Floor (Part Two)

Yesterday night while a friend and I were heading home, we were talking about what we thought life in our company was. My friend cannot help but notice how happy and content the employees of the company was despite the not-so-wonderful compensation it gave.

"Ba't ganun, p're? Hindi naman mataas sweldo saka hindi naman kagandahan yung benefits, pero parang ang daming masaya?"

All I could think of was the atmosphere in the office. People usually had small smiles across their faces, even if they were hassled by a tight deadline. Maybe people just liked what they were doing. They must have learned to love their work, no matter how hard it was or how unrewarding the benefits seemed. By taking into heart what they did, they probably saw the gratification other people, like us fresh trainees, did not see.

As we crossed the footbridge in front of our office building, my friend shared why he left his previous company. He did not like his work in his previous company -- his interest resided in programming. He was a little bit worried if he did the right thing, since the benefits here were meager compared to the salary he received in the past. I told him that I did not like to program, but through college, I have learned to love it. Given a choice between IT and another field I won't say, I would probably choose the latter, but that did not mean I dislike whatever position I am currently in. I have learned to embrace the passion for programming, but yes, my real interests live outside the world of computers. I decided to join and stay in Pointwest for three years because I wanted to practice what I have studied in university; so all those four years of education would not rust, waste, and wither away.

"Ako nga p're, nung simula, gusto ko talaga yung course ko. Pero nung tumagal, nalaman kong nasa iba pala yung gusto ko talaga. Minahal ko na lang yung ginagawa ko, imbis na naging bitter ako. Kung naging bitter ako, sinong talo? Ako rin, 'di ba?"

As the adage goes, success comes when opportunity meets preparation. Opportunities are always around us; it is only up to us how we will react to these and determine if we will emerge with victory in hand, or with regret in our hearts.