Déjà Vu

It’s just fascinating sometimes that we encounter unexpected things in life: unexpected people, unexpected gifts, and unexpected events. I’ve caught myself in the middle of all the happenings in life – for most things that are falling together the way I want them to be and things that are falling apart. I went to the office today and started working on my ongoing projects. Half a day went by, and after just a few emails being sent and a couple of tense conversations I had at work, just like a blink of an eye, I got a phone call in the middle of the day:

Her: “Hey it’s me. We have a lunch meet-up today. Are you free? Can I come?”.

I thought to myself: “Seriously? Now?” – As I was walking away from my office, I picked up the phone and the first thing I did was to try to buy myself some more time: “Hi, I am sorry but I am really in the middle of something, I won’t have time for lunch, can we meet at 3:00pm instead?”

Her: Yes, of course. I will call you at 3:00pm when I am there.

Me: See you.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I started walking back to the office. It’s the third time that I postponed the meeting with this person. I felt guilty but I don’t know why I keep doing this. I made a promise to myself that I would make it to see her at 3pm no matter what.

I’ve known this girl for quite some time now. She’s a business owner and a single mother. For some reason, she always seems to be so interested in what I have to say. We used to meet up to talk about life and discuss plans and how we could support each other. So I guess this time, she was about to tell me some new plans for business expansion, so I listened. However, this time is different:

Her: “You know I’ve been working so hard, setting up my own business and all, but after five years, I don’t feel I am the same person anymore”.

Me: “Why is that?”

Her: “I started taking English lessons, together with my son. I think I need to improve my English speaking skill. I feel like I just want to have a job, that gives me some time off so I can meet with people. I am a single mom but I don’t want to be single I forever. Now I just want to be feminine and stay content with myself. One day, perhaps, I will meet the man that I want to be ended up with, and I want to make it happen”.

I didn’t have much to add, as I always think that whatever decision we make in life is the right decision, or once we make a decision, the only way for us to move forward is to make it right. Then I asked her if she need my assistance with anything. She answered: “Maybe you can help me to find a job”.

It took me 5 minutes to think of a job opportunity coming up for her. That’s right, 5 minutes. I linked her to someone I know who hiring for a person, just like her. I wish her all the best then I quickly ran off to my next meeting.

Did I just say 5 minutes? I guess I did. Now that I’ve realized one of my greatest strengths in life, which is to take 5 minutes of my life to draw a complete picture of how things should be organized in a certain way. It takes me 5 minutes to think of an event concept as I start connecting all the dots and laying out a plan.

Of course, things don’t always come that easy. I’ve worked all my life to get to this level that when I need something, God would follow up with all his immediate actions to help me achieve it. This has gotten me thinking: In the end, everything connects.

Sometimes, God wants me to take a break too. Yes, that’s right, it may take me 5 minutes to come up with my idea to do something, but it will take days and weeks to execute because there are factors in life that we simply cannot ignore. I guess that’s fair too. And because he knows I may get upset when things are not going my way, he sends someone else to cheer me up. I can’t believe I am becoming this spiritual but this is really happening whether I like it or not.

It was the end of my business day today, and I was trying to follow my own rule, which is to keep my inbox under 30 emails before I leave the office. I opened up one more email from a PR agency to connect me to a journalist. As I kept reading on her profile about places that she has worked or been to, I got a déjà vu feeling out of the blue. I spoke to myself: “Yes, I was there. Yes I’ve done that, too”.

Hello? The first international flight I had ever had was to travel to Moscow from Hanoi when I was 13 years old to visit my parents. I didn’t know a word of Russian but I manage to make it on my own, I wasn’t scared back then but now that I am looking back, I know I was brave. As a teenager, I traveled to Australia when I was 17, on my own. I lived in 3 different states. I lived in the Blue Mountains, I lived in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, and I lived on an island in the Whitsundays in Queensland. In the end, I, too, ended up living right in Sydney CBD, the largest city in Australia. I survived.

I am still my daddy’s princess whenever I want her to be, but I have my ‘unstoppable’ career as a woman in business that I’ve been creating for myself over the past 13 years. I have really come this far to be who I am today and I guess this is why I have started all this, this Women’s Unstoppable Journey, perhaps just to tell me not to give up on things that matter and people who matter to me the most in life.