Around this time a year ago, which I still refuse to believe has been a year since, I was working as a financial accountant in a machinery company. I remember having a random conversation with a co-worker about what I planned to do next. She said that the person before me, the person whom the position back then I filled, had been aiming to be a tax consultant for so long before she finally got the job.
“No, I don’t want to be a tax consultant. The job seems tricky,” I simply replied when she asked. “I want to work in a bank as a credit analyst or something like that.”
But a few months later, I felt the pull to apply to the company I’m currently working in and got accepted as a junior tax consultant.
A year has actually passed since then. Christmas to Christmas has never felt so fast. Eleven months in between this year and before felt like a few express stops we've been holding the ticket for.
'A Ticket to Christmas Express'—that's why I chose this title to build the mood. I feel like we're a passenger and this year is the train that brings us around the town, letting us taste the food in every transit before settling down in the last station of a brand new city. Some were bitter, some were good, others were incredible. It's only a matter of time before we board the train for another round, before we officially say goodbye to 2021 and welcome 2022, so don't we ever forget to cherish every second of the town we're about to pass by... again.
This Christmas, I'm grateful for so many things. I'm grateful for everything Jesus trusts me with: for my family, for the love and support they show me daily; for the job that challenges me to keep growing; for the friends that care even when this year is busy and we barely meet. I'm grateful that even though I don't really feel the Christmas cheer that was usually easy to summon (I spent this year's Christmas eve in the office, spare me), the spirit, somehow, is still here: the stress and pressure to pick the perfect presents, the spontaneous gift-wrapping I groggily did in the morning, the excitement (and hum) that follows every time a random speaker plays a familiar Christmas song in the background.
Honestly, I'm astonished. Amazed and astonished. What life offers us has never been less of a mystery than it is a surprise. I have wondered about so many things, looking for an answer along what usually feels like a dead end, but reminiscing about the past reminds me that blessings are what we should put our focus more on. I keep telling myself, "Everything will turn out alright, everything will turn out alright." And I do believe that everything will turn out more than alright in the end.
This Christmas, let us remember to always be thankful. Let us remember to count our blessings and sprinkle the gratitude on everything we do. Wishing you readers a merry, merry Christmas. I hope December brings you the bundle of joy and happiness that you deserve.
❄️❄️❄️
