Now that 2017 is coming to an end...

Every New Year's Eve is a good time for reflecting on how the year was. You get to decide what you want to carry along with you to the next year. So today I'll be sharing some of my reflections.

For me, 2017 was a year full of ups and downs. It mainly had the theme of Life and Death. I got to make friends with people from diverse backgrounds and got to know people who were just acquaintances for several years.

One of the things that stood out to me was the day I lost an old classmate from uni in the middle of the year. He was only 24 when he died from a tragic accident. That was when I realized how short life was. When he was alive he touched lives through his kindness. He carried on his life with humility and served everyone who crossed his path. Even as I'm writing this, I can't help but see his smile and hear his voice.

I was at the office when the news came. My sister read out the message from a close friend announcing his death. We thought it was a joke because the bearer of the news is known to crack sick jokes. I picked up my phone and called his number 3 times. The line was dead.

"Shit! Everyone is using his picture as a their display photo. It's true." Those were the words of our mutual friend as she buried her face in her hands.

The reality sank in. We lost him. We tried to console each other -- it wasn't working. More information started flowing. Funeral arrangements were being made.

It rained heavily on the day he was buried. It was as if the sky was mourning him. Our class had a mini reunion that day. We shared our memories of him. He had lived a full life even though he was very young but we were forced to say goodbye to him.

Life is too short and we've got to make the most of it. That was the greatest lesson 2017 had for me.

What lesson did you learn from 2017?