Another year has virtually come to an end and this yet again leaves me with the “looking back” part that seems completely unavoidable for some weird and strange reason. No matter how hard I try, each year this happens. I try and avoid it purely because I am not the type of person that believes in dwelling on the past and what has been. There’s after all no chance to change that which has been or happened. I firmly believe the only thing we can change in life is the right here and right now otherwise known as the present. Amazing how we call it “the present” don’t you think? Maybe the dude or dudette that decided to call it “the present” had some ulterior motives? I mean a present is a gift right, so that means the right hare and right now is a gift we have and should cherish it? Right, I think I might be over analysing a word right now so I will simply stop right here on “the present” and continue with the blog I intended to write in the first place.

The year that’s been for me has had its ups and downs, that’s for dam sure. Something that we all have in a year, however the decisions we made during year has plotted our course of life through the year that’s been and decided on the amount of ups and downs we might have had. I’ve made a few bad choices this year, they are completely over shadowed by the good and yes brilliant choices I have made though. This year will most certainly be filed under the “amazing years” in my life’s memoirs. The upturn in this started with the move back to Durban, my wife wasn’t the happiest person while we were living in Windhoek, Nambabwe and who could blame her? She was stuck in a house 24/7/365. None of the idiots in that stupid country was willing to go that little bit extra and try and help her out with a work permit. They were all quick to say her skills are in desperate shortage but no-one was willing to do anything about it, had she had some sort of employment, I’m almost sure she would have been a little happier there. Either way, that over and done with now, we are back home were we belong with the help and support of family and great friends.

The move back to Durban also made it easier to go back into a rotational position and earn a little more money to be able to provide a better life for my family and my unborn child (back then). Yep, the only thing Nambabwe did good for us was the fact that we were going to be parents! Something I’ve been wanting to be for a few years now, but everything happens when it’s supposed to happen and it seemed this year was when it was meant to happen. I was working on a 6 and 6 rotation in Nambabwe for a little more than I was earning working on the road, but still kept my ear on the ground for anything in the oil and gas industry. I knew I’ve lost my passion for the medical field some years ago and never truly regained it, I do however have the qualification and will keep it as something to fall back on when it’s needed. It’s always good to have a back door just in case. Although it seems there are people in this world that’s determined to close these doors, good thing about it is that they never succeeded this time. “Send us proof or we will scrap you from the roll and inform other registration authorities”. HA! I decided to keep the back door open and send the “other registration authorities” proof and let the threatening one remove me.

Then Zia was born, the pinnacle of human existence in my humble opinion. The one thing that both man and woman life for, we are programmed to leave a legacy, part of this legacy involves becoming parents. Zia was born on the 18^th of August 2010, the perfect (yes, yes, I am biased I know) little girl. Which had me rethink life as it stands now, it brought me to the realisation that I will not be able to provide everything her heart desires on my current income, it also brought back the nagging knowledge that I have reached the roof in my current job and company. There was no promotions, no change of advancement and certainly no chance of an increase in the very near future. Things in the oil industry was still flat thought with no decent offers coming along, then suddenly out of the blue I get a phone call asking me if I would be interested in taking of the position of Safety Engineer on a new built 5^th generation deep water floater. I was interested, it meant tax free salary, quite the jump in salary to. The negotiations started and concluded to me being back on a 4 and 4 rotation and earning a little more than double than my current salary. The only snag, I had to start within the next 2 weeks. This being less than a week before I’m due to fly out to Nambabwe. It was a hard decision to make which resulted in me phoning everyone I look up to and discussing it with them, simply because it’s not me. It’s not something I do, I have always prided myself in being professional and doing the right thing. This time however, being professional and doing the right thing seemed to be on a collision course. I had to do the right thing for my family, so I resigned without working notice. It’s something that still bothers me and weighs on my conscience, but such is life I suppose and back to the Oil industry I went.

As this year draws to a close, I can say that it’s been another truly memorable year. With us (my wife and myself) being blessed with a bouncing baby daughter being the highlight of it. Next year poses to be an even more memorable year as I start on a new adventure in a position that many people with 20 – 30 years worth of experience are yearning for and never manage to get.

So in closing, I would like to wish everyone a very happy and blessed Christmas, may it be filled with the love of family and the hearty laughter of loved ones sitting with each other while we reminisce over the year that’s been. The good times we’ve had and the dreams we have for the future.