2021: My Year in Review

2021 has been the most spiritually significant year in my life so far. I faced some familiar experiences I had seen in the past, however my response to them was so different — a lot more acceptance and being in the present moment! It was truly laudable from my perspective — and this is high self-appreciation coming from a highly self-critical person like me. It felt like the personal growth and spiritual practices I have been doing truly bore fruit.

Having started with this pat on my own back, here’s my review of 2021!

Accomplishments/milestones

1. I completed my 2021 reading challenge of reading 15 great books — noteworthy among the ones I read were Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda, How to find Fulfilling Work by Roman Krznaric, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and Karma by Sadhguru. Interestingly, I sought out and read a lot of books on mortality as I entered my 30th year of life.
2. On International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021, I chose to challenge inequality and underrepresentation of girls and women in STEM and gave a talk on “Things I’ve learnt from my transition from Engineer to Engineering Manager” at the PyLadies IWD 2021 event as well as at a WiT session at the company I work for! Here’s my talk for those interested!
3. At work, I progressed and matured as an Engineering Manager, expanded and grew my team, met with new challenges and learnt and shared new lessons with the Women in Tech (WiT) community within the company. My teams developed and enhanced products and services supporting large COVID-19 vaccine trials efficiently. I’m proud to be working at a company that impacts the world so positively.
4. I made a lot of progress on the spiritual path and reaped some significant benefits too. I meditated regularly after my daily workouts. I listened to discourse on Ashtavakra Gita by Sri Sri Ravishankar and the experience itself resulted in a lot of Aha! moments and internalization of a lot of knowledge I had gained over the years. It was probably the most beautiful knowledge I have absorbed. I also read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda and Karma by Sadhguru that further added to my understanding of life and the mechanics of it.
5. I spent 10 months away from my husband this year, because of unavoidable circumstances (travel restrictions for him and career obligations). This was the most time we have been away from each other, more than the previous 9.5 months in 2019. However, my response this time around was quiet acceptance and enjoying the moments and the people I had around me beautifully, instead of worrying about not getting enough time with him. I am super proud of how far I have come in just 2 years.

Lessons learnt

1. Mutual acknowledgement of soul connections is one of the most beautiful experiences in life. It helps to know that some beautiful souls you have known and loved before exist in this plane at the same time as you. It helps to make it through a lot of challenging situations in life.
2. More important than doing what you want in life is doing what is needed in the moment.
3. Value and enjoy each moment in life with what and who you have in life. Every beautiful moment in your life is a gift. Be in it.
4. Life is changing everyday. You are changing everyday. Be aware of transient nature of all things — nothing good or bad is permanent. Treat both good and bad situations the same — they are two sides of the same coin; as very beautifully said in Rudyard Kipling’s poem If — “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same.”
5. Be authentic and truly yourself all the time — there is noone like you and the world deserves to to know and enjoy your beautiful existence. Be your true self always.

What’s next in 2022?

In 2022, I plan to…

1. Continue on the spiritual path and practise regular meditation.
2. Continue working out regularly and crush some advanced goals with the support of my awesome trainer!
3. Write more often — journalling, blog posts, letters.
4. Read 20 great books and write reviews/notes after.
5. Travel, go on hikes and spend more time in nature.