HOW WE SURVIVED THE STRANGEST YEAR IN RECENT MEMORY - LIFE ADVICE FROM ALL OF US AT H! Pakistan

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone and honestly, sometimes we wonder how exactly we survived.

We rounded up some of the best advice from everyone here at H! Pakistan and boy do we have some gems for you. 

Sundus Unsar Raja – Editor

Reflection on our privileges, choices, and core beliefs should happen constantly and not just when forced. No matter how much this year sucked, I think there were also many marks of positive progress, so the final lesson and biggest takeaway for me is ‘Act Now’ because there’s still time to even the score. Otherwise there will never be the ‘right time’ for the things you want to do or the things that are important.

Sana Hassan – Art Director

This year has put a lot of things in life into context for me in the face of adversity - perhaps the most important lesson is this: Be kind! To others, to yourself, to this world - it can only make things better!

Amal Tiwana - Marketing Executive 

If I were to put 2020 in two words, it would be bittersweet. There were definitely the highs that kept us going but what seemed to unite the global community were the lows of uncertainty that seemed to have shadowed us everywhere, the fact that we were all in this together kept me going. And for me personally, I took this time off to focus on my self growth by doing things that make me happy & constant facetimes/ group calls with my lovelies kept my going! 

Hoor Toru – Editorial Assistant

Keep a bottle of Valium by your side. Always. Except when driving.

Saneela  Swaleh – Digital Marketing Coordinator

‘You Can’t Please Everyone’ You don’t need everyone to agree with you or even like you. It’s human nature to want to belong, to be liked, respected and valued, but not at the expense of your integrity and happiness. Other people cannot give you the validation you seek. That has to come from inside.

Samar Khan -  Intern

2020 has been one flipped, erratic and unexpected kind of year. Many of us experienced negatives that we weren’t even aware could be contributors to our lives. But at the same time, many of us fell in love with mediums of art, people and considerations of existential purpose. If I’ve learnt one thing from 2020 that I’d like to share with you, it’s that from now on, try not to take anything for granted. This is a reoccurring phrase that hundreds of people will tell you in fleeting moments you throughout your life, but it’s different when you experience a period like lockdown where the idea sits with you for months on end. When I mean taking things for granted, I don’t mean people or measures of materialism. Those are things that we should naturally appreciate too. But I mean the fine-line hidden indentations of everyday beauty that we take for granted. The trace of an airplane in the sky, the wavering of leaves on passing trees and the folding of the pages in your favourite book. It is the sensations of engagement in the everyday that make us human and keep us grounded. When the world at times seems as though it could burn to the ground, fresh air and hope is what keeps us motivated; they go hand in hand. It allows you to reconnect with the things you truly love and always keep your loved ones at heart. Wishing everyone a motivated, hopeful 2021!

Sumbal Kuraishi – Intern 

'Once you know what you are capable of, you are unstoppable'  2020 was nothing less than a walk on the egg shells. It drew a wedge between the good and the bad. Being hit by a sack of bricks, tumbling and tossing, it ran us off manifold, but let’s keep it real for a second, a ‘delay’ doesn’t mean ‘denial’.  We still recuperated successfully and made our way through it being resilient and sturdy. Although, the ebb and flow made life explicitly agonizing. But it prepared us for better days.  What I have learnt in 2020 is to “be extravagantly kind, focus on self-improvement, to nurture bonds and to get the priorities right”.  Let’s keep it up a notch and pray for a healthier year ahead. We need to scrutinize what went wrong and calibrate it ‘what can go right’. If we remain unflinching in our ways, quitting will never be an option.  Let’s be ‘inspired’ and attract ‘abundance’.  -Wishing you all a galvanizing 2021

Here's hoping 2021 brings us everything that 2020 did not! To hugs, socialising and most of all, an end to COVID!