This Is My Now...

Japanese children are given little Daruma dolls weighted at the bottom so they stand up if knocked over. "Seven times down, eight times up,: is a saying they all know...

Finally, the second e-mail finally arrived. After the multinational company called up last week to ask me if I would be interested to try the opening and apply online, which I dutifuly did, I thought I failed the preliminary examination administered at the company website. I persisted and wrote them an e-mail, an upbeat one, and it gladly paid off. I received the dreaded reply, and it said that I am qualified for the 2nd round. They way it was worded was something like "..we are greatly interested to continue with your application".

Mind you, I was told by friends that I am aiming too high for this job, they told me that the company only hire people who belong to the top 5% of the graduating class, achievers like cum laude graduates, and I am sure that I didn't study well in college. The first job I had with a global corporation, a Forbes top 50 company, Caltex or what is now known Chevron Texaco, was not a fluke. I underwent rigorous testing and I was told that I was highly qualified for the position. I received an offer sheet that was 5 times higher that the prevailing salary that time, 14 years ago to be exact. I did not last long in that company, I was assigned under the Office Of The President handling Corporate Communications, I was in charge with his speeches, with the company newsletter, with external media, walking down the hallway of 6750 Ayala Avenue was a dreamjob.

Now, this multinational company will be another challenge to hurdle, and who knows, I might be back again in the hallway of 6750 Ayala Avenue. To get the best from the field, the recruitment department's motto, and I am glad that I always did my best in whatever I do. As Oprah Winfrey said, "Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next". If we only did our best during every "now", we would have the best past and would be in the best condition for a great future. I am happy to say that I hate mediocrity, and I am against it in every form. Now at 33, I will be giving my best shot for a job that everybody will be dreaming about.

Fingers crossed, I am halfway going there, and there is no turning back. As the old company logo has the moon and the stars, I am reaching for them now. As Jordin Sparks sang in her winning performance in American Idol, "This is my now".