Redefining Dream

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” - C. S. Lewis

I am always thankful that the favor is always with me as I reach the wagon to the stars. I had this american dream the moment I graduated. While waiting for an employer's response, I engage myself in applying for a domestic job to gain experience. I was full of dreams, excitement, ambitions and hope. Day by day I was trying to check my emails hoping for a reply in many of my job applications online. I got rejected a lot of times. After a long wait, I woke up with an email from an employer, it was a job offer letter and a visa interview schedule. I couldn't explain the feeling. The "this is it feeling". My american dream is starting. As soon as the news got sink in within me, a drastic fear, doubt and change happened. I was too afraid to conquer what was on the other side of the world. I did not see this coming. Realizations had me. I couldn't leave my family, I am not ready to leave the comforts of my home and leave the place where I grew up for good. I felt down, depressed, drained and helpless. While I was fighting myself and started questioning my own worth, I started asking myself, "this what you prayed for and why are u declining it?" "can you really leave the things you grew up with for good?" "why are you too afraid to leave your comfort zone?" The questions I asked myself that I myself had no answer.

These were the things that I’ve worked hard for and making the decision to leave them behind made me feel like cutting off the most important thing in my life. Now what?

My American Dream would not come into a reality. That all of my hopes and dreams are now all lost. I lost my faith. And most importantly, I lost myself in the process. I then quickly describe myself as a failure. One day, I realized that I become what I think. I became negative because negative thoughts swallowed me. I was physically alive but dead inside. This is not the life that I wanted. So I started getting back on track. I started going out of my shell once more. My family embraces me to let me feel that I was never alone and my friends are there always up for a talk. I can’t imagine how God changed my life in just a few timeline.

How did I dig myself out of that hole?

Allowing myself to embrace the anger, depression and loss. Inch by inch I engage myself into focusing on business as I started online selling in 2012. I also started my dream milk tea shop together with my other corporators. And surprisingly, I never thought a friend of mine would introduce me to this "freelancing" world. I tried to divert and refocus myself into a new career. I sometimes think that this thing I cannot achieve but eventually be able to accomplish it. I never thought I would be able to become a virtual assistant. Imagine how God can simply change everything and use other people to let you feel that he is there 24/7.

Re-define the dream

While having my VA experience for almost a year now, I am engaging myself into learning a new set of skills as learning is a lifetime process. I am not a techy, I don't even have my own laptop either and initially I don't have any idea about doing virtual assistance. I only have my previous job experience as my tool and my own strengths so I would be able to complete all the tasks. In order to further enhance my skills, I enrolled myself in Filipino Virtual Assistance (FVA) under a freelancing course. It was a wonderful stepping stone as they will truly engage with their students and even mold you from scratch until you can do it on your own. From their curriculum, you may be able to possess your self’s hidden abilities that are greater than what you may be aware of today. And also, they will never leave you behind, no one will be left behind in FVA, you will always have their lifetime support. You may come to realize that you are created for so much more and that we have limitless potentials that are yet to be unleashed. The determination and inspiration from the whole team was superb! One of the most exciting things in FVA is that they offer a lot of courses for you to be up-skill on your chosen niches. They will truly help you build self confidence and become globally competitive in this career.

Choosing the right career path

A career path is never a straight line. There is no stability in this world. I considered this career because I have experienced the power of the emerging technology we have now in order to accelerate impact and innovations in this generation. This is why I am now here. Fear makes me regret one of the best decisions I have to make in life but I am a great believer that everything happens for a reason. Nothing will be accomplished without a fear. In this experience, I realized that great things never come from comfort zones. We all make mistakes and we are given a chance everyday to correct it. We are still and able to do a lot of things in life. As my coach in FVA said: “Always remember your WHY”. Struggling means progress. Unleash the seed of greatness that God has placed in you and choose your passion. I may think that my dreams have died, but remember that God can resurrect dead dreams! I may not make my american dream come true but I work with international clients across the globe and even still earning dollars, so what’s the difference? I may not be physically there but I can travel wherever I want and still get my job done. God truly uses failures so we might be able to become a great masterpiece. He supplies the necessary strength that we need. Changing career path is totally fine. I am not late and you aren’t either. You are just right on time. If we failed, try again, if we failed again then try it again and again. Always give your best struggles. As what Charles Dickens says, “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another”. Life isn’t about trying to be an expert in everything, it’s about being an expert in one thing and offering it to the world. I am now starting what I can offer to the world > my services and let's do something great together. Others may be good in one but you can be good in three others, as long as you have the determination to succeed then you will truly have it.

Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein