Monday, October 27, 2008

Who are we?

Few days ago, my lady boss made the most atrocious remark over a magazine to my colleague who is the Brand Manager. This was what happened.
My colleague happened to see her boss carrying a copy of The Peak magazine and asked " Hey, Sue! How did you get your copy of The Peak? We've been hunting high and low for it, only to discover that they are not on sale!"
My lady boss replied, " Oh, they deliver it to my house every month. And of course, you won't get it - Who are you? Huh, who are you?"
The tone of her voice was an extreme sarcasm which left my colleague reduce to a state of hopeless perplexity!
Her question was simply out of genuine curiosity and surely, one does not expect to be bombarded with such sarcasm.
As a Brand Manager, my colleague felt ashamed, demoralized and dumbfound when she confided in me. Later, I tried to console her and explained to her that it doesn't matter who you are or who she is?? It really DOES NOT MATTER.
Who are we? We are all the same in different bodies and different forms. When we die, we will all be the same, like it or not! We can't bring along our status, wealth or anything at all with us...Nothing! When we die, we will not be remembered for the high profile career we have. Rather, we will be remembered for the person we were when we were alive. Were we kind? Were we a good friend, wife or sister? How many people will actually miss us when we are gone?
Once upon time, I must confess that I was also caught in the rat-race...working very hard to get to the position I'd always hoped to be. Coming from a poor family, position to me means success. Success means respect or reputation. Then when I was there, I realized that the position is sometimes not so important after all. For the higher I climb - the greater the pressure mounts up and guess what, with all the marathons I ran...my blood pressure went up to 180/120! Walking time bomb - I could explode anytime and that's it...curtains closed. Today, I must say I've come a long way into learning to let go and look at life at a different perspective. I believe I still have much to learn...
"Success is waking up in the morning, whoever you are, wherever you are, however old or young, and bounding out of bed because there's something out there than you to do, that you believe in, that you're good at - something that's bigger than you are and you can hardly wait to go at it again today. It is something you'd rather be doing than anything else. You wouldn't give it up for more money, because it means more to you than money" - Whit Hobbs

3 comments:

Sayani said...

WM I really don't know how to thank you ...
Am in a same sort of state ...burdened with emotional stress.
I try to implement but some how i was not totally convinced of myself ....

your post gave the courage ...i sometime feel to leave all things behind and walk out ... but then some one says thats escapist ...u have to stand up and face it ...

you are right profession can nt be more than life itself ...we really don't know when the curtain will be drawn ....

i was lately rejuvenating myself ....but it was really hard to battle ...bt some how am in an edge from where i am having a better view....

And your post was like a tremendous antidote ...
Thank you WM ...May God Bless you Always


keep well :)

regards
sayani

The Runner, Dreamer, Observer, Seeker said...

Dear Sayani,

I thank you for your kind words and am happy to know that I could help you a little in some ways.

Learning to let go is extremely difficult. It took me sometime to finally pluck enough guts and said, "Enough, That's it!"
Many times I just got so carried away - distracted and lured by so many worldly things that I've forgotten my own priorities or values.
It's even more difficult if you are drawing a 'fat' package and all your bills are all being compensated every month.
Then, there came a time where I learned to weigh the pros and cons and questioned myself over and over again even till today, "Is the stress that I am getting worth more than my salary?"
"Am I sacrificing my health for money?"
At this point of writing, I am actually serving my notice.

Think deeply, then move on and live with no regrets.

All the best to you!

mile191 said...

thank you for this post. i found you through blogger and the word secret. i love what you wrote about who we are. i am trying to figure that out. thanks. i will read you from time to time. your writing is nice.