family - for those of you who know my mom, my brother and I personally, you can understand that we're not the most communicative / expressive family. and we don't necessarily spend a lot of time together having 'family dinners' and such. however, i have come to appreciate the support they have always shown me throughout the years--school, work and just daily life. i still get home cooking, i am still able to live at home while i try to establish myself, and i can 'borrow' the car whenever i want. =) plus, i know there are probably a lot more little things that i don't notice that they do to care for me. i guess that's how our family is always gonna be--understated emotion...
life / health - it struck me the other day, when i was reading about the two women who died when their car was struck by the GO Train, that i am pretty lucky to be alive today. i realized how easy it is for one's life to be taken away from them just like that. what am i talking about? about three years ago, right before school started again in september, i was in a pretty serious car accident on hwy. 404. i was driving north near the steeles area, and for some reason i did not see (nor expect) a stalled car in the middle lane of the highway. by the time that i realized that it was not moving, it was already too late for me to change lanes. trying to stop from going at 110 km/h in a such short distance was pretty much impossible. i ended up rear-ending the car (with two passengers inside nonetheless) and totalled my own car. there are a bunch of reasons why i feel extremely fortunate: (1) i did not kill anyone, (2) i was not charged with anything and (3) i was able to walk away from the accident virtually unscathed. although i was pretty emotionally shaken up and freaked out, physcially i was ok. it really does amaze me that i escaped with nary a scratch. i believe that somehow God's hand was at work here and He kept me from suffering any worse.
my job - this time last year, i was going through a pretty tough time. since i wanted to do something a little more health-related, i had just decided to quit working at scotiabank. it was a risky step to take, but if i wanted to focus on looking for something new, i had to make a clean break. i struggled for 3 months and was getting pretty discouraged 'cause i wasn't get many responses. i applied for a summer student job at the MOHLTC (and it was the last year that i was eligible to apply) and i got hired for 7 weeks there. then my contract was extended through the rest of the summer. and after that i was offered a position to focus on a specific program. i've been working there ever since. my contract is actually ending again soon, but i was encouraged to hear from my manager today that they're looking to keep me on longer (and hopefully pay me better too!) especially in this time of transition. it's amazing to see that 'something' has developed out of 'nothing'--i've gained a lot of new experiences, learned some new skills and hopefully it will be a stepping stone to my next job.
long-time friendships - i've been blessed to be great friends with some people since high school and, even in one case, senior kindergarten. people like jeanne and frances have proved to be a great source of support for me through the years. we've grown up together and gone through similar challenges. i appreciate their efforts to encourage me (and keep me sane!) especially when i was struggling to find a job. there were times where i felt lonely / depressed, yet they always found the time to ask me how i was.
new friendships - distance with some other old 'friends' and the lack of depth with other friendships (i.e. we'd just hang out, but we'd never chat about anything meaningful) made me wonder whether i was hanging around the right people. but just as i was struggling with this, i've come to know some people quite well--like ebrian, fayjan, and tim--over the last little while. yes, i hang out with them by watching raptors games, playing softball or just enjoying a beer at a bar, but they've also been people who i've been able to have great conversations about pretty much anything--work, school, family, my joys, my frustrations and/or my struggles with God. i do believe that God has put them in my life for a reason.
anyway, i hate to get so sentimental and whatever, but i figured that i should elaborate to make what i said before mean something...
and so i digress...
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