15 Life Lessons I Learnt In 2015

Okay, so the year is coming to an end and it's time for me (and everyone else) to come up with your typical "YAY IT'S 2016 AND THANK YOU 2015 FOR SUCH AN AWESOME TIME!" post. 

To be very frank, 2015 was a roller coaster ride. It started off on a serious note, hit a high, then sunk terribly low and finally it started rising. 

I don't think I want to fall down to that level of darkness, anymore. Even if I do, I want to be resilient enough to soar back again. 

Yet, no matter what happened, I won't deny that 2015 made me learn a hell lot of things, for which, I'll be forever grateful. 

So here goes nothing. 

LESSON NUMBER ONE: HARD WORK 

2015 taught me that hard work is one of the key factors to success. 

At the beginning of the year, I felt deluded. I kept thinking, "Oh, I'm so smart and so great. I think I'll ace at everything I do." 

Oh boy, was I in for a bad surprise. 

I missed the 90 per cent plus mark in my 12th grade board exams. I did not get into almost ALL the universities of my choices. 

Before, I was like: this is so unfair, I worked so hard! 

But now, after doing some soul searching and overthinking, I've realized that I did work hard but I didn't work hard as I should have. I realized that I was horribly conceited and I realized that a lot of things don't come easy. You have to work to be worthy of earning them. 

Yes, luck plays as a major factor. 

But hard work is the main masala. 

(Or the MVP, for those of you well-versed with the internet lingo) 

LESSON NUMBER TWO: BEING SYSTEMATIC

This year was the year wherein I decided to be extremely systematic about all the things that I ought to do. 

A year ago, if you would have asked me: What do you want to do with your life? 

I would have answered: I don't know! I haven't decided as yet!

After what happened with my 12th grade results and the resulting not getting into the colleges of my choice thing, I realized that I needed to get my life sorted and I needed to get it back in order. 

So I started planning it. I brainstormed over my interests and what I really wanted to make out of my life. 

Then voila! I made an entire list and chalked out a proper plan! 

Now, not only do I feel organized, I also feel extremely content. 

Some people say being messy is a great thing and it's supposedly very creative. But to people like me, whose thoughts clutter up, it's always better to sort them all out and move ahead. 

LESSON NUMBER THREE: STEPPING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE 

2015 was a year where I stepped out of my comfort zone, multiple times. 

Comfort zone is the space that you surround yourself with. It's a place wherein you keep yourself extremely safe and sound. 

It's a place, let me tell you, you can achieve nothing. 

Come on, you're a human being. You need to stop being a cocoon. You need to get out, do things that you want to do and you have so much to achieve. Stop being sheltered, get out of your comfort zone. It's only going to lead to amazing things. 

I tried stepping out of my comfort zone multiple times and it's one of my strongest resolutions in 2016 that I step out of my comfort zone a lot! 

LESSON NUMBER FOUR: GRATITUDE 

In 2015, I learned how to have gratitude. 

There's so much that we do, which isn't just our doing, but done with the help of the ones around you. The best thing to do is to have gratitude and to thank them for being a part of your life. 

Even if the person has been horrible to you, thank them. Thank them for being a part of your life and thank them for shaping you to be the powerhouse that you well-deservedly are. 

LESSON NUMBER FIVE: ON MAKING IT COUNT

This year, I got to understand the value of making each day, each minute count. 

As Jack Dawson had so poetically said, "Make each day count", I realized the value and the worth of enjoying every single moment I have. I realized that (as typical as it sounds) life is short and I ought to make the most of it, no matter what happens. I realized that this moment that we're living in, right now, won't come back ever again and we need to imbibe the best of it. 

So, dear reader, I hope you get to make each and every moment count and get to live in the present! 

LESSON NUMBER SIX: LET IT OUT

I learned, dear reader, that letting out your emotions when you're feeling choked up is the best way to feel clean. 

You know, there are instances wherein you feel extremely low. There are instances when you feel like life is a thorny bush and you feel like you have absolutely no way out. 

That's when, instead of moping around, you ought to talk, write or do something that lets out your inner frustrations. 

But do it in such a way that it doesn't result to casualties. 

This October, I felt absolutely negative and lonely. I became snappy, irritable and beyond insufferable. 

So one fine day, I broke down and I started chatting. I started talking to every single friend I've ever had. I started talking to my family and you know what? 

All that negative energy just ebbed away. 

Which leads me to my next lesson. 

LESSON NUMBER SEVEN: MAKE POSITIVE

iiSuperwomanii had once said: Two negatives make a positive. 

So, that's a really important lesson I learned this year. 

Life gives you lemons. It hurls tomatoes at you, if it's not satisfied with the lemons. Sometimes, it hits you with grubby shoes when it's feeling ultra sadistic. 

So, what should you do? 

Make a lemonade out of the lemons, a tomato soup out of the tomatoes and clean the shoes and wear them. 

That's what. 

Take all the negativity that's hurled at you and convert it into something positive. 

Got bad grades? Don't worry. Work hard for the next one. Improve your flawed aspects and strive on your better aspects at the same time. 

Had a falling out with a friend? No worries. 

Make your side clear and make new ones. If that friend wants to come back, he/she is most welcome. If not, who cares? 

LESSON NUMBER EIGHT: BE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT

I was very unclear about what I wished to make out of my life at the beginning of this year. I had no idea as to what I wanted to do. 

So, don't ever do that, dear reader. Don't ever go through the resulting pain and paranoia I went through, afterwards. 

Be clear about your likes, dislikes and your surroundings. Then make a decision.

Even for some matters, just don't think. Do it. 

You don't like something? Stand up for it, fight it. 

You want something? Go get it. 

You want to change yourself? Do it. 

You have to be clear about your boundaries. You cannot be unsure, especially about grave matters at all. 

LESSON NUMBER NINE: ACCEPTANCE

This year taught me that accepting certain people as they are is good. 

I will be honest you. 

I have a bunch of relatives who do not care about what I think and they have this air of indifferent coolness whenever they talk to me, like they are not interested in what I have to say. 

I won't say that they are bad. Because you know what? We have different opinions and if we are not able to adjust, accept them as they are. 

My great-uncle always says this, especially lately. Accept a set of people as they are. No matter how much you try, don't ever try to change them. It's their job to do the changes and you mustn't bother yourself to bring them on the track unless you are really closely connected to them. 

LESSON NUMBER TEN: DO NOT BE INSECURE

This year was an eye-opener when it came to my insecurities. 

I realized that as you grow older, you become comfortable with your personality traits and your surroundings. That makes your insecurities slowly chip away.

Before, I used to think a lot about what others thought of me and I used to restrain myself. That is still there, but I'm still able to express myself and let my opinions out. 

So dear reader, don't be bogged down by your insecurities. There's so much within you and you shouldn't keep it hidden. At all.  

LESSON NUMBER ELEVEN: SELF TIME

I learned that I need to spend more time with myself. 

There are instances, like this New Year's Eve, wherein I'm relatively alone. Before, I used to feel bored. 

But now? 

I have been taught that you have to accept alone-ness and instead spend your alone time, being yourself and understanding the complexities of your brain. 

You have to spend some time alone and pamper yourself. You need some time for yourself and to love yourself. 

LESSON NUMBER TWELVE: NEVER BE ASHAMED

I learned something incredibly important. 

Never ever EVER be ashamed of who you are. 

At the beginning of this year, especially during my German class, I used to feel really self conscious about myself and who I really was. 

But NOT ANYMORE. 

Yes, I'm a daughter of a working mother. Yes, I live in a tiny apartment with my mother and her parents. Yes, I'm not typically beautiful. Yes, I don't live in a fancy suburb. 

But all these places and people have shaped me into the human being I am now and there's no way I'm going to hate it. 

I'm not the richest or the hottest. But I'm me and there's no one else who's going to be better at being me better than me. Not even the actress who plays me in my biopic. 

Okay, that was a bit too conceited. 

LESSON NUMBER THIRTEEN: SPREAD POSITIVITY

I learned that spreading positivity can make everyone really happy. 

So that's what we should strive to do. Be positive, spread positivity and make others happier. 

LESSON NUMBER FOURTEEN: SING OR DANCE

I learned that singing is a great therapy to let out yourself free and loose. 

I can dance as well as an Oompa Loompa. So singing is the only outlet I have.

I'm a horrible singer but singing songs is really fun and really amazing. 

Do all these activities which let you loose and calm you down. 

LESSON NUMBER FIFTEEN: APOLOGIZE

People will block you on social media. 

So do take into consideration as to why they blocked you. If it's for a stupid reason, block them back and ignore them. 

If it's for some genuine mess up you did, do NOT HESITATE TO APOLOGISE.

In fact, never hesitate to apologise when it's your fault! 

***

So this is what I learned in 2015. 

And now it's almost 2016... 2 minutes awayyy! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR READER! HAVE A AWESOMESTASTIC YEAR AHEAD! I LOVE YOU! 

STAY AWESOME AS EVER, 

MUCH LOVE, 

ARCHIE!