Every year brings its fair share of happiness, joy, sadness and learnings. 2019 has been no different. I experienced a lot of good things happening to me and in a way this year proved to be life changing in the literal sense. I normally have not done any such post previously but I am going to try with this one for starters. I am going to keep it short and to the point, so here are some of the major happenings of my year 2019.... 

Lets start off with the good stuff

1. Nikkah 

The best thing about 2019 was getting married to the person I love. My nikkah was held in July, typical Summers. It was a grand moment for me; leap from being single and independent to being married and co-independent. I have deliberately not used the term co-dependent here, because I think we both are still independent in all ways but mutually. 

In case you are from a different country/culture and don't know what nikkah is, let me tell you. Nikkah is the term used amongst Muslims for the ritual of getting married. The person who reads Quran versus to bind the couple together is Nikkah Khawan. After recitation and signatures from bride and groom on a Nikkah paper, both partners are legally and religiously bound into marriage. 

I tried keeping the affair as simple and economical as much as I could. My dress was around Rs. 3000 ($20) stitching was around Rs. 3000 as well, amounting to Rs. 6,000 ($36). I did my own makeup at home. The only thing I splurged on would be the jewelry. The set was around Rs. 12,000 ($72). Here is how I looked. I have done an Instagram post on the makeup products I used, you can check it out if you want to know my makeup deets. 

2. Promotion 

Things proved to be good career wise as well. I was promoted this year at work after 4 years of working for my organization. I work in the pharmaceuticals industry as Office Manager for Chairman, shareholders and Board directors. The promotion brought in a lot of motivation, positivity, new vigor and off course added responsibilities along with a nice salary raise. 

3. Marriage 

December 07, 2019 was the big day that I formally moved in with my husband. Rukhsati has been a life changing moment; new people, new surroundings and a new life beginning. I am still in transition trying to get the bearings of my new life. Alhumdulillah it has been a smooth journey so far and hopefully will remain the same in future too. I can not thank enough for the blessings I have in the form of a loving and caring husband and the most cooperative in-laws. 

However nothing prepares you for the roller coaster ride your emotions take. We witness people getting married every other day, our friends, cousins and siblings. Their experience is a great source of learning but individual experiences are so different, there can be no benchmark for the emotions you are going to go through. Apart from me being slightly impatient, I am quite a stable person emotionally. I like to keep good control of my feelings. I was not prepared for the sudden highs and dips in emotions. One of the key ones being, my parents home not feeling like my own home anymore. The emotional transition is a different story in entirety and deserves a separate mention. 

Here is how I looked on my Baraat and Walima:  

Some learning experiences of 2019 are also listed. They truly helped me in growing wiser today than I was yesterday and becoming a better version of myself. These experiences not only teach you to be wiser and smart but also teach you to NOT be the person who is source of negativity and problems for others. 

1. TALK! by Omer Farooq

My new year resolution for 2019 was self development, self improvement and learning. In this regard, the first step I took was attending a 6 weeks session conducted by TALK! team. I only received about 3 to 4 sessions and had the most terrible experience with this unprofessional duo. I also did a blog post about my first session with them and left the others as it had too much negative emotions on my part. The most important thing I learnt from this experience was to trust my gut instincts. I wasted my Rs. 17,500/- on their silly shenanigans. 

2. Sour People

Although this dilemma is pretty common and every one of us has had a fair share of such people but after my Nikkah, my experience with sour goats was too interesting. What I learnt was, not all people will be happy for even the biggest moments of someone's life. Even if the happiness of one person is of no consequence, people will still find something to be sour about it. These people may be your very closed ones who pretend to care for you and also people around you who you are not too close with, like work colleagues or extended family. Funniest and surprising one for me was the congratulatory wishes I received from some people. They left me wondering if it actually was a congratulatory wish or more of a taunt?

I also experienced people close to me trying to sabotage my relationships and reputation. Be it your friendship, relations with family, friends or even at work, these negative forces were active in gossiping and cooking up stories. I took swift action this year and cut off all these people. Life is too short to dwell on negative people. Just cut them off and move on. I left behind two people from blogging world, a good friend and two work colleagues. No regrets, total peace!!!

How has been your experience of year 2019? Share your biggest happenings with me that may have impacted your life one way or the other.

Stay healthy and beautiful. xoxo!!!