Eshin Direct

Happy new year to one and all. Of course, as I write this, it is still not New Year yet where I am but for most of the folks that I know in Asia, it will have just passed.

So, as another year closes and a new one opens up in front of me, I am in the mood for both reflection and goal-setting, something that surrounding yourself with cold weather and the drearily sunless skies of winter Europe lend themselves well to.

What were the highlights of 2009 for me? Broadly speaking, it was a good year on all fronts. Professionally, I survived a tumulteous year at a company inevitably adapting itself to the prevailing financial climate. Naturally, when my appraisals come around as the first points of order next week, I will not only have survived but excelled at surviving. I do, of course, work in marketing.

On the financial front, I have happily met the financial goals that I set for myself at the start of 2009. I have finally learnt the importance of financial discipline and the comfort that it breeds in leading a secure lifestyle. It hasn’t been an easy road and support has been there from friends and family, and not just in the financial sense. If I had to name this year on purely financial grounds, I would have to say that this was the year of the ham sandwich, the every present symbol of my new found financial discipline. My suffering colleagues can serve as testament to this.

Family has been a mixed bag this year. While there were no new additions and thankfully no losses, my father’s health is beginning to become a concern. As an expat over 5,000 miles away, I can insulate myself from it to some degree but I do get to see the more pronounced effects of ageing at longer but regular snapshots. These snapshots never used to change but now it seems there is a new picture every 3 to 6 months. I suppose it is just about getting used to it and dealing with it and I forget sometimes that my father is pushing 80. If I looked and functioned that well at 80, I would be a happy bunny. The last kick in the teeth that 2009 had to offer was a stroke that hospitalised my grandmother. Thankfully, I’ve had the chance to visit her in hospital during this visit.

Most of my family continues to progress well. I was shocked to find neice’s newborn had developed nicely into a 2 year-old personality in my absence. I dread to think what my other niece and nephew have grown into after not having seen them for too long. One regret for 2009 was that I didn’t take more time to visit them while I was in the UK earlier. Some highlights for next year will be my father’s 80th birthday and its subsequent family reunion. My own plans for family will also progress somewhat further and my uncle is making a landmark visit back to the homeland after not having left Australia for more than 25 or so years.

Personally, I’ve made some new friends and reforged some old friendships that should never have lost their lustre. I am happily attended my friend Bobble’s wedding as an usher in September. I am sure there was no real position of usher in the Jewish context but I was grateful that there was a small part for me to play in his marriage. Board Boy welcomed a baby boy to his family and his own pride. Bible Boy and his wife gave birth to their first born and regretfully had a fretful first two months as the poor girl had to undertake major surgery.

I’ve had the chance to learn one new skill this year – first aid. This training came courtesy of my company and it is something that I’ve always thought was important. I’ve even suggested that my mother learn the same course so she know’s important things about CPR in case something happens to my father.
Health-wise, I’m sure that Mrs. Eshin will undoubtedly dispute my prognosis of it being a good year, so far be it for me to be as brave as to contradict this. Right now, as I type, I have a belly happily pushing itself to the limits of its natural boundaries that would agree with her. I’ve only fallen seriously sick once this year – with the dreaded H1N1 flu. My t-shirt does say, “I survived H1N1, but the tamiflu nearly killed me.”

Being sick, and having a survival workload meant that my training has remained sporadic but not without its own gustos of enthusiasm. It was quite an accomplishment for me to have taken part in this year’s Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore 2009¹. I took part in the Corporate Challenge component which saw me doing only the swimming. That in itself, at least for me, was an accomplishment – 1.9km in the open sea is no small feat for a coach potato. I suppose now is as good a time as any to set the record straight as some newspaper report erroneously that I am a triathlete. I am no such thing and it would be unfair for me to claim such a title. What taking part in the Ironman has done for me in some small way,is that it has galvanised my fitness routine and I have taken up running and swimming as a regular activity. By March, I hope to improve on my swim time at the 2010 Aviva Ironman and by May, I want also to have run a half marathon in a respectable time.

So what else does 2010 hold in store for me and what do I want to accomplish? Well, apart from the goals that I’ve already discussed, I’m looking for a charity that I can actively support and contribute to. I’m still trying to find a worthwhile cause that resonates with me but hope to have something soon. I’d like to continue learning something, even if it is one thing. Vague goals to be sure but then again, I always feel it best to keep the important ones personal and needless to say, I have set those already. It’s also less embarrassing when once I read this post next year at the same time, with the potential for disappointment at not having done what I set out to do. This way I can be pleasantly surprised.

Happy 2010 and stay safe wherever you may be.

1. Those astutue enough will know that I’m shamelessly plugging my own company’s event. [↩]

Tags: aviva, family, financial, Friends, work