Expect The Unexpected.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
― Douglas Adams

Never in my life, I ever dreamed to set my feet in India but life always has its own way to surprise me with the unexpected.

Last week, I was in Mumbai, India for work related matters and since I was there over the weekend, I had a chance to visit one of the wonders of the world, The Taj Mahal in Agra. It was really an amazing experience, both the work and the fun time.

The one who was suppose to go there was a colleague of mine, he handed in his resignation letter just days before the departure day while I was still having my holiday in Bangkok at that time. I didn’t know about this until after I came back to the office. I only got 5 days to process all the documents and thank God that my visa released right on time just one day before the departure day. The whole preparation thing was crazy.

It was my first time assigned to overseas Branch and working with new people from various backgrounds and experience definitely has enriched me. It was something beyond my imagination and expectation. I found not only new colleagues but also new friends as well. Not just great working experience but also unforgettable travelling experience. I can say that I feel blessed.

Looking back, I never thought that I would ever be where I am today. For so many times I have considered to resign from my current office but somehow, I didn’t (with many reasons) and I can’t imagine where I would be now if I had made the decision. I personally have my own dreams, my own plans and my own goals that I wish to achieve, but somehow many things happen and I was detoured from my original destination. In the end, it’s been giving me a lot of awesome experience.

I believe every one of us has dreams, visions, plans and things we would want to achieve. I can understand how frustrating it is when it seems like it’s so hard to make everything come true, as if we’ve done everything but still nothing is seen in the horizon. Reflecting back to my own life, I have learned that in such situation, it’s better to be flexible to life because life sometimes has its own surprises that you will never expect and ones that you will be forever grateful for.

I love travelling. Thus, like all travellers do, I make my plans before I go. I make sure that my tickets and hotel are booked, I have enough clothes packed for the trip and of course, I have my what-to-do and places-to-go list. The planning part is always fun, it fills you up with all kinds of excitement and expectations...yet during the travel, things are not always go according to plan and sometimes, those are the most exciting part of the travel. When the unexpected happens, we will have an adventure to experience and stories to tell.

Life is pretty much like traveling, we make plans and things to do. We dream of things that we want to achieve in life and we hold on to it. Yet, when we live life, things are not always happening the way we want them to. But, when we learn to be flexible, drop all expectations, have an open heart and an open mind to what life has to offer, we will realise that everything happens for a reason and where we are right now – although it might not be where we want – is the place where we should be and sometimes, it’s even a better place than we ever expect to be.

Just believe that we will arrive in the right place with the right people at the right time. In the meantime, expect the unexpected and be grateful for whatever season, place and time we’re in right now because that’s exactly where we need to be.