Keyvan Nayyeri

[Update: It’s my duty to thank you all for your greetings by phone, by email, on my blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. I really appreciate that.]

Time went slower than antecedent years but it went, though, and it’s my birthday again! Today I turned 24 and started 25 to somehow pass a milestone from 18-23 and enter a new era that is also beginning with the end of my military service.

I’m not going to complain about everything anymore but want to talk about positive stuff this time! If I go back and forth in the last year of my life, it was completely influenced by my mandatory military service and as I already have written many times, there were some downsides for such a military life that you’re compelled to have. Beside eating my time, I had to deal with a wide range of people in different social classes who mostly had controversy opinions and possessions about me obliging me to pass laborious days.

However, from the beginning of the service and before that, I had seriously decided on doing my best to complete the service with most possible achievements and works. Based on my perspective from other’s experiences, I knew that people lose many advantages during the service and fall into a worse situation after that, so I tried hard to abate these downsides as much as I can. Honestly, it took me much time and effort and I had to neglect many funs and work like a machine but I think that I made it! Despite all its difficulties and the hard pressure that made me much older and sad, I tackled it down and I’m proud of that. Self-satisfaction is not something that everyone can achieve many times in his or het life but for the first time in my life I achieved it with what I did in my military service, so it doesn’t matter what others think about me as I’m a hero in my own mind and that’s all!

Moreover, now that I have hit the end of the service, I can take a positive view about it and even draw a better conclusion from what I’ve done and what has happened to me.

One of the advantages of this service was forcing me to train my theoretical time management and life hack knowledge in a pragmatic way, so I could learn how to manage my time, organize my tasks and give a priority to them. Now that service is ended, I’m quickly revitalizing and I’m thankful for having this good capability. More importantly, I understood the value of time much more than the past and I never waste it for nothing!

The other advantage of the service was, learning how to deal with adamant people and live and work with those who have 100% controversy opinions that you normally can’t accept at all! Throughout the service I lived and worked with these people who could be the worst people in this case that I could meet and work with but happily I could adapt myself to deal with them without any conflict or reduction in the performance! This is another achievement that I never could have in any environment, and now I’m able to bend easily with everyone even if I don’t have same possessions as them.

The third main advantage of the service was understanding my value and position, so I have a better view of myself and I’m happy and proud of who I am because I can see that I’ve done much (even though it’s less than nothing when viewed comparatively) and I see that there are some people who try to imitate me. This gives me such a self-satisfaction that I never had experienced.

However, my service officially ends in a few days and the most important aspect of this end is, releasing me to do much more and finally giving me my passport!

Therefore, the upcoming year is a very crucial year because I already have a very close and sensitive schedule for it that most likely make it the most important year of my life. Some friends would know about some of my plans as I have told them privately but I’d prefer to write about them when they’re all 100% confirmed. But to be honest, I’m almost sure that I’ll achieve them after all because they’re very close to me, closer than many other things that I’ve achieved so far!

Besides, I really hope that I have a good year ahead and I can finally meet my goals as it’s been a long while that I’ve had a gap between my desires and my achievements, and I also ask you to please pray for me.

Here let me point something about my birthday because you may be wondered why I’m celebrating it today on 10th October rather than the regular 11st October: I was born on 19th Mehr, the 7th month of Persian solar calendar that has been used in Iran and some other countries for a very long time and is delicately based on the changes in the seasons, so the first day of the first month of each season is at the beginning of the season. It may be interesting for you to know that Mehr (mostly located in October) is one of the most important month in Persian calendar with lots of important phenomena that starts at the beginning of Fall. However, most years my birthday is on 11st October but based on calendar conversion formula, it may be moved to 10th on a regular basis as well.

All in all, this year my birthday is an exceptional one and more than everyone else, my family cares about that. So far it has been a fantastic birthday and friends have made me blush with their greetings and gifts. They’re my priceless hoard that I’ve been always thankful for, and only few people can have such a great hoard in this world!