fast track life

it's really been such a blessing from the last month of 2008 to the entry of this year 2009. now i look back and would need to pinch myself sometimes as i realize how much i've grown as a person these past few months. i feel like i've stepped up a level in my life - like i'm no longer the careless, care-free adolescent i was a year before. I can say it now- I'm an adult.

maybe it's because i've entered the workforce for some months now and i am very thankful that i was able to acquire jobs (regardless of how long i stayed in those companies) when other people go crazy trying to find work, job offers were finding their way to me.

last november i was hired by ACTS, a tutoring center, as an academic consultant. Iwas only able to stay there for 4 days (shortest stay from their record) because i also had a job in TP as an agent. So for those short 4 days i worked 2 jobs. But due to some clauses stipulated in my call center contract, i had to give up my tutoring job. The kids said they would miss me. I doubt if one of them still remembers my name. haha! still that was a thrilling job - having to teach math (my waterloo), filipino and civics (in english) and one time even spanish. Good co-wrokers- kudos to all the achis and ahias from ACTS.

so from december to february, i worked and lived like a vampire. I had my day reversed and my sleeping pattern messed up for quite some time. Yet i was willing to endure it, since the job paid well. who would have thought, huh? Xyza, a call center agent? because even during my college days, i was one of those people who got intimidated by call centers. yes, i do speak english rather well i might say byut somehow i didn't have the confidence to apply for a position since i felt my english was classroom english and not the call center english' they needed complete with the accent. the only accent i had was bulakeña accent, acquired from the place i live and grew up in.

it was such an experience. sometimes frustrating, intimidating and frightening at times, but it added something to the personality i already had. i felt that my confidence grew. hey, i wasn't even nervous talking to my american boss. i really thought i would be staying until mid-year of 2009 in that company - just so i could save up some money and to pass the time while waiting for St. Luke's to call me up.

yet, lo and behold, St. Luke's Medical Center - Global City called me up for my medical exam on Feb.2 and scheduled me to start training Feb. 16, 2009. I couldn't believe how fast everything was going. I was excited that my hybernation as a nurse would be over yet feared on how i would be able to balance 2 jobs at the same time. whatever, i'll cross the bridge when i get there.

My first day in training was really unforgettable. It was raining really hard so i had to travel wearing casual clothes and just brought my white uniform with me. There was heavy traffic since it was monday and it took sometime also to get changed in Jollibee before i headed off to SLMC-QC. I was asked to proceed to the 16th flr of Cathedral Heights and i knew it would take more time to wait for an elevator and i was already 30 minutes late. Fortunately one of the people from HR saw me and recognized me from the picture in my id. He called me out and we proceeded to medicine building. while walking i felt something wasn't right with my right shoe because i was hearinga constant clacking. turns out the sole of my shoes were hanging loose and were only a few more steps away from completely being removed from where it was glued. I tried to stick it with some gum but to no avail. i had to walk into the room in my pink flip-flops which fortunately turned into something comical that i would forever be remembered for. the girl in the pink flip-flops - that's me.

during the first two weeks of my traing i worked two jobs: training in St. Luke's in the morning and working at TP at night. My body wanted to revolt everytime 8pm was approaching and i had to be absent from my night job a couple of times since my body was giving up from fatigue. I'm really thankful also for my mentors, Kuya Glenn and Ate Niqz, for opening the door of their homw for me. I would have died after the first day working from one job to another if i had to go home to our house everyday. So,i decided, even if i wanted to stay at TP, i had to leave for my own good.

so currently i'm training as a staff nurse for St. Luke's Global City. I belong to NSET 10 a.k.a The Perfect Batch, an awesome group of people from all over the philippines- brilliant and excellent nurses who really match the title ONE OF THE WORLD'S BEST. I'm learning a lot and having so much fun at the same time. I sometimes think to myself 'so this is how a professional feels like.' it feels great.

i feel like my life is on the fast lane, i'm hanging in there. by God's grace i'll make it through.

dude, where are you going?

it's been a long time since i had time to blog. Well, being in production already limits my access time to the internet. Plus, trying to stay unconspicuous is really hard when your bosses are roaming constantly. a new year has entered and the first month just quickly passed by. I can't believe i didn't manage to squeeze in even one blog entry for january. So let this be my salutations for the year 2009.

i planned to stay up last new year's eve and write down my faith goals for the year. I had a lot of them already in my head but i wanted to use that time to write them down on paper - make them more concrete. but it was only after the first week of january was i able to write them down. and i asked also my disciples to do the same. here a re some samples from what i wrote.

• To complete my G12 by the end of the year
• To win one soul every month for this year
• To mentor 10 singers to be worship leaders
• To start my own business
• To save Php50,000 in the bank and pay for our house
• To become a registered midwife
• To commit consistently with my walk with GOD

I forgot the others. yet as the end of january came and went, my #2 goal was, let's just say, temporarily forgotten. Hanna, one of my disciples, asked me why i'm asking for their goals for this year. I answered so i might know how to lead you. Knowing where you want to go would help a lot. Lifting them up to GOD would bless your year. That simple statement brought about ideas afterwards.

Why should you bother knowing your destination? Isn't it more fun to just enjoy the journey and be surprised by how it goes and where it leads you? Maybe. But i think getting into something without the slightest hint of where you want to go is a waste of time and effort. I mean, you don't actually get to your destination just by looking down on your own two feet. You got to know where you're heading and setting out goals is the way to do that. Otherwise, it's not a journey you're taking-that's just wandering.

I've know a lot of people who get into sticky situations and find themselves just making excuses that they're just enjoying the ride rather than getting real and finding the purpose for what they want to accomplish in this life. Most are really hard headed in saying that they make their own decisions and no one is the boss of them. Full of pride they stick with their choices even if takes them down hill. I can hear sinatra sing "i did it my way..."

I shake my head just thinking about the heartache and sorrow they can be saving themselves from if they just learn to submit their lives to the orchestrator of life. The wisest king who ever lived once said: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6).

reflect and ask yourself "dude, where are you going?"