I hope you are having wonderful festive season, there is something about this time of the year that I just love; it feels cosy and warm, it’s a time of reflection with the undertones of newness in the air. I have just returned from Nepal. We visited Kathmandu and the beautiful valley of Pokhara. Pokhara is a beautiful city situated on a lake, the glorious majestic Himalayas are situated within the valley.
One day we decided to ride to the Australian base camp of the mountains on our motorbike, to reach Kaski, we had to ride through various villages. The villagers are poor and their living conditions are humble, but they were so kind and generous. Such a beautiful reminder: if these children could give so generously, then what is stopping us, living in a first-world country, from consistently being kind, offering help and support or even buying the newspaper from the hardworking man selling them at the traffic lights. 
This trip was another reminder that there is no relationship between the amount of money you have and how happy you are. The villagers didn’t have branded clothes and shoes, they didn’t have fancy furniture, they didn’t have a wide variety of cuisines to taste, they didn’t have cars, sometimes the electricity runs out, and we passed by so many women and children taking baths in outdoor tubs with buckets. But they all seemed so happy and content. They grew food off their land and ate it without feeling frustrated about the lack of options, ability to buy materialistic goods, or own technology. Another reminder: happiness can be found easily if you change your perception of what happiness is.
I am a clean freak and I have a slight case of OCD, I do not get onto my bed if I have not showered, and every night before I tuck myself in, I wash my feet. I wash my hands several times a day (by this I mean every hour), so I was rather uncomfortable in all the dirt and dust. There was a lot of grime and dirt in the village and at some of our stops nothing seemed to be properly cleaned. 
So what did I do? I embraced it! I sat down on dusty, grimy seats and used utensils that didn’t look squeaky clean. I let my fingers be blackened with dust for hours (from riding on the bike). I wasn’t 100 percent comfortable, but I learnt to let go of my attachment to cleanliness and went with the flow.
We didn’t make it to base camp that day, our little bike couldn’t withstand the rocky paths, but again, that was another beautiful reminder that life is not only about reaching the destination, it’s about what you learn along the journey that matters.
My trip gave me the right environment to still the chatter in my mind and ponder without too much distraction and to come home to Doha with all these beautiful reminders to take into a new decade.


* The author is a consultant and coach. Instagram handle: @miss_shefa,  Website: missshefa.com