So Far So Good

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Have been coordinating an exchange programme with some Japanese delegates for the past 1-2 months and since this is the first of such exchange I am planning for, you can imagine the kind of "panic attacks" I get... that's just me; a perfectionist, constantly stressing myself out worrying about things. As a result, I ended up drafting a detailed itinerary and task list for the days my organization is involved. It was so detailed that some of the fonts used are like font size 8.

But this time, things are a little different. For once, I tried to not do everything myself and enlisted the help of my colleagues... am really so so glad that my colleagues readily jumped in and said OK to helping... I figured that I was not going to be able to cope with the whole thing myself and for once, put down my "feel-paisay-to-ask-for-help" attitude and really ask for help... It is really difficult but I realized I can't always be this way and tire myself out by wanting to do everything myself...

Anyway, the Japanese delegates have arrived in Singapore yesterday and today I attended a welcome dinner for them in one of my organization's homes. I was so thrilled to see everyone really enjoying themselves and although there were some language barriers and people were quiet at first but soon people warmed up to one another and started to enjoy each other's company... this is so great!

As usual, I did try to mingle around but most of the time, I would find myself quiet and withdrawn in a corner just observing others... Frankly, I am happy being in the background. Seeing today's evening celebration has made me realized how happy I am just to be doing work behind the scenes and seeing people enjoy themselves. True enough, at times, I would appreciate some limelight but most of the time, I am easily contented with just being behind the scenes...

Learnt something from the celebration as well... the performances by the beneficiaries were far from perfect but everyone just had so much fun during the process... guess sometimes it is not how well things turn out that is important but how much fun people have while in the process of doing things and how meaningful the process has been... The beneficiaries has taught me an important lesson which I do not hope to forget, something to the effect "Stop being so uptight about success and excellence but enjoy the process".

OK, tomorrow, the delegates will come to my office for visit and I foresee being uptight about things again... but shall remember the valuable lesson learnt from the beneficiaries... Time to sleep soon...

Today, I also heard that one of my friends from another department is leaving... sad but it would be a better career move for her... Will wish her all the best and will miss this friend of mine...