It was four years ago. Esther, my then-senior in NUS whom I met from the NUS Science Freshmen Orientation Camp in July 2005 was at the Esplande Waterfront with me. We were still undergraduates then. I was in my year 1 and she was in year 2. We were in the Science Faculty. She was from the Life Science Stream and I was from the Statistics stream. We looked at the skyline of buildings at the waterfront and I asked her what she wanted and aspired to be next time. She says she wants to pursue her dreams to be a Doctor. I said I wanted to be working in one of those buildings in the skyline. I remember I said I wanted to work in a Bank, just any Bank. And yes, that was the flashback 4 years ago. And tonight I am going to meet her. We are going back to the same place again. And she is pursuing her dreams today – she is studying a postgraduate Degree and on her way to becoming a Doctor and me, yes, I am working in one of the buildings amongst the skyline and although it is not a Bank, I am just thankful that I am given countless opportunities to shine in my work and amongst it, doing what I like and seeing my work helping others. Esther always never fails to inspire me. She says that if you have a dream, you must pursue it at all cost. Ok, she did not really say those exact words, but at least that was what I caught from her. She is one person who knows what she really wants and is never afraid to chase after her dreams and for that, I salute and respect her a lot and I hold her in esteem. Whenever I think of her, it just makes sense to me why I am working so hard – because I am pursuing my dream.
I cannot be more thankful to those I have met throughout my 1.5 years of work. They really taught me a lot. You learn when you speak to people and you catch things like their outlook in life, their passion for their job, the way they handle situations and they way they treat people. I believe that Iron always sharpens Iron. I like to talk to people and learn things from them. From talking to people, you shift the attention that you always placed upon yourselves onto others and in the process, learn more and at the end of it, realized you acquired a different facet of the same situation. I was talking to one of clients 2 days ago. We are supposed to discuss about an upcoming project which may involved my participation. Halfway through the discussion, we started to talk about her life and for that matter, my life too. We talked about practically any other thing under the Sun. She was open and I was open too. We basically spoke from the depths of our hearts and shared freely. I like to ask people about their jobs and for that matter, all their previous jobs. I was always fascinated by the fact how people can stick to a job their entire life. Alright, I was being exaggerated, but it simply amazed me at how someone can stick to a job for years or decades. To me, either you leave fast enough or you will be axed. And that was one of the topics we talked about.
This Client of mine, let’s say call her Ms Tang, spent most of her time in the Public Sector as a Civil Servant. She laments the few times she was in the Private sector about how ruthless the bosses and colleagues could be. And for the matter of fact, where monetary issues are concerned, if you cannot produce results, you just simply have to go. And for that, I totally agreed with her. We also talked about the fact that if you spend most of your time in the Public service and if you are really good at producing results, that you should go out into the Private sector where all the money is. But if you are not as capable, that the Public sector would be a comfort zone for you to stay permanently in. She was telling me to pick up a skill which, when you are retrenched, you would not worry about your livelihood. Ms Tang was telling me how even if she would to lose her job today, she is confident that she is able to earn more doing freelance work and having flexible hours. She has a MA in Instructional Design from NIE, NTU and has taught in NIE before having being paid a handsome sum of money doing freelance job. And besides that, we talked about our outlook in life, how youngsters handle money nowadays and how we would handle ours, and I concluded by thanking her and saying I learnt a lot from her. To much of my surprise, she mentioned she learnt a lot talking to me and that she felt I sounded much older than my age (When I told her I was 25, she was shocked). You know how some people would just say some things for the sake of saying when they actually don’t mean it? Somehow when she said those words, it felt sincere and I appreciate that.
At the end of it, I came to realized that she was a Christian.
I guess God has a reason for putting us through some events in our lives. It may seem an agonizing experience at first and not quite exactly the desired comfort zone that we want to be in, but somehow, these incidents serve to strengthen us and at the end of the day, having been there and done that, you are in a better position to inspire and impact others around you. I like what my friend says, “What doesn’t kill makes us stronger”.
True, it is always easier to look back and say thank God for such and such an event, but really, when you are in that situation yourself, you hope God would come to your aid immediately. That, I do not deny. I have, many times asked myself, why it must be me whom God has chosen to walk a certain path which was uncalled for and unplanned for and basically pushing me out of my comfort zone. I can do 2 things: I can approach the problem with an open heart and make the best out of it, or, I can indulge myself in self-pity and ultimately bitterness. Like electricity, it always takes the path with the least resistance. The latter is really easier for us, but really, at the end of the day, you will only emerge worst than before. In any case, be it you choose the former or latter, you still have to face the situation. So why not make full use of the problem and turn it into an opportunity?
You must be thinking why am I saying all these out of a sudden? The headlines on the Sunday Times today featured Dr William Tan. He is one inspiring figure. I read his story with care, not willing that I lose any piece of the information which was reported. He was in constant battle his whole life. He was born underprivileged and had to move around in a wheelchair but yet work his way up to be a Doctor. He is a Doctor, a Scientist, an Athlete as well as a fund-raiser. You can roughly imagine how much effort and courage he took just to accomplish so much. I mean if you compare his achievements with the many healthy and privileged people around us, his would stand out immediately. As if you thought his nightmare was over, he was diagnosed with Cancer this Apr. He spoke about how initially he rejected treatment and for the fact that he worked so hard all his life just to realize he has cancer now. Before this, he used to travels widely to give talks to inspire others. Now, he cannot do as much. He spoke about how discouraged he was and anyone who is sound would start to question why this is happening to such a great man. Like many of us, he almost gave up. He was on the brim of self indulging in self-pity and blame this and that and everything else such that he even mentioned that he would willingly let the cancer take him away. But I am thankful that he chose the path that was easier said than done – confront your problem. He is now receiving treatment whilst waiting for his matching Sister’s bone marrow to be made available.
Life is never a bed of roses. Problems exist everywhere. Some problems can be resolved. Some problems persist. All these, you have no control over. But there is only one thing you have control over, your mind and your thoughts. If the mind can see it, the body can have it. I know it is easier said than done. After all Life’s a journey and a process. If God is not hurrying you, why fret?
Step by Step, Prayer by Prayer, God will always lead us there.
When you are in a Valley, there is only one way you can go: UP.
Don’t you think so? J
