here's to the new me

i don't exactly remember when this annual report arrived at my doorstep, but being the irresponsible homeowner i am, it basically stayed inside its envelope, right beside my front door (it got wet in the rain when it first arrived so i didn't want to bring it inside the house - excuses, excuses!) up until last sunday. so friends would come and they'd ask, "don't you want to bring that in?" and i'd say, "oh it's perfectly fine there." story of my life.

well, it stayed there, until last sunday. cause that's when i realized that inside that envelope contained information that -- given the career change -- is now important to me. so, as i sat on my doorstep waiting for a friend to pick me up, i started going each and every line of that annual report. but, while the figures and the information i picked up were interesting, i was taken aback by the words on the cover of the annual report:

it's not just about moving forward.

it's about changing the game.

and that, my dear friends, was how the past week was like.

i arrived a little before 8 am - the commute from home to work is now DIVINE i tell you - and the staff (who i met the afternoon of my orientation) welcomed me warmly and ushered me into my "room". now, it technically isn't a room - it's made of cubicle walls, but it has a free standing desk and visitors' chairs, and cabinets and what-nots - but 11 out of the 13 years i've worked, i've been ushered to either a desk or a cubicle on my first day of work. so imagine how it felt like to finally have a room where i can bring a lamp, a couple of personal items, and a hidden stack of shoes and not feel the least bit cramped!

but if having a room was the moving forward part, here's the game changer: i have a window. a giant kick-ass window, where, if i tilt my head properly, i'd see louis vuitton and if i close my eyes a bit, i'd imagine hermes calling out "rosa! rosa!". i have NEVER had a window, not unless you count the window near my desk at the CA which had a view of the green roof of the building beside mine. so no, we're not counting that. we're counting this giant kick-ass window with a view of louis vuitton as MY FIRST WINDOW

all shallowness aside - which is truly what the last two paragraphs are all about - indeed, this leap is life-changing (which, ironically is one of the company's taglines: "we're changing lives"). i get up every morning with a better sense of who i am, with a stronger belief in my own self-worth. i enter my room, and as i open the blinds to breathe in the view, i utter a short prayer thanking god for giving me this job. and all throughout the day, little things like budding friendships with new co-workers, a very pleasant boss, the male secretary strutting around in wedges (yes, and that's the subject of another post), and learning all about the business slowly but surely, i still can't believe that i have been blessed way beyond than what i deserve.

there was this minor hiccup in my week and i exchanged several SMS with friends over that. then came saturday morning and i saw something that felt like god's way of telling me that no, i'm absolutely forbidden to complain.

and you know what, god is right. i've moved forward. the game has changed. october 1 marked the switch to the new me. why should i even bother thinking about the hiccups?