Going out of the country to work was the most drastic decision I have ever made in my life. It’s out of character, out of my comfort zone and downright risky. It took me a few months to finally decide to accept the offer. I had to delay it several times making up excuses along the way. I was actually hoping a big voice from heaven would tell me the right decision to make, which way to go, to accept or not to accept. I was hoping to be very certain that I am making the right decision. However, there’s just no way to do that.
So how did I come up with my decision?
I sought to hear heaven’s voice even before I received the offer. It doesn’t sound like me but I really prayed for it. It was Holy Week in Manila during that time and we did Visita Iglesias. My prayer was actually to be given what He thinks would be best for the family. Then the offer came.
I evaluated the pros and cons. I even had an excel sheet of it apart from the comparison of the entire package. One of the many things I learned from hiring senior Finance officers is to actually have apples-to-apples comparison of the current package and the offer. That’s just one aspect of it of course.
Along the lines of studying this opportunity, I sought advice from the elders and those close to me. One of my previous colleagues said, it’s worth trying. If it doesn’t work out, I just need to stand by my decision. My mom also shared her wisdom. She’s not against me leaving the family first for me to get used to the new environment and be able to support them when they move here with me. Totally makes a lot of sense.
I also did research about KL, the cost of living here, schools, expat life and many others. Like any research work, it entailed desk research and interviewing people who works here or worked here before. I have cousins working somewhere here in KL and I asked them a lot of questions mostly about cost of living and quality of life. It also just so happened that the new colleague we hired back then in my previous job worked here in KL together with her hubby. She returned to Manila to pursue their baby project. She's gracious enough to share their stories about living here, the culture, work habits of locals and a lot of things about KL.
Needless to say, that time, it really made sense to accept the opportunity. I know it’s something I will keep looking back to and regret if I haven’t.
Having been here for more than a year, the journey still continues. My family just moved and they’re still adjusting. We still have a lot of things to do but the important thing is we’re here together. Standing by my decision, I am determined to make it work.
No comments:
Post a Comment