BY KHEN SARONG
A SEASONED auditor, free-spirited, living life to the fullest, and an individual with uncontainable excitement to explore the world after two years of pandemic lockdown—that was me two and a half years ago. At the same time, I was also someone still seeking what I truly wanted in life. I started continuing professional education by taking my master’s degree, starting a small business, immersing myself in the world of stocks and cryptocurrencies, planning to quit my job, thinking of transferring to another field, considering going back to farming, and a little bit of everything. In a nutshell, I do not know what I want to do with my life, nor do I even have a clue.
I wanted to do everything in life, yet I did not have the luxury of time, resources, and finances to do it. To find solutions, I resorted to the conventional way—I asked the Lord for signs, and voila! Two weeks later, I received exciting news. The partners wanted to send me to Australia as part of the Firm’s secondment program, to which I agreed without second thoughts. I spent the last two years in the land down under, where I see the world from a larger perspective. During my stay there, I had lots of realizations and learnings. Reality slapped me so hard that it made me return to my senses. These lessons made me think bigger and made me mature enough to face life’s unending battle. As I lived there, I realized that:
1. Personal time is important so that you do not forget who you really are and the values you have.
We, Filipinos, are one of the most hardworking races in this world. Lots of employers love us. My employer loved me and adored me because of my work ethic and dedication just to earn decent pay. We immerse ourselves in work so much that we do not even have time to do the main reason why we worked in the first place. Some of us worked to travel yet cannot even afford to take a leave of absence to really travel. We wore stress as medals.
In my first few weeks in Australia, I was doing things to make a good impression. I worked extended hours and even still worked once I got back to my apartment. Not until one day, my superior asked me what I would do later that night, and I responded that I had to finish these deliverables that I hadn’t finished during the day. She looked at me in dismay and told me to do my personal thing and enjoy the rest of the night. I was struck at that moment because I realized that I had forgotten what I really love doing for myself. From that moment on, I always made sure that I had at least two to three hours to do things for myself, i.e., watch a good movie series, cook a good dinner, and experiment with combinations for a good matcha drink, among others.
2. Earning is great, but family and friends are incomparable.
Even if I was working abroad, I continued living frugally, as I’ve been doing throughout my life. Although I was making a good living, I was content if I had stocks of eggs and meat in my fridge. I would treat myself at least twice a month and have occasional pub drinks with my mates. I was earning, and I was able to invest most of it—I was living the dream, money-wise.
This was until my mother got severely sick and needed to be transported to the nearest emergency hospital at midnight. During that moment, I realized that I was not around for my family in case something bad happened. On the other hand, if I get sick, no one will also take care of me considering that my nearest relative is residing in Melbourne and I was based in Brisbane. For me, it’s a gamble between income and relationships, and I will always choose the latter.
3. Setbacks will guide you to your destination.
Before I went to Australia, I was clueless with what I wanted in life. I drafted three versions of resignation letters, underwent several coaching sessions with my people coach, talked to senior partners of the firm for wisdom and opinion, and even considered not renewing my CPA license. I was pressured to be a winner, doubting if I had the capabilities to be a winner. I lost people, I lost chances, I lost resources. Those are tough experiences I always look back on, and those brought me to Australia. Ultimately, those experiences equipped me with the necessary intangibles to survive and face life.
These experiences made me see the bigger picture of life. I am grateful that I am supported by people around me including the Firm. Instead of looking for something missing, I should look around and appreciate what I currently have and decide on things I have control over. Nobody’s perfect; hence, there will always be something missing, and if you are focused on that, happiness and success will be impossible.
There will always be a time in our lives when we are clueless if we are doing the right thing—which path to go and which bridge to cross. As my favorite quote says from the book “A Gentle Reminder by Bianca Sparacino, “However you fought your battles and whatever got you here today is valid. You had to do what you had to do. Congratulate yourself on having the courage to do it, even if it was not graceful, even if it could have been executed in a kinder way or more tender day, even if you see now that you could have done things differently.” Let’s be gentle with ourselves. We are learning. And we still are.
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Khen Sarong is an Audit Manager from the Audit & Assurance Practice Area at P&A Grant Thornton. One of the leading audit, tax, advisory, and outsourcing firms in the Philippines, P&A Grant Thornton is composed of 29 Partners and 1,500 staff members. We’d like to hear from you! Connect with us on LinkedIn and like us on Facebook: P&A Grant Thornton and email your comments to pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com. For more information, visit our website: www.grantthornton.com.ph.
