Year-end Ramblings: Going through the grind to realise a dream

October came & passed. November brushed me by with equal haste and intensity. I went through one of the most hectic and frenzied period of this year. Today's mid Dec. I am telling myself to unwind from all the work that we have been putting in to make our new home a comfortable haven. Enough. Enough shopping. Enough running around. Enough discussions on home decor & furnishings. It's time to sit back, relax & enjoy the fruits of our labour. We ought to. I truly think there hasn't been a more disciplined, focused and deliberate couple like us.

I thought about why we persevered & finished what we set out to do. Despite the ardous tasks, the unforseen situations, unwelcome surprises, we soldiered on. Despite the fatigue that we felt, the temptation to settle for lower standards, our drive for excellence motivated us. To us, a home is an important project. A meaningful project. Our home speaks of our way of life and how we organise ourselves. The way we prefer to relate to each other. The way we show love and affection. Our home is an expression of ourselves.

I am glad for this we both share deep inside us. We value our living and recreational space so much that we were willing to put in huge amounts of time, effort and deliberation to create what we dream of as the perfect space.

And this is something we can't entrust totally into strangers' hands. Be they contractors or interior designers. Nope. Other people will never take ownership the way we do. Because to them, it is just a business. And that's how we learn to relate with these people. Business. That's an awesome load of hard-nosed negotiation, assertiveness and at times, unavoidable confrontations. In a way, the blessing in disguise was this - we learned to stay commited to our cause & we learned to finish well. We learned to take charge and take control over the final product. And why shouldn't we? It is our hard-earned money used in exchange. And we feel responsible for how we spend our money.

It's moments like these when we go through the grind that we rediscover who we are and the deeply-ingrained values that govern our choices and steer our life course.