A thought crossed my mind recently. I arrived from Hawaii to the mainland U.S.A. in January 1996. (I honestly don’t know the exact date that I arrived.) This realization happened just before confirming our plans to a trip to the Pacific again, the second in about three years. On Thursday, Aurora and I finalized our vacation plans later in the year to head on back to Hawaii in the beginning of August for my niece’s graduation celebration, and to touch base with my hometown.
Thoughts of when I left Hawaii would make my stay on the mainland fifteen years. It has been an interesting journey for these years. I learned that everywhere I have stayed a while in certain cities, I’ve been inspired by many people and enjoyed the sites and the context of the different cultural communities. I am thankful for those experiences throughout my life.
Thursday is my only day off this week after a rollercoaster six-day workweek that ranged from a seventeen-hour day to an eight-hour one. It’s been a six-day workweek since the beginning of the New Year, and it seems like there are at least a few more weeks, at the least, scheduled. Believe me, I will definitely let you know when this work schedule ends! As many of you know about me, I don’t mind working long hours; I just don’t like it when it’s mandatory when I have to do so. Let me be the one to have the freedom to decide!
I was thinking the other day about how I wish that the circumstances would be like back in late November 2007. I was starting a new marriage and a new beginning at a company. Now, I am faced with a history of the ups and downs since then. I am determined to prove that it is possible to change at work and at home that what others believe about me is not true, especially the aspects that do not meet their expectations of the roles in my life. That is what I realized the other night when I prayed: “Let the change be within me to change the circumstances around me!” I realized that in any given circumstances when you are in a leadership position whether at work or at home everyone can second guess any decision that was made. I must offer them another side of my well-considered skills, Hawaiian-inspired talents and goofy personality.
