ve always wanted to do and just do it. There will never going to be a better time for it. Do it now
- Choose your friends and maintain your friendships with them no matter what life throws at you.
- Laugh everyday.
- When you hug people make sure its sincere
- Don’t use the word love unless you are 100% sure

Happy New Year!