Today marks my 3rd year as a part of [24]7's Quality Management Group and because of that, I became so eager to talk about that little something we have in our life called WORK. Boring eh? You are free to click the X button anytime you want.
I've been expressing my thoughts about anything through this blog (and some of them, I know, are just silly stuff) but this time, more than expressing myself, I want to (hopefully) touch lives as well.
I took a stroll down memory lane and started to ask, "What was I, 3 years ago?" Well, I was just a fresh grad slash crybaby in a circle of experienced colleagues and for someone who prefers to write, I asked myself a thousand times, "Am I really at the right place?" but as months gone by, I found myself having a constant conversation in my mind: "Why do you have food on your plate?", "Why do you have a decent home to live at?", "Why do you have clothes to wear?", "Why were you able to buy another cuteey bag from CLN store?" (haha!) and so on. Of course, it's not just about the moola. It's about appreciating what you have.
Here's an inspiring story by Paulo Coelho. It's a bit long but definitely a worthy 2-minute-read:
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Many years ago, there lived in China a young man
called Mogo, who earned his living breaking stones. Although he was strong and healthy, he was not satisfied with his work and complained about it day and night. One day, his guardian angel appeared to him.
‘You’re healthy and you have your whole life before you,’ said the angel. ‘All young men start off doing the same sort of job as you. Why are you always complaining?’
‘God has treated me unfairly and has not given me the chance to grow,’ replied Mogo.
Concerned, the angel went to ask the Lord for his help.
‘Do as you wish,’ said the Lord. ‘Everything that Mogo wants will be granted to him.’
The following day, Mogo was, as usual, breaking stones when he saw a carriage pass by bearing a nobleman laden with jewels. Wiping the sweat from his dirty face, Mogo said bitterly: ‘Why can’t I be a nobleman too? That is my destiny!’
‘So be it!’ murmured his angel, delighted. And Mogo was transformed into the owner of a big palace with a vast estate, with many servants and horses. He used to go out everyday with his impressive train of followers and enjoyed seeing his former companions lined in front of him.
On one such afternoon, the heat was unbearable; even under his golden covers, Mogo was sweating as much as he used to in his days as a breaker of stones. He realized then that he wasn’t really that important: above him were princes and emperors, but higher than them all was the sun, who obeyed no one – the sun was the true king.
‘Dear angel, why can’t I be the sun? That must be my destiny!’ asked Mogo.
‘So be it!’ exclaimed the angel, concealing his sadness at such vaulting ambition. And Mogo became the sun, as he had wanted.
While he was shining in the sky, admired for his immense power to ripen the grain or scorch it as he wished, a black spot started moving towards him. The dark stain grew larger and larger, and Mogo realized that it was a cloud spreading all around him, so that he could not longer see the Earth.
‘Angel!’ cried Mogo. ‘The cloud is stronger than the sun! My destiny is to be a cloud!’
‘So be it!’ replied the angel. Mogo was transformed into a cloud and he thought he had finally realized his dream.
‘I’m so powerful!’ he yelled as he obscured the sun. ’No one can beat me’; he thundered as he chased the waves. But on the deserted ocean shore stood a vast granite rock, as old as the world itself. Mogo thought that the rock was defying him and unleashed a storm such as the world had never seen. Vast, furious waves lashed the rock, trying to wrench it from the earth and hurl it into the depths of the sea.
Firm and impassive, the rock remained where it was. ‘Angel,’ sobbed Mogo, ‘the rock is stronger than the cloud! My destiny is to be a rock!‘ And Mogo was transformed into that rock.
‘Who can vanquish me now?’ he wondered. ‘I am the most powerful thing in the world!’ And so several years passed, until, one morning, Mogo felt something stabbing into his stone entrails, this was followed by intense pain, as if part of his granite body was being broken into pieces. Then he heard dull, insistent thuds and felt again that terrible pain.
Mad with fear, he cried: ‘Angel, someone is trying to kill me! He has more power than I do, I want to be like him!’
‘So be it!’ exclaimed the angel, weeping. And that was how Mogo went back to breaking stones.
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I was like Mogo until I finally learned the value of contentment and acceptance. This does NOT mean that we should stop dreaming. We just don't have to hurry things up because we have a big God who already laid our destinies. We just have to let things happen and wait for His perfect time.
Still didn't hit you? Hmm. Okay. This one might work. Take a look.
The following images are from a slideshow I got via my work email eons ago. To watch the full slide, click here.
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| AN ELECTRICIAN IN CHINA |
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| A DELIVERY SERVICE EMPLOYEE IN ASIA |
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| DEODORANT TESTERS IN GERMANY |
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| A DITCH DIGGER IN POLAND |
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| A HORSE WHISPERER IN ENGLAND |
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| A PLUMBER IN HUNGARY |
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| A ZOOKEEPER IN AMERICA |
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| MOBILE TOILETS |
If these people can work with so much passion and gusto, no matter how hard (or weird) their jobs may seem, SO CAN WE.
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