Two day after Christmas, and a day after boxing day. It was also my mom's birthday... and the night before was a christmas party. We had a late night and I thought I would sleep in and make the best of my Sunday.
It was a lazy Sunday morning... I woke up without know what my plans are going to be for the rest of the day. I reflected momentarily on what i'd achieved for 2009. I bought a house, a car, and got married all within the same year. I work for a world renowned organization managing several markets, had good leaders, mentors and friends. I'd run my first marathon exactly a month and 4 days ago and it was also the year I took up running. Best of all, i'm on a 3 week leave. Originally, i'd intended to do some travelling but because of bad planning most destinations were either fully booked or exorbitantly expensive. So, i'd decided to stay at home and do some light travelling instead. Went for a camping trip with my buddies, did some fishing and ran a few races. All in all, it had been a good year... at least, I keep telling myself it is a good year.
Despite objectively telling myself that it had been a good year, I can't find the reason why I am not feeling very happy or excited. As I continue to laze in my bed, the clock is telling me to get up as it's almost noon. Being in a strange spaced out mood, I forced myself out of the bed. Walked around my room a little bit and I started thinking... how will my next year be? I did a lot of thinking about my career, financials, and of course... my new found passion in running. I decided to open my laptop, which I have been trying hard to ignore because I was on leave but somehow I caught myself catching up email on work. I always find it difficult to shut down... and maybe that's why I don't handle stress too well.
A few clicks and Microsoft Powerpoint was launched. I recalled something my manager had previously mentioned. Something which I thought was useful. She relayed a message a senior official in my company had talked about. The 3 lane highway... It's largely about work life balance. It's about how you want to balance your achievement in your career, family & friends, and for yourself. I spent the next hour or so mapping out what I intend to achieve in 2010. I'd fill in the slots on work, family & friends and eventually it came to a column where I had to decide what I want to achieve on a personal level. I was puzzled, I didn't know what I wanted to do... will it be wealth? health? Obviously I want and I need wealth, but wealth came in many forms. Wealth of Knowledge, wealth of financial, wealth of friends & family etc etc. Financially, I certainly want more... I want to retire early, achieve financial freedom and just do the things that I like to do. Who doesn't right? But i'd park financial wealth as part of my career highway. I am gunning for the fact that I will be financially rewarded if I just do my job right. So, that leaves me with the other wealth and the health aspect. Earlier in the year, i'd agreed with John that we will fulfill the dream of climbing Mount Kinabalu in 2010. It's about time I told myself... as the founder of a now famous adventure club, Sky Adventure Club of Taylors College - I'd imagine being laughed upon if I had not climbed Mount Kinabalu.
So, Kinabalu in April - but what next? Being an ambitious person, I usually do not stop at 1. I looked around and I saw a small brocher I had took back with me when I was running the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. They had also been promoting the Adidas Sundown Ultra Marathon at the same event. I did think of signing up on the spot but decided against it as I was not confident of completing it. Imagine, running (or walking) 84 kilometers, that's almost half-way to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur. What more, you have to complete this within 15 hours to qualify or else all efforts will be wasted!
The brochure was there, sitting neatly on the coffee table. I'd keep in "just in case" I was crazy enough to sign up. I picked it up, looked at it over and over again thinking if I would have the discipline to complete the training. Suddenly, it hit me... i'd expected that work will be tough in 2010, so I though the best way to achieve my work life balance is to have something that can take my mind off work when required. Before I'd even put it down in my 3-Lane Highway PowerPoint slide, i'd complete my sign up for the Adidas Sundown Ultra Marathon. Life got a lot more interesting after I hit "Submit". I found myself a lot more enthusiastic for the rest of the day. There was again the feeling of fear and excitement that I'd felt last year when I'd decided to run my first marathon. The fear of the unknown, the uncertainty, combined with the excitement of the thought of finishing an Ultra Marathon and being regarded as an Ultra Marathoner (if I complete it) just sends shivers down my spine. "I am to be an Ultraman..." I thought to myself. This was followed by the image of the children Ultraman Series specifically when he battles monsters and aliens for an absolute 2 minutes before the red light on his chest starts beeping telling him that his time is up and he is almost dying! Gosh... I hope MY "red light" does not start beeping as soon.
I've completed my 2010 resolution, 4 days before the year ended... I thought it was a good way to end the year. I closed my laptop with a satisfied feeling. Feeling much more cheerful than I had been before... looking forward to the unknowns and uncertainty of 2010.
Will I survive and reign as an UltraMan?
No comments:
Post a Comment