My Personal Top 5 Hits in 2017

I've  had my fair share of up's and down's in 2017 but by the grace of God, came out of it stronger and hopefully, wiser.  There's a lot to say to summarise how the year has been, here's the curated version of my key highlights for the year:

#5. Music is back in our lives. It has long been in my bucket list to learn piano. I remember,  I used to draw on a piece of paper the piano keyboard and imagine in my head i am playing music. I never had the chance when i was a kid and i don'My personal top 5 hits in 2017t blame my parents, we just have to prioritise spending piano tuition for other necessities. When i finally started to have the income, i never have the time so, i buried this dream of mine to slumberland telling myself it will never happen. But here we are, i just signed up.  It may seem impractical  to start but, it is never too late to try. Our electric piano is finally being used, you hear music in our living room once in a while as i practice for the week's lesson. If i successfully pass Grade 1, i might consider rewarding myself with the more acoustic one :-).

If i look back at my life, my first 2 decades was mostly spent at school and with that, I'm joyfully a soprano for school choirs. The next two decades that passed was mostly spent at work and with that, i figuratively lost my voice, work has consumed me, it is never easy to find time. When I started to have my own family, it has gotten worse, there's not much left of yourself. Sometimes, you are so depleted that all you look forward is to have some  quiet.

Now that i have established a career for myself and my son is already coming to age as a teenager. I am finding myself back again and was presented the opportunity to volunteer to take part of the choir for our Filipino Community in our local parish (St Anthony of Padua). I'm happy to be a soprano again and despite the late evening end to our practices, i am energized and happy to serve through the choir. 

The bonus of it all, my son Joaquin, is also serving our parish as part of the children's choir. He is also actively part of the school choir. I can see myself in him and I'm glad that we are sharing the same passion in choir singing.

#4. I am healthier and it feels so good.  I made a promise to myself that i will start taking care of me.  I have realised all these years, I have always felt responsible for others except myself. I've set a goal to run cumulative 42km each month not competitively but just following my own pace. My metabolism and my sleep has gotten better. I could count only a few times that i felt sick. When my schedule permits, I've also started to join the free yoga class at work. Earlier this year, i took up a mindfulness course which helped me to practice breathing properly and to meditate. I find mindfulness practice helpful in calming yourself despite all the troubles that come your way. It is also helpful in controlling your running emotions and providing space to evaluate any situation better before taking decision.

#3 It is a joy to be with children and to serve the Lord through my catechism ministry. Year 2017 is a year for children for me having just joined LEGO, the toy company and assigned as catechist for Primary 1 students. Having extra LEGO bricks does help keep my students excited in class but the bigger joy comes from these young children all open and curious about God. I am blessed to be given the opportunity to teach and I continue to pray that i will be better year to year. These children inspire me to learn more about the faith. I want to be more spirit filled so that i can bring more of Jesus to them. 

#2 Unforgettable Italy! This is probably the key highlight for the year for us as a family. In two weeks, we visited 3 countries, Netherlands (Amsterdam), Italy (Rome -Florence -Milan), and France (Paris) but stayed the most of course in the Land of Pasta and Museums!  The summer weather is perfect for the clear blue skies and colorful flowers but, quite crowded with tourists having their holiday break. We saw a lot of Instagram-worthy places of interest (Amsterdam canals, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, Florence dome, leaning tower of Pisa, Milan Cathedral, Eiffel tower) ate a lot, experienced European culture, met people along the way and took so many photos!

#1 I survived a courageous leap of faith. Yes, a courageous change of company after 2 decades working for P&G.  P&G has given me a lot of opportunities to grow in my career and who I am now is influenced in a very big way by the Proctoid mould i have been in.  I felt the need to come out of my comfort zone and i knew change is coming my way - i do not know exactly what, when, and how it could be but here I am, now working for one of the world's powerful brands, LEGO.  

The road to get here is not an easy one. First stop, the culture is hugely different - from a process-oriented, results hungry, sometimes rigid American company i landed to a very open, collaborative, too high level in direction setting Danish company.  Both have their own merits and I've appreciated them equally.  But how do i adapt to a new environment like this? in my early months, it felt counter to my usual grain and counter productive at times (too much engagement is driving slow action).  What made it worse for me is, the situation of the business is also turbulent when i joined the company. After enjoying a decade of growth, the company for the first time has stalled in sales, the competitive landscape is fiercer with more digital toy offerings affecting the core of the physical play experience, major customers like ToysRUs filed bankruptcy, more copycats (e.g. Lipin) are out in the market much faster than what our supply chain is designed for.  On top of that, organization is also in dramatic shake up. Case in point: in the 12 months I've joined, the organization had 3 CEO's.  The company announced to cut 8% jobs from its current workforce across the globe and week by week, you hear employees leaving the company.

Things are getting better with our new CEO driving clearer direction and a strong mandate to get back to growth.  The organization is settling down and getting back to stability and business momentum.  There's a lot of product innovation lined up - and they are all very exciting and cool stuff!  I've not felt as much an excited kid as I am now.

A year forward, my resilience has been truly tested - a lot of discomfort, self-reflection, and also self-discovery.  While it's only been early years for me in the company but I've also learned a lot, leaps more than i expected.  I remind myself everyday of the WHY i am here.  I truly am a person of purpose and i resonate well with LEGO's ambition to build the builders of tomorrow.  If I am to spend more years working, I will pursue something that will also fill my soul and not just the daily grind to earn a living.  Where I am now connects my passion and purpose and hopefully, my full potential as a person would bloom even more.