Drops of Wisdom

It has been a busy few months, and this week is no different.

Today, in particular, I had a long list of deliverables due tomorrow, so I was attempting to clear them. But I still spent time catching up with a few people and garnered so many nuggets of wisdom and food for thought that I feel the need to note them down.

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Caught up with Nn; she's on her yearly visit to the Asia offices. Had a great catch up with her as always. We spoke of everything from work to family to travels. When she shared that she probably wouldn't want to be doing the same role in 3 years (retirement age), it started me thinking: retirement probably is not as far off as I think it to be. At the same time, it must be so difficult to maintain a strong brand and the bar gets higher every year, since that's the only way it can go... It was a reminder to myself to always stay grateful to where I started and where I came from.
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Bumped into HP at the pantry and started chatting. Last I recall, his baby girl was only 6 months (and doing push-ups and not crying when she had an injection, cuz what's pain??) but now she's already 4.5 with a younger brother who's 3! H was sharing how crazy and freakishly strong his kids are: they swim, try muay thai, think ankle weights are fun, and always like moving around.

Felt like there was so much wisdom shared there: the importance of making time to do and move with kids, the importance of living a life you want them to be curious about, because how else do the young learn but by copying the dad/mom's every move? So it matters whether you're lying on the couch every day vs out running/swimming/moving about. Keeping fit and healthy truly is a lifestyle, and that just hit me hard again.

I walked away from that conversation deciding to join the SC Marathon, so thanks HP :)

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Dinner was a great time with T-k-. I was sharing with him how I felt like 30 is so great that I don't understand why people talk about it with trepidation and concern. He shared some surprising changes in thoughts, like counting how many drinks he'd have left in his active, healthy lifetime, so thinking in that perspective, he'd choose to meet people he really wants to meet while he still can. Seems like these were thoughts that were triggered by H-chan's birth, so I definitely start to understand why people generally change/develop when they enter parenthood.

The other nugget he shared was that he'd read somewhere that the 3 most basic ways to change one's life is to 1) change where you live 2) change who you have a relationship with and 3) change your time. Number 3 was initially confusing to him, but he'd started to adopt something new in the past year and now understands it. The T-k- of the past would always be working overtime until 7pm or 8pm, but now he chooses to go into the office early if he needs to work overtime and always leaves at 5:30pm sharp. I was so amazed to hear of this change as I'd never have expected the T I knew to change in this manner, but he's so happy with it. I start to wonder if I might be able to adapt it for myself somehow too.

I definitely need to instill some routine back into my work-health balance, and interestingly today's conversations seemed to spur me in the same direction. Thank you for the wonderful nuggets of wisdom! 

Glass half empty

Today's a day where it felt like it was me against the world.

Heard an update from the bossman about a decision the business leadership made -- one that sorely disappointed me and caused me to question whether the ethical integrity of the business is at stake. Are we really here to only support the business, so the business gets to decide everything and we just have to "grit our teeth and follow"? Shouldn't we be here as a form of check and balance as well? Did we really try hard enough to influence? Sure it's not something we can directly control, but isn't it an area of influence? Were all the stakeholders really a part of the discussion, or did the folks in the 'main region' drive this themselves? From the calls I've joined, it's clear that that region doesn't give a f*** about any region other than themselves. Why do they get to make the call globally? Don't they feel ashamed congratulating themselves on numbers that they know might not be the truth? What are they so afraid of?

I suddenly start to understand how conflicted WBs must feel. Would I ultimately give up my job for something I believe in? I'd like to think so. Or am I quitting too early if I choose to give up and not stay and fight? What a conundrum.

Then I get home to a response from the UoG that they "must insist on an English language proficiency test" with shades of visa requirements thrown in, And it makes me wonder: would I give up a free education (if I get it) to sustain my principles? I honestly feel offended on behalf of my entire country, my undergraduate university and even embarrassed for the British people handling admissions and crafting policies. Thanks to our colonial past, we drive on the left side, we learn Queen's English, take the GCE A and O Levels, and spell everything with "u" and pronounce the "h". Yet, the colonial mindset continues today: English must not be our first language, and therefore we need to prove we are capable to take an education in it. It doesn't seem to matter that my five-year undergraduate degree at an institution known for its rigour and ranked more than 50 places above the UoG, was conducted in English. If they had asked for a certified letter that the curriculum was delivered in English, that, I may have understood. But no, they must insist, and they tried to make it sound like a visa requirement (i.e., shifting responsibility). Which is ...odd, because if you read the requirements closely, the assessment is 1) up to the higher institution, and 2) I shouldn't need a visa for what's required with that programme.

What is up with the world?

Should I be happy that the internal fires still burn strongly for such issues? Perhaps I should consider myself silly to still be so affected by matters like this? Or can I just be sad that the world seems to have fallen short today?

I think I'll just go to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be a glass-half-full day.