Happy Chinese New Years! + Random thoughts

Happy Chinese New Years! 新年快樂!

Ice dragon sculpture in Ottawa

It's the start of a new lunar year! I'm writing this on 初三, which means 3 days since the new year has started! This year, I didn't do much for Lunar New Year since I'm here in Ottawa now. Usually, I would go to a temple in Vancouver to pray, but there are no Buddhist temples here in Ottawa 😅. You see, my family is quite spiritual - as in. Growing up, my parents would always take us either to Buddhist temples or Christian churches to pray. I even attended Sunday school growing up! The value of tradition holds strongly in my family, and we always try to be honest with any spiritual being, whether that be God or Mazu. 

Aside from tradition, we'd usually have hotpot or the like at home! Which, of course now that everyone is scattered across the world, we can't really do that anymore! But that's ok! We of course had a call and just had fun chatting with each other. 

It was also in this new year that I'm slowly coming to terms that it's ok to not be likeable by everyone. While of course, we should be respectful to everyone, sometimes you just won't see eye-to-eye with people - no matter how hard you try. I think the most important thing is to keep it respectful, and if that's a working relationship - be professional. If that's a personal relationship, then evaluate if you can maintain the same relationship knowing your differences. 

As for updates in my life, not much has happened since the start of 2024. I took the CARTP exam -- hope the results come out soon. Learning about DMA and Rust has been pretty fun, there are definitely some very low-level hacks out there! And life in general, has been thrown my way a lot recently. One very very very important realization I've come to have is this.

One's true character comes out when they are dealing with failure or crisis. 

This is a universal truth that I will hold. Why do I say this? It's because, recently a lot of things have broken down on me! From my bike to my phone to even the paper I got rejected from. Even some personal health issues to add to that!

Initially, I was really upset. I even wondered why I was so unlucky. Why was everything thrown at me all at the same time - at a time when I'm the busiest both at work and in my personal life! But soon, I came to realize that it was an opportunity. Looking back at my previous experiences, failing the OSCP, and not getting into the first internship that I tried for; it was always the resiliency that built me up. For me, it's not the achievements I got with ease that I'm proud of. It's the achievements that I fought blood, sweat, and tears for that I can really say I did something. So even with these setbacks (which are small in the grand scheme of things), fighting through them without breaking down is what builds character. Tackling each problem - exceptions in my life, build character. 

In fact, I might even go as far as to say that for evaluating relationships where things are getting serious, it's ever-more important to observe someone when times are tough. What their reactions are, and whether you can deal with it. This is so important because of another quote I read somewhere that I forget now, which goes something like "Don't make promises when you're happy, don't reply when you're angry, and don't make decisions when you are sad." All too often, especially in relationships - couples make promises at the happiest moments. All too often, people say things to each other when they are angry, only to regret it and it becomes too late. All too often, a bad decision made when sad leads to even more sadness. 

I feel like I've thought a lot recently. Just thinking.. thinking.. and more thinking. I'm still lonely, yes. But this loneliness is a sort of tranquillity for me. A time when I can think clearly, and cleanly. I know that my life won't always be a solo, soon I'll find my duo. And in the future, we'll start our own family as well! During then, there will be a never-ending chain of responsibilities sent my way! So I should enjoy this peace, while it lasts haha.

That's been all for me for this February update. As for my own economic outlook, it looks like a recession is in full swing. Job layoffs are happening not only in big tech but also in large consulting firms. Stocks are sky high and more and more jobs are being replaced by AI. As the late Stephen Hawking once said, "So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality."

And I'll leave it at that! Thanks for reading if you got it this far. After all, I'm sure the future me will appreciate myself writing all of this.

Regards,

Omar