When Life Gives You Lemons

Hey all you dreamers, hope everyone’s been doing great. This is a very difficult subject for me to discuss and it is going to be a bit of a long blogpost, you have been prepared! It’s been a pretty crazy couple of days what with everything going on, job hunting and university starting. What’s more is that on Thursday I shall be turning a whopping 22, its scary how time flies by. Turing 21 was my most life changing year ever. It was the one year of my life I feel like I really grew up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJuhFglQbdM

Being 21 was a very colourful year. Although there was good and bad, I learnt so much which is why I wouldn’t change a single thing. I’m sure everyone goes through that period of their life where they only just start figuring themselves out and although it is a remarkable experience knowing who you really are, the journey there isn’t always smooth.

I went through a lot emotionally in the previous year. I lost my god mother and aunt who I was so close to and who I still think of everyday and love immensely. I became a hypochondriac where there would hardly pass a week where I would not think I had some form of cancer, heart problem or other illness. I feared I had any disease I heard anyone having, I was convinced I was going to get ill and die which made me a very sad cookie and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and watch celebrity juice reruns. I often suffered from anxiety attacks and was just always a stressed Eric. I got hurt by certain people and had my heart trampled all over.

Although these may not sound very nice and fun, they make me who I am now. I overcame this! And I still am becoming stronger every day. I lost someone but I am so lucky I got to spend 21 beautiful years with her and now her thoughts make me smile and her memories make us all laugh. Almost every young adult suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, hypochondria or depression. It is not some disease in your body or some form of a disability; it is just a state of mind. You need to realise that you are stronger than you think, and your mind is so easily moulded to whatever you choose. People live and die, I realised that death will come to everyone, why should I fear death when it is inevitable, why not concentrate on living and let fate play its role. I became closer to God, and it gave me immense clarity. You need to find answers within yourself. One suffers from all of the above because either you are not happy with yourself or your life or your life is simply just a mess. Pick yourself up! And with regard to people, I learnt that how I treat a person is not based on how I want them to reciprocate, it is based on how it makes me feel at the end of the day. I would rather have loved and lost than to not have loved at all. Be good to people, be fearless, if you have that thing to say, say it! To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk failure, but risks must be taken because the greatest hazard is to risk nothing. People can only disappoint you if you expect anything out of them, expect only things and results from yourself, and you will find happiness.

Many lives were lost in the westgate attack back home. Life can easily be taken away within a blink of an eye. Don’t be someone who just made it through life. Make a legacy! Make memories, leave marks on people’s hearts and do extraordinary things. Life is too short to waste it brooding on simply what is tricks your mind plays on you.

In this year of so much change internally, a lot of positivity transpired. I have gathered a lot of amazing people in my life that have changed my life forever and have been my support on so many occasions; Naima, Layla, Sameeha, Jaymin, Prateesha, Gurkiran, Pallavi, Anika, Priya, Suha, Mujahid, Babindip, Aksa, Hazra, Sajni, Sonam and Ratan. You all are such amazing people! Experiences make you grow as an individual and make you stronger; I became a better version of me in a lot of ways. And most importantly, I found my purpose of life through my spiritual and religious journey.

I start my 22^nd second year of life with hope, strength, forgiveness, knowledge and positivity. You can too. It’s time to get out of that shell and go out there and grab life with both hands. 

Till next time, live those dreams dreamers :)