Eight years which started in October 1999 and started with my boarding a Vietnam Airlines flight to Ho Chi Minh City from Manila: That was the length of time that I spent in the Universal McCann. I was proud of what I have achieved in those eight years - but somehow, I cannot help ask myself if I did the right things always.
- When I left Vietnam in September 2001, was I too selfish and scared of the things that could unfold further in the market?
- When I left the network in September 2002 to join another company, did I make the right decision? Obviously not... since a mere 8 months later, I was back in Vietnam to officially launch the office.
- When I left Vietnam - again - in 2004, did I leave before I could have done the best that I could? Did I make myself heard enough?
And as I leave now to pursue a new track in my career and start a new chapter in my life, I am bugged by the questions: Could I have done more? Could I have made my voice heard more? Could I have been more aggressive and more intelligent and wiser and better in how I did my job? Have I been remarkable? Have I been better? Could I have done more and more to raise the profile of the company? Could I have been better?
I guess I won't know.
I wonder if when all is done anyone heard my voice...
But from the start, we have no choice. Our journeys just begin
I'll never know if I was right. Did I fight hard enough?
Or when the battles grew too rough, should I have given in?
But here I stand and swear to you: I did the best that I could do
I know my voice was just a whisper. But someone may have heard
There were nights the moon above me stirred. And let me grab ahold
My hands have touched the gold.
Gold
Music: Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics: Nan Knighton
Are these insecurities? I don't think so.
Perhaps, it is my commitment to being remarkable, to being the best that I could be, to be able to deliver only the thing that can only be delivered by me - perhaps it is that part of me talking and thinking all these thoughts.
I bring with me memories - and a lot of things that I have learned along the way: good and bad.
Most of all, I learned that people are people wherever you go. I discovered, lost, and re-discovered the good in people - whilst I also caught glimpse of the devious nature of the human and how cunning, wily, and manipulative the human can be.
The journey's just begun.
