Australia day 2008

Australia day occurred on the 26th of January 2008.

This day is very significant to a lot of Australians and has a lot of meaning in the history of Australia. It's even more significant for me personally as this is the day when I arrived in Australia for the first time. It was on this day back in 1999 that I came to Australia with hopes and dreams and great uncertainty. I had no idea what the future might hold for me and my time in Australia. Initially, I had planned on staying here for only 6-8 months as I wanted to head on to the US to pursue my educational goals. Taking a step back to give you some background, I had initially planned on going to the US for studies; however I was late in the application submission and hence missed the deadline. I was faced with the consequence of wasting about 9-10 months. I took the opportunity to come to Australia when my father was informed of a good degree program in Melbourne. How he got to know about this program is yet another story. Things just came to shape pretty quickly and I ended up in Australia in January to study till about July and then heading to the US. This was not to be as once I was here, I was settled in and enjoying my time in the culture and life here.

Since then it has been a long journey of 9 years. Quite a few huge milestones have been accomplished while living here.

• Finishing my studies and graduating from my Bachelor’s degree and then subsequently my Master’s degree
• Getting married and starting my married life
• Moving to Sydney from Melbourne
• Starting my professional career
• Becoming an Australian citizen

There are quite a few milestones in between all of the above, but I think the list above is of a huge significance to my life and the way it has moved forward. I am moving towards another huge milestone in my life, and Australia is in the thick of it.

In my previous post I mentioned that change is inevitable. Looking at the list above and what is going to occur in the future, change IS inevitable and it is our ability to deal with the change and make things happen is how we make our life filled with fond memories. I certainly have experienced many good memories in my time here in Australia and look forward to many great experiences in the future.

Change is inevitable

The word change is such an important part of all our lives. No matter how much we avoid it, it is bound to happen and is inevitable. I was particularly fascinated with this word as it has been brought up again and again during this year’s American election campaign. I saw a hilarious clip on the ‘Colbert Report’ where they showed a live debate between all of the major Democrats. The mediator of the debate asked a question and mentioned the word ‘change’. As soon as he finished his sentence (and I kid you not this is real!) all of the candidates like little children raised their hands up and started talking so that they could comment first and fore most on this topic.
Why is the word change very important in the American elections these days? Well I shouldn’t even go into that I think as that’s another topic.

Current events in Pakistan have also told the story of change. People of Pakistan in particular have a habit of asking for change sooner than many people. They get fed up with the same leaders who they elected with a huge majority and then support the same leaders if they are out of power to get them back IN power, weird.

These two examples are political in nature. There are many other examples where people want to have change. Change in scenery for a person going on a holiday, change routine, change of personal belongings etc.

Some people have to deal with change as just a part of life and come to people whether they like it or not. Some people deal with it well some people don’t.
I heard an inspirational speaker once and he said that change is something humans have evolved to deal with. Humans are probably the least evolved species on this planet to deal with the changing climate/temperature etc. If you compare humans with other species such as insects or others, you can easily see how well other species have adapted. Animals have developed extra layers of skin or have shrunk significantly in size etc. to survive. But in humans there is no change, humans have alternatively moved on to different places where they are suited better or have used their brains to build things that help in survival. This inevitably will be the cause of our demise as well, as we keep on consuming this planet’s resources, there will not be enough places to go to survive based on the rate of human growth.

Science fiction movies sometimes show the eventual evolution of our species. I think it’s a very valid thing and may happen in the future…I am not certain.

The same inspirational speaker said, it is the ability of the people to want change and adapt quickly to different situations is what makes them a cut above the rest.

My rant for the day is complete.

New year and new beginnings

Happy new year to you all! Hope this new year is better than last year. See I AM an optimist.

As for me, this year will be a new beginning to a different part of my life and I look forward to it and await it with open arms. Can't wait to start a new chapter of this life. I just hope that both of us cope with the transition well. Wish us luck!

God bless all of you :0)