Of Crazy Days and Bumpy Ways

Today was one of those days.

You know, those days where your phone doesn’t stop ringing. And you pick up, each time knowing it is not going to be welcome news.

A fussy customer. Finance issues when processing an order. Urgent printing to be done by your customer and your much-needed consultant is out of town. Logistics headache.

Lunch was punctuated with calls between mouthfuls.

The mind was being yanked in different directions, with each train of thoughts dragged back from gathering momentum by another just as pressing thought.

Five things to do at the same time, and only two hands to do it.

My hands were slipping on the rope, losing grip from sweaty palms.

I knew it was time for a whistle to blow, for a much needed break in the tug of war against time. The moment when the coach calls the team into the locker room and says the motivating words that rouse their low spirits. When the Prep Talk comes to life. When the martial arts master looks his protégé in the eye, reminds him to focus, and strengthens his will to fight and win.

So when I finally retreated to the haven of Xiao Bai, my little car, it was with a sigh of relief that I slammed the door shut on the noisy world outside.

And then after a few calming breaths, I sorted through the mess inside my brains, compartmentalizing the information that belonged to each customer case.

Somehow that put things in a much more objective perspective. When issues become no longer problems but simply a task to be ticked off a To-Do list, it suddenly does not look that big and looming anymore.

But it went further than that.

Sometimes, what we need is not solutions but rather reasons why we need to take action. Going beyond scratching the surface by thinking up temporary solutions, we need to ask…

…Why am I facing the problem in the first place?

…Is the issue determined by external factors (environment, other people) or by internal factors (my attitude, psychological barriers, something I did or did not do)?

…Is the problem something that can be rectified permanently? And if so, then how?

The customer and logistics issues I was facing were not considered “good things.”

BUT, they came as a result of closing orders, which was DEFINITELY “a good thing.”

So what does that mean?

Should I NOT close any more orders so that I won’t have to face all these issues? Or does it mean that I have to accept that these are just part and parcel of closing orders? And if so, is there anything I can do or change in the way I am doing things to lessen the probability of such issues cropping up again the next time I close an order?

The questions could go on. But one thing became glaringly obvious:

If I want to be on the road of success, I gotta be willing to ride its bumpy turf because it’s not gonna be smooth.

If I want to be successful in whatever I am doing, I cannot expect things to be a walk in the park. Success is not going to appear at a snap of the fingers. It’s going to take A LOT of sweat, tears, and hard work. I will need to stay positive, to take “bumps in the road” in my stride, to stretch myself and rise to the challenges that come my way.

But hey, nobody said it would be easy….Only that it would be WORTH IT.

And that, for me, is motivation enough.

**After the self-prep talk, she went on to close the largest machine order she has done thus far. :)**

The Exam Movie

The scraping of metal chairs on the linoleum floor.

Pencil cases unzipping and pens laid out on metal tables.

The heartbeat picking up a pace.

The digital clock on the wall.

Then, the whole scene pauses.

In a hall of more than two hundred people, there is SILENCE.

“The time is now five o’clock. You may begin.”

The voice of the invigilator over the microphone is drowned out by the sound of rustling pages as students turn over the leaves of exam paper and start frenziedly writing.

……

Did you ever feel like you were watching yourself acting out in a real-life movie? Like you’re seeing things and experiencing things through your own eyes, and yet detached from it all?

It is a strange and interesting feeling.

You watch your hand writing, writing, writing… black marks scribbled line after line to fill up a blank paper.

You suffer the fierce ache of the muscles cramping up and watch the other hand move across the table to massage the cramping arm.

You feel the keen eyes of the invigilators sweeping over you as they march pass like sentinels on duty.

You sense the tension in the air, and note again the silence.

You sit back, an unobtrusive observer, and look over your own mind’s shoulder as it recalls ideas and pulls out concepts from the mental notebook to answer the questions.

You keep a sharp eye on the digital clock on the wall which shows a different combination of figures every time you glance at it.

…….

6.55PM.

Did two hours really fly back so quickly?!??

Your hand flips through the pages, your eyes skimming the lines at top speed, double-checking your work.

There is a flurry of papers all around as the other students do the same.

“Put your pens down.”

The hardworking hand in front of you finally lays down the pen it has been clutching tightly for the last 120 minutes.

The invigilators whiz by, snatching the answer books off the tables as they make their way down the long line of desks.

You let out a sigh of relief.

The heartbeat slows to the usual pace.

Then you stand up, pick up your belongings, and leave the exam hall… never once looking back.

**She is done with her four papers of the first semester, and is ready to play!**