This year has been very different than I expected. I didn't achieve as much as I planned in some aspects, but beat my expectations in others. More importantly I changed as a person. I realised some fundamental things about myself, life and working.

The first thing I realised is that doing nothing is not as awesome as it sounds. Workwise, this year was not very challenging which left me with a lot of free time. But even with an exotic country to explore (and oh I explored!), there was something missing - some purpose. I reassured myself in knowing I was here to improve my Japanese. But I haven't had much opportunity to make progress in my life with real, useful things.

I think doing nothing also decreases motivation to do fun things- and makes you enjoy things less. The old adage 'work hard, play hard' definitely applies here, and I think is an integral part of Japanese society. If you are satisfied with work you've done, you can relax and not feel guilty when playing while at the same time feeling satisfied that you have made progress.

The people getting most out of life are not always slacking and messing around, but they are making some kind of progress. To some people this is beating their own records (athletes), to some people it is making a difference in the world. It seems everybody who is happy with life has one thing in common - they enjoy their 'work'.