Counting My 2010 Blessings

2010 is finally coming to a close in a couple of days. It has been a roller coaster ride for me, but I should say that there were more ups  than downs this year. The blessings far outweighs the mishaps. It was one great year and there’s no other way to close it than counting the blessings that I received this year. This is my own way of thanking the Lord and appreciating a life that has been so good. So here it goes …

1.  MY WIFE and BABY’s PRESENCE. This is topping the list. This is the first time that I got to spend a whole year with them. It was last year when they joined me here in the UAE and we were never away from each other after that. Since 1999, I was working abroad, and was basically living alone away from home. But for the whole year this year, I got to enjoy the company of a family. It was so nice to come home from work, with your wife and baby waiting to kiss and hug you. This is the life I’ve been wanting to have.
2. GOOD HEALTH. There were a few clinic trips, but nothing major. I am glad that my family and I remained healthy for the whole year. I just regret that I never got back to the gym for the whole year too. I guess I have to include that on my new year resolutions. Good luck on that.
3. WORK.  Although working is something that many of us does not like to do, we should still consider it as a blessing. This is the bread-and-butter of everything that I have so I should feel lucky to remain employed in a big and known hospital such as ours. It has been a great year at work too as I got a pretty good annual appraisal. I guess my performance has leveled up too, as I gained more experience at work.
4. FRIENDS.  I wish I could count and remember all the names of the many good friends I had this year. I gained new friends from my Formula 1 trip, from work, from trips, from patients, from blogging and from FB.
5. FACEBOOK. Having mentioned FB, this year was when I really started to be a facebook fan. I got to find my old friends here. It was also easier to find out what friends and relatives are up to. It was easier to connect with people. I was a Friendster fan before, but I moved in to FB this year coz here was a lot better.
6. BLOGGING. Blogging has been my outlet to release what my mind wants to tell. I write for myself basically, but it was an icing to the cake that there were people reading and commenting. I gained so many friends here too. My participation to blogosphere events such as BC BLOGGERS, BLOG BLAST FOR PEACE and HOLIDAY BLOGSTASTIC SHOUT OUT gave me the heights of my blogging career this year. I should not forget that as I am now a contributing writer for the FILIPINO NURSES BLOG SITE, I feel I have leveled up in terms of writing.
7. VACATIONS. I had two long breaks this year when my family and I got to go home to the Philippines for some refreshing. Those were in November and October. We went to Disneyland. We swam. We ate. We shopped. We slept a lot.
8. HONGKONG TRIP. The trip to Hongkong with my family was one of my 2010 highlights. It was a nice place to visit and DISNEYLAND was one great venue of happiness.
9. YAS ISLAND TRIP.  This was my second time to be sent to work as a paramedic for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Last year, I was in the night shifts so I enjoyed watching the races at daytime. This year, I was in the day shifts, so I got to enjoy the activities in the night such as nightly concerts. I was able to watch KANYE WEST, LINKIN’ PARK and PRINCE perform. I should mention that I gained so many new friends in this event, mostly nurses who work in different hospitals in Abu Dhabi.
10. OUR FLAT. It has been a year now since we moved in here to our new place here in Al Ain. We are now living at the city center and we are loving the convenience of being a stone throw away to all the shops we need to and like to visit.
11. MY NETBOOK. I bought this last April, then there was never a day that I never touched it. It’s a Dell Inspiron Netbook. Loved it.

And there goes my annual countdown of blessings!  I have so many things to thank for and I am actually thinking now as to whether I have forgotten something major.  It’s good to remember all that we are blessed with.

It has been a great 2010 for me and my family and I hope that 2011 will be as great. The Lord has been very good to us.

Have a happy, prosperous and blessed new year to everyone!

pic: publigestion.blogspot.com