Happy New Year

*walks into limelight in abandoned theatre*

I’m not really able to identify a theme for my 2013. I can’t even summarize it but I’m very eager to talk about certain aspects of it.

Love life

At the beginning of this year I was four months into my married life. You know how they say plenty things about the first two years. Some people say they don’t count because you’re still too much in love in the honeymoon stage. Others say they don’t count because you both are getting to know each other and resolving differences. Well, mine was a bit of both. I learnt early that the communication between my wife and I was a trophy I had to fight to keep.

There are several reasons not to talk to each other. The other person may not be listening. The other person may not care. The other person may use it against you. The other person may joke about it behind your back. The other person may take it personally or the wrong way. These were the enemies I had to fight all this year. I didn’t want to fall into the husband zone. Yes, my brothers, there is such a thing as the husband zone. You could get into this routine of just existing to watch shows, eat meals, say good morning and good night, and do the occasional copulation without any intimacy between you and your wife. And this is the advanced form of the friend zone we all struggled to escape when we were still single, that zone where you can’t see past the curtain in the eyes of your crush because she’s reserved her affections for someone else presumably better than you. So, fight for intimacy we both did this year and I can say we succeeded tremendously. Phew!

Work

Last year I spoke about how I planned to step up and be more assertive at the office. Well, it turns out I wasn’t assertive enough until my boss pointed it out again. I was a silent rebel against the competitive atmosphere I found at work, thinking myself different from everyone and that I needed to maintain that core of difference to be a catalyst of positive change. This needs balance. Because you can’t really change an organization unless they accept and respect you. And they won’t accept and respect you unless you speak their core language to some extent. If you aren’t ready to speak the core language, Efe, then you’re in the wrong place.

When this dawned on me I took coaching from my supervisor and my younger brother and stepped up my game in the last two months of the year. My supervisor was pleased and said if I continued like that the sky would be the limit. Sadly this year, he won’t be my supervisor anymore as he’s been transferred. Just when I learn the ropes they change the rules. Sighs.

Volleyball

I think I became a mini star in my volleyball team at the sports club. Mind you these are some of the best players in Nigeria (I always laugh when a newcomer joins claiming to be very good and they can’t even return a service properly). We went for like five competitions this year and we won some and lost some. I think I’m stronger in the attack (7.5), and medium in defence and service game (6.5 each). I’m aiming to build my muscles for an 8.5 in attack, a 7.5 in defensive play and a 9.5 in power serves. This means more practice but I think this is fine. I don’t know why I want to be a volleyball star. Not like I’m going to go to the Olympics or anything. Or wait, what’s the age limit for volleyball in the Olympics?! Beach volleyball perhaps? 😀

Gadgets

The Samsung S4 strolled into my life this year. I bought the international version (heard the octo-core one was buggy and rubbish with battery life. Plus, the international one has LTE). I found the apps on the phone not satisfactory for performance. I wonder sometimes, do Samsung people use their devices and compare them with the opposition for performance? The functionality and potential of the Samsung flagship is great (stream wirelessly to your smart tv, take impossible photos, upgrade your battery to three times installed capacity, and control all Samsung devices worldwide at will). But, can these apps and things work smoothly without interrupting the daydream by forced closures and thinking episodes?! Please!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 came into my life in the latter part of the year. I found the expandable memory useful for mindless copying and downloading (had to get a 64 gig memory card) and the battery life was fair (charge everyday). The swag was the main factor as all my notes and meeting minutes were bleeding fast without any need for point repetition or delays to transfer from handwritten notes to electronic text. I swype faster than I write and even if I wanted to write, the handwriting to text feature is beyond belief. If you can read your writing, it is accurately transcribed to text. It’s amazing.

I’m moving towards Nexus devices though. I want to see what they have to offer. I handled the new iPhone and iPod iterations. Not ready to be locked in Apple’s jail so I put them down. I won’t even bother upgrading my 4th gen iPod.

Faith

I put this last because though it was the most important of all things this year, most times I relegated it to last position. The Lord is my shepherd and because of this He interrupted my life many times to correct me or teach me how to go about stuff to glorify Him and to ease my life and bless others around me. (I’ve begged Him to do this whenever it’s necessary). But what would happen if instead of waiting to be pulled back to the fold from the jaws of the wolf every time, I simply kept step with Him every day? In August I tried reading a chapter of the biblical book of Proverbs for every day of the month. I missed three days and I was hard pressed every day to do this simple task. I started and ended the year without finishing the book of Exodus in my general reading. Prayer was a random thing done unconsciously whenever I needed help or wisdom. I did virtually no formal personal devotions this year. This I sincerely hope to change in 2014.

So there you have it, my 2013 review and my hopes for 2014. Pray for me guys. Also, please read every single review my friends wrote in the series HERE. You’ll be blessed.

Much love everybody. Here’s to an amazing and fruitful 2014 🙂

P.S.: My Doctor friend said to give her a birthday shoutout today. Happy birthday Amanda!

Photo Credit: Stuck in Customs via Compfight cc