First of all, I would like to wish all the readers a very happy New Year and pray that the year 2015 will be full of blessings and success for everyone.
Those who follow my articles must be aware that my sons are visiting Saudi Arabia during their Christmas break. They are still in the Kingdom and after a very long year full of pressures and challenges, I decided to visit my favorite city London all alone as a treat to myself. I desperately needed this trip to peacefully reflect on my past year.
After my divorce, I assumed full responsibility of my two sons. Life has really taken a U-turn. Leaving a socially and financially secured world to venture into the unknown terrains, as a single mother is a huge challenge. No matter how tough the road ahead maybe, there is no reason to give up and surrender to the problems, which life throws at us. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
On the other hand, we should not ignore the blessings, which comes with all the challenges. It might have been a tough year but it proved to be very fruitful to me. As far as my Ph.D. is concerned, I collected, transcribed and analyzed the data and now I am working to note down my findings. It is true that due to some problems with my previous supervisor that cost me one year’s worth of work, I had to work at a very fast pace to be able to reach this level, and as a result I have not yet managed to my work published but I am planning to do so soon after my writing up progresses.
My supervisor and I decided that finishing my Ph.D. on schedule is the priority right now and I will publish accordingly. On the media front, this year we produced a second season of my YouTube show “Noon Al Niswa.” I have also made it to the most popular channel in the Middle East, MBC, with a show that was aired on prime time during Ramadan. I also participated in the Arab Media Forum in Dubai and other media-related event. So I can proudly claim that it has been a fruitful year. On the personal level, it is true that I am now a single mother with huge responsibilities in addition to my studies, but it made me realize that motherhood generates powerful energy that makes us superwomen without us realizing it. It is not easy and requires lots of efforts and patience but it is achievable and very rewarding at the end. The year 2014 saw me acquiring my driving license; this achievement alone is worth celebrating for the rest of 2015. After endless number of lessons and after failing the test once, I managed to pass my driving test. I literally felt over the moon.
It is true that owning a car is a big responsibility added to my already very long list of responsibilities but it is worth it. Being free to move around is just priceless. Well it is an expensive thing to do with pricy insurance policies and very expensive fuel, and I need to apologize for this, I kept on whining about fuel prices until this big drop in prices occurred, really sorry.
This eventful year has also made me realize what a great supporting family I have. They remained with me all along and they supported all my decisions. It is true that we don’t choose our families, so if we were blessed with a great one, then we should be thankful to God.
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@HatoonKadi
