What should you do if the responsibility is BIGGER than you?

 

As a young child, I was given some more responsibility by my parents than some of my siblings even if I am a middle child.  Maybe because they think I am more matured in thinking for my age or maybe it is because I am dependable (or so I thought?) LOL.

When I studied, I cannot consider myself as an intelligent student. Just an average person though there are times I got some best in this subject or best in that subject..well maybe the most award that I get as a child in school which actually illicit laughter amongst my siblings is my being a consistent “MOST BEHAVED” student. They always teased me that maybe I am so silent that even when my teachers would call me to participate in class, I just keep my mouth shut and just wait until the school bell rang..so I can head back home.

During my College days, that was the only time I became a little bit more active in school activities. I had my share of leading a group in a class or even being a Chairman of a Committee for a project or activity organized by my class or Department.  I was even a part of a group that represented my University in the Chefs on Parade, an annual competition for Hotel and Restaurant professionals or students which we won a Bronze medal in the Inventive Buffet Table Setting category among almost 20 schools competing.  A good enough feat for us…

I guess my most cherised moment as a leader in school is when I headed my group in our Thesis about the importance of having Multi-cultural Awareness in the Hotel Industry for 3 selected hotels which we painstakingly researched and interviewed staff and handed out questoionnaires. Come the Defense, we have successfully presented our Thesis well and I even got a flat 1.0 grade in my Research class.

As I started my professional career, I never dreamt to have a big responsibility. Back then, I am ok with a routine job which after hitting the bundy clock, I don’t have to worry about problems or stresses at work. Then, I had my second job. I was hired as a Marketing Coordinator then. First week of work, I find my job too boring already and lack challenge. I was thinking then if I made a right decision to accept that job offer since I also have some applications to consider then. My boss noticed my persistence and gave me some additional responsibilities. Soon, I found myself getting involved in some special projects and finally I was promoted to Marketing Manager at the age of 23. I never realized I have such big responsibility at that young age. Well, maybe for some people, they even have GM or CEO or CFO post almost right after graduation. That is an exceptional case. Maybe, either they are too brilliant or their family owns the company.  But for an average person like me, being a head of an important department at 23 is an accomplishment but a daunting task as well. Everyday, there are so many challenges, so many problems to solve, so many thinking and analyzing which oftentimes, gives me no time for personal stuff. But personally, I find all these challenges very satisyfing if I get to solve them successfully and the outcome is what I want it to be.

Then I had another job as an Operations Manager but is equivalent to a Business Unit Head. This job is really very challenging since I had to do all the ground works. My boss which is the VP and CEO gave me the vision and framework of the Business and I had to do all details of the job including setting up standards, supplier relations, business development and all. On top of that, I was also selected to be part of the company’s in-house academy for the “chosen few” to attend a rigorous 2 year course about Management and Personal Development.

Unfortunately, I had to quit this job and the schooling for another bigger responsibility which is my current job. Offhand, I am helping to manage around 40 staff. My boss and I have gone a long way as far as improving the standards of our operations as well as business development and we will not stop there..of course we have to sensitive with the market trends and our competitors as well. At times, I find it difficult to manage an organization this size especially if some of the staff are more senior (in terms of age and maybe have more professional experience than me) but there lies the challenge.  Moreover, I cannot avoid thinking that at my age why do I have to pressure myself with a big responsibility which at times I think is even bigger than me? Why not just opt to put up my own noodle shop or coffee kiosk so the pressure is not bigger or even choose to be just an ordinary worker.

However, I feel that is not my destiny. I believe God gave me the wisdom to walk on this path cos HE knows I can handle even bigger responsibilities in life.  When I say responsibilities, it doesn’t mean only professional responsibilities but also being responsible to my family, my loved ones and all aspects of the society. If we feel the responsibility is bigger than us, just look up then we will realize we have an even Bigger God.

Biting of more than one can chew…

After going to the gym and renting computer for 2 hours, I was so thirsty and wanted to grab something cool and refreshing to drink. Too bad I ran out of stock of Coke (which I did on purpose since it will just give me the liberty to drink cola whenever I can since I had it in my fridge anway) and the only thing that I had overflowing is coffee and tea which is not a good choice when someone feels very warm. Finally, I saw the last sachet of Nestea Fit given to me by my Aunt when I went back home last May. One sachet makes one liter so I filled up my tumbler (a liter tumbler I got for buying 30 Baht worth of Pepsi in Central Mall) and put in all the tube ice in my freezer then grabbed my Lay’s potato chips and sat on the floor eating and drinking to my hearts content while I am actually ironing my office clothes for the coming week and watching a US series.

After doing all my chores and finishing the chips and watched 4 episodes of the series, my Iced tea is still half full. I realized I made more than I can consume which is such a waste. Had I made only half of the tumbler, I still can enjoy another round of iced tea on another scorching day/night.

In life, we always want to get the most out of every situation, out of every opportunities. We tend to grab as much as we can, we tend to bite more than we can chew…until we are so full, we cannot take some more..In the professional world, this could be anything from taking a very big and high profile job even if we are not ready to take full responsibility, this could also be taking all projects given to us that we can no longer manage our time and in the end, we can only finish a mediocre product.

In a relationship, it may mean dipping one’s feet in another person’s pool just to test the water, it may also mean jumping into marriage without any preparations (financial, emotional, spiritual), it could also mean giving too much emotional investment that the other person can no longer swallow or on the contrary, the lack of emotion so the other person cannot swallow because there is no “love potion” to make it flow directly to one’s heart.

The key to all of this is moderation. Aren’t we enjoying food better if we savor the smell, chew only half a mouth’s full so we can taste all the flavors and spices rather than biting all at the same time thus, we end up in the toilet with constipation. Life also has to be lived in moderation. It is ok to be competitive or in the active mode but it is very important to know when we have to step on the break or shift gears.

What if a day has more than 24 hours?

Last night on the way home after going to the gym, a thought suddenly popped out in my mind..it was already about 10PM, a bit late but I still have many things to do. I’ve not had my dinner yet, have to do my laundry, have to open Facebook, harvest and plant in my Farm Town and check e-mail and do some more work at home..geez, if I had to do all of those, I will end up staying awake maybe until 2 or 3 am which is definitely not good for my health. And so i thought…what if our day has more than 24 hours? Wow, we can do so much more..we will be more productive…i suppose.

So just for the sake of discussion, what will be the benefits if one full day has more than 24 hours? Say 30 or 36 hours in one day or getting extra 12 hours in one day?

1.) We’ll have more time to work..this means less backlog since we have more time to complete our tasks. We can serve more clients so it also means incremental business for companies.  If this is the case, maybe a normal working hour would be 12 hours per day instead of 8 hours only. Many of us work 12 hours per day anyway due to overtime works, etc.  So should not be a major problem.

2.) More time to do recreational or relaxing activities. – After work since we have some more time to spare, we can accommodate some more activities like extending gym time, more hours to sleep, going to the mall, eating, watching movies, etc.

3.) More Family time- Since we are too tied up with work or other activities especially with the very short day, we tend to have less time to talk or do activities together with our family or loved ones. Having extended hours in a day, we can have more bonding moments with our family and loved ones.

4.) Since we have more time to do other stuff during weekdays, we will have no excuse not to go to Sunday Mass or do our Spiritual obligations. I hear a lot of people say they cannot go to church on Sunday because it’s their only rest day and its the only time they can sleep longer, spend time with the spouse or kids, etc.

It seems life will be a little closer to being perfect with the above scenarios being achieved right? But come to think of it, if indeed our day is more than 24 hours, there might be a possibility of the following:

1.) If working time is not only 8 hours a day but longer, then there will definitely be more time for meetings, more time to serve customers which equates to more back office works, and more time to pressure and be pressured by the daunting tasks ahead.

2.) Since there is more time to spend in a day, people may just ignore the importance of time because they have many time to spare anyway in doing other things. This would mean the world may go on a slower pace than normal and many relax time..

3.) Longer time would mean longer hours spent in the office  (for those working) and more time in school (for those who are still studying). Because of these, kids will still be busy, Dads will still have less time at home and Mom’s will be more bored at home and the waiting time for the Mom to wait for the Husband and the kids to come home will be longer. With this, interaction with Family and Loved Ones will still be similar to the current rate that we have.

4.) Since people will be busy with Jobs, extended recreational activities and the like, People will again have the unacceptable reason not to go to Church or serve spiritual responsibilities.

5.) Since the day is longer, our body may be affected by long hours of working and aging process may come sooner than we can expect since the days are longer. Normal 24 hours per day is actually 8, 760 hours in 1 year. If it will be 36 hours per day, in a year’s time it is already 13, 140 hours  which is way way higher than the normal so if hours accumulate, an average 25 yrs old person can have a biological age of 28.

So after carefully evaluating, extending hours in a day is not the solution to our time problem. The solution is time management. If we are able to manage our time well, then we can do all we need to do in a day’s time. If our time is really hectic and not enough to cover all our activities, the key is to spend our time wisely and spend it well. Spending time well means giving quality time to our loved ones, following our obligations well and improving our work so we don’t need to spend longer time doing it.

Truly God puts equilibrium in everything he created. As for me, I now see the 24 Hours of my day must be spent wisely so that the thought of extending hours in a day to 36 hours will not enter into my mind again.

Anything for Love

Last Sunday, I went to the Christening of my godson, Matt Justin. It was held in Holy Redeemer Church on a scorching hot afternoon. After the ceremony, we all troop to the reception area –the very luxurious Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok located at the banks of Chao Phraya River.

It was actually a dual celebration. Apart from Justin’s Baptism, it was the family’s only little girl, Claire (Justin’s sister) celebrating her 7th Birthday on that day. Traditionally speaking, the 7th birthday of a child is always celebrated in a somewhat grand style because it symbolizes that upon reaching that age, the child has more or less a mind of its own and starting his or her early years of schooling.

The affair was an intimate one attended by approximately 30 guests mostly relatives, family friends and colleagues of Mike and Sharon- the very proud parents that day.

The kids in attendance was a great sight to see as they put on princes and princesses costumes like in a mini dance ball. They walked inside the room in pairs and its so nice to see babies as young as probably 2 years old actually enjoying what they are doing.

Then the fairest of them all entered the room. It’s Claire dressed in a Pink Gown with a tiara in her head and a rose in her hand.

The programme continued with the kids strutting their stuff out as they danced to everyone’s delight. Really, kids these days are so full of talent.

While we eat a sumptuous buffet lunch, Mike flashed a slide presentation in the LCD screen of Claire since she was a baby, highlighting all the places that the family had been to as well as the memorable events they shared with friends. Maybe they realized time really flew so fast.

Then there were games and numerous photo opportunities and a lot of drinking!

It was indeed a memorable event especially for Claire. As I head back home, I realized a parent would really go all out just to make their kids happy-and at all cost. I mean, hosting a party in a 5 Star Hotel would eat up a big sum of money. Apart from that, everyone in their family really prepared with all the costumes, dance number and presentations days before the event. Despite all these, at the end of the day if their objectives are met- that is making their children happy and satisfied then all the troubles and cost-cutting is nothing.

I am now thinking what kind of a Dad would I become? I know this title entails a great responsibility. If and when that time comes, I know I would be a good one. I’ve been a good son (as far as my standards are concerned, ha ha ha!) so I know I will be a great Dad soon!

Enjoy the rest of your week!