So, I have come to the end. Before I bring things to a close, a word or two about my final challenges. As you may know, one of my tasks was to buy an antique and sell it for a profit. You may also know that I went to Portabello Road market and bought a rather dashing draughts and backgammon set for a hard fought £10 and promptly placed it on ebay.
I can now tell you the outcome...I sold the board. The price? £10.49. That's right, I succeeded in my challenge by 49p. But a profit is a profit (providing we forget about the postage and packaging excess above the ebay allowance.)
All good things must come to end, and so too must the previous 12 months. As this is posted, I am no longer on my year out - back to the day job! This year has been one of the best in my life so far and it is no cliche when I say it has flown by. I've achieved a lot, met some fantastic people, been to some inspiring places, learned many lessons and gained a plethora of skills, some of which I can build upon and some of which are completely useless. Last week I'm proud to say I finished the first draft of my novel and can honestly say it was a hugely enjoyable and rewarding process.
If you were to ask me what the biggest lesson I had learned from this year was though, I would have to leave my tasks and escapades aside for a moment. Above all a year is a long time, and as I think I have shown, if you apply yourself well, you can get a lot done. Conversely, it can also seem like a very short period of time and if you don't take these opportunities when they arise, they can pass you by. There is no doubt that this year has been important.
I am now embarking upon the rest of my career as a doctor - hopefully a long and successful one. There is still a lot to do and now that I have started, I know there is more to come. These blogs have been a great way for me to document what I have been getting up to and hopefully they have been a source of entertainment and at least some mild amusement for some of you. I am privileged to have met many great characters this year and would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to those who have supported this project and left such positive messages along the way.
So, I will take my leave for now. I will be putting an extended video montage of the year up at some point and if people would like, I will return in a month or so after settling back into normal life with a new project - monthly tasks! And with that, I bring this adventure to a close.
W
