Saying Goodbye to 2016 | Blogmas

The majority of the world has been counting down for the end of 2016 as it has been one of the worst years the world has ever witnessed. We’ve lost a lot of innocent souls, we’ve faced the consequences of a number of terrible political decisions, and we’re still not able to get our head around what’s happening to the world and to our humanity. Generally speaking, everything good in the world seems to be slowly diminishing. I feel so helpless and powerless, but something in me believes that if I just come up with something brilliant I might be able to do something to encourage world peace, at least to some extent. Aside from what I’ve just said, on the personal level, 2016 has indeed treated me so good that it has been the best year of my life, yet!

As Christmas jingle bells are soon going to stop jingling in our houses, I thought this would be the perfect time to say goodbye to 2016. A lot of things have happened to me this year, mostly because I’ve challenged myself and continued to do so a countless number of times since the beginning of the year. And because I’ve done so, I’ve accomplished things I’m so proud of that weren’t originally on my 2016’s resolutions list. So if there’s one thing I can advise anyone it’d be to challenge yourself even if you think you don’t have what it takes to live up to that challenge, because most probably you do have the potential but you just haven’t unlocked it yet.

Even though my year has been full of achievements and personal growth, I’m still not sure where I’m heading at. However, there is only one thing concerning my future that I’m certain of; that is wanting to find a lifetime job that I enjoy doing and I’m so passionate about – this is my ultimate goal in life. I’ve been trying to exploit whatever kind of opportunity that comes in my way for maybe I’ll stumble upon that dream job of mine. fingers crossed So although I’ll be graduating in a year and a half, I’m not going to let myself freak out just yet. I’m going to enjoy the company of people and the comfort of movies, I’m going to enjoy some me time as much as I can, and I’m going to continue doing what I love; writing and baking.

I’ve been thinking of the perfect way to wrap up my 2016, and all I can think of is just listing down the highlights of my year: 1) I started my own blog. 2) I baked more. 3) I went to 3 escape rooms. 4) I watched all of the Oscar nominated movies, reviewed them on my blog, and half of my predictions won. 5) I woke up at 3 am and skipped uni just to watch the Oscar ceremony live.

6) I went to the book fair and bought five books – that’s the most number of books I’ve ever gotten in one trip. 7) I did the “31-day of Happiness” challenge. 8) I wrote a very beautiful piece called “The Pink Bubble”. 9) I went to the “Ice Age Live on Ice” show. 10) I wrote my very first restaurant review. 11) I wrote about my experience on learning to love oneself. 12) I went to my first ever big event of “The Waterway Compound” opening. 13) I went to the “Scooby-Doo Live on Stage” show. 14) I did the “Journalize your Day for a month” challenge. 15) I did the “Say Yes” challenge and did some silly public challenges then. 16) I had laser eye surgery. 17) I worked for Mo4 Network – Marketing agency for four months. 18) I directed a photoshoot in Downtown Cairo. 19) I interviewed random residents of Downtown Cairo where the interviews got posted online. 20) I was part of a live tour around Downtown Cairo where we were Pokémon hunting. 21) I was responsible of CFCM’s Snapchat for a few hours to cover a live event then. 22) I woke up at 6 am on a Saturday to take photos of the amazing Graffiti in Downtown Cairo. 23) I went Pokémon hunting with my brother for almost two hours during night time. 24) I did a Harry Potter Movie Marathon with my mum and brother. 25) I opened up to the world and wrote about my hijab story. 26) I got my first ever blogger invitation to Air Zone after I reviewed them on my blog. 27) I did my first ever DIY project: melted crayon art. 28) I went to Dahab last summer which I’ve wanted to go to for two years or so. 29) I kind of overcame my fear of swimming in the sea and went snorkeling at Dahab. 30) I witnessed the beautiful starry sky of Dahab. 31) I watched the sunset on the beach with my mum. 32) I got to know some fellow bloggers over twitter. 33) I was sent a rabbit toy by three English bloggers I met on twitter just because I was never attached to a childhood toy. 34) I received my first ever blogger mail from Seventeen UK. 35) Roman Atwood followed me on twitter, Zoe Sugg liked one of my tweets, and Louise Pentland followed me on Snapchat (even though she has never checked any of my snaps). 36) I finally watched The Office and it easily became my second favorite show. 37) I wrote autumn-themed blog posts and a Halloween-themed one too. 38) I started creating lists that I can’t now lose since they’re posted on the blog. 39) I took a number of scenery photos that I’m proud of. 40) I did blogmas. 41) I received two gifts this Christmas that are my first ever Christmas gifts. 42) This is the Christmas I’ve most enjoyed, yet. 43) I reached 10K total blog views. 44) By the time blogmas 25 goes live, I’d have written one hundred blog posts in 2016. 44) I took more selfies (or at least I tried to). 45) I’m generally more positive and optimistic than I used to be.

Hopefully, I haven’t missed out on any of the highlights of my year and I’ve successfully listed them all down. It was truly a year of continuous challenges and personal development. I surely hope 2017 treats me as well as 2016 did and I can cross off the one thing remaining on my resolutions’ list; that is getting my own car. fingers crossed Let me know in the comments below what was the highlight of your year; I like getting to know you better, guys. Until tomorrow’s blogmas, cheers!