Setbacks

A few weeks  ago, I received a letter from my employer. As you may have guessed, it’s not a good news (for some). The letter makes it official of the future of my role. There is a restructure happening in my department, and as the company is growing and expanding, they will need someone who have a very strong background of the company, in other words, someone who’s been working for many years, instead of someone who’s a junior like me. I only have been working there for 1 years 3-4 months… Not too long to fit the criteria. Therefore, they made a decision to made my role redundant effective 27th August.

To many people, this may be a very devastating news. Mind you, it was sad and disappointing receiving this. Honestly, on the day itself I cried. I had mixed feelings – I felt disappointed, sad, and also hurt. The thought of leaving my colleagues – who are now like my friends – is heartbreaking. Also, on top of that, I was also concerned of my boss – how he’s going to cope with his current job and also mine. No matter how bad (it seems) the company treats me, I decided not to harbour hard feelings towards it. Long ago, I’ve made a promise to myself that I won’t lose my “heart” in any situations – especially of those when you’re hurt by someone else. It’s just not worth it! Not worth it to lose my inner peace and love for the hurt feelings others have caused.

The earliest teaching that I’ve received on setback is when I was 7 years old. In a hindsight, it wasn’t really a major setback… but for the 7-year-old-me it was.  It’s still vivid in my memory, I was crying in the couch while my dad was typing next to me. Feeling curious and concerned of what happened, my dad asked why I was crying. Then I told him that my rank fell in the 2nd term. My dad then was telling me that I was wasting my energy crying. “Things have happened and nothing I could do to change the past”, he said. “But, there is still something you could do. There is another term left in the year, and if I study harder, I could be on the top again”. That was my awakening moment. Since then on, I somehow gained inner strength when I faced challenges or setbacks in life. Thanks Dad for the valuable lesson.

I believe it’s not what happens that is a problem. But it’s our attitude attending to it that could be a problem. We have and make choices in life. In my recent condition, I have made my choice: to stay positive. The uncertainty of the future scares me, but being overwhelmed by the fear won’t help me either. I just want to do things one by one and put as much effort as I could possibly do.

This too shall pass.

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